Last Sunday, we went to the 9 am Mass at Rianyagemi (Ree-on-ya-gay-me), an Outstation that is not far from the Mission house. It was the second of three Masses that Fr. David celebrated that day.  The Mass was held outside which provided for a very beautiful setting.  There were two reasons why we attended Mass at Rianyagemi.  First, we like going to the Mass at the Outstations.  Our travels to the Outstations take us through different villages and settings from high on the mountains to the valleys below – the beauty and magnificence of God’s creation is seen everywhere.  When attending Mass at the different Outstations, we are able to see the various churches – from the somewhat primitive and unfinished ones to those with floors and glass windows - and experience the liturgy in different settings and hear their choirs.  The choirs seem to be a source of pride with some of the churches having excellent ones.  In our experience here at Gekano, the women and a few men will come several days a week and practice for three to four hours outside the church which is right across the alley from the Mission house.  We can hear everything and there are days where it can be a bit much such as when they will rehearse just one line of a song over and over…hearing that same line for half an hour or more can start to wear on one’s nerves as there is no escaping it.  The second reason we went to the Outstation last Sunday was because when we asked the Sisters what time Mass was on Pentecost, they informed us there would be only one Mass at 11 am.  One Mass at Gekano that late in the morning means it will be held outside and will last anywhere from 3-4 hours in the hot sun.  When we returned from Rianyagemi at 11:15 am, we could hear the Gloria being sung – you couldn’t help but hear because of the huge loud speaker they placed in the tree!  The homily lasted 1.5 hours and the Mass ended at 2 pm which meant three hours total…we were glad we went to the Outstation!

On Monday we worked again on our Immigration paperwork to upload forms, photos, passports, etc.  so that we can obtain an Alien Card.  Once we got the forms uploaded and paid the fee on-line, we could schedule an appointment to get our Biometrics done (fingerprints and digital photographs).  In order to get the Biometrics done, we must present to the Immigration office in Nairobi.  In addition to applying for an Alien Card, we need to apply for a KRA (Kenyan Revenue Authority) PIN #. This PIN is needed in order for us to be able to sign checks on the Mission’s account and take care of transactions with the bank.  The KRA here is kind of like our IRS back in America.  We went to Kisii one day this week to visit the KRA office to see if they could help us each obtain this PIN but all they could do was put our information in the system.  The guy who helped us told us that all we have to do now is to go to Nairobi and present in person at the KRA office.  He also stated we would get an email from the KRA telling us what the next steps would be.   Two days later, Kathy got an email from the KRA office stating her application has been rejected while Wes didn’t get any notification.  We are going to Nairobi in the next couple of weeks to do our Biometrics at Immigration so after that appointment we will probably be going to the KRA to figure out what we need to do to get a PIN.  It will be a relief when we finally have all the required documentation in order…by the time that happens, it will probably be time to start to working on the renewals since the work permits are only good for two years.  Things do take time in Kenya!

On Wednesday, we had a Water with Blessings training at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Nyantaro, a church that we had been to on Good Friday.  It had rained quite a bit the night before so the roads were a little dicey in places but Wes got us there without landing in the ditch!  A total of fifteen women were supposed to come but seventeen showed up.  The rule is to not train more than fifteen women at a time because it is too hard to give good training when the group is too large.  The two women were not happy when they were asked to leave…they were assured they would be put on the list for the next training.  The WWB organization in Kentucky asks for information to be entered into an App for those women who receive a filter and are trained.  It asks for the location, name, how many children under five years of age, etc. and then a picture of each woman with their bucket is taken.  Kathy is in charge of entering this data, taking the pictures and submitting it.  While checking off the names on her list, Kathy felt something land on her head.  She was a little leery to put her hand on her head to remove whatever it was but she did.  What she found was a gecko dropping and she cringed at the thought of it.  Kathy and geckos are not friends…she used to think the one in the GEICO commercials was kind of cute but not anymore.  The Mission house gets its fair share of geckos and that is understandable due to how houses are not sealed as well as ours are back home but that doesn’t make it any better for Kathy and she has gone to battle with them.  The geckos seem to bother Kathy much more than they do Wes or Fr. David!  Wes, being the good husband that he is, does help Kathy with the removal of them.  Our gecko removal kit consists of a spray bottle, a broom, and a bucket:  a squirt of liquid makes it lose its grip on the wall and consequently falls off the wall though sometimes Kathy will help it fall with the broom.  If we are quick enough, it gets swept up into the bucket and then tossed outside…probably to come back another day!  So, when the gecko dropping fell on Kathy’s head at the church during the WWB training, the immediate word that came to mind was one that shouldn’t be printed though as she thought about it more, she decided to just be grateful it was not a bird dropping!  The battle with the geckos is on-going but there are less seen than there used to be.  After we did our deep cleaning of the house in early May and Wes caulked some of the leaks around the windows, we have not seen as many in the house.  Kathy also heeded the advice from Maricris, a friend and co-worker of hers from when they worked in the lab.  Maricris, who is from the Phillipines where they also have geckos, suggested putting cloves of garlic in the windows…every window now has cloves of garlic in hopes to deter the little critters!  Since we don’t see as many geckos or the “gifts” they leave behind, we do think our preventive measures have helped or maybe the word got out about the crazy female mzungu in the house who terrorizes the geckos and they have decided to stay away!   

This week, there was much hoopla at the girls’ boarding school here on the same compound as the Mission house.  A new “used” bus was delivered to them courtesy of someone who is running for an office in the upcoming elections.  It was a big deal and lots of people (at least 1000) participated in the celebration along with a politician getting in some speaking time.  The Bishop of Kisii will be here this week to celebrate Confirmation so there has been lots of activity with the sprucing up of the grounds – back home we clean rafters when the Bishop comes and here they trim shrubs and clean up the grounds around the church since the Mass will be held outdoors.   

We had Mission Saturday at Ichuni and Gekano yesterday.  It rained a lot on Friday night so the roads to Ichuni the next morning were not good at all.  Wes was our chauffer and did an excellent job!  We slid across the road from side to side a number of times but never landed in the ditch!  When going slightly downhill and approaching a bridge that didn’t have much for guard rails, Kathy thought it would be better to get out and walk across and they could pick her up on the other side but Wes got us across safely.  By the time we returned to Gekano almost three hours later, the hot sun had started to do its magic to dry the roads out some – they weren’t great but much better than earlier.  At Ichuni, one of the orphans, who goes to a boarding school, was not feeling well.  (Because of our strong feelings about privacy and HIPAA with regard to healthcare, we will not use the girl’s name in the story below even though HIPAA doesn’t exist here).  We let the principal know at the nearby school that we would be taking the young girl with us so that she could be seen by a doctor in Kisii.  Once we returned to Gekano, Fr. David had us and Emma take the orphan to one of the hospitals in Kisii instead of helping with Mission Saturday at Gekano.  Here, they are called hospitals even though it might function more like what we would call a clinic and it has to do with the level of care they provide.  Fr. David advised us before leaving to take something along to do or a book to read because it could be a long day.  Wes drove us there and we arrived at the hospital shortly after noon.  The first stop was the reception desk where they took the usual information and once done gave us a card.  It was at this point that Wes decided he would just stay in the vehicle!  We (Kathy, Emma, and orphan) then headed outside to an area where we handed the card to someone behind iron bars who then told us how much the “consultation” fee will be.  If you don’t pay the fee, you don’t see the doctor. The fee was KSH 400 ($4.00).  After paying the fee, we headed back to the reception area and waited.  There were long lines of people everywhere.  After 15 minutes or so, they took the orphan’s temperature and weight and Kathy looked in horror as they did this in front of everyone in the room…so much for HIPAA and privacy!  After this was done, we joined a very long line of others waiting to see one of two doctors.  Finally, we were able to see one of the doctors who sat at his desk and as he asked questions, typed away and then ordered some labs to be done.  We then went to the lab where they told us what the fee would be and then headed back outside to the window where we had paid the consultation fee to now pay KSH 1500 ($15.00) for the lab tests.  After paying the fee, we headed back to the lab where they took blood. The lab staff told us to come back to the lab waiting area in a half hour to pick up the results.  Our orphan was very hungry as she hadn’t eaten breakfast nor lunch and it was now almost 2 pm.  We found a small eating place on the grounds and ordered some food for her that she chose:  kuku (chicken) and ugali!  We have come to learn that the children like to eat kuku because they rarely get it or any other kind of meat.  We returned to the lab at 2:30 pm and the test was not done so had to wait another 45 minutes.  Once done, we took the results back to the waiting room and got in line to see the doctor. The doctor, who we first saw and ordered the lab test, was not around so we got in line to see another doctor.  This one was a female and we were much more impressed with her not because she was female but because she took time to examine the orphan, visit with her about what was going on and to listen to her lungs.  This young girl was maybe 10-11 years old, sick and scared and who wouldn’t be at her age having no parents with her…just Emma who she did know and us whom she has seen only a couple of times at Mission Saturday.  After her examination, the doctor diagnosed the orphan as having pneumonia and prescribed Cefixime (antibiotic), Paracetamol (Tylenol) and Prednisolone (a steroid).  We then went to the Pharmacy and joined another line of people so we could hand them the prescription and they give us a printout for the cost of the drugs.  We then headed back outside to the area where we paid the consultation and lab fees and now pay for the three prescriptions which totaled KSH ($5.90).  After making payment, we headed back to the Pharmacy to get the prescriptions and finally were able to leave.  We came to the hospital shortly after noon and we left for home around 5 pm.  Throughout the afternoon Kathy thought many times how fortunate we are in America to have access to the health care system that we do even though our system needs fixing.  The total fees we paid ($24.90) doesn’t seem like much but for people here - especially if they have no insurance - these are fees that they might not be able to afford.  During all the waiting times, Kathy made lots of observations and comparisons since she worked in a hospital.  She also found quite interesting the fee schedule for services rendered that was posted in the large waiting area.  A couple of examples from the fee schedule:

1. Stitching:  KSH 1000-3000 ($10 - $30)
2. Removal of stitches:  KSH 200 ($2)
3. MVA (Kathy assumed this meant Motor Vehicle Accident):  KSH 3000 ($30)
4. Local anesthesia:  KSH 3000 ($30)
5. Minor Operation in the Main Theatre: KSH 7000 ($70)
6. Theatre Fee (Operating room):  KSH 20000 ($200)

Note:  all these procedures had wait times and for the MVA, it showed one hour!

Kathy was very grateful for Emma because Emma was aware of how the system works and she could communicate to the receptionist, lab staff, doctor, pharmacy, etc. in Kiswahili and English.  If Kathy and Wes had to do this alone, they would have but it would probably have taken us twice the amount of time!  After we were done at the hospital, we dropped Emma off at her place which is on the outskirts of Kisii and then the three of us traveled back to the Gekano area to drop our young passenger off to stay with her guardian instead of taking her back to the boarding school.  The orphan’s parents have both died so her guardian is her aunt, a wonderful woman who was so grateful for what the Bismarck Mission did for her niece.  It brought a lump to Kathy’s throat and tears to her eyes to see the gratitude expressed not only by the aunt but by the young girl as well for the small things done for them this day:  the big smiles from both the aunt and young girl in spite of her not feeling well, the multiple warm hugs in the pouring rain, and the many words of gratitude expressed.  It is days like this one where you step back and you become overwhelmed with many emotions but the one that stands out is gratitude to God…gratitude to be here even though we dearly miss family and friends back home…gratitude for the gifts we’ve been given…gratitude for the ability to have had work and to provide for our children the basic necessities in life such as food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, etc.…gratitude for giving us this opportunity to change ourselves and our perceptions as we serve our brothers and sisters here in Kenya and strive to love as Christ loves us.   

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: 

http://stjparish.com/photoalbums/kenya-6-12-22