This week we continued our orientation with Fr. David in regard to some of the programs that are administered by the Mission.  One of the programs discussed was the Heifer Program.  Applicants are required to fill out a form and have it submitted within the next few weeks in order to be considered.  Once the selection process has started, we will address this program more in depth to give you some idea of how the program works and its benefits.  This week we again worked on our Kenyan Work Permits – a process we started back in December.  We received notification earlier in the week that we have more hoops to jump through!  As stated before, we will probably be able to dedicate an entire blog to the steps that we have had to take to get a work permit.  The extension we applied for back in March expires in two weeks…hopefully this is the week it happens.  Fr. David has tried to guide us through the process following the steps he took to obtain his permit once arriving in Kenya in 2017.  Some requirements have been added to, changed or he didn’t have to do because he is a priest.  An additional frustration during this process is that you can ask the exact same question to two different people and get two different answers which does not help…our guess that is you could ask three different people and get three different answers…hatua kwa hatua (step by step)

For those of you who keep track of the start times and length of the Mass like we seem to, last Sunday the Mass started twelve minutes late, the homily was fifty minutes in length, and total Mass time was about 2 ¼ hours.  One of the best things for us was that the majority of this Mass was in English though the homily was a mixture of English and Kiswahili.  It was good to hear the prayers and be able to respond in English to get a little break from Kiswahili!  Homilies here at Gekano Parish are much different than what we are used to.  During the homily, the priest will state some concepts giving food for thought, have people read different passages from the bible and then call on the people (young and old) who have raised their hands to try to answer his questions.  Last Sunday, he wanted to know what the old commandment (Old Testament) was versus the new commandment (New Testament) when it came to love of neighbor.  Kathy thought she knew the answer based on what she got from his homily up to that point.  She wanted to raise her hand, not because she thought she knew the answer, but because we were already over thirty minutes into this homily and no one was getting the answer and he didn’t seem like his homily was going to progress any further until someone would give him the answer he wanted.  The correct answer (which Kathy did know) was: the old commandment was to love your neighbor as yourself whereas the new commandment was to love as I (Jesus) have loved you.  The biggest reason Kathy did not raise her hand was because the priest had been asking others where in the bible you could find those passages as well as some of the other passages read.  He was looking for the chapters and verses…there was no way Kathy would have known those and thus why she didn’t raise her hand.  Later, we asked Fr. David why the priest would ask for that information as not all priests that we have encountered have done that.  He stated that some of the other religions around here make knowing where in the bible specific passages are found an important part of their catechesis and so the priest(s) here think it is important for the Catholics to be able to quote and know where in the bible the passage is found. 

In last week’s blog, we had written about the neighborhood children coming to the Wazungu house to obtain “sweets” aka lollipops. Some of the smaller children – kindergarten and younger – did return this week for their “sweets”.  Fr. David unwrapped them so they could enjoy the “sweets” while still on the porch but more so for the reason that we wouldn’t find the wrappers on the lawn!  Of the older children who had been coming, we have seen just one of them return for a lollipop – it is possible some of them didn’t understand what Wes meant last week when he told the group hakuna sweets leo (no sweets today) because of leaving their wrappers on the ground when we asked them not to.  Maybe they haven’t returned because they thought he meant no “sweets” ever which is not what he meant.  Just as we sometimes struggle to understand and interpret what people are saying (even if it is being said in English), they too, can have a hard time understanding us.  A few weeks ago, when driving with Lilian, Wes mentioned we should put petro (fuel) in the vehicle.  Lilian had never pulled up to a gas pump by herself prior to this day though she has been with Fr. David when he has pulled into the gas station.  Wes coached her as to what to do since she didn’t know which side the tank was on nor the lever to pull inside the car to open the fuel cap, etc.  Wes instructed Lilian to pull up to a pump that was open since not many vehicles around.  Shortly after, the station attendants were motioning for her to go to a different pump so Lilian had to back up and maneuver the vehicle to where they wanted it.  The attendant came to Wes’s window (side the fuel cap was on) and Wes told him to “fill it up”.  The guy asked again and Wes stated the same thing.  The attendant then moved away from the vehicle and started talking to another attendant in Kiswahili or maybe Ekegusii though it didn’t matter as we didn’t understand what was being said.  Lilian did understand so she interrupted them and in Kiswahili (or maybe Ekegusii) told them to fill the tank so it is full.  They proceeded to tell Lilian something and then walked away to fill the tank and wash the windows (full service here).  Lilian laughed and told Wes that they understood him to say “fill four thousand schillings”.  No wonder they asked him twice – four thousand shillings would not have been enough to fill the tank!  Wes decided he needs to figure out the capacity of the gas tank in liters so when he pulls up to the station, he can tell them how many liters to put in instead of “fill it up”!  The guys told Lilian that he (Wes) had an accent and that is what they understood!  While we were in Nairobi, we traveled by Uber to the elephant orphanage and on the way, the driver asked Wes if he was from Britain.  Wes told him no and asked why to which the driver said “you sound British”!

On Wednesday, we traveled with Lilian to Kenyerere to do a Water with Blessings (WWB) follow-up.  There were two groups of women who came to color in their books and get any questions answered they had.  One of the mamas explained to Lilian in Ekegusii that she could not clean her filter because the syringe used to do the back flush broke.  She relayed that her children were playing with it and broke the tip of the syringe – the 50 ml syringes do make great squirt guns!  We do carry a few extra syringes and proceeded to give her another one though the giving of another syringe came with a caution and warning from Lilian telling the mama that the syringe is not a toy and must be kept in a safe place.  Without the syringe, one cannot clean the filter and our guess is that most of these women would not be able to find a 50 ml syringe in the local village at a duka (small shop). They would probably have to travel to Kisii to a pharmacy to obtain one and even then, it may be an item that would be cost prohibitive. As mentioned before, the price of basic items such as flour and oil have increased greatly and if they have to make a choice to put the money towards buying flour or a syringe, most likely it will be the flour to make ugali so the family can eat.  We looked up the cost of a 50 ml syringe and it is about $1.40 which would be a substantial amount of money considering people here make less than $5 a day.  For the mama who plucks tea for the family income, half of one morning’s profit would go towards buying a syringe since they get from $2.40 to $3.00 for per basket of tea and with most plucking one basket of tea leaves per day. 

Recently, a Form 4 student (equivalent to a senior in high school), who is enrolled in the Orphan Education Program, came to the Mission house to ask for a copy of her KCPE (Kenya Certificate of Primary Education) score.  On this sheet would be an ID number that was needed for school.  Wes went to the Mission office to retrieve this sheet of paper from her file though he wasn’t sure what it would exactly look like.  While looking for this paper, Wes saw a comment that was written many times on this student’s report cards over the past few years.  The comment was “pull up your socks”.  Wes did find the official KCPE sheet and made a copy for the student.  Later, Wes said something to Fr. David about this comment and could the teachers not write better comments than to keep telling the girl to “pull up her socks”!  Fr. David then explained that this is a very common term used here and it basically means the student needs to study harder and make an effort to improve because their effort is not good enough.  We had a good laugh - Wes thought the teachers literally meant for the girl to pull up her socks!  The girls here at the boarding school have a particular uniform to wear including the socks – they are white socks with a grey stripe and they remind us of the tube socks of the 60’s and 70’s that were popular.  The girls are expected to always have their socks be a certain way so as to look “smart” as they say here.  So, knowing that the girls are expected to keep their socks rolled a certain way, his thoughts immediately went to the interpretation to mean this girl should pull up her socks! 

Yesterday (Saturday) we traveled to Manga Parish and then back here to Gekano Parish for Mission Saturday.  Again, this is where the children get a monthly ration of maize, their stipend, and bring their report cards.  A few students had a “come to Jesus” talk with Fr. David and Rogers because they didn’t bring their report cards, their grades were not where they could be, they haven’t come to Mission Saturday monthly, etc.  The students are given numerous chances but they, too, have to abide by the rules of the Mission in bringing reports, receipts for school fees and book fees paid for by the Mission, cannot get more than three E’s (equivalent to an F), must stay in school and must attend Mission Saturdays held once a month.  When they don’t follow the rules there are consequences with the most severe being expulsion from the program.  If someone does not want to take advantage of the program, there are more waiting to be accepted…tough love. 

Yesterday (Saturday) Kathy made a visit to the girl’s boarding school here on the compound where the Mission house is located.  The girls extended an invitation to attend their music class where they would be practicing the songs for Sunday Mass.  She spent almost two hours with them and need-less to say, they were quite happy to have a visitor.  For music class, Kathy envisioned they would have a book with notes and lyrics but they didn’t.  Their music book consisted of the lyrics they copied from the chalk board into their notebooks.  Sr. Immaculate, their teacher, teaches them by bringing up the song on YouTube (if there) and having them listen to it numerous times (it is amazing all the songs in Kiswahili on YouTube – at least ones that they could sing in church!).  Sr. Immaculate plays the keyboard and transposes the songs into different keys.  She cannot read notes so whatever she plays, she plays by ear and does a very good job.  She stated that she knows one key only – the Key of D!  She then asked Kathy to teach her to play in the Key of C.  Kathy agreed to try the best she could since she also plays mostly by ear…could be the blind leading the blind! 

In closing, know that we are doing well and keeping busy though we do miss friends and family.  We continue to keep you in our prayers and ask that you keep us and the Mission in yours.  Mungu Akubariki!

See photos from this week in the album section at: 
https://stjparish.com/photoalbums/kenya-5-22-22