Kenya Wednesday - Saturday 7/7-10/10

Wednesday was a day of travel on the bus from Mombasa to Nairobi. For some reason this trip was longer than the trip to Mombasa and we hit Nairobi at the rush hour “jam” which added another two hours to the 7 hour trip. We finally got home and went to bed.

Thursday was planned as our packing day for our return home but as usual it filled up quickly. We had been unable to visit Sister Margaret’s sister, Cecilia, whom we had met in CA during Margaret’s graduation. We did not want to miss seeing her and so a lunch visit was arranged. We traveled across Nairobi to her house, dropping off a Sister at the bus station an efficient use of the car and driver. Cecilia was overjoyed to see us and, as usual with these types of visits, other family members were invited to drop in to greet the visitors. Because of this practice we were able to finally meet Margaret’s brother, Peter, and his wife and children. The original plan was for use to stay at Peter’s home in Nairobi but plans changed. So it was great to finally be able to meet he and his family. Peter is a former Member of Parliament and the Minister of Education for 15 years. He is now working as a consultant for the UN to other African nations of the matter of parliamentary democracy. He is a man of vision and the afternoon’s conversation was lively and spirited. After lunch and afternoon tea we headed back to Assisi house for the farewell party with the Sisters.

There was a lovely dinner laid out and the dinner progressed with much storytelling, laughing and talking. Afterwards it was time for gifts and speeches. Yvonne and I had a certificate that we awarded Pauline as an Apprentice Plumber with a small channel lock pliers as the reward. We also gave Pauline a kitanga in gratitude for her unwavering care of us during this trip. (We tricked her by telling her it was for Meghann.) We awarded Sister Anne Felistas the large channel lock pliers to designate her as the foreman of the plumbing project in my absence. We had honey for Margaret and then once more Yvonne spoke for us. She was eloquent and neither of us cried too much.

Then it was the Sister’s turn. It started in the same way as this trip began, with singing and dancing. This time they even got Stan to dance, Yvonne was easy as she always wants to dance. (We have video to prove it and Stan is still a stick compared to the others.) They presented us with a set of traditional African clothing made from the fabric that we had chosen during our trip to the garment district (they tricked us again). They gave each one of us a safari hat, Yvonne a purse and Stanley a belt and then much love to take us home. We had put together a few pictures as a slide show that we presented after all of the festivities. It was fun to hear them say, “Oh there I am” or “Look at ….” Then it was back to Savelberg for the night. Margaret then left the party to go home and pack. She had a midnight flight to the US on a fund raising trip. We will get to see her in a week on her way through SF.

As our flight was not until 4:00 and we did not need to leave until noon to get to the airport, we visited Assisi House one last time on Friday morning. I took the last set of pictures of the plumbing project (The Sisters doing dishes in the sink with water from the tap) and the chickens, which were delivered at the beginning of our visit, that are now ready for slaughter. Then the last, last, last good-byes, into the car and off to the airport.

I think that saying good-bye to Sister Pauline was probably the hardest good-bye. She has become our mentor to the culture, friend when we were confused, language teacher, and her sisterly teasing of Stanley was evidence of how close our relationship became. (She was the one that named him Punda, donkey, because he carried the luggage.) Because of security, they would not allow her into the airport terminal so quick goodbyes were said on the street. This was acceptable for all of us because we were dreading that moment and Pauline had threatened to find something else to do so she could not take us to the airport. (Kongoi missing Pauline)

The rest of the day was the normal harassment created by airports, luggage, passports, security and airplanes. We arrived in Dubai at midnight and were taken to our hotel. We got to bed by 1:00 am and were up at 5:00 to go back to the airport and more harassment.

Saturday started a very long day all of which was spent on a plane. We were at the Dubai airport by 6:00 and on the plane by 8:30 then sat on the runway for an extra hour before we took off. We arrived in SF at midnight Dubai time (16 hours in the air) where Brian and Baylee met us. He drove us back home as Stanley was afraid to drive (sleep deprivation and six weeks of no driving in a country that drives on the other side of the road where traffic lights are just a suggestion).

We arrived home and were greeted by our children and gave them greetings from all of you in Kenya. We told a few stories, but when Yvonne fell asleep midsentence, we knew it was time for us to go to bed (Dubai time was 8:00am on Sunday and we had been up for 30 hours).

It will take many weeks to figure out what we really learned from this trip but it was one that will not be forgotten for a lifetime. Nor will we forget the amazing people we met in Kenya who are working for the betterment of all of Kenya: educating the people, caring for their physical well being, and holding them in God’s hands.

For those of you in Kenya “Asante sana” for your care and teaching of us and for those of you in the US “Thank you” for letting us take this amazing journey.

Kenya Sunday - Tuesday 7/4-6/10

Many of the Sisters told us that the one thing we had to do before leaving was to go to Mombasa and dip our feet in the great Indian Ocean. Mombasa is the major port town on the south coast of Kenya. It is infamous for the slave trade which the Portuguese started in 1598 and the Arabs continued beginning in 1698 after they defeated the Portuguese. So on Sunday, the Fourth of July (do you know that no one celebrates that holiday over here), we got up and climbed on a bus in downtown Nairobi and headed for Mombasa 7 hours away (actually we did not know if it was going to be 7 or 9 or 6 hours but it took 7). We traveled with Sister Pauline and Sister Anne Celestine neither of whom had ever been to Mombasa. Sister Celestine was taking the place of Sister Margaret who had been called away because of work.

We were met in Mombasa by Peter, Pauline’s nephew (our hosts in Pauline’s village, Raphael and Helen’s son). He made arrangements to be off work and borrowed a friend’s 4 door pickup so he could transport us and our luggage around town. Peter picked us up from the bus and took us directly to see the Indian Ocean. We had supper at a lovely restaurant overlooking the ocean. We then had quite an adventure as we had to ride a ferry over to the mainland (Mombasa town is an island) and our accommodations at the Consolata Retreat House. (This had been arranged by Father Steve, Margaret’s brother [everything over here is done by who you know]). The ferry was huge and carried about 40 cars and 1 billion people on foot, bicycles, and push carts. They swarmed onto the ferry and then swarmed off. Sister Celestine had never been on a boat, let alone a ferry, and all of this was almost too much for her. When we got to the Retreat House, we found they did not believe Sister Pauline when she told them that we had eaten dinner. So when we walked in, a full dinner was on the table and they expected us to eat it. We couldn’t say no to the hostess and so we sat down and pushed food around our plates, trying to make it look like we were eating. Pauline asked us if this was the way that we felt when we were urged to have 2nds and 3rds at our meals with the Sisters. When we said “Yes”, she apologized because she felt very full and was having to eat this 2nd dinner.

We were then lead to our rooms which overlook the ocean. We settled into our rooms and in the dark walked out to view the ocean. The Sisters had never seen an ocean and they know nothing of the common knowledge of an ocean like tides, waves, reefs. Sister Celestine was very nervous about being near the water and finally asked if the fence would hold back the hippos when they came out of the water. We were astonished, but finally realized that she had been sent to fetch water as a child from lakes and rivers and had been  warned about the hippos that live there. We assured her that hippos don’t live in the ocean and she tried to relax a little, although she stayed wary until the Monday morning, when Stanley took us down to walk in the ocean.

The beach is extremely shallow here and the fishermen walk out 100 yards with the water up to their chests. Further out than Lanikai on Oahu is a reef and there the waves are breaking. The waves at the beach are only 6-8 inches high. So, it is like walking into lake with very warm water. The Sisters had no swimming clothes to wear, so we have some pictures of them holding up their skirts and giggling and laughing and screaming in a happy, sort of scared, excitement at this new experience. We played around in about 12 inches of water while they got used to the movement of the water. Then Peter arrived and we were off for our tour of Mombasa.

Peter started with Fort Jesus, the Portuguese fort carved out of coral. The outside walls are 2 meters (about 6 1\2 feet) thick. This coral is a 25-30 ft bluff rising out of the ocean. It took them 3 years to carve the fort. We were told that the fort was in the shape of Jesus on the cross---thus its name. From the air, it resembles a head, 2 arms, a body, and 2 legs. After about 100 years, the Arabs besieged the Fort and the town of Mombasa for 2 years and eventually starved the Portuguese out of town. The Arabs took over the existing slave trade for another 200 years. Our guide showed us through the well-preserved ruins of this fort and pointed out gun placements, the Portuguese cistern and the Arab well, the latrines, and a museum containing artifacts found in the fort and also in the bay (anchors, cannons, dishes, ceramic pots, etc.) Then the guide took us on an tour of old town Mombasa, through narrow streets, old mosques, markets and ended up at the mouth of a tunnel from the fort through which the slaves were loaded onto waiting boats to be taken to the slave ships. This tunnel was a very narrow and steep set of steps down to the beach from the fort. This was a way to control the slaves as the slaves could not exit the tunnel more than one at a time. Many slaves opted to just through themselves into the ocean and drown rather than board the ships. We completed our tour of old town and arrived back at the fort to be joined by Peter so we could drive out to the Sisters farm in the “town” of Mivumoni about 70 Km and a dancing road outside of Mombasa. (1 ½ to 2 hours)

Sister Sarah is one of three Sisters who are living in a small!! wooden convent made from the trees they had cleared on 100 acres to create a large farm which the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph purchased three years ago. The purpose of this farm is to provide produce for the other convents, as well as sell produce for profit to support the Order’s other projects. The farm is 3 years old (on the Fourth of July) and currently is raising beans, peanuts, maize, passion fruit, oranges, and tangerines with coconuts, mangoes and cashews planted for future harvests. All of this is dry-land farming watered by the rain which comes in two 2-month seasons during the year. Of course, there is an issue with water. They want to develop an irrigation system by creating a catch basin at the bottom of the hill where there is swampy area. They say that the water table is at about 50 meters in that area. Sister Sarah is trying to solve her irrigation problem using only what she can see---dig a hole where water already gathers and carry the water to the plants. She needs to drill a bore hole, and pump the water to a catch basin or tank at the top of the hill and use gravity to move the water downhill to irrigate her farm. Money, technology, and water are a reoccurring theme here in Kenya. We have found it to be so everywhere that we have been.

Sister Sarah proudly walked us all over the farm to show us all of their hard work (and I mean HARD). She then invited us for lunch which concluded with all of which came from the farm, except for the rice. Dessert was delicious, sweet passion fruit juice and oranges which we stuffed ourselves with because she said if we didn’t they would rot. Then we went outside and we thought we were getting ready to leave, but we found we were invited to plant a tree in our honor in memory of our visit to the farm. There was much clapping and ululation while we planted and watered a new little ravelia(?) tree. The Sisters and Peter each also planted trees and then a tree was planted to honor Sister Margaret’s election as Superior General. It was a very touching ceremony.

After all the pictures were taken of Sister Sarah in her truck and much good humor over her being a truck driver in her religious dress, we drove back over the dancing road to Mombasa and got back to the Retreat Center in time for dinner. This time we were actually hungry. On the way back, Sister Pauline and Sister Celestine stopped to shop at one of the street markets for bathing costumes and sandals to wear in the ocean. They wouldn’t show us what they bought and sat in the back seat and giggled a lot on the way home.

Tuesday morning we were up early for breakfast and then into our bathing costumes and down to the beach for an experience in the ocean. Stanley started walking out into the water and the Sisters got very nervous. He then turned around and invited us to join him. Amid shrieks of laughter and a lot of trepidation, the Sisters ventured out into the ocean. Now you have to understand that they don’t know how to swim, as they have never had the opportunity to be in water that was safe enough to swim in. Sister Pauline grabbed Stanley’s arm and Sister Celestine clutched Yvonne’s hand and we headed off stepping carefully for fear that we would slip and fall. We wanted this to be a good experience for them so we were very careful. For those of you who know Yvonne in the water, you’ll be surprised to know that she was the one steadying someone else who was more frightened than she was. We spent a fun-filled hour splashing in the ocean which reached up to knees and then began our careful retreat towards the beach. During our return, it began to rain and we had to tell them not to hurry for shelter as they were already wet which once again reduced us all to a gale of laughter.

Peter arrived for the day’s further adventures; we changed clothes and headed out. He took us to Heller Park, animal preserve developed by a large local concrete company, from the land that they had quarried for rock and gravel. In 1974 they began planting trees and designing appropriate landscapes for native animal, so after 35 years it looks like it has always been there. As we drove in, (before we even paid at the entrance) what did we see, but 5 Rothschild giraffes grazing on the parking lot trees. A little further into the park we saw Galapagos tortoises and monkeys. Then it became a walking tour of the park, and the rain that had been threatening decided to pour about half way through the tour. Even so, we were able to see Nile crocodiles, their fish farm, ducks, a hippo submerged in a pond with only his eyes showing, Elan antelope, Cape buffalo, horse-backed antelope, a large selection of reptiles (in terrariums), a baby Monitor lizard and more monkeys (they are known as pests in Kenya.) Then the rain really poured on us. We were drenched, but happy as we headed for the truck and our next adventure.

Sister Pauline had one more trick up her sleeve. She had a friend who had a friend who could get us into the Kenyan Port Authority. Now anything that enters Kenya comes through the port of Mombasa. It is not the largest port in Africa, (17 cargo ship berths) but in 2009, they moved 19.1 million tons of cargo through this port. After several minutes of waiting for the friend of a friend of a friend to get us the visitor passes and entry into the correct gate, we met Jeffery Long’ats who graciously spent time away from his office to drive us around the port docks, showing us the workings of the port, explaining the huge equipment. We were lucky enough to be able to watch several containers from one of the cargo ships be unloaded onto waiting trucks. Jeffrey told us that the target for efficient unloading was 2 minutes per container from picking up the container inside the ship, over to the dock and the waiting truck and back for the next container. This process was amazing to watch. Jeffrey was unable to gain us entry into the Harbor Master’s Control Tower which overlooks the entire port, as they were just too busy to accept any visitors. Our 2 hour tour ended with handshakes and gratitude, and an invitation to Jeffery to visit us on his next trip to California.

We went into town to purchase our bus tickets for tomorrow for our 6-9 hour trip back to Nairobi.

Peter has done such a great job in taking us around Mombasa. He seemed to know what we should see and spent the time making sure that our stay here in Mombasa was outstanding. We could not have had a better host and we want to recognize his contribution to our growing understanding of Kenya.

It doesn’t seem possible that we will be heading home in three days, but we are beginning to feel the tug of our family and all of those little girls waiting for us.

Kenya Friday - Saturday 7/2-3/10

We were up early to go into Nairobi to, once more, go to the fabric sellers and buy another piece of fabric. This time it was not so intimidating as we knew what to expect. Then into the truck and off to Mount Kenya. This is really not the time of year to view the summit but we had ½ of Nairobi praying for the clouds to clear so we had hope that we would be able to see the top of this glorious mountain. This trip was planned so that we would completely encircle the mountain which would mean that we would drive completely different climates, cultures, and flora. We left Nairobi and went to the west side of Mt. Kenya and stopped for tea in Nanyuki and then on to a Benedictine Monastery where the one of the priests had developed a way of talking about the Bible from an African perspective. He called this “African Bible on the Ground” because he developed the grounds of the monastery as a walking meditation with stations that discussed how the bible and traditional African values are consistent with each other. This was a big change for the Roman Catholic church as up until then (after Vatican II) traditional African life was considered pagan. We were not allowed to take pictures but it was a wonderful discussion of the bible.

Then back into the truck and on to Isiolo our northern most stop and what Sister Pauline calls the end of Kenya. We had driven around to the back of Mt Kenya without seeing the mountain, through a rain storm and then out into the desert. It looked like what you would find out in the Mohave but much larger. We were introduced to another type of transportation. It was the desert Matatu (bus). This is a lorry (truck) that transports animals (goats, cows, camels) with a board put across the top above the animals so that humans can sit up there for the trip across the desert to the Ethiopian border several hundred miles away. (See picture this truck was on it's way out of town and we are told not really loaded with people yet.). We stayed at the Diocesan Pastoral Center, with the wind blowing a gale.

Then up in the morning for 7:00 am mass and breakfast with the parish priest as the bishop was not in residence. We were on the road by 9:00. Sister Pauline was disappointed as we had not seen camels in town as that is a common experience. Then lo and behold there on the side of the road as we leave Isiolo there was a herd of camels. We stopped for pictures and Sister Pauline convinced us to leave the truck and walk out into the desert to get a closer look. She assured us that all camels were domesticated and herded and there would not be a problem as there would be a herder with them. She found the herder and asked in yet another Kenyan language if we could photograph the camels. He was positive and showed us around his herd. There were about 50 camels and 20 2 year old babies that were corralled using thorn bushes. The babies were being separated from the mothers so that he could milk the mothers. (Camel’s milk is a staple food source out here.) This was a special treat.

Back in the truck and what should we see but Mt. Kenya peaking out of the clouds. We got a picture and as you can guess we did not see the mountain for the rest of the day. The weather and the clouds were just not on our side. We are supposed to come in September and October to be guaranteed a clear view of Mt Kenya.

We continued on around to the east side of the mountain to Meru and St. Irene’s school for blind girls which is one of two vocational schools for the blind in Kenya. This vocational school teaches machine knitting, sewing, hair dressing and bread baking so that these girls can leave the school and have a job. Sister Pauline met one of her former students who is blind and is teaching there. It was quite a reunion. She found a sweater that fit her and matched her religious dress and bought it. These young women were confident and capable of navigating their environment. It is a testament to the work that the Sisters are doing with these students.

Back in the truck and off to Igoji and the St. Lucy’s School for the Blind. This school is not a vocational school but a boarding school for nursery through high school. This school was built for the express purpose of getting blind Kenyan boys and girls out of their homes and into the educational system. When a family has a blind child (and these often have other disabilities) they hide them in their homes. That way the child does not get an education and is not able to fend for themselves. When the Sisters are notified that there is a blind child they contact the parents and invite the child to live at the school and receive an education. Many of these students move forward into universities and into productive careers due to the work of this school. We met 40 preschoolers who sang to us. Then we were taken on a tour of the rest of the school. We think we remember that there were 300 kids in the whole school. The teacher student ratio is about 8-1. While we were there we met the first group of Americans that we had seen in the whole 5 weeks. They were donating their time to bring books for the school library, doctors for eye examinations, and school supplies. They were connected with American Friends of Kenya an NGO.

The Sisters made lunch for us and then we were back on the road to Nairobi and arrived back at Assisi House about 8:00 where we had dinner but wouldn’t you know the power was off again. We got a report on the plumbing and it seems to be moving along.

We repacked into one suitcase so we could leave early the next morning for our first real (7 hour) bus drive to Mombasa.

Kenya Tuesday-Thursday 6/29-7/1/10

After Monday’s long day in Homa Bay we took Tuesday off in Asumbi to write blogs and try to catch up. There is still the problem of the issue of dial-up internet where a picture takes 10-15 minutes to upload but we made a day of it and read our books between each blog as the pictures uploaded. Before the blogs there was a necessary task that we were not too sure about. We needed to do our laundry in Asumbi, where it would dry, without the aid of a washer or dryer. The Sisters were happy to help us learn how to wash out of a bucket, scrub on a table and rinse in two other buckets and then up on the line. It really was not bad but the workmen were worried about Stanley, who was helping hang up the laundry. They were sure there was something wrong with him. One more time American and Kenyan culture clashed. Toward the end of the day we worked a little on the organizational charts and printed one of them up. The chart took 8 pages and Yvonne and Sister Pauline spent an hour gluing it together to make a wall chart. Then we went to bed. We were happy to have the opportunity to catch up a little on the blog. This was a quiet day with a moment of rest after several weeks of travel.


The next morning, Wednesday, we were up with the best of intentions of finishing up the blog but the internet was down and so life went on. Laundry was taken in and repacked. The chart was worked on a little more while Sister Margaret finished a myriad of meetings and office work and then we were back on the road to Nairobi. Down the “Dancing road” and through Kisii and on to Narok and then to Nairobi. We got back at 12:00 to find Assisi House completely black. The power in this section of Nairobi had gone out about 3:00 in the afternoon so no work on the plumbing had happened and there was no water. It was a concern and I needed to talk to the plumber.

Thursday morning we went over to the Assisi House and met with the plumber. There still was no water. He talked about different issues that he had found with the system while working on it. Each was realistic and each was necessary but nothing could be done until the electricity, which was still off, came back on.

Thursday was scheduled as another day of computer work. Sister Margaret’s computer had crashed and the technician found she had a virus. He reformatted the disk and reinstalled the programs. He did not know that I had installed a program for her so it was lost. We went to Consolata Seminary again where Father Steve (Sister Margaret’s brother) allowed us to use the high speed internet. We were able to do another blog while the program was down loading, catch up on e-mail and then close down the whole system and go over to Bomas to wait for Sister Margaret so we could go to dinner at her sister’s house, Cecilia. Margaret’s meeting went long so we had dinner at Bomas and will see Cecilia on the 8th for lunch.

During the afternoon we checked in on the water system at Assisi House and found that the power had come back on and that it had worked so well that the city tank had overflowed. They had never seen that much water. It demonstrated that the system worked but it also demonstrated that the shut off switches did not. Oh well I am glad to know that now.

We are going to be up tomorrow to take a two day trip around Mt. Kenya to see a different part of Kenya.

Sorry no pictures but we have pictures coming up on the next blog (look forward to camels).

Kenya Sunday & Monday 6/27-28/10

We are trying to get caught up because we know what the next couple of days look like. Lots of traveling.

Sunday we were up for the 7:00 mass at Nandi Hills in Sister Pauline’s parish church. The church was filled with two schools worth of students and the local parishioners. At least 200 at this early service with two more services to go. After church we went to Sister Pauline’s sister’s (Anne) house for breakfast and met her husband (David) and their children. David is a teacher and Anne works as a secretary in the school district office. Once more Stan made the children cry and run down the hall to hide. Later in the morning all of the kids climbed into the back of the truck and just like home were in hog heaven. By the end of the morning they were even willing to let Stan help them out of the truck. They were still sure that if they rubbed hard enough on his hands maybe the white would rub off and Stan would be better.

Once more back into the truck and on to Ahero where we had lunch and Sister Margaret had a meeting. During Margaret’s meeting Yvonne, Pauline, and I continued to improve the decision making chart for the Sister’s organizational structure. The reason that the organizational chart is so important is Sister Margaret was trained in the US in leadership and management and has brought a new style to the organization of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph but the Sisters need a visual representation of what Margaret is talking about to internalize the change. Also on a more immediate basis Sister Margaret met with several granting organizations in Germany and they were unwilling to continue the process until the Sisters could show a clear organizational decision making structure and how the grants would be managed. To just say “trust us we are Sisters” did not work. So we keep clarifying what they actually do and discovering how decisions are happening away from those who should be making decisions. Sister Margaret and Sister Pauline really understand this theoretical change and will be the people, when we leave, who will put it to use.

Back into the car and drove down the “dancing road” greeted everyone, had dinner, and crashed.

Back up on Monday and off to Homo Bay for the celebration Mass for the new leaders of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph, Margaret, her council, including the local and regional leadership. The Cathedral at Homo Bay sits on top of the mountain overlooking Lake Victoria and Homo Bay town. The Mass was glorious. The 40-50 person cathedral choir sang and danced to all of the liturgical music and hymns. Yvonne and I were introduced and when the choir was told that she was a Minister of Music she got applause. After the service Yvonne was introduced to the director and the choir and was able to make plans to get Xerox copies of some of the music which was composed by the director.

This was another all day affair with speeches after the mass. (And again Yvonne and I were introduced and expected to speak. Stanley gave the mike to Yvonne and Yvonne did a great job. When Stan was asked to speak he passed the mike to the MC without speaking believing that he could not do as well as Yvonne had done. This got a laugh from the audience as in this culture only the man would have spoken. One of the choir members later said, to explain the incident, “When she (Yvonne) speaks, you (Stanley) have spoken”. This meant that she understood our explanation of what happened and was teasing us about it.)

After the speeches, we were invited to the Primary School Auditorium just down the hill, for entertainment. The choir sang, the primary students sang and recited poetry, the vocational school students sang and danced, gifts were handed out and then the cake was cut. We were invited onto the stage to assist with handing out the gifts to Margaret and her leadership team. After the gifts, there was the ritual of the cake-cutting and serving it to the audience. Now we had seen this at the Ordination at the very beginning of our trip, but we didn’t know that this is a customary thing to do for celebrations. They asked me to cut the cake, but I somehow knew that there was more to it than just cutting, and when I hesitated, Margaret stepped up to help me. Then everyone on stage put their hand on the knife and we cut the cake into long strips. Then Margaret took the knife from me and began cutting small pieces. Serving plates appeared and were filled and we took them to all the people and to the children waiting outside the doors after they had performed. The last part of the day’s celebration was the awarding of the goat. Now, I don’t know who was giving the goat, but everyone on stage had to receive it. This entailed having one of the students drag the poor goat across the stage so everyone could see it and then we all held onto the rope, symbolically accepting the goat. This is also a ritual gift-giving in celebrations such as this one. But sometimes the goat doesn’t come and so one is presented with just the rope.

We left Homa Bay about 3:00. Margaret had managed to have a meeting with the Bishop and Pauline saw to it that we had some time to visit with him. (We are getting quite cozy with several Bishops in Kenya.) We drove to Kisii in order to visit a sick sister in the Order’s hospital there, Christine Marianne. We also wanted to get a tour of the hospital. Stanley has an idea to try to link that hospital with some people in Salinas and wanted some pictures and information about their needs. That put us home in Asumbi about 8:00 (an early night for us.) The Sisters had dinner waiting and we went to bed.

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.

Kenya Wednesday - Thursday 6/23-24/10

Father Steve continued to worry that we had not seen a giraffe and suggested to Sister Pauline and Sister Margaret that the Giraffe Center would be a good place to take the wazungu (white guys, we hear that a lot). So we were up on Wednesday morning on a Safari in Nairobi. First we went to Mamba Village (Crocodile Village) to see the Nile Crocodiles, ostriches, and one lonely giraffe (Reticulated Giraffe). It was a little disquieting to have the young guide jump into the crocodile enclosure to tap them with a stick so that they would open their mouths for us. We were able to touch a one year old crocodile and watch as they played in the pond. Next we were introduced to the ostrich dance where the male ostrich came up to the fence and did this wonderful dance just for me.

We visited where Sister Margaret taught last year before she became Superior General. We were introduced to Dennis Ongeri who is the Scholarship Director who knew Pauline and Margaret. Our conversation included an in-depth critique of the proposed Constitution (this happens often as the vote is coming up August 4 and many people are worried about the outcome). Sister Pauline took us up to the chapel which was designed using images of a African traditional religion (which combines spirituality and every day life). It is a very vibrant and spiritual space.

Then off to the Giraffe Center. What an experience. The center houses 9 Rothschild giraffes whose environment in Eldoret region was destroyed by the development by people. This center was developed to save the Rothschild giraffes and has increased the population 300 and has become an education and research center which brings in the orphans and school children to see and touch the giraffes. When we entered the center, I thought that Yvonne was going to jump out of her skin. Here were the giraffes standing in a meadow overlooking Nairobi. The contrast in color made the giraffes pop out of the landscape. You walk up to a wall and the trainer gave you some kibble and the huge head of the giraffe lowers to your hand and a 18 inch tongue gently removes the kibble and the head elevates in a gentle fashion back up to 15 feet in the air. You could put the kibble between your lips and get a kiss from a giraffe but I could not convince Yvonne to do this (and I really did not want to kiss Yvonne after she had kissed a giraffe) (This is Yvonne: I did not want to make Stanley jealous so …..). The center was constructed so that you could go upstairs and look directly into the eye of a giraffe which was very interesting. Around the feet of the giraffe were a group of warthogs who live symbiotic relationship with them in the wild. They were really funny because they would startle and head off in a direction only to stop and look around as if they had forgotten what they were doing. We spent some time in the center listening to a lecture which was well done about the Rothschild giraffe and then back on the road.

We went back to the Mamba Village for a great lunch on the lawn and then off to visit the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. We were introduced to the Sisters that are working at the university in registration, housing, and catering. Sister Pauline introduced us to the new building and once more it was clear to me the issue of water. Every building collects rain water to use on the grounds and huge tanks were in the ground to store water to keep the university working even if the city did not supply water. The grounds keepers use interesting lawn equipment, sheep, to mow the lawn. I suppose that this lawn equipment is eaten later for lunch.

We returned to the Bomas House to have dinner. It was nice to see the house and this group of Sisters as this was the first house we visited on our first full day and all was a blur. Then back to Savelberg and bed.

We were up Thursday morning for new adventures. Sister Pauline and Sister Albina took Yvonne and me down to the garment district. One store after another selling fabric with tailors next door. Now your vision of a fabric store is nothing like what we saw. Upstairs, in what used to be an apartment living room, were eight ladies who had stacks of cloth. Each was shouting “customer, customer” and showing cloth. Thank God we had Sister Albina who was used to the environment. She talked to each of the women and had them show the material. She was able; by feel and look to identify good and bad material. We worked our way through several piles of material and then went to the next shop which was a little more open. Yvonne and Albina found cloth for a dress and shirt for Yvonne and I and cloth for a table cloth. We next were measured at one of the tailor shops and Sister Albina left us to go to her work.

We stopped by a Tuskys (their version of a Wal-Mart) to get a snack and then off to the Nairobi National Museum. This museum was recently renovated to increase the size of the museum and add the Hall of Kenya. Remember this is the country where Louis and Richard Leakey found some of the oldest skeletons in the world. Sister Pauline found a guide to take us around the museum. We started in the Hall of Kenya where there was a sculpture that represented the tribes of Kenya (42 distinct tribes) using gourds that are used in each tribe to represent it. It was a great representation. For over 2 hours the guide took us from room to room. There was a room of skulls and bones of the early findings by Leakey and his son and there were rooms that represented the different animals and their mode of transportation (walk, soar, swim) demonstrating how the animals evolved in Kenya. There were rooms that showed the different clothing and tools that the different tribes used and then several rooms of just birds. It was a great museum and when we finished we had a cup of chi (Kenyan Tea with lots of sugar).

We then drove back to Assisi House to check on the process of the plumbing. The small tank was in the ground and the pump hooked up. It was a joy to see the water pumped into the city water tank. They had knocked out some of the wall in the ceiling to be able to get the old tanks out and the new tanks in. They had taken out the old tanks and looking at them it was clear that that was a good choice to replace them. They were rusted through.

We walked back to Savelberg to get packed and ready for tomorrow’s adventure.