Day 18 October 4, 2011 Kitale

Greetings

I lost the last couple of days so I will just go ahead and get caught up.  On Sunday after a long day on Saturday I did not do much at all.  On Monday we went back to Mumias to try and get the link between the accounts working at the bank.  The manager told us that they are having a technical problem with the internet banking in Nairobi.  They should have it fixed in a couple of days.  I have not seen it yet but hopefully it will be working before I leave next Monday.  We spent the rest of Monday sourcing chemicals, wire, and support posts.  Wow I wiped out two days in one paragraph.

Let me see if I can make today a little longer.  I will start out with another little story that you might get a kick out of.  I know the Bishop and I got a great laugh out of it.  This morning we decided to go up to the Bungoma orchards and to Moi’s Bridge to meet up with Colin for a bit.  On the way to Kitale from Webuye the police were out in force.  Normally we are passed through and not stopped.  Today we were stopped three times within a span of 50 kilometers.  The first cop was looking for a bite to eat but we did not give him any money and he let us go.  The second stop was with a more professional group of police with machine guns.  Hezron has a little problem with his car and the officer was kind enough to let us go again.  These gentlemen are out of Nairobi and they looked like they were doing a fine job with the arrests for the day.  As we approached Kitale we were stopped again by the local police without guns.  The nice young policewoman asked for the license and checked the insurance before noticing the crack in the windshield.  She also gave Hezron a warning and told him to get it repaired.  She then told him if she sees him again she is going to arrest him.  We then departed and went about our way.  As soon as we arrived in Kitale we had a flat tire.  After a small bite to eat we had it repaired and we were off to visit with Colin in Moi’s Bridge.  After a quick visit with Colin we headed back to Kitale to find some 12 gage wire to buy.  On our way back to Kitale we were following a few large trucks that were bringing with them some large dirt clouds.  We were now on a different road then we were on in the morning and up ahead was the nice young police lady that let us go earlier.  I told Hezron that the lady that was going to arrest you when she saw you again is right up in front of those trucks.  Well God has a way of coming in at the right moment.  As the trucks went by her she was enveloped in a cloud of dirt and she started covering her face and rubbing her eyes just as we happened to drive by.  I looked right at her and she did not see us since she was busy rubbing her eyes.  The nice young police woman got to keep her promise and Hezron wasn’t arrested.  Isn’t life grand?

On the way to Kitale this morning we stopped at three of the four orchards that are near the main road to Kitale.  We were unable to locate the forth plot and really did not want to wait around to find it.  Hezron had sent me the dimensions before hand of the plots and this was more of a visit to check their progress.  We stopped at the first plot and we took a look see.  We started to count the rows and holes until I started to realize that my memory of this plot on paper was not this big.  I went back to the car and took out the computer to find out what the size is supposed to be.  Well the plot grew considerably from 108 seedlings to 196 seedlings.  It was now time to go and visit the second plot.  We arrived at the second plot.  We started to count the rows and holes of this plot when I thought to myself again that this plot is now bigger then on paper.  I pulled out the computer again to check the dimensions.  This second plot was originally 168 seedlings and has now grown to 226 seedlings.  Before I put the computer away I checked the other two plot sizes before we went so I would not have to pull out the computer again.  We then were off to the third plot and Pastor Jeremiah’s wife (Mary?) told us to proceed to Robert’s shamba.  I do not have a Robert on the list for Bungoma orchards.  Well it turns out that there are not four plots but five that have been prepared.  I found this most interesting.  I have seen the first two plots grow considerably and there is now a fifth plot.  We then were off to what was supposed to be the smallest of the four plots and when we arrived I did not have to take a count to see that there was a problem.  I got out of the car once we stopped and I started to count the rows and holes.  This particular plot was supposed to have only 65 seedlings and now has grown to 186.  After we left this plot we went to look for the fourth plot but were unable to find it.  The fourth plot was to be the largest of the plots with 280 seedlings.  I guess I should be thankful that we didn’t find it since the first three have grown considerably and a fifth plot just so happened to be prepared.

Pastor Jeremia's site

Pastor Augustine's Site

Pastor Doricus's site

This is what happens when you let a passion fruit vine go

Mt. Elgon was in view today

A couple of boys came to rub my arm while waiting for Colin

I have now been in Kenya four times.  I have told you about time many times.  Agreeing to stay for ten more minutes means that lunch or dinner will be served shortly.  Many times the chicken is not even dead yet.  I can understand this completely.  It is not often that visitors come and the hospitality of the Kenyans is beyond gracious.  We could learn much from their culture on treatment of visitors.  I need to find the right line to getting the work done and being a good visitor.  I have ADHD and I usually prefer only one meal a day.  This is not very conducive to being here in Kenya.  Today the plot sizes are just another learning experience for me to absorb.  This I can understand completely as well.  Put yourself in their shoes and maybe you can see what I see.  I have a budget, I have only a certain amount of time, and I want it done right.  Try and capitalize on any two and the other suffers.  Kenyans see me and there is no such thing as a budget.  Even with the small amount that I am working with right now is a fortune to some of these people.  Time well I have already told you about time.  Lastly I want to have it done right within my budget constraints and in the allotted time.  Some day I will need to spend a whole blog on doing something right.

Just another small example and maybe you can understand it is almost impossible for many of these people to do much of anything right all the time.  In the US if I had as many puncture holes and lack of tread wear that Hezron has on some of his tires I would of gotten new tires by now.  You would too.  Today while we were having our flat tire fixed I noticed another gentleman bringing his tire to have it repaired.  The attendant pulled out the tube and there must have been fifteen to twenty patches on the tube.  The tire was bald with little to no tread left.  They found the leak in the tube and put another patch on it.  He pulled out some change and off he went.  Our flat tire was something similar.  The attendant pulled the tube and there were numerous patches from where Hezron had had it repaired before.  Now the tube which still looks brand new except for the patches has at least a half a dozen holes in it.  What does a poor person do?  If I wasn’t with Hezron at the time his options would be very limited.  He does not have the means to spend 40,000+ Ksh on new tires.  A new tube is anywhere from 500 Ksh to 1000 Ksh.  Or to repair with a patch for about 100 Ksh which includes labor.  Today we bought a new tube and we were on our way.  In the course of a few weeks quite a few thousand shillings have been spent on repairing tires.  It is not near the range of new tires yet but I would bet that in a course of a year or so many thousands of shillings will have been spent.  This is their life and they make do with what they have.

As of right now the people in Bungoma have to live within the budgeted numbers on the plots.  I am going to re-crunch the numbers to see if we can accommodate some more seedlings, wire, and chemicals.  The posts pretty much stay the same since the amount of seedlings grew within the rows and not the number of rows so much.  I only have a few days left before I leave and there is so much more to do before departure.

Tomorrow we will be delivering the seedlings to Mumias since they are ready to plant.  I will finish with the chemical calculations tonight so we can get the dosages to the farmers.  I put the deposit on the wire and it should be delivered by Friday(?).  The exchange rate went up and so did the wire price.  It should be close to a wash since it went up about the same as the exchange rate. 

Take care and be blessed.               

Dave