Kenya Monday - Tuesday 6/21-22/10

After the Saturday meetings it became clear that a program that I had used in the US would be useful to the Sisters. Margaret made arrangements for us to go to Father Steve’s Seminary (where he is the Rector/president) to have use of a real internet connection. We spent most of the day in the library, downloading the program and then working on the organizational chart of the Sisters. In doing that work, gaps in the structure became clear and the decision-making charts will help Sister Margaret and her council to clean up the decision-making process.


Then we got a tour of the Seminary’s new language lab and department. It was quite up-to-date and impressive. It might be interesting to hook up Hartnell or DLI with this group and share information and teaching techniques. It was quite impressive. The day ended with programs installed in all three computers, work on the organization charts, and clean up of our e-mail. (Many days we are able to see the e-mails that you send but not able to respond. We do not know what is going on but every chance we get we are trying to respond and sometimes it goes through. Remember we are on dial-up.)

Tuesday we slept in and did some laundry. The long drives, the heat, and late night arrivals with early mornings finally caught up with us. We were pooped!! Later in the morning we went over to Assisi House to check on the plumbing. Well, not all was wonderful. The world of plumbing had taken a new twist. The city had not had enough pressure in their system to push water into the Assisi’s city water tank. They had not had new water since we had left (10 days earlier). They had rationed the water I had pumped into the ceiling tanks and were out. It was clear that the plumbing issue was not solved and a new tack had to be taken. What was being done in houses around them needed to be duplicated. Each house had a small tank buried in the ground so whatever the pressure the city water would run into the tank. Then a small pump was put next to that tank to pump it into the larger city water tank. I also found that two of the ceiling tanks had rusted through and needed to be replaced. This was becoming a larger issue than I could fix by myself. In discussion with Sister Anne, we decided to have a plumber come out and give us a bid on the work. Yvonne and I had not spent the money that some of you had given for the Kenya Project ($80,000 Kenyan Shillings all together) and I thought it was better to complete one project rather than spread the money around to several projects. The Sisters agreed to hire the plumber and called one that they knew to give us a bid. He (Stanley), I (Stanley), and Sister Anne walked the building and talked about what needed to be done. Sister Anne and he talked price and came to an agreement. (1) The small tank and pump would be put in line with the city water tank including the electrical hookup for the pump. (2) The tanks in the ceiling would be replaced. (3) Several toilets would be replaced and others made operational. (4) The faucets in the kitchen would be replaced and others would have washers put in them. If I could get $7,000 Kenyan Shillings to him today he could purchase the materials for the small tank and pump and get started tomorrow. All of this fit within our budget so a deal was struck, an invoice was developed, Stanley (the plumber) would write out the scope of the project before he started (this was odd for them but you know those Americans). (Sister Anne liked this as they had been burned before with work not completed.) Sister Anne will manage the project as Yvonne and I will not be around much this next week. We then walked home (Savelberg Retreat Center) to crash again.