Kenya Friday-Saturday 6/25-26/10

Yvonne has taken over writing this blog so you can appreciate her perspective on our trip. You will notice it is the longest blog yet.

Friday we left on our second road trip. We drove from Nairobi to Lake Borgoria National Park. It is known for the hot springs and geysers. We left Nairobi at 12:00 (later than we expected) as Sr. Margaret had papers to sign. As part of the adventure we turned off on a dirt road that was to bring us into the back of the park. Little did we know what this decision was going to mean. It was good that we were in the 4X4 pickup (again a good decision) for two hours we drove on roads that got worse and worse. We made several wrong turns and were redirected by the locals. When asked where the lake was the standard answer was “Just ahead”. Well that is true it was just ahead but mileage is not clear in their minds. One old man told us it was 3 kilometers but after 15 kilometers it was clear it was “just ahead” but not close. We arrived at the lake at 5:00 but were now several hours behind the schedule but on African time. Again it was perfect timing. We watched the flamingos (bright pink with red and black coloring that you only see when they fly) settle down for the night, the sunset over the lake with a full moon rising was spectacular, a rainbow show it colors, and many animals come out to the lake for their evening drink. All of that was a plus to the hot springs and geysers.

We took the easy way out, on a paved road, and as night descended and the country got darker we headed for Sister Pauline’s boma (home). This too was not a route that John the driver or either of the sisters had taken so we kept asking people how to get across to Nandi Hills. We stopped in Ravine about 10:00 and had a cup of chai with Laina Kasegem a friend of Sister Pauline’s. He was able to give us clear directions to Nandi Hills and then it was smaller and smaller roads that ended in a classical hedge that surrounded the compound. We had arrived at Pauline’s house at 12:30 am. Her aunt and uncle (Helen and Raphael) greeted us and welcomed us home with some of the children (Celestine, George and Barnabas). Helen had supper waiting for us and then it was off to bed. An amazing day.

Saturday morning after breakfast, Pauline’s uncle arranged for us to visit one of the tea factories in the area (Kapsimbeiwa). Nandi Hills is one of the major tea-growing areas of Kenya. The hills, as far as the eye can see, are covered in tea plants. These are owned by large land owners and called tea plantations. One of Raphael’s contacts is the manager of the factory and he allowed us to visit the factory for a tour. Raphael and many of his neighbors own small plots of tea. They have organized into a co-op and also sell their tea to this factory.

Picking tea leaves has for centuries been done by hand, back-breaking work and hugely expense labor costs. Recently, a mechanized picking machine has been developed and introduced to a few of the plantations. This is very controversial because the laborers come from many areas of Kenya for the work in the tea. Some have lived in the labor camps for several generations and have no home to return to. These labors camps are nothing like ours. They are called villages, and contain solidly built homes, schools, gardens, dispensaries, and social halls, etc. The controversy continues as a few owners cut the labor costs by using the machines which do not pick as carefully, or evenly as by hand. (Ever heard of this dilemma before???) Raphael made it possible for us to enter the fields and view both the hand and machine – picking of the tea.

After the tea is picked, the pickers sort and clean their leaves and pack them into gunny sacks, which are weighed and loaded onto trailers pulled by tractors headed for the factory. The factory is divided into three main areas-1) withering (allowing the freshly picked leaves to wilt over night in large table trays); 2) oxygenation (the leaves are cut into fine pieces, the stems and twigs are removed, then the process continues with each cutting into smaller and smaller pieces; then air is blown through the finely chopped leaves (which now look like damp ground cumin) which dries the leaves and they change to a darker color); 3) drying and grading (this requires a huge wood-fired boiler which makes steam to heat the air which is blown through the tea which dries the tea; as the tea exits the drying chamber it is graded by passing it through screens of various sizes {similar to walnut grading} so the finest tea, the very best grade, is pulled off first. It is packed into 60 kilo bags, placed pallets and shipped to Mombasa for auction. We were invited into the testing room, where samples are brewed and tasted to insure quality control every hour. If there is a problem, it is addressed on the line immediately. Tea processing is highly affected by the weather-humidity, temperature, rain, etc. Then we were invited back to the office to have a cup of tea. It was great.

When we left the tea factory, we went to Sister Pauline’s mother and father’s home, the home where she was raised. This home is the center of the entire family village and is surrounded by the homes of other family members. They graciously offered us a huge lunch and family talk in Nandi (Kalenjin), a language which we hadn’t heard too often. We have learned the greeting word “asaai” which must include a big hug, and “kongoi missing” which is thank you very much. We used our words frequently as they are a very loving and hospitable family. After lunch we walked to many of the homes and visited with Pauline’s great aunt and uncle who wanted to serve us tea to welcome us into their home in the worst way, and Pauline’s cousin and her brand new baby, Perpetua. Many of the little children had never seen a mzungu (chumbindet in the village), a white person, so they cried and ran away from us. Touching us was not a possibility. Stanley terrified them with his grey beard, low voice, and white skin. All of her family were warm and friendly, teaching us words, showing us their shambas (farms), rope-driven water pump (all water is hauled in buckets to the home), the animals, the corn (maize) grinder which makes corn flour for their ugali (kimiet in Nandi). This is the ever-present polenta-type food served with milk and green vegetables. When we returned from our walk, we were invited into Pauline’s mother’s kitchen (which is separate from the house) to sit on benches with her and watch her make pancakes and roast maize in the fire. It was a very special moment for us. A very real Kenyan moment.

Meanwhile, the truck radiator was repaired after the pin-hole leak was created by the road leading into Lake Bogoria. So we climbed into the truck and headed for Pauline’s elder brother’s home to share a cup of tea. Again we were welcomed and shown his shamba. His maize (corn) is “as high as an elephant’s eye”. Margaret wanted to know his secret and he told her it was cow dung tilled into the land which sat until the first rain and the planting. She plans to use this technique in all of the shambas in the convents. We were then invited into their home and served tea and visited as the sun went down and it became dark. Pauline’s sister-in-law brought in a small paraffin lamp which we are told is used in many families who do not have electricity and a lot of children do their homework by this light. The warning is to laugh, sneeze, or cough gently, as any slight movement of air blows out this tiny light.

We left and returned to Raphael and Helen’s home for the dinner and for the night. This was our last night in Raphael’s and Helen’s home and we were leaving early in the morning for Mass and travel to Asumbi via Ahero. So Pauline orchestrated the farewell ritual to happen after dinner. This entailed Raphael expressing his pleasure at our visit and then inviting everyone in his family to also speak, even Celestin the 10 year old and Helen who speaks little English. Then we were invited to speak and we offered our small gift of thanks and Pauling spoke and finally Margaret wrapped it up with her theological treatise on families, friends, guests, and hospitality. It was a fabulous way to end our visit. Sunday morning we rose early and said more good-byes and departed.