Far Fletched in DDA

Without question, today was the day that millions of Kenyans had eagerly awaited for months. Like the rabid Harry Potter nation counting down to the next book/movie release or like me pining for the arrival of Santa Claus (he still hasn’t answered my last letter), Kenyans have been very anxious to have the chance to have their say in the direction of the country. The rules governing elections here in Kenya do not mandate a particular date for the election, in contrast to the US style, where elections are always held on, err... the first Tuesday in November? Instead, the rules stated that the election must be held within a certain period of time, which I believe was after mid-November and before December 31. Thus, selecting this day was somewhat equivalent to the 11th hour for ... read more

Ho Ho Ho! Rex and I headed down to Faith’s place for Christmas day, since Francis and Susan had gone to Meru for the holiday and elections. Rex and I met up with one of his brothers, who was traveling with his wife and two young children. We went by matatu from town to Kiserian and the younger of the girls sat on “Uncle Rex’s” lap. It was interesting to see how good Rex is with kids because he isn’t the most social guy. Sadly, his niece proceeded to throw up all over Uncle Rex’s pants about halfway to Kiserian. As the Kenyans say, “Pole sana” (“very sorry”). Faith’s husband Harrison picked us up from Kiserian town. We bounced along the road to their house, with Rex and I standing in the back of the pickup ... read more

I don’t have much else to tell you, so I thought I would give a sneak preview about the upcoming presidential election, which is scheduled for December 27. As I mentioned earlier, the race among a PLETHORA (special thanks to “The 3 Amigos” for that word) of candidates mostly boils down to three main candidates. The incumbent is Mwai Kibaki, representing the Party of National Unity. Kibaki is often called Mzee, which is Swahili for “old man,” because... well... Kibaki is old. He may only be 76 but he talks like he’s 104. Honestly, he speaks... veeeeeeeery... sloooooooowly... and you neeeeeeever... knooooooow when he’lllllllllll... get to... the poiiiiiiiiint. Kibaki was elected at the end of Moi’s regime and was a welcome change for Kenyans. Those who support him now believe that the country is in better ... read more

Wedding Day! Isaiah, a brother of Francis, was getting married. In short, the entire wedding experience offered an interesting comparison to life in the US. About a month earlier, Francis has told me that we needed to stop at a meeting briefly before heading home. The meeting turned out to be a committee meeting for the group that was doing most of the planning for the wedding. That’s right, it was a wedding committee. Harriet, the bride-to-be, was involved but her man Isaiah was still in Australia finishing his academics (he made it back in time for the wedding). Even though I had never seen such a method of planning a wedding, it made sense as a way to involve friends and family to ease the burden of organizing everything. However, I was caught off guard ... read more

After a restful night at the conference center in Meru, Sr. Adelina and her driver took me to the Generalate of the Nazareth Sisters. I’m pretty sure that “generalate” is just a fancy word for “beehive” because there were all sorts of activity there. Foremost, the generalate is home to the largest contingent of Nazareth Sisters. So, as you wander around, picture a big building with lots of rooms, a chapel, kitchen, dining room, sitting rooms, etc. Behind the Generalate is the school, which trains students from preschool to 8th grade (in US terms). The school also has a garden for fruits and vegetables and a motley assortment of farm animals. Friendly advice: steer clear of the pig pen. Those guys are sloppy and desperately in need of a shower. In another room at the back ... read more

In order to avoid growing roots, it is advisable to stay active. Honest, I’m not making it up. Based on this philosophy... and well, because my current project demanded it, I decided it was time to hit the road again. With the ongoing strategic plan in mind, I wanted to see some of the other projects with which KFC is involved and get feedback from people there. I set off with Sr. Margaret in a matatu heading north from Nairobi. Our first stop was Embu, a fairly small city about 2 hours away. Embu is the hub for another one of KFC’s regions and Sister was able to schedule a meeting with some of the project people at a hotel in town. Among the small group of 6 or 7 people at the meeting, a tremendous ... read more

In honor of God, Jen and I headed off to Mass in town with Sr. Esther, who works at SAUT. Later in the afternoon, we decided to kill some time by going for a walk out behind SAUT’s campus. Heading down a dirt road for a while, we eventually came down to eye level with Lake Victoria. It was definitely worth the walk. We stopped for a while to admire the view and joked about the odds of two people from Chesterville, USA, meeting up in Tanzania. One thing that I’ve noticed about Africa is the way that storms come and go. So here we were sitting along the edge of the lake enjoying the view. When we got up the energy to return back up the hill, we caught sight of some large, dark clouds ... read more

At this stage, I have to explain what brought me to be meeting Jen in Mwanza. Follow me along this side road for a moment. It began with frigid days on Summers, when Jen, her sister Katie and I would wait for the bus, wishing for a heated bus shelter. Jen (a few years older than me) may have been my babysitter along the way, but that’s a rather embarrassing detail which I choose to omit from the story. A few years later, after watching their dog when the family went on a college visit with Jen, I received a t-shirt from them, advertising a previously unknown-to-me school: the University of Dayton. As the Lords of Coincidence (not quite as strong as the Fates but similar) have it, Jen, Katie and I would each spend four ... read more