January 11, 2013 Kakamega

Greetings

Yesterday did not go as completely planned.  Pastor Ososo had some personal business to take care of and we were unable to meet until it was too late.  So I spent the day at the Consolata Sisters resting and reading.  I will try to put Nairobi back on the agenda for the end of the trip.  Kym did come by yesterday after work and I took him to the China Plate down the road.  He said he never had Chinese before.  It was pretty tasty but a little on the high side ($$$) if you ask me.  The guy seating us looked at us kinda strange and I tend to believe it was because we were not dressed appropriately.  I think that is why he put us in the corner.  They really did not have to it was like we were the only ones in the place since most people probably could not afford to come in the place.  For the money KFC spicy chicken would have been a much better choice.

I was not really up to traveling across Kenya in a crowded bus with my stomach acting up so I decided to book a flight to Kisumu.  Bishop Hezron was gracious enough to come and get me.  The problem with Fly540 is that they only have very early morning flights and after dark flights.  So I splurged a little and flew Kenya Airways so I did not have to be to the airport at five in the morning.  Even though the flight was about 30 minutes I now have a much better impression of Kenya Airways versus my first flight with them.  In the states we get pretzels, peanuts, or cookies with a drink on our short haul flights.  Kenya Airways has the same selection of drinks but with two little bags of mixed cashews and macadamia nuts yummy!!

Luckily we made it from Kisumu to Kakamega before Hezron’s car broke down when we arrived at the Sheywe Guest House.  The clutch went out.  Not to worry this is Kenya and before you know it Hezron had his favorite mechanics at the guest house taking the engine apart piece by piece.  One of the guys was actually able to fit into the engine compartment after he removed most of the components to start removing the transmission.  Well see what tomorrow brings and if they will be able to find the plates for the clutch or not. 

Tomorrow the Bishop and I will talk some more about church based Orphan care as the mechanics continue to work on his vehicle.  Hopefully they can get it fixed soon so we can go out look at some projects and possibly go into Uganda for a couple of days.

Take care and God bless

Dave 

January 9, 2013 Nairobi

Greetings

This morning Pastor Ososo and Councilor Ben showed up here at the Hostel.  We started off with Ben discussing the fish farmers association in Busia for an hour or so.  Ben is very busy with campaigning and raising funds for the spring election so he did not have a bunch of time to spend with us.  Once I get into Western Kenya I will meet with the management of the association and we can discuss the banking arrangements further.

After meeting with Ben it was off to the Kibera slum to address a personal issue with Pastor Ososo.  Afterwards we were off to Westgate Mall to meet with the owner of the Breezy Boutique to discuss a business arrangement for the jewelry project at the Matasia church.  I remember driving by the Westgate Mall a couple times before but this is the first time I have been inside.  Quite nice inside, Christmas decorations were still up, and a huge contrast to where I was an hour before.  Had a couple cups of coffee and Pastor Ososo had a sugar coated donut.  Now I know why it is so nice inside the mall.

Pastor Ososo brought some of the bone jewelry that the project had made and even though she liked them enough it was not something she would be able to sell in her shops.  She explained that the rent is very high in the mall and she needs to be able to mark up the product substantially.  With these particular pieces of jewelry they are too similar to the jewelry that is being sold at the Masaii market or other authentic Kenyan curio shops for the tourist market.  She needs uniqueness so she can justify the higher cost of the jewelry she sells.  She supports the idea of providing employment or engaging the needy through the sale of her products.  She loved the idea that this project is helping to support the eleven Orphans of the Matasia church. 

The meeting in my opinion went very well and she is very interested in working with the project to either supply jewelry on consignment and/or purchase (cash) the parts for her own jewelry making operation.  Pastor Ososo will be visiting her work shop next week with some paper beads (will look at and explain tomorrow) and possibly some other jewelry/parts now that he knows what she is looking for.  For me it is really great to see how far and how much further the seed that was planted in July 2011 will grow.  Not only is this jewelry/parts that is already being sold to the tourist market, it will possibly make its way into some of the higher end shops here in Nairobi and abroad.  My understanding is that she also sells her jewelry in Italy and online as well.

On my first visit back in 2009 Pastor Ososo told me that none of the pastors within his organization were getting paid by the church.  Now four years later with the help of the various micro-finance projects that the UMC church and YSAVE have been doing tithing among the members has increased.  Pastors are starting to get paid now.  Some of the money is also working its way into a small pension fund.  Even though it is not up to our standards it is a great start and in my opinion highly needed.

Kym was to come by tonight so I could take him out to dinner.  He had to work late in the hanger.  Hopefully tomorrow we can meet up.  Not sure where to take him but I did see a Chinese restaurant down the road on our way back from Westgate.  I hope I am up to it.  Last nights meal really didn’t go over to well.  Not sure if I made a mistake drinking the water that I was told was ok to drink or something else.  I did have the lettuce with oil and vinegar.  Last nights meal here at the Flora Hostel was pretty tasty.  The menu consisted of roast beef, sausage, mashed potatoes, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, green beans, cheese, something noodle soup, salad, bread, bananas, and oranges.  Bishop Hezron keeps telling me it is possibly the oil that doesn’t agree with me.  He might be on to something.  Last night my bottled water wasn’t that cold and the container of water on the table just came out of the cooler.  I knew I shouldn’t have drank it but it looked so so cold and I was willing to pay the price for a cold glass of water.  Let’s see if I make the same mistake tonight?  

Tomorrow it is back out to Matasia to look at the progress of the ground nut project, sim sims, cereal shop, expansion of the jewelry project, the new cookie operation, and the security guard project.  Not sure if we will have time tomorrow to visit any of the other projects or not.  Traffic in Nairobi can be a nightmare and it takes half a day to visit one place.

Take care and God bless

Dave 

January 8, 2013 Nairobi



Greetings

Today was our last day in Maralal.  Everyone finished packing, most of the Olathe group went into town to do some shopping, and the last two desk frames were repaired just a few minutes before we were to drive off.  We arrived at the Kisima airstrip a little after two for our flight to Nairobi with AIM Air.  It was a busy day at the airstrip there was another missionary couple from Dallas waiting for a flight from Marsabet to Nairobi.  Our plane arrived from South Sudan around two thirty, loaded it up, said our c-u-laters, and headed for our one hour journey to Nairobi Wilson.  Along the way the pilot gave us a wonderful ride next to the Aberdare’s for some great views of the countryside.  At one point there were a couple of large waterfalls and he did a complete three sixty around them so we could get a great view of them.  We arrived at Wilson about a quarter to four.  The Olathe group was off to the Mayfield to freshen up before their flight out of Nairobi tonight.  My ride arrived at four and I was off to the Consolata Sisters Hostel for a few more days here in Nairobi before heading to Western.

Ken and Susan are ending their extended stay in Maralal this summer.  God willing this is not the end of the mission.  True Ken and Susan are returning to the states but their hearts are still and will be with the Samburu people.  There is a long term proposal on the table, plenty of discussion, and with the commitment of those willing to keep it going it will. 

Tomorrow I will be spending the day with Pastor Ososo and Councilor Ben from Busia.  I am not sure what the complete agenda is for the next two days since it seems to be better to wing it.  We will be visiting the school again and checking in on some of the recent projects Pastor Ososo and the YSAVE program has started.  Since Councilor Ben is in Nairobi I will get a chance to discuss with him the progress of the fish farmers association in Busia.

At the airstrip in Kisima getting ready to leave for Nairobi

The Aberdare mountains in Central Kenya

One of the many waterfalls that could be seen along the Aberdare's

Tea fields on approach to Nairobi

Take care and God bless

Dave

January 7, 2013 Maralal

Greetings

I missed yesterday’s blog again.  The Olathe teams and I are on our last night here in Maralal.  We head to Nairobi tomorrow afternoon.  The Olathe teams will be heading back to the states.  One of the groups has been here since the first week in December and the second group has been here since the week before Christmas.  I will spend a few days in Nairobi before heading to Western for a couple of weeks.

Saturday we worked on repairing the desks.  Sunday was a wonderful service at the Lare Oibor church.  Today was packing, taking it easy, visiting with locals, working on desks, going to the Sunbird for Ken’s birthday dinner, and lastly having a Betty Crocker party confetti cake with super sweet icing. 

I think I finally have figured out how to get some pictures onto the blog again.  Here are some pictures from the last couple of days.

Compassion Saturday at Lare Oibor children lining up for lunch 

The crew repairing the desks out of the yellow and red rooms

The two new Jiko's installed in the kitchen built back in the spring of 2011

My computer keeps having problems downloading pictures from my computer.  Not sure what it is I also tried to VPN a couple of computers in the states today and I can't reach them either.  Hopefully I will be able to put some more pictures on my blog in the next couple of weeks.

Take care and God bless

Dave

January 5, 2013 Maralal

Greetings

I missed yesterdays blog again.  So tonight I am going to write it a little earlier then later.  Well I wrote some of it earlier and then it became later.  Everyone else is in bed and I am still writing.

Yesterday we went to Lare Oibor in the morning and had a Bible trivia game with the youth.  In the afternoon we started to work on repairing the desks that were constructed a year and a half ago.  Today we continued to work on repairing the desks all day.  We were able to complete all but two of them.  On Monday my crew and I will remake the frames for the two remaining desks here at the Black residence.  If we cannot put the wooden tops back on Monday Lawrence and some help can put them on later.

For some reason I am unable to put any pictures on my blog.  Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures soon.  Tomorrow we are back off to Lare Oibor for church services.

Take care and God bless

Dave 
 

January 3, 2013 Maralal

Greetings

Already missed a days blog.  I had something written while I was waiting for Ken to meet me in Kijabe but I need to tweak it a bit before I publish it.  I seem to be having some real problems getting the stuff out of my brain onto paper (laptop).

Yesterday Ken and I met in Kijabe for the start of our journey to Maralal.  Spent the night in Nakuru and continued today across and up the rift valley escarpment to Maralal.  This was the third time that I have had the pleasure of making the journey.  Let me tell you the scenery is magnificent and along the way there is some wildlife to see here and there.  The road well that is a different story.

Today I saw something very unusual for Kenya.  We were on our way toward Lake Baringo and a car went buy pulling a speed boat.  Mind you this was a pretty nice speed boat that looks exactly like any other speed boat you would see plying the vast number of lakes in the states.  What caught my eye was that it had a big tube in the back you know the ones that people get pulled on behind speed boats.  The lakes of the rift valley are not exactly like our lakes in the states.  Lake Baringo for example is a fairly large lake but only about 15 feet deep at its deepest.  It is only one of two fresh water lakes in the rift valley.  So the choices to go boating in Kenya are very limited to say the least.  Keep in mind that this is Africa and the critters that call Lake Baringo home include hippo's and crocodiles.  I ask how many of you would like to go tubing on Lake Baringo today?  Could you imagine tubing into a hippo and how upset he would be?  How about a crocodile nibbling at your toes?  I really found this to be very amusing that this is even something that would be considered.  Could you see dad asking the kids "hey kids you want to go tubing today on Lake Baringo"  "Sure dad let's go do you think we will see any crocodiles today"?

Tomorrow we are off to the school and church site.

Take care and God bless.

Dave

   

January 1, 2013 Nairobi

Greeting and Happy Happy New Year

Well I hope eveyone had a great new years and I pray that 2013 is even better.  This will be the first year in quite some time that someone is not predicting the end of the world.  However we still need to be on our toes this might be the year it happens since no one will be expecting it.

Arrived in Nairobi last night after another grueling flight.  My entertainment system did not work, the people next to me did not speak english, he did smile at me when I asked to get out and go to the bathroom.  One of these days I am going to get on a 8 hour flight close my eyes and sleep until the plane starts to descend 20 minutes upon arrival.  I shouldn't complain I could of been a missionary a couple hundred years ago on a slow boat to China.

This morning I met with Pastor Ososo here at the Nairobi Transit Hotel for a couple of hours to discuss the YSAVE program and Orphan care.  We agreed to meet again and look at some of the great things they are doing when I get back to Nairobi in about a week.  The rest of the day I spent resting and catching up on some missed sleep.  Tomorrow I will meet up with Ken in Kijabe for the journey up to Maralal for a really long weekend.

Take care and God bless

Dave