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Published: August 22nd 2009
Quite a lengthy one today but before we get to the update we would all like to let you know that your comments and messages are a great help to us out here in Kenya. It might only be for 2 weeks and we are of course having some amazing experiences but we never forget about those of you we have left at home and on many occasions wish you were here to experience them with us (The good ones of course!) so please keep the encouraging messages coming to help keep the homesickness at bay.
Today started out on a low note. Nobody’s phone seemed to work (something to do with last night’s thunderstorm) and a number of the team was feeling unwell. This was a lot to do with us not getting proper sleep and trying to do too much in one day. There is a reason the pace of life is much slower here after all, the unrelenting sun beating down for 12 hours a day!
Nevertheless we soldiered on having our usual morning meeting, looking at Nehemiah chapter 3 which talks about Jews from all walks of life working together to rebuild Jerusalem. Whilst
we aren’t rebuilding Jerusalem here in Kenya we are working together building things to help out our brothers and sisters in Christ so it provided some encouragement and inspiration for us. We then prayed and had another look at our book too which asks some quite challenging questions about how we as Christians behave and asks us to examine ourselves and see if we are we like the Pharisees.
You know when you go to the shops and you forget something. Back in the UK that just a bit of an inconvenience. Here in Kenya it involves a 7 hour chunk of the day! Although we had got many of the supplies we needed on our first shopping trip we needed more electrical stuff for the school, more wood to finish off the benches, glass for the windows in the computer room (silly to have a room full of laptops with open windows), and Paul needed more electrical supplies for the guest house so we could put lighting in all the new rooms we were building. Having spoken to the Principal of the school yesterday about the internet we also needed to pick up a Broadband Router. Since I
had done the research on Broadband and Ian knew where the shops were that we needed to visit we were obvious choices for this shopping trip. Nick hadn’t had chance to get out and about yet either and so he accompanied us too. Elias and Anthony of course drove us down there.
It takes ‘about an hour’ to drive to Kisumu from Butere, about a quarter of the way along a road that is still under construction. This makes for quite a bumpy ride with some precarious sections through unfinished bridges and over large mounds of earth. Thankfully this was a lot less scary then during the night since we could see what was coming up and brace ourselves etc. There is still one section that never fails to unnerve us weak westerners where the bus leans over as it goes over a steep berm and I am sure is very close to tipping over!
One of the most significant points along the trip is we pass over the equator. It’s marked by a large statue marker and as soon as anything stops there a bunch of children comes bursting out of some bushes to say hello in
the hope of getting some sweets!
As you approach Kisumu you can see Lake Victoria covering most of the horizon and you get to appreciate how massive it really is.
Once we arrived in town Elias took us to the Hardware are where Ian had visited before and we ordered the wood, glass, and other building stuff we needed. The owner of the shop, Ely, told us it was going to take some time to get all the stuff together so we headed off to another shop for the electrical bits we needed. This shop was run by a chap who lived in Canada for a long time so he had a rather strange accent. His shop had almost anything electrical you can think of so we would have no trouble getting the parts we needed. Whilst we were waiting for Ian to go through the list of stuff we needed me and Nick had a good look at all the techie stuff, such fun. Once we had our order we paid up, loaded the stuff onto the bus, and then headed off to a place to get some dinner.
It turns out there was a large
Martin painting
I though the Adam Ant look was soo 80'sdepartment store nearby that Doug and Ann had already recommend and Elias knew exactly where it was. Once we got there we went inside to pick up some sundries for a few of the guys back at the guest house. We were expecting the usual slightly higgledy piggledy Kenyan style shop, but not so! This place was just like a department store back home selling everything from TV’s to Razor blades.
Next to the department store was a great place to eat selling western style food so I had Fish and Chips, no mushy peas though but when your 4500 miles from home you can’t have everything!
After lunch we went in search of a broadband router. We got directions to the biggest Safaricom store in Kisumu but things didn’t look hopeful as we approached since the building looked like a large flea market from the front. We were pleasantly surprised though as we found a nice courtyard inside surrounded by shops. The Safaricom shop had air conditioning comfy seats and all the things you’d expect to find in an O2 or Orange shop back in the UK. We got our broadband router along with loads of scratch
Cook
This is the cook preparing out food in the outdoor open fire kitchen cards for the guys back in the Guest House to top up their mobiles and headed back to the electrical shop to get some stuff Danny had phoned through to us whilst we were eating dinner. By the time we got back to the hardware store Ely had thought we had forgotten about picking up our stuff. His guys helped load up the Bus and we set off home. As we headed back to the guest house all along the road hundred of school kids in their bright school uniforms were heading home. I am still astounded by the commitment to education here in Kenya, it’s a contrast to the UK where kids can’t wait for the schools holidays to have time off to play.
Back at the guest house work carried on painting the corridors and kitchen areas, there’s a lot to paint though so it will be a few more days before all the painting is finished. The great brick migration and the bricklaying is continuing at a steady pace too. All the team who are concentrating on this are doing an amazing job since it is by far the most physical bit of the work we
The Power supplier to the guest house
Paul explained that none of the fuses were actualy fuses and they all had some 1.5mm cable instead ! are doing here.
Over at Shiatsala School Jerry and Stewart made a start varnishing the masses of woodwork that will make up the benches. During a break he decided to take a walk in the maize field at the back of the school. This turned out to be a bad idea as he inadvertently stood in an ants nest. They were not too happy about this interloper in their territory and so they attacked by swarming up his legs and biting him. He wasn’t too badly bitten though although it took a while to remove them all from his pants which he did by taking them off and putting them on inside out!
Joyce (a teacher at Shiatsala School) took Jerry, Matt, Phil, Jeremy, Stewart, and Tim around the market in Shiatsala. Most of their food is grown on their own land and any surplus is taken down to the local market to trade or sell so they can get the other things that they cant or don’t grow, tools, clothes, and very occasionally the odd luxury item. The most popular ‘luxury’ by far is a mobile phone; they are almost considered a necessity here. Most families seem
to own one and they are almost exclusively pay as you go phones which you top up by purchasing a scratch card of credit and entering the number into your phone. The most common top up amount is 50 Kenyan Shillings which is about 40p.
At 5 o’clock Tim had arranged a football match with Butere boys school just around the corner. It was starting to look like the Butere boys team were going to thrash us until a few of their guys joined our team to even things up. In the end it was a 4 -3 to away side. A rematch has been arranged for Monday so watch this space.
After the football Doug and Ann joined us for dinner. Once that was out of the way then Charles and Matt were both up for their Question time treating us to some insights into their lives and how they came to become Christians. The Matt, Stewart, Dave H, Julyan went off with torches to hunt for Toads. Whilst they were looking they were question by a local policeman doing his rounds. I am pretty sure it was the first time ever he had stopped a bunch
of men prowling around the bushes after dark to be told they were ‘Looking for frogs and toads’. Thankfully he believed them and sauntered off no doubt thinking how strange white people are!
Once the Toad hunters had returned we had a competition to see which table could come up with the best Joke. Simon seemed to be the clear winner with his Mr. Whippy Joke (you will have to ask in person if you want to hear it since there is a visual element that just won’t translate well in words). It was then getting late so it was time for bed.
Tomorrow is Saturday so we get a day of to go to Kakamega rain forest!
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Joanne Thornley
non-member comment
Lovin it :)
Love reading the updates Andy, sounds like great fun, love the bit about Julyan and co toad hunting...lol Thinking of you all. Love Joxxxxxxxxx ( Andys sister )