Old Blog Post - Read it Anyway!!

Kitale has been host to an agricultural show held at the fair grounds. You could say it was a mini-PNE from years and years past. The Kenyan government sends this show all around Kenya.

We woke one day to no running water, which continued for four days. This happened because the show had come to town and they need the water to keep the crops wet there. Was told the water would be back on when the judges have finished judging the crops because then it doesn’t matter if the crops have water – their owners have either won or lost. So our little bathroom crew (Candice, David and I) had a discussion about what we would do re toilet water for four days. We hoped it would rain a lot so we could have that collected water to use. Our conclusion was to do what each of us had learned on our Mexico orphanage trips – “If it’s yellow, let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down.” It worked well, and the rains cooperated. Showers were extremely brief, dunking your head in a bucket of water first, lathering then quickly rinsing. I won’t go into all the times the power was shut off as well!

This past Friday all the schools in Kitale closed so the students could go to the show. The grades 4/5 children from MCCH went and so did our team. It was very crowded but very colorful as the students wore the uniform from their schools. Candice, David and I decided next time we could make lots of money by opening a booth for the kids to shake hands and talk to mzungus (white people) as we really were an attraction.

The kids from MCCH went on one ride. A few chose the ferris wheel. This ferris wheel had no electricity going into it. It went round and round by good old hand labor! And if you wanted your little child to have a ride in a car, you plunked them in the plastic kiddie car and the fellow pushed it up and down the dirt road from the back of the car! Candice and David rode the camels – check out the team’s blog, as I’m sure there will be photos of that event.

Course the whole trip started by me tripping over a bump in the road that I had not seen. Every road, sidewalk, any place to drive or walk here is not smooth or even, so I have to constantly keep my eyes down so I won’t trip. But back to the story! So I tripped, started falling. Candice grabbed my left side and I put out my right hand to break the fall. There was a piki piki (motorcycle) right there, so my hand grabbed the handlebar of the piki piki. I guess I also twisted the handlebar, which was really the accelerator, so it revved the motor. Like Candice said, I need to be thankful it was only in neutral! Gurrr – getting old presents its challenges. But I’m ever so thankful that the team members now automatically put their hand/arm out for me to grab whenever we cross the street, go up stairs, get on/off the matatus (taxi vans), etc.

We went to Kitale one day to go shopping, etc. The street kids see the truck and come over to us asking via hand motions or faltering English for money, food, shoes, etc. David, Candice and I were sitting in the back of the truck when this young lady came and motioned she had a little child back at Kipsongo, the slum where the majority of them live, and wanted money for milk to feed the child. You don’t give money because they spend it on glue, which they sniff through the nose or inhale by mouth. Guess a street fellow was watching her and told her to stop. She said something back to him that he didn’t appreciate, so he went after her, pushing her several times. It escalated - he picked up a stick and started after her to hit her on the head. At this point, “Candice the Brave” literally flies out of the truck and goes after the fellow, calmly telling him to stop and stop now. I guess at that point she asked herself – ah, what do I do now if he turns and hits me! It did end peacefully after a Kenyan came by to interpret between Dane and the fellow.

Today we went to MCCH for church. We had just arrived when Josephine, a lady from the ‘Mama’s Bible Study,’ came up with a little plastic bag and handed me a live chicken she had brought for our team as an honor for coming to Kenya and visiting her home. At that point the chicken started flapping so she took it out of the bag, showing that it’s feet were tied together to make it easier for us to carry on the matatu. I guess this is a tradition, so tomorrow the rest of the tradition will be carried out – the chicken’s life will be ended, then our host will cook it for our dinner.

So this email was dated November 9th and thanks to Jackie encouraging me to save the text in every possible way on my laptop I am able to send it now. Our Team were supposed to go to Faith Community Church today to help out with the street kids time there (bathing, washing their clothes, feeding them and giving them each a piece of clothing). But it was canceled so they could have a huge Christmas day for them in December, so we got extra computer time today.

Will keep in touch! Love, Nancy