Last weekend, we were in Nairobi traveling there for two purposes:  to pick up Kaleb, a seminarian from the Diocese of Helena, Montana, and to decide on floor and wall tiles for the new house.  We traveled to Nairobi on Saturday with Joe, the architect for the house project, and Rogers.  Fr. David stayed back as he had three Masses at the Outstations on Sunday.  Kaleb arrived on Sunday afternoon as scheduled and on Monday we picked out tiles and visited another store to look at fixtures.  We were planning to stay Monday night but because Rogers had to get back, we left Nairobi around 2pm and got back to the Mission house around 8 pm.  We drove in the dark the last 80 miles or so which can be a little stressful since people walk on the roads at night and it is hard to see them not to mention vehicles that drive with their lights off though we are not sure why that is.  The skies were cloudy and the air hazy so we didn’t get to see the Rift Valley very well on the way to Nairobi nor on the way back.  Hopefully, when we take Kaleb back at the end of July, he will be able to get a chance to see the stunning views the Rift Valley can offer on a clear day.

As mentioned, Kaleb is a seminarian and calls Kalispell, Montana home.  He will be with us the month of July and will then return to Rome where he is studying for the priesthood.  We look forward to having him here with us and being able to experience what life is like at the Bismarck Mission. 

On Tuesday, we went to the new shamba to see how the cleaning of the walls, window and door frames, etc. was going.  In addition to cleaning, they were smoothing out the ceilings that we had originally asked for but didn’t happen – popcorn ceilings are dust magnets and we didn’t want that.  We felt bad for the painters as they are the ones who have to clean up the cement splatters even though they didn’t make them…seems unfair but it is the way they do things.  In the afternoon, the two of us headed to Kisii to try our luck at the bank to fill out the IRS form the US requires us to complete.  Surprisingly, we were in the bank only 30 minutes which included waiting time and time spent completing the paperwork.  Since it didn’t take long at the bank, we purchased buckets for our next water filter training, bought groceries, and made it to the Posta (Post Office) to see if we had any mail.  There are no mail delivery trucks here so 1-2 times a week we check our post office box in Kisii.  If you have a package and don’t pick it up within one week of them putting a slip in your box notifying you that you have a package, they will charge you a fee in addition to the Customs fee you pay based on the contents of the package.  On Tuesday evening around dusk, the electrician the Sisters call when they have power issues, came to do some work on the electrical box which in turn affected us…we did have power until they started doing whatever it was they were doing.  We ended up being without power for a couple of hours as they were having issues figuring out the problem that we didn’t know we had!  The main question on our mind was why would they come to work on the electrical box when it was almost dark out – it would have made much more sense to do it in the middle of the day so they would not have had to do electrical work by flashlight which they did.  We were hoping we wouldn’t see any fireworks though it was the 4^th of July!  The power did go out on Wednesday after the electricians had “fixed” the problem we didn’t know we had and because school was in session, the generator was turned on.  Kathy decided to take a shower and shortly after getting in the shower the power went out which meant no hot water!  The weird thing was that the generator was on and the rest of the compound had power but we didn’t.  There was no fix at the time so Kathy ended up taking a cold shower – a cold shower is better than no shower.  The same thing happened to Kaleb the next morning.  Eventually, Wes figured out that the breaker the Sister’s electrician replaced wasn’t large enough and so when using the electric shower head or the hot pot to make hot water, it threw the breaker.  Sister said the electricians would come back and they finally did…on Friday evening just before dark!  They did replace the breaker box and hopefully the problem is solved…time will tell.

On Wednesday, Kaleb traveled with us as well as Emma and Lilian to Water with Blessings follow ups.  We were at some picturesque places so Kaleb was able to take in the views and see a variety of churches from brick and mortar to the very primitive.  We were at Botana, Makuruu, and Emenyenche.  When Kaleb introduced himself, he would tell them he is a seminarian studying for the priesthood.  At Emenyenche, they told Kaleb to remember to come back in three years when he is ordained and be their priest!  So many of the Outstations do not have a priest and they may have Mass only once every few weeks.  It was also at Emenyenche that one of the mamas got up and spoke - in English - on behalf of the group to express their gratitude for the gift of not just the water filters but for us being there with them…gratitude expressed that touches one’s heart. 

On Thursday, we were supposed to make home visits for Water with Blessings but weren’t able to.  The evening before, Emma and Lilian tried to find some guides to take us around but when making phone calls realized not many mamas would be home.  They tried for three different places.  At Enchoro, they had a funeral, at Nyamakoroto the women had a special Mass they were to attend, and finally at Nyantarago, another funeral.  Therefore, we decided it was not a good day to make home visits and Kaleb went on pastoral visits to the homes of parishioners with the seminarians that are here at Gekano parish.  Around 11:30 am he and one of the seminarians came to the Mission house where Kaleb retrieved his cassock because they were going to a funeral at Nyantarago and they invited him to go along.  The seminarians here at the parish have taken Kaleb under their wing and so far, he has gone with them to two funerals and to make pastoral visits in the surrounding area.  Kaleb is getting to experience what serving the church here is like. 

On Friday, we took two orphans back for checkups – Sarah to the eye clinic and Sheila to the orthopedic doctor.  Wes dropped Kathy and Sheila off at Christamarianne Hospital while he took Sarah to the eye clinic.  After 40 minutes or so, Wes called Kathy saying they were done.  Because Kathy and Sheila were nowhere near getting done any time soon because the doctor had not yet arrived, Wes took Sarah back to school at St. Theresa’s and then drove back to Kisii to wait for Sheila’s appointment to be done.  We sat for two hours waiting for the nurse to come out and give us our number to indicate what position we were for seeing the doctor.  The waiting room for the doctor was full and when the nurse came out, he asked the question, “nani wa kwanza” which meant who is first?  Kathy was thinking that was not a good question to ask because a number of people got up claiming they were first.  Eventually it got sorted out and as it was determined who was what number, the nurse would write the number on a 2x2 piece of paper - we were #8 in line to see the doctor.  After we sat for a half hour or so, the nurse asked Kathy to go back to the Cashier window to pay the fee for the ortho doctor while Sheila continued to wait.  So, Kathy went back downstairs and outside to the Cashier’s window – the Cashier was a Franciscan Sister.  There were a couple of mamas in front of Kathy but as she stood in line, a couple of other people butted in front of Kathy.  They both handed a piece of paper/card that had the procedure or specialist they were seeing through the bars of the window to the Cashier.  A man who was off to the side of Kathy also stuck his card through the window in front of Kathy’s face so Kathy, already a little irritated, simply said to the man that she was before him to which the man responded, “I have already been here” to which Kathy said, “and so have I” but that didn’t change his mind about being courteous and he shoved his shillings through the window in front of Kathy.  The Sister who was the Cashier said nothing – she just took whatever card or paper that came through the bars on the window and left it up to the people outside the bars to figure it out.  Finally, Kathy got a little more aggressive and shoved her paper through the window and as she was doing that, a well-dressed man handed his phone through the window for Sister to look at – people can pay their bill through the phone.  Kathy gave the man one of those looks and he said, “I am an anesthesiologist – I cannot wait” to which Kathy wanted to say, “so what – wait your turn” but she didn’t.  Finally, Kathy got the fee paid and headed back to the waiting room where Sheila was.  Once there Kathy inquired what number they were currently on and it was patient #2.  Sheila then told Kathy that she was no longer # 8 – she was #9 with the reason being the nurse gave out two #7’s!  Eventually Sheila was seen and the doctor prescribed physical therapy once a week for the next month so we will be making weekly visits.  We hope the process for physical therapy goes much better but we don’t have high expectations...that way we won’t be disappointed!   We were at the hospital almost four hours. 

The weather this week has been pleasant with temperatures in the mid-70’s.  It is considered winter here so we are having some cooler temperatures for the most part though during the 10 am to 2 pm time frame, the sun can still be intense.  Kaleb came from Rome where they were having 95-degree plus temperatures with high humidity so the weather here has been a nice change for him.  We received almost two inches of rain with most of it coming at one time. 

Shamba update:  As mentioned earlier, the painters are cleaning and applying a primer.  The black paint between the stones has been completed as well as applying a clear coat to the stones to bring the color out even more.  Wes has been busy putting spreadsheets together with all the rooms and the order numbers for the wall and floor tiles for all the rooms and the steps.  In the end, we didn’t have a huge selection of tiles to choose from but we got it figured out.  Maybe we should say there was a large selection of tiles to choose from but just not the kind that we would put in – none of us (Fr. David or us) are into the wild designs or things with a lot of “bling”!  One of the customer reps at the tile store pointed out racks of tiles with designs and colors that we would not put in the house – any house!  Joe, the architect, who has come to know we are not into these types of designs and colors, said to the rep “look at them – look at their clothes” meaning if the guy looked at our plain colored clothing (light browns, blues and grey) he would get a sense of what we were looking for!  The rep was pointing out vivid reds, greens, and gold for tiles as well as tiles that had so much intricate designs in them that it was dizzying.  We ended up choosing a light-colored tile for the majority of the house while the bedrooms, office, storage, etc. will have tile that has the look of a wooden floor.  In the end, the house needs to have a look that stands the test of time and not what is currently in style.  They like to tile to the ceiling but we had to insist that tile only goes so far up in places like the bathroom, kitchen, laundry, etc. so that we can change colors by painting and not something so permanent as tile. 

Please know that we keep you in our prayers and ask that you keep us, the Mission, and those we serve in yours.  Mungu Akubariki!

See photos from this week in the album section by clicking on the link below.  Note:  If unable to view the photos using the link below, you can still view them by going to St. Joseph’s Parish website and scrolling down to the section titled Kenya Mission – photo album.  The website:  www.stjparish.com


https://stjparish.com/photoalbums/kenya-7-9-23