Last Sunday, we attended the 7 am Mass here at Gekano.  A visiting priest had the Mass though he is originally from this parish.  He started Mass 15 min late and it went two hours with his homily being about 40 minutes.  After Mass we went for our Sunday walk but as we approached Amos’ house, we decided we couldn’t hand out any sweets because there were too many eyes who could see us hand out tom-toms and we didn’t have enough for everyone.  Amos gave us that sad look when we said, “hakuna sweets” meaning there were no sweets.    

On Monday morning, we left shortly after 8 am to take an orphan to get a knee brace.  We had taken her to the doctor the Friday before but since they didn’t have a brace on hand that day, we had to make a special trip.  On Monday evening and throughout the week, we had a number of girls coming and asking for 20 bob (15 cents) so they could get their heads shaved since it is part of the dress code here at the school – it is interesting that the school requires it to be done and then they charge the girls for it to be done!   They had to have their heads shaved by Friday so during the week, we saw more and more girls with basically no hair.  In the morning on the way to church, the majority of them had their hoods pulled up over their heads because they were cold.  The temps in the morning have been around 56 – 58 degrees which for them is cold.  Fr. David and Wes think it is cold as well because they always have their jackets on in the morning while Kathy is quite comfortable without one.

On Tuesday, we headed to Kisii to see if we could become signatories on the Mission’s checking account.  We had our papers from the Kenyan Revenue Authority (KRA) and when we were in Nairobi a few weeks ago, we had understood that the papers the guy printed there had our PIN # but it was not to be.  We, along with Fr. David, arrived at the bank by 9:15 am hoping that by arriving early we wouldn’t have to wait too long.  When you get to the bank, you take a ticket and then wait to hear your number announced over the intercom.  We waited around 20 minutes for our number to be called as well as what desk to proceed to.  The guy behind desk looked at the paperwork and told us the forms we brought indicate we only applied for the PIN #.  Therefore, we would have to wait for the PIN # to arrive in our email box at some point.  When visiting with Rogers later that day, he asked if we got everything straightened out at the bank.  When we told him about the KRA Pin # and having to wait for it, he told us that when he got his PIN # he received it right away which is what we thought we had gotten in Nairobi.  Later in the week we did get our PIN #’s via email so we will make another trip to the bank this week and hopefully become signatories on the checking account.  Not that we are excited to be writing checks but it will help if we can since Fr. David may not always be around such as when he was on vacation a few weeks ago - the only other person who can write checks is Sr. Theresa. 

On Wednesday, we went for home visits to Mosobeti.  This area seems to be taking us some time to complete mostly because of the distance between the shambas and the terrain we cover.  We split up - Wes and Emma, along with their guide, Lilian, going one direction with the car while Kathy, Lilian and their guide, Virginia, going another direction on foot.  We were not high up the mountain though we had some hills to climb whether on foot or in the car.  Between the two groups, we were able to visit eight mamas though we had hoped to do more.  Hopefully our next visit to that area in a couple of weeks will be our last so that we can deliver water drums to them and then move to the next area.  Virginia, the guide for Lilian and Kathy, brought her thirteen-month-old son Aiden along.  She had a piece of cloth called a kitenge which was used as a sling to carry him on her back.  At one point, Kathy made a comment to Virginia that her back must be aching because of carrying Aiden. She said they are used to it because when they pluck tea, they do the same thing – they tie the child to their back and pluck the tea for hours at a time.  Because they were close to some dukas (shops), Kathy suggested they stop to take a break and get a soda or something else to drink and so they did.  Aiden was quite happy to get some juice and run around since he had been strapped to his mama’s back the whole time.  During their walks from one shamba to the next, they came across some men carrying bundles of maize – the whole stalk along with the cobs.  Kathy asked Lilian why they would be pulling out the entire plant but Lilian didn’t know, either.  Virginia proceeded to tell them that people are stealing the maize cobs from people’s shambas – the economy is not good here.  Virginian explained that even though they are having to pick it somewhat early, at least they will have their maize.  Lilian relayed how the price of items such as maize, beans, flour, sugar, etc. have increased dramatically in price.  She said she used to be able to get by on Ksh 1000 ($8) for one month for her and Ivan.  Now she is paying around 4500 ($32) for that same amount of food.  That may not seem like a lot of money but most people here make less than $5 per day.  Shopping for them is not in the supermarket like we shop – they are going to the outdoor markets that are held several days a week to buy mboga (greens), maize, potatoes, oranges, mangos, etc.  The maize they buy is taken to a posho mill to have it ground into flour to make ugali.  For the most part, the visits went well though Kathy’s day didn’t start out the best.  When you are invited into a nyumba (home), it is usually very dim because most of them are mud homes and the only windows they have are boards across an opening and almost always are shut.  The open door is usually the only source of light.  Eventually, as you sit in the dimly lit room, one’s eyes will adjust to what light there is.  When Kathy, Lilian, and Virginia entered the second home they visited, they were invited to sit on the couches.  Kathy usually tries to check out the seat first – past experiences have taught her to do that and because she has seen numerous chickens running across the couches and chairs.  Because the room wasn’t lit very well, she just sat down and as dim as it was, she would probably not have seen anything anyway.  Upon sitting down, Kathy felt something wet and squishy.  She couldn’t see then nor did she want to as her gut feeling told her that it wasn’t just water that was spilled on the cushion. After they finished watching the mama demonstrate how she cleans the filter, they went outside.  In the bright sunlight, Kathy was able to check out the back of her pants - her guess had been chicken droppings and she was correct…not that she wanted to be correct!  She did the best to clean it off with some wipes she carries in her bag but that didn’t help clear her mind knowing what she sat in.  O well…every day is an adventure!

On Thursday, we went to Nyaborabu and Emenyenche for follow ups.  As we walked down the hill to the church at Emenyenche, we saw a pile of dirt with sticks around it – something that had not been there in May when we conducted a follow up.  We asked the man standing beside it what he was doing but we didn’t understand a word he said so Lilian interpreted for us – the man was making charcoal.  The charcoal is made by burning wood under a limited supply of oxygen (the pile of dirt) – basically it was an earthen kiln though one that is probably not very efficient.  After Emenyenche, we headed to Nyaborabu.  When we arrived, some of the women were standing outside the church – no one had the key.  Supposedly the woman who usually has it asked another woman to open it but then that woman had a matanga (funeral) to attend and therefore no one opened it.  The women decided they would sit on the grass, rock piles, and bricks found around the church though a couple of the women who lived close by brought a few chairs for the older mamas to sit on.  Because the sun got very intense by 11:45 am or so, the women asked if they could be done and we were okay with that as we were hot, too. 

The weather has been pleasant this week with daytime temperatures around 75 to 80 degrees.  We saw that it was hot and humid back in ND and we have to say we don’t miss that kind of weather.  The trade winds are still hanging around here which is nice on laundry day!  We finally received some rain as we haven’t had much precipitation for almost three weeks - we received almost an inch on Thursday evening which was most welcome.  In order to conserve what water is in the cistern, we went back to bringing water in the house from our barrels outside.  Whenever it does rain, we continue to collect the rain from the Sister’s roof and store it in two barrels – water we use to clean the porch, wash vehicles and now we are using it to flush the toilet since it takes around 2-2.5 gallons each time it is flushed.  The new house will definitely have one that uses less water.

On Saturday we had Mission Saturday at Ichuni and for Week 2 here at Gekano seeing around 200 orphans between the two places.  Because Sr. Theresa was not able to be come, Kathy took her place to write receipts and hand out money for the stipend and school fees that were less than Ksh 5000 ($36).  Kathy enjoys being able to visit with the children even though it is for a very short time.  It also gives Kathy a chance to try and learn their names though trying to remember them is another story but we try. 

Shamba update:  the men continue to work on the enclosure for the steps that lead to the roof.  They are almost done and will probably finish this week.  The next step will be to pull the wires through the conduit that is embedded in the wall.  We made sure there were plenty of outlets or sockets as they call them here so those alone may take some time.  Once the electrical work is finished, they have to clean the cement splatters off the windows and door frames.  We still think it would have been much easier to just cover the window and door frames with plastic or the empty cement bags but this is how they do it – all we care is that it gets cleaned off.  The guys were told no painting until we inspect! 

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-6-11-23