Day 58 Maralal July 5, 2011

Greetings

Well it is the last day here in Maralal.  Last week did not start that well and we had some more issues along the way.  Overall I think we did a mighty fine job.  The guys today were able to assemble twenty six of the thirty six desks before they ran out of screws.  We got all the screws we could from Home Depot.  We did not check with Lowes.  They also had some problems with the threads and had to rework some of them.  All the frames are assembled and once they get the screws they will finish the desks.  It is best that the desks sit for a spell while Ken and Susan are away.  The wood is still very wet and the desks still need to be sanded and painted.  Also today Lawrence and I finished with the electrical wiring at the school and church.  Each class room has a 220v electrical outlet and the wiring for a four foot fluorescent fixture.  The office is wired with three 220v electrical outlets and the wiring for a four foot fluorescent fixture.  The church has one 220v electrical outlet and wiring for 3 four foot fluorescent fixtures.  I would like to thank all the guys helping with these projects.  They worked very hard to get done what we could get done.  There are two abbreviations that describe it here.  The first is TIA or this is Africa.  The other is TIK or this is Kenya.  Overall I believe we did very well this week to glorify God’s Kingdom.

Twenty six of the thirty six desks completed

Church wired for power and lights

School office wired for power and lights

Lare-Oibor kitchen, church and school

I would like to take some time to thank the guys at Green Lake Tube in East Chicago, Indiana for their generous contribution of $400 to help feed the starving and malnourished in Lare-Oibor.  Here in Kenya the economy is seeing double digit inflation and the cost of food is skyrocketing well beyond the means of the average person.  It is even more of a problem in the outlying areas as here in Northern Kenya since transport costs are astronomical.  Fuel prices are over six bucks a gallon.  On top of everything else the shilling is falling to the dollar in a dramatic way.  A year ago when I was here the shilling was trading for around 70 Ksh to a dollar.  Today it is hovering near 90 Ksh to a dollar.  Virtually every day I have been here someone has come to the house asking for food, money, or medical attention.  It is a sad sight to see when so many people have no means to get any food. 

I had given Ken the 35,000 Ksh to buy some food on behalf of the guys at Green Lake Tube.  Ken was unable to purchase the maize since there isn’t any to be had.  He had to go to two different places to find beans and they would only allow him to purchase one 90 kilo bag.  Ken was also only allowed to purchase 100 kilos of rice.  Ken also purchased some vegetable fat and Susan had broken it down into 95 one kilo portions for handing out.  I believe the total for the items was around 24,000 Ksh and the balance of the money will be used to purchase some more food for another handout upon Ken and Susan’s return in a couple of weeks.  In all we had about 180 pounds of beans, 200 pounds of rice, and about 200 pounds of vegetable fat.

After church services on Sunday in Lare-Oibor we handed out the food to the people of Lare-Oibor.  The order of the handout would be to the widow’s first, some select orphans, the elderly, women with children, and then the rest.  There were over 200 people in attendance at church on Sunday.  Each person would receive one kilo of beans, one kilo of rice, and one kilo of vegetable fat until we ran out.  I am very very happy to say that everyone made it through the line once and got all three items.  We did run out of vegetable fat first but was able to continue handing out the beans and rice until it was all gone.  I am not sure how far four to six pounds of beans and rice will last but I would think it could last for at least a few meals.  Some of these people have fairly large families to feed.  We explained to the Chairman where the food was donated from and on behalf of him and his community they were very grateful.  I too would like to thank the guys at Green Lake Tube for their generosity.  You all made a difference in these peoples lives that day.  God bless you all.

Some of the widow's receiving beans and rice after church service

Some more widow's

200 lbs. beans, 200 lbs. rice and 100 lbs. of vegetable fat

Some of the elderly coming through

Pastor Timothy in the striped shirt and a guy doing traffic control

The woman in the orange suit has ten kids and is the school cook

The lady with the kid on her back is the head school teacher

Waiting for the line to go around again

Some Mama's waiting for another turn

The Chairman of Lare-Oibor helping with crowd control

Samburu Mama in traditional dress

Only Mama's can wear the beads around their necks

Another happy Mama

How to carry your child on your back

Tomorrow we are off on a long journey down a lonely bumpy dirt road to Eldama Ravine.  May God give us a journey free of rain, free of mechanical issues with the Land Rover, armed bandits, and elephants blocking the road.             

Take care and God bless

Dave