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.

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.

Kenya Saturday - Sunday 6/19-20/10

Today was the day the Yvonne was to give her presentation to the Franciscan Sisters of St Joseph and I was going to listen in on one of their meetings and do a session on organizational decision making. So we were up and at St. Claires Hostel by 8:30 so we would be ready for the 9:00 meeting. But African time prevailed and thing got started after greetings and tea about 10:00. Yvonne asked me to leave the room and go do a blog during her presentation. So she will have to write this portion of the blog.

Yvonne here:

Well, I was pretty intimidated by the Sisters. What did I have to tell them about Spiritual Gifts and Ministry. But here I was in front of their expectant and encouraging faces, so I began. Although they were a little hesitant to answer questions and join in discussion, I cajoled them into it and all went well. I presented them with the exercise of the Spiritual Gifts Inventory that we did at the Women’s Retreat. I had to translate most of the questions into something that related to them and not Americans, but they all participated. Thank goodness we have been here a couple of weeks and are beginning to have a little understanding of how things work here. They worked in teams to score it and were amazed by the results. We talked about the many unique gifts we each have and how, in an organization like theirs, it was important to honor their own gifts and support the gifts of others. This is new thinking for them, but they all really liked it and wanted to know more about it. So, maybe on the next trip I’ll do a follow-up and present some other ideas.

Stan here:

At 3:00, after lunch and the finish of Yvonne’s presentation, everything stopped and they had a Harambee. Now Yvonne and I had no clue what this was about but Sister Margaret told us that this was to raise funds for the completion of the hostel compound here at St. Clares. That includes a convent and three more dormitories. This Hostel is right next to the Catholic University of Eastern Africa and serves as a safe place for the women students to live. The Rotary would be put to shame. They started out by being strongly requested by students who currently live in the hostel to buy a ticket to get in (it bought you nothing else but a seat). There was great fun when I bought some of the Sisters without tickets a ticket so they could come in. I guess no one had ever done that. Then our very own Sister Pauline became the master of ceremonies and the fining began (for laughing, talking out of turn, standing up, not standing up, for being the oldest sister, for being a sister who graduated with Superior General, etc. This continued for about 2 hours and then they got serious. Each Region had pledged money to the completion of the project and several parents and local organizations presented their donations. By the end of the day they had raised 360,000 Kenyan Shillings. This was the first of several Harambee’s that were to happen. They are still well short of what they need to raise (16,000,000 Ksh) but……

Finally about 7:00 we broke for dinner and then back into session for their committee meeting. This went to 12:30 am when they finally decided they had done as much as they could do. During that time I worked on some issues around meetings and organization structure.

Then back to Savelberg to bed.

Sunday we were up again and on Safari. We were treated to a lovely day by Father Steve Okello (Margaret’s other brother from her second family). We got on the road and drove to Naivasha along the Escarpment road (we have driven this road several times but always at night). The view from the top of the Escarpment into the Rift Valley is amazing. We traveled on to Naivasha Lake and had lunch at the Safari Country club on the lawn. It looked like something from the movie “Out of Africa”. It was a wonderful meal with discussion about the development of the new Constitution, hippos, and the fact that the economic status of some Kenyans has improved and more Kenyans can eat at this club and most weekends you will find more Kenyans than tourists using the facilities.

After lunch we traveled to Nakuru National Park where we had the experience of a life time to meet the animals up close and sometimes personal. We arrived late afternoon, the best viewing time, and Steve is very familiar with the park. We immediately ran into a group of baboons with their babies romping on the road. We were very excited even though Kenyans view baboons as a pest. Next up on the list of animals were zebras, a whole herd of them. Then in order of appearance, a group of large storks, a flock of flamingos, several herds of several sizes and types of antelope, a family group of rhinos, a pride of lionesses with their cubs jumping and playing with the mothers, an enormous herd of buffalos (nothing like our buffalos), a rhino who nearly joined us in the car, and finally a lonely hippo out grazing in the meadow. What a day!!! The only thing we did not see that Steve thought we would see were giraffe. There is no way to show you all of this so you will just have to come to the animal show with all 1000 photos. By then it was really dark and we headed back to Nairobi and Savelberg.

Kenya Thursday - Friday 6/17-18/10

Thursday morning we were up and packed. We walked down the lane to the next plot to see our host’s, Rose, plants in her nursery and then packed up and drove for two hours back to Kisumu because Margaret had a meeting with the Arch Bishop. He welcomed us for tea and we chatted while they met. Margaret had to then met with the Provincial Director of Education. That meeting was not until later in the afternoon and was to be quick.

Margaret took us to one of the projects that they are working on, St. Clare’s Home of Hope. This is an orphanage that will replace an orphanage that has been condemned which serves 48 orphans due to AIDS. The only reason that they are handling such a small number is because of space. The new orphanage will house about 200 orphans with a dispensary, school, dorms, dining hall, staff housing and a convent for the Sisters who will run the operation. The convent and dispensary are almost finished and the well has been dug but the rest of the operation is some walls and foundations. This is one of the main focuses for the Sisters this year because the government will close the other orphanage by the end of the year. With enough money, this could all be finished in three months but money is a precious commodity in Kenya. The AIDS issue is huge here and they are making great strides but many parents are still dying and leaving children to be cared for.

We left St. Clare’s and dropped off Margaret and once again headed for Lake Victoria and Hippo point. Well the lake is just huge but the hippo’s were asleep under the water in the next bay but the view was splendid.

We kept checking in with Margaret but the Provincial Director of Education had not met with her yet. We went to the Sunset Hotel and I had a beer while others had chai. We hung out there in wonderful surroundings for 2 hours until Margaret called and said to come pick her up. We drove over and found out the director had refused to meet with her without the Arch Bishop and that was to happen tomorrow. We belonged in Narok for Prize-Giving Day at Sister Mary Stephen Koitoi secondary school.

Narok is a 5 hour drive from Kisumu. We had dinner with Margaret in a really "fine bar" (the only thing open at that time), dropped her off at the convent and headed out to Narok about 9:30. We arrive about 2:30 in Narok and were taken to a hotel where we crashed.

The next morning came too soon but we were up and at the secondary school by 9:00. This school had lots to be proud of. The prizes were academic awards. The school had achieved the distinction of being first in the district academically after only 4 years of being open.

Narok is in the heart of the Maasi Region and this school was named after the first Maasi Sister in the order. This is a big deal as the Maasi were reluctant to send their children to school away from the traditional upbringing. There were several traditionally dressed parents there and many others who carried the Maasi stick of rank even though they were not traditionally dressed.

The day started with Mass at 9:00 and by 11:00 the entertainment started with dancing. We did not realize the extent of the program. There was original poetry, songs, Maasi dancing, comedy sketch, and acrobatics all done by the students. About 1:30 the award presentations began. As honored guests Yvonne and I were asked to help congratulated the winners and hand out their gifts. Each student received school supplies and their parents were also given gifts for supporting their students. Gifts of school supplies are important because this is a poor area and students have to buy their own.

At about 3:00 the speeches began, all nine of them. Each speaker recognized that the day had been long and said at the beginning of their speech that they would be brief. I would hate to see the regular speech as we finished the speeches at 5:00.

Then we had dinner, climbed into the van and headed for Nairobi. We arrived in Nairobi about 9:30 and crashed. The next day Yvonne and I were to participate in the Sister's regional meeting. (Yvonne’s workshop on Spiritual Gifts and Stanley’s discussion about organizational and management theories to help their Congregation’s organizational renewal.)

Kenya Tuesday - Wednesday 6/15-16/10

Tuesday and Wednesday were days set aside for Margaret to show us her home region. We left Asumbi about 10:00 and got to drive down the dancing road that we drove in on in the dark. We drove through Kisii and on to Kisumu where we stopped for lunch at the Arch Cathedral where we found that the Sisters convent had been demolished because it was so old. There are plans to rebuild but until that time they are living in a number of buildings that are owned by the diocese. They laughingly told us that they were a convent without a house but God would supply.

Back on the road towards Siaya. Little did we know that Siaya would be 3 hours away with the roads getting worse and worse. We arrived in the dark (the Sisters call themselves “Night Runners”, as they often travel like this to meetings and events. So we became “Night Runners” with them. We arrived at Mbaga Convent about 10:00 where we had dinner with the sisters. Margaret had a meeting far into the night but first she took us to her second family’s home. Mama, Rose, Michael, and Steve helped raise Margaret. Their families were very close and this was a reunion after 10 years of Margaret being in school in the States. To get to this house we drove on smaller and smaller roads and which were rain sodden and washboard out across a meadow and then having to back up because the road was washed out and back down another track to her house. We cannot describe how dark it was out there.

We arrived at the compound and found a wonderful little house with electricity, shower, and TV. We could not have guessed. We were greeted by Rose that night and welcomed to the family home.

On Wednesday morning we were greeted by Mama. She spoke no English, only Luo, so Sister Pauline had to translated for us. But the greeting was warm and she was a delight and excited to tell stories of her children, Margaret, Margaret’s mother and a school mate who is now the Bishop of the Diocese.

Margaret finished her meetings and arrived. Michael, who is the younger brother, joined us for the day. We headed off to Margaret’s family home. She had not been there for 10+ years and she was like a little kid she was so excited. More rough roads that narrowed into walking paths that the van pushed its way through to a pastoral setting of several buildings and open compound that made up Margaret’s family home. We spent some time there while Margaret told stories of her childhood and the neighbors came over to greet her.

Her aunt, who she calls mama, (family relationships are fluid) is Sarah Obama’s sister. Mama decided to join us as well on the next stop for the day which was to be Sarah Obama’s compound. We drove back to larger dirt roads to the town of Kogelo past a school named for President Obama and down the road (well maintained) to her compound. The gates were closed. The military guard stopped us and refused admittance even for her sister. There was a discussion for about an hour but it did no good. We took pictures. The one to the right is in front of Sarah's corn (maize) field.  She is well known for her farming practices. They are so worried that something might happen to her and reflect badly on the country. As we drove to Sarah’s compound we heard stories about the reception for Senator Obama, how during the election American flags were flown throughout the area, and how proud they are that a Kenyan is President of the US (Kenyan family linage is tracked through the father so for Kenyans President Obama is Kenyan because his father was Kenyan. It does not matter that he was born in Hawaii.) They also told stories about Barack Obama visiting his grandmother when he was about 16 and how he sold vegetables in the local street market. Michael was school mates with Obama’s father and was on the team that planned and executed the reception when Senator Obama came a few years ago.

But the day was not done. We then drove back to Kisumu (about 2 hours) to watch the sunset into Lake Victoria and see the hippos at Hippo Point. (Too much in one day. We got there after the sunset and the hippos had gone to bed.) So back into the van and 2 hours later back to our little compound. What a wonderful and full two days.

Kenya Tuesday 6/14/10

The day started out with a trip to Sister Nickolas’s school. This school is past the Novitiate down roads that get smaller and smaller until we were on a trail that was big enough for the car. Sister Nickolas is running a school for those children that are back in the country. It is a day school with housing for physically disabled children. The intent is to give them an education and assimilate them into regular life. It seems as if they are not educated if they stay in the village. This is a really primitive school with a couple of buildings (basically walls roof and openings for doors and windows). She has 118 children (10 are disabled and live there full time) from Baby School (3 years old) to about 7. The children had never seen someone that was white and we were mobbed. They all wanted to shake our hands and welcome us to their school. One little girl kept coming back to Yvonne again and again to touch Yvonne. It was a moving experience. We were taken through the classrooms and the teachers talked about what they were doing. It is interesting that respect and dignity are as important as math.

We left there to do a tourist thing. Sister Pauline took us to see how the soap stone carvings are made. She first took us to the area where the figurines were being sold. We got to walk through several shops and look at some gorgeous carvings. I would have loved to bring some of this home but they were too big.

We then went on some really rough road to one of the quarries. A quarry is a cut in the ground where men are breaking out the rock and then all around the cut are workers who are cutting the rock into good chunks (with wood saws and machetes). When we walked out into the quarry the manager of the quarry came out and wanted us to pay to take pictures of the workers. It is really helpful to have both a Kenyan driver and Sister Pauline to step in-between ourselves and the Kenyans who believe that all Americans are rich (and we are compared to Kenyans). After some negotiations we were allowed into the quarry. Once we were in they were very excited to show us how the stones were selected, what kind of stones were the best and which stones were too hard to cut and carve.

We went back to the area where the carvings were being displayed and bought a few small figurines. The negotiations were interesting. We would have paid the price because the price was so low but Sister Pauline would not let us do that and she bargained (for four pieces we paid 650 Kenyan Shillings which equals about $14.00 US and that meant that they had made their quota for the day).

Then back to Asumbi for dinner with Retired Bishop Collin Davis. He started the evening telling me that I must be having a terrible trip and he knew just what it would take to make it better. He left the room and returned with two Kenyan beers. He was sure that the Sisters had not thought to offer me a beer in the whole trip and so we sat on the veranda and drank beer and listened to him tell stories of living in Kenya. He was first assigned to the Masi as a priest and it was there he spent the early portion of his time. What a different perspective (and really a perspective of a British priest coming into the country to do good work) that the perspective of Sister Pauline who has spent time teaching in the Masi region. It was a lovely evening and then we were back to the guest house for a rest.

Kenya Monday 6/13/10

We were allowed to sleep in as we were going to 5:00 mass. We were finally up we had the pleasure of visiting the sick sisters at the Mother house infirmary. There we met Sister Peter Celeaver. She is a legend in the order as she is a former Superior General, established the Helpage, a program to give Grandparents who are raising their grandkids because the parents have died from AIDS. What a wonderful person. She told stories about the past. Teased the other Sisters in the infirmary and asked me for my cell phone number so when the Sisters would no longer take care of her, she could call me and I could come and get her and take care of her just like a good son.

Later in the afternoon we rode up to the Novitiate with the retired Bishop Davis, who is one of their teachers, British and been in Kenya serving the church for 50 years, and had dinner with the novices and saw their school. We had mass and a wonderful dinner with them and then sat and answered questions about America. It was interesting to try to explain our school system when we did not really understand their system (it was mostly jargon that was the barrier). They asked about plastic bags and what we did with them. (It was not until that question that we began to notice the number of bags that are left around the city and country side creating an environmental problem.) They asked about California (some set up from the teachers) and what we through of Kenya. They were really shy until Yvonne asked about a particular kind of shaker that is used in the Kenyan music. They brought one out and laughed and laughed was Yvonne tried to learn to use it. They were incredulous that she could not make it work. They sang for us and showed us the different musical instruments. Then they asked that we sing for them. Yvonne suggested one of the rounds and she and I sang for them. I think that they were tickled. (They next morning, after the Sisters heard that we had sang, we had to sing for them. It was a hoot.) We then packed up and headed back to Asumbi. On the way back the Bishop invited us to dinner.

Kenya Bio Gas

For those of you that are part of the Green Challenge, Yvonne and I were introduced to Bio Gas. I was very intrigued (I am not sure that Yvonne was as intrigued) so will spend one blog just describing this process. On Sunday and Monday we saw two of these installations. Here is how the system works.

Every project (school, hospital, orphanage, etc.) has cows. They are milk, beef and also “Bio Gas.” To make this work three holes are made in the compound. Each hole is downhill from the next. The first hole is just sump (not very deep) that the cow manure is washed down into where the grass and dirt clods are pulled out and water is added to make slurry. There is a pipe that transfers the slurry into a large hole with a tank (12+ feet in diameter) in it (much like a diving bell) that has no bottom. (The picture to the left shows how deep the hole is and the gas pipe that is sending the gas to the kitchen.) The slurry releases the methane gas into the tank. As the tank fills with methane gas it raises to the surface of the slurry so that those who are operating the system knows how much gas is in the tank. (The picture to the right is a full tank while the picture on the right is one that is filling.) When the tank begins to sink (because of usage and that no more methane gas is being released from the slurry) a valve is opened and the slurry is released to a third hole (sump) and there is taken out to be used on the garden while new slurry is added to the main tank to start the whole process over.

The tank is heavy so this creates pressure on the gas so it can be piped to the kitchen where it drives the stoves. Though all of the kitchens we saw had wood burning stoves, we were told that the Bio Gas stoves rarely ran out of gas. These kitchens are feeding from 10-30 meals three times a day. What a simple system and good use of all the parts of the operation.

The Sisters were amused that I thought that this was such a big deal. They almost did not even show me this as it is such a part of the regular part of the operation.

Kenya Sunday Earthquake

This afternoon at 3:00 Kenya time we felt the building shake and knew there had been an earthquake.  Because we were in a brick building we were heading out the door when it stopped.  We later went on the USGS web site and learned it was a 5.0 centered at the Lake Victoria area near Kisumu (if you are looking on the map the epicenter was 15 miles wsw of Kisumu).  We are about 1/2 hour from Kisumu.  No damage here.  Matter-of-fact the folks here did not know what was happening and Sister Pauline is now joking that we brought California with us.

So we are off to bed.  We just did not want you to worry if you read or heard about the earthquake in the Lake Victoria area.

Kenya Saturday, 6/12/10

We were up at 5:30 (even Yvonne) so that we could be at the Sisters Mass at the chapel of the Mother House. What we thought would be a quiet early morning service exploded into a profusion of song accompanied by drums, tambourine, kyamba (a shaker). This was the first mass for the newly ordained priests. (It seems as though some of the Sisters were teachers of these priest so it was an honor for the Priests to be asked to celebrate and for the Sisters to see the fruits of their labors.) Yvonne and I listened to the true joy of the word of the Lord surrounding us.

We then were invited to the Mother House refectory for breakfast. Where we met the Sisters of the Mother House and the Aspirants (Young Sisters in their first 6 months in the order. In December they will progress to Postulant Vows.) who sang for us and the new Priests.

It was there that Yvonne was introduced to the choir directors and they have organized a time tomorrow for Yvonne to meet with them and talk and learn music. She is so excited.

While that was going on I got to talk with Retired Bishop Collin Davis (from England) who has been working in Kenya for the last 50 years. Here is a Bishop that the Sisters respect so much that they requested him to be their chaplain after his retirement. We will go with him tomorrow to the Novitiate (these are women who are in their last stage before they profess their final vows) when he celebrates mass for them. He was an RAF pilot in WWII and was a hoot to talk to. He is full of energy and deeply caring of the Kenyan people.

Sister Pauline then took us on a tour of the hospital that they run here in Asumbi. This was quite sobering. One of the projects that the hospital is involved with is an AIDS project supported by Catholic Relief Services. Sister Angela (one of the administrators) told us that the project has been underway for only two years and they are tracking and treating 2000 people with HIV/AIDS. She expects this to increase by a 1000 patients a year. This CRS program has provided drugs that are showing very good results. Incidents of TB and AIDS deaths in this region have dropped significantly because of this program. Here are is a hospital working at the very edge of First Aid. Very little equipment, no X-ray facilities, the Surgery is just a room with a hand painted sign. But they are healing people and knocking down walls in this building to make it work better. They are moving forward as funds become available to better the lives of the people in the region.

From the hospital we went to a compound called the Helpage. This is a program for grandparents who are parenting HIV/AIDS orphans, where they are taught to make clay pots and fire rings in a safe environment. They come on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. These elders are given seeds for their farms so they can feed their families and school supplies for the children. This allows the grandparents to be able to support their grandchildren and live. The Order checks in with them periodically for the grandparents to stay in the program and to support the family.

Then back to lunch at the Generalate. Sister Pauline suggested we needed an afternoon off and that was really true, that is why we have been able to catch up on the blog, read a little, and take a nap.

I have to report that Yvonne is using her inhaler less than she does in Salinas and we are physically doing very well. We are overwhelmed at the work that the Sisters are doing and the needs for the region. No matter what they just keep going on cheerfully doing the work that they are called to do. They continue to push the boundaries of what could be expected. They are healing the population, teaching the young people and themselves, and caring for the poor with faulty electricity, water, and basic supplies.

Pray for us and the Sisters.

Kenya Friday 6/11/10

We were up and going by 8:00 to have breakfast with the Sisters. This is a big day for them as there is an ordination of two new priests and a celebration for the end of the Year of the Priest. It seems that in this diocese they have been praying to support the Priests in their work. There are also issues with the Kenyan Constitution that is being developed to support different tribes/cultures/races/religions. One of the articles is about the issue of abortion and this has caused difficulties with the Catholic Church and they are praying for guidance.

After breakfast we went down to the Asumbi Teacher’s College where the celebration was to occur. We were introduced to the Bishop and later in the ceremony the Bishop recognized that there were visitors from America and had us stand up. He also told the people there that we had not come with Vice President Joe Biden (who is currently in Kenya). The outdoor service started at 10 am and reminded us of the ordination of our bishop and the development of Camino Real at San Juan Batista. There were 5 choirs that totaled about 100 singers (Yvonne was in heaven), many priests, many sisters (and yes it was a little weird to sit in the Sisters section), and hundreds of people. But the big difference was the dancing. Each school brought their dance team and the dancers, though not in competition, would move forward through other dancers so that they could be in front. It was amazing.

The program started with the Kenyan Boy Scouts raising the flag of the church and Kenya and then the 12 minute entrance procession of dancers began coming down the aisle. Dance group after dance group danced in until they filled the center of the area. All during that time the choir sang, the Bishop and priests processed, the bible was presented and the service began. We got to the consecration of the bread and wine by 2:00. We are in a really warm area. Think of the central valley in August. Sister Pauline had brought water and umbrellas and I had brought my hat. The Sisters were under a shade and that helped.

It was an amazing service that finished at 3:00. After the service we were invited back to the Sisters house for a little lunch and then we went on a walking tour of the different schools and hospitals that the Sisters run in just this little town. At one of the schools there as a choir making a video (this is really interesting as you are talking about a town that raises all of its own food, cars are shared or people walk, and yet they are making a video and have cell phones.) The director was excited and ran up to Sister Pauline and asked if we could be in the video. She said they would have to ask us. This young man was so excited to have two Americans to put on his video he could hardly stand it. When we asked what he wanted, he said he wanted us to dance with the choir. Well you can guess our response. NO. These people were great and they would have had two sticks standing with them. It took a little doing but they finally let us go on with our tour.

Back to our room and then dinner and back to go to bed. What a day. They have agreed we might need a day of rest (how about Sunday when they only have a 3 hour service and we can come back to our room and take a nap)

You cannot believe how well we have been treated. What care the Sisters are taking of us. What an insight into a country that many of us know little about. You cannot believe the work the Sisters are doing.

Pray for them.

Kenya Thursday, 6/10/10

Today we left Nairobi. It was a stutter start we were supposed to leave at 9:00 but the sisters ended up getting detained with some church work. As we do not have a cell phone here they could not let us know so we knew that we were where we needed to be and they would come we just waited. The arrived around 11:00 and we went over to Assissi house and packed the truck with materials they were delivering to the houses we would stop at in our trip. Then we had to stop for tea and a check of the water system.


Off we went at about 12:30. Through town and on to the International Trunk Road heading west which we shared with people walking, donkeys pulling carts, street vendors and large 6 wheeled trucks. It was the best road we had been on in Kenya. Little did we know what was coming but Sister Pauline keep telling us we were going on the Dancing Road. We climbed into the mountains and after about an hour we pulled off the road to overlook the Great Rift Valley. We were at 8000 ft. What an amazing sight.

We continued on and drove through Naivasha, Gilgil, until we reached Nakuru. On the way John, our driver, pointed out the Zebras in the distance (they were really in the distance, white dots). We were promised that we would see some at another time.

At Nakuru we stopped for lunch and to drop off some of the material we were carrying. When they heard that we were the ones from Assisi house we had to go see the well that had just been completed but not hooked to the house. They have been stopped from hooking up the well because the city council will lose money from the sale of water to them. Does that sound like city councils we know?

Then back into the truck and off we go heading to Kericho, the tea producing area of Kenya. Sister Pauline had John stop along the side of the road so we could walk out into the tea plants and she coulde show us how they were harvested.

As it got dark (as it does at 6:00 here) we arrived in Kisii and visited the sick sisters at Christi Mary Hospital. We dropped off bedding, hospital supplies and Sister Pauline Mary’s books. We were then given a tour of the hospital. (Can you believe that the hospital did not have water when Sister Pauline Mary was assigned a month ago? Only in the operating theatre does she have running water but that will change. She is a force to be dealt with. She wanted me to stay and work on the plumbing.)

Back at the truck we headed out to the “Dancing Road.” What we did not understand was this was a dirt road rutted by rain water and filled with rocks. It makes the road to Pico Blanco look like a freeway. It was now really dark. John is an amazing driver. We arrived at 9:00 at Asumbi and went to the Order’s Generalate house where they had dinner ready for us. Finally to bed at a 11:00 in their guest house.

It was a great day and we got to see a lot of this portion of Kenya.

Kenya Wednesday 6/9/10

When we arrived they were slaughtering the chickens that had been raised from the first crop of chickens. They had buyers (240 Kenyen Shillings/Kilo) from several of the hotels. This will buy the feed and purchase the next set of chicks. After the slaughtering of the next set of chicks the cash flow will be positive and they will be able to feed themselves and sell, at a discount, to other houses.


We started the water project being worried that we would not be able to start the pump because there was not enough city water in the tank when we left last night.  We needed to fill the three ceiling tanks in the dormitory and the two ceiling tanks in the house. As far as I can tell the ceiling tanks are about 900 liters and the two house tanks are 400 liters. The city tank only holds 1600 liters of waters so I knew I had to be careful. When we got to Assissi house this morning the city tank was filling (slowly) and this gave me some relief.

When we started up the pump the first time there were leaks around the pump (Chinese pipe) after 3 hours of taking it apart and putting it back together we had a pump that would pump the water to the ceiling. With much dancing from the sisters I began to understand what I had said I would do here. Once the water began to flow, I think that there are only a couple of faucets that work and a couple of toilets that worked on each floor. For the sisters that was a miracle but for me I could only see potential breaks and flooding the place.

With that in mind I went to the ceiling to look at the tanks. One leaks and will have to be fixed. All of the valves to turn off water to a faucet or toilet are in the attic and are not marked. It also looks like pipes have been added without faucets so turning off the water to fix something is interesting. Yvonne spent the day running up and down the stairs trying to find what I had turned off in the ceiling.

At the end of the day I walked by the pump and it had shut off (which is what it is to do when the ceiling tanks are full) and I was dancing. Then I noticed it had turned off for a different reason, we had sucked the city tank empty. The pump had done what it was to do, shut itself off when there was no water to pump.  So hurrah, but it became clear that the Sisters were worried that the tank was empty. They had never had to think about balancing water between multiple tanks. I had not considered the amount of water that it would take  to fill the empty pipes so though the ceiling tanks are mostly full we spent a lot of time talking with the sisters about where the water had gone and they only had to go to the faucets that worked to get water and the toilets that worked to use the restrooms.

In the end everyone was dancing except me. We are to start our road trip tomorrow. What happens if something breaks? Oh well, I will just have to trust that God will not put these sisters in more stress. When we get back from our road trip I will have 4-5 more days to work out the kinks. The sisters believe that the city should be pumping in this area on Friday so all will be well.

I just did not think about a building that had not had water for 6-8 years freezing up and rusting out. I do not know why. In the end it is perfectly obvious.

But for all of that the Sisters are dancing and calling the other Houses telling them that they have water. They are so excited.

Pray for us.

Kenya Tuesday 6/8/10

Tuesday was the second day of working on the water system. We started out with a shopping trip to the industrial area and went to an electrical supply house to find the correct electrical cable. (These supply houses are very interesting. You have to get past the guard and then you go into a small area surrounded by counters with bars. You tell the person behind the bars what you want and they go get it. There is no shopping down the aisles for what you need. They were very helpful and kept checking what we were doing so I would get the right material.) The owner of the electrical supply house then told us where to get the plumbing supplies (across the street). In the end we were able to get most of what we needed. We then went to the famous Nakumutt (a huge Walmart type of store) to get the last of the items we needed. Yvonne was able to get the map of Kenya she needed.

Then back to the Assisi House to begin the installation of the pump. Stanley had spent time on the internet looking up UK wiring diagrams so when we got to the pump we could get it to spin the right way. Spent the rest of the afternoon doing water and electrical work, stopping only for the required tea time.

In the middle of the afternoon the long awaited chicks arrived. 300 chicks were moved into the garage. This the second installment of 300 that they have been able to raise for roasting chickens and sell to the hotels as income for the house. A vital aspect of their work.

By the end of the day we got the pump to run but there was not enough water in the tank to fill the ceiling tanks. Stanley was a little frustrated that we were not able to get the water flowing by 5:00 but the day was shot so we went home to bed.

Kenya Monday 6/7/10

We slept better last night but were still up by 6:00. Can you believe that Yvonne agreed to get up at that time? Today was our first day to begin work on the water system at Assisi House. This system is amazing. From stories from the Sisters, the system has not worked for 6-8 years. All water is hauled in buckets to each bathroom on each of the three floors where, to flush a toilet you dip a bucket in the barrel next to the toilet and dump it in the toilet. All the showers do not work, so sponge baths are the only way to clean yourself. This is the House that is closest to the hospital so at any time at least one of the sisters in residence is ill or traveling to the hospital for treatment (right now there are three such sisters in residence), which further complicates the problem.

Learning about the water system took all morning. The water is delivered from the street once or twice a week and stored in a 1600 liter tank. From there it comes out of the tank in two ways. One is gravity fed system to some of the ground floor (which means if the tank is full you can have water in two spigots outside of the house and one of the sinks in the kitchen). The second works though a pressure pump that pumps water to the top of the house to 3 galvanized tanks in the attic. The water then falls down through the water system to the different bathrooms and the kitchen.

It became clear the pump was dead (after we spent several hours tracing the electrical system none of which is labeled). There was a valve that allowed me to close off the pump from the tank and we proceed to disconnect it and pull it out. (As you can see in the picture, it was under the tank so that made working on the pump interesting.) Now the discussion of whether to replace the pump or try to have someone fix it began. The Sisters were very careful not to push us into one decision or another but it finally became clear we need to buy a new one. This started a new adventure of finding a dealer in pumps and traveling across town to the industrial area, negotiating a price for the pump and the pressure regulator. Sister Pauline was indispensible as the price would have been at least 1/3 more. We then packed it all up and headed home through some of the worst traffic jams that I have seen. There is just no way I could drive in this city.

When we got back to the Assisi House, we opened up the boxes and found that I needed electrical cable to hook up the pump and pipe to connect the regulator to the pump. This called for some tea and discussion and as it was 5:00 so everyone thought that this would be a good conclusion to the day.

It is almost more than they can understand that there could be water soon.