Day 16 Mumias May 24, 2011

Hi

Today did not go quite as planned.  We were to meet with the widows this morning but they met yesterday instead of on their regular Tuesday meeting.  They were expecting us but somewhere the lines of communication failed.  Hezron and I showed up at the Blessed the Blessed ECD Center and were greeted by the school children and their teachers.  Pastor John was in Nairobi at the US Embassy.  He has been invited to attend a CFO (Camps Farthest Out) meeting in Tennessee and he was applying for a Visa.  I had met Bishop Hezron at a CFO camp at Messiah College in Pennsylvania back in 2008.  While Hezron was trying to figure out what happened one of the teachers came to the car and asked if the visitor could get out of the car so the children could touch him.  I was more then happy to greet all the children and then they sang me a few songs.  They sang the alphabet song, bah bah black sheep, and another one that I did not get the name of. 

Blessed the Blessed ECD Center children and teachers

Instead of wasting the day Hezron and I decided to do Wednesday's schedule.  Hezron gave Mathew a call and we headed to Mumias to meet with Mathew at his furniture shop.  We arrived at Mathew’s shop around lunch time and we discussed his business and I took a few pictures.  On my first visit a year ago Mathew only had this one shop.  Since then he has opened another shop a few miles south of Mumias and is looking to open a third in Lumakanda.  I asked to go look the new shop and he said ok but first he invited us to lunch.  We went to a local eatery and had lunch.  Call me strange but I am so fascinated by ugali so I took a picture of Hezron’s lunch to show all of you.  Then Hezron demonstrated his African spoon made out of ugali.  Ugali is one of Kenya’s main staples made out of Maize.  It is about the same consistency of play dough and is served at almost every meal.  I guess what I find so fascinating is the size in which these wads of ugali come in.  I have been at meals where a wad of ugali is brought to the table the size of basketballs and then completely eaten.  As you can see in the picture it is the largest item on his plate.  The other main staples are rice, cassava, potatoes, and chapaties.

Chix, ugali, kale, and soup

Hezron demostrating his African spoon

 

After lunch we headed over to the other shop a few kilometers from Mumias where Mathew’s workers were making furniture.  Out back he had his chain saw operator cutting 2 x 6’s out of raw timber.  The other guys in the shop were trimming down the boards to proper size by hand.  At the shop in Mumias there was the bottom half of an entertainment center and at this shop was the top half of the entertainment center.  I asked Mathew how much the entertainment center sold for and he told me he sells many at 16,000 Ksh (80 Ksh = $1) or about $200 and then I asked how much does it cost to make.  Depending on the availability of the raw timber he usually makes these entertainment centers for 13,000 Ksh.  I then asked how long it takes to make one of these entertainment centers he told me about 2 weeks.  He feels that if he is able to make these in less time he can sell more at a larger profit.  Mathew has been making furniture for 20 years and been in business for himself 14 years.  He told me that God has blessed him and business is very good.  His goal is to open more shops and hire more people.  His main problem is everything is made by hand and when he needs a piece that has to be machined like a spindle he has to take it to another shop and pay to have it done.  Mathew pays in excess of 6000 Ksh every month to have others make his machined parts.  Mathew’s shop in Mumias does not have electricity but his new shop south of town does.  Mathew is now looking to go electric and stop using others to make some of his components.  In fact Mathew stated that if he had his own equipment he too could make components for other furniture makers in Mumias and elsewhere.  Here are some pictures from both the shops.

Victory furniture shop in Mumias

Cutting boards by hand

Trimming 2 x 6 boards by hand

Making 2 x 6's with chain saw

Furniture leg made by others on a lathe

Bottom half of entertainment center carvings are by hand click on picture to see full size

Top half of entertainment center total cost for both pieces 16,000 Ksh or $200

I put this in for all my old Foamex buddies.  Looks like this could of been made in Eddystone.

(I guess they stacked them like we did can you see the cleave?)

More Maxfoam tops

As we look to reschedule with the widows we decided tomorrow would be a trip to Kisumu one of the larger towns in Kenya on Lake Victoria to go look at shop equipment and also try to find yogurt machines.  I would like to thank everyone again that is viewing my blog and to say that there are now 10 countries from which my blog viewers are coming from.  They are the United States, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands, Spain, India, and Malaysia.

Again thanks and God bless you all

Dave