May 14-18...Left home Sunday May 14 and having travelled halfway around the world in 36 hours, with a couple of days gathering oneself at a Nairobi motel, your correspondent arrived in Kabula about two hours ago. The kindly bishop picked me up from kisumu airport, the city next to the village where President Obama's paternal side hales from...and after a two plus hour drive, here we are! The children are running about, the granddaughter Sasha is a two year old delight, and I type this from my old chair sitting in my old room, so looking forward to catching up with the community groups.
Mama Joyce says tomorrow we shall review proposals from the different groups and next week he'd out to talk story about their plans. Last time I showed up with $600 to help out. This time, much better prepared, with about $4500 to distribute.
After a snack of scrambled eggs with veggies, time to wind down for the evening. Jet lag mostly pau but starting to catch up with me right about now.........
Oh, let's not forget the bathrooms.....it's a loooooonggggg way down!!
May 19......
As you know, 4 years ago I got to spend time with three different community groups, one raising watermelon, one bees and a third chickens. We, the community of St Elizabeth's, also helped with some modest funds over the last few years. What a joy to report that each of these groups has made truly amazing use of the modest funds we have given! The watermelon growers have raised and sold over 3000 watermelons in three seasons and now are branching into corn growing. The bee keepers (who didn't even have a bee keeper outfit before (think of harvesting honey from a bee hive in your gym shorts!) and who had 5 bee hives, have produced over 50 gallons of honey and now have 21 beehives, all diligently cranking out sweet, clear honey. The chicken growers, all young women in their 20's and early 30's, have gone from 10 chickens to several generations of 500+ birds that are grown, eggs harvested, then sold at a profit. These grateful entrepreneurs are not only tripling or quadrupling the initial sums, and using them to in turn grow larger crops, more honey and many more chickens. They are using some of the excess cash from the sale of their goods to pay necessary school fees for their children, and are reaching outside of their own groups, paying the various school fees for a large number of orphans in the area. Each of the groups has money in the bank as seed money for the next project. Many thanks to all of you!!! In the meantime, I'll send updates on the $4500 you generously gave this time around. During my time here, we will meet on several occasions with the three original groups plus two others and they will tell us what their needs are and how they might wish to use $900 each to meet these needs. Mama Joyce, the community organizer, monitors each group and provided to me a painstakingly accurate breakdown of how much each group has received from us, what expenses were incurred, what gross income was received, and how the profit was used, right down to the last shilling (penny)!! A hui hou!!
May 20....Just returned from 5 pastoral visits to the folks belonging to this church. I accompanied a Kenyan priest and a lay leader on visits that took maybe two hours to complete. No wonder the Kenyans are so thin and win all the marathons! The walking is quite an adventure. It is also walking through some of the most beautiful landscapes this side of Makapuu. We stopped briefly at the simple mud homes of a number of folks, some asking prayer for a wife's near blindness, another for a sore hip, an older woman asking for her business to succeed, and the remainder simply prayers for health and wellbeing. So gentle and friendly, how I wish I spoke Swahili! The corn is in full bloom although the harvest isn't until August or September. The devastating drought seems to be subsiding and for people who depend on rain for their food, it is a much needed respite.
May 22. Monday morning following a pretty lazy Sunday yesterday. Mass lasted 2 hours in the classroom, with a wonderful mix of many many songs and the Eucharist, a service both familiar and unusual. It ended with prayers in the still under construction new church building, which is nearly ready to have the roof put on. The red brick that forms the church s all handmade right here on the compound. The large windows ensure it willl be full of lights when all is said and done. After Mass and a light lunch, I crashed for about 5 hours. The 13 hour time change seems to take a full week to work its way through! Waking me up from my blissful slumber was something that sounded like a waterfall pouring onto every square inch around us. The rain was amazing in intensity and power -- and -- coincidentally, it knocked out the power a well! Dinner was a delicious lentil soupy thing with homemade tortillas and some cabbage strewn rice. I enjoy talking story with Bishop Reuben about the history of this place as well as denominational chit chat. He and his family are a delight. 3 year old granddaughter Sasha has the run of the place and is full of joy.
Today I return with Bonaface and Mama Joyce to Julius's group. They're the gang who planted watermelon with our first donation of $300. Since then, they have used the proceeds of their crops plus the small annual help St E's sends to have grown some 3000 watermelons. They are branching into other areas now and we will hear all about it today. We shall also ask them what plans they might have for the $900 we have for each of the 5 groups.
Beatrice, wife of Julius Our pal Julius
Really nice day with Mama Joyce, Bonaface and Julius and his gang as we returned to see the work that began 4 years ago with an idea to plant watermelons. Since the they've expanded quite nicely, but recognizing watermelon as the foundation of the community's success. We were greeted with song and dance; a tour of their various crops; a discussion of what has been happening; then a request by them to move into dairy farming. Julius has already been educated about the care and maintenance of milk cows. They will draft a budget and we shall return soon to discuss with them. It appears $900 can get a mature and healthy milk cow, with funds left over for vet needs and medications. A beautiful day today, but electricity still out after yesterday's heavy rain...no sight of HECO!
May 23. No sign of HECO yet, and did I mention showers? The bathe your body kind? Not all they're cracked up to be, especially when the water runs between temperatures marked colder and coldest, its 65 degrees outside and a slight breeze is blowing through the stall where this baptism is supposed to take place! The other morning, nearly died of the shivers after attempting this feat of cleanliness. Thank goodness for really pungent deodorant and forgiving hosts! Will try this afternoon when it's at least hot outside! So, as mentioned above, this is day 2 1/2 with no power. Kind of like the first visit here when power, on a good day, ran for 2 hours each night off of the generator. There are Solar powered LEDS in the main living area, but haven't got those extended into the bedrooms or figured it how to charge phones and iPads with them. All to the good! In a bit we head off to visit Moses and the bee keepers. So looking forward to reuniting with these friends!
May 24....A day to travel first to the bank to exchange more dollars. After standing behind a woman of apparent Indian descent who was depositing mountains of shillings, got another $900 converted. Then we were off to meet with the young women's group. Last time, they were just forming, many were in pretty desperate shape, more than a few quite emotional at the challenges they faced and frightened. Today, what a difference! Dressed and happy, singing a beautiful greeting, these young ladies have a thriving poultry operation going. They have sold over 320 fully grown chickens, have made by themselves a homemade incubator and have recently purchased an electrical incubator that will allow for many more eggs at one time and more even temperature. From their profits to date, they bought a milk cow that provides much needed milk for the many children of these young families. With the monies we have raised, they will retire th debt on the new incubator and present us next week with their plan on using the balance of the funds. truly a joyous reunion! Then off to Mama Joyce's home down a very rutted red dirt road to have a feast of a lunch with her husband George and one of her daughters. No heavy rains this afternoon. All is well this side of Africa!
No, most of the time they were all cracking up, it's just the ace photographer missed those shots!
May 25. We met with Julius' group who presented us with a plan for cow/dairy. We will fund their proposal with $800; $600 for a mature dairy cow and the balance for food and medications.
Julius Group aka Integrated Community Health Development Organization.
This group began in 2009, by forming a fundraising "merry go round" which raised small funds that were shared as needed, e.g. Buying household goods, etc. They began with 12 people and after the merry go round was successful, forming trusting relationships, they began a project in 2012. They began on a small land area planting watermelon and this succeeded. In 2013 ICODEI and I visited them and after talking with them, gave them $180 to boost the watermelon project. The $180 was spent as follows: $60 to lease the land, $15 for seeds, $20 to plow the land, $25 to purchase fertilizer, $20 for an additional fertilizer, $40 for pesticide (sorry, NOT organic!). In June they harvested 200 fruits, sold at $1.50 each, giving an income of $300. This gave $120 profit. In June, 2014, we sent this group $738.00. They bought a water pump (that looks like a stair-master) for $90, pipes at a cost of $45 and leased more land for $70, seeds for $50, pesticide $30, labor $50 for a total of $335. They harvested 800 watermelons at $1.50 each, and made $1200. Profit was $815 (cause they also hired a truck to haul this crop to market at $50). They put $500 in the bank and the balance was distributed among the 15 members of the group, each receiving $21. In Jan 2015, we sent this group $329.00. They now had a total of $829. They withdrew $580, some of which was used to pay the school fees for 6 orphans in the area at $95 each. That left a balance of about $250. They saved these sums for the next growing season in 2016. In 2016, $70 spent to lease land, $5 for seeds, $30 for pesticide, $5 for labor, $4 for plowing labor for a total expense of $114. They harvested 500 watermelons, a decline because of a severe drought that hit the area. The fruit sold at $1 and they made $500 in gross sales. After expenses they had $260 remaining. They shared $145 among the members, with each getting just under $10. On April 27, 2016, we sent this group $180. They banked these funds, with a total $203 on deposit. They decided to expand and plant sweet potatoes in 2017. They leased 2 acres for $20 each, seeds $20, training for this crop $10, fertilizer $15, labor $20. Total costs were $105. These are still growing and harvest is due in August 2017. The remaining balance will be added to their saving for the next watermelon planting. In May 2017 we gave this group $800 which they plan to use to buy a dairy cow for $600, with the balance kept for food and veterinary needs. They ultimately hope to earn $8000 and purchase a total of 10 cows. Given their success to date, that seems entirely reasonable. BTW, each cow gives up to 10 gallons of milk per day, some to be sold and the rest shared among the members, their children and some orphans.
I know this rendition is probably really excruciating for all you non-accountants, but heck, since when does any charity give this kind of breakdown for donated moolah???? So here's more!!!!!
Moses Group Siritanyi Self Help Group
They began in 2012 with 15 members and began with a number of projects, including banana, corn, trees, cow, beekeeping, and poultry. We met with them in 2013 and through discussion, they agreed to focus on a fewer amount of projects because they were at the time so Spread out that nothing was succeeding. They settled on beekeeping (they had 7 hives, but 2 were out of commission), cow (which was feeding the neighborhood children) and poultry. We didn't give them any money, but purchased a beekeeper outfit for them for about $50 so they could harvest safely and a smoker used for the same process. We also bought them 100 plastic containers for the honey harvest at $.15/each. They harvested only 1 gallon of honey. They were disappointed, and simply shared this among the members. In January 2014 we donated $738. The group purchased new beehives for a total of 10 working hives. From this they harvested 5 gallons of honey, and sold these for $1.50 per jar for a total of $746. They saved $500 from this in the bank and divided the remainder between the members of about $14/member. In January 2015, we sent them $329. This was used in the poultry project. Chickens purchased at $100 (50 x $2); food at $20; balance remaining $710. Then $300 used for the corn project and the costs included land, seeds, fertilizer. The first corn harvest gave them 10 bags of grain, sold at $30 per bag for $300. Specific costs weren't given but the profit was $93, which they banked. Bank total $593. In April, 2016, we gave them $183. They used these sums to fence the bee hove area at the recommendation of ICODEI. Wire cost $150, extra posts at $20, labor at $13. With the money in the bank, they purchased 10 new bee hives $47/each. Then they used $30 for transport and repair of older bee hives (bee hives came from a rather distant location). Additionally; they spent some bank funds for chicken upkeep, leaving about $9 in the bank. With these sums, they purchased sacks for the corn harvest. They have 2 cows and a calf, the poultry project is running very well, selling 20 chickens at $5.50 each, and the corn is planted and doing well. They are also experimenting with a tomato crop which looks quite nice. In 2017, we are prepared to give this group $900.
My pal Moses and his group. Super cool people!
The Young Ladies Grp - Sawengnge
This group began at the end of 2012 and had 10 members. They are all women in their early to late 20's. Each donated a chicken but the project didn't go too well. They lacked a chicken coop. In 2013 we gave them $80 to purchase chicken fencing. They grew the original 10 chickens to 50 and most matured and were sold at $5/each for $250. They bought $50 worth of new chickens at $2/each, saved $100 and shared the $100 among the 10 members, with each receiving $10. $50 was then used to purchase 25 additional chickens at $2 each. In June, 2014 we donated $738 to this project. They used some of these funds to build a new chicken house. 10 iron sheets at $8.50/each or $85. Posts, 20 pieces at $1.50 each or $30; wire mesh for $8; labor $50; purchased 200 chickens at $2/each or $400; chicken feed $30; medication for poultry $20. $623 spent on this project so far. Cash on account $115, plus $100 previously saved = $215. This amount was distributed to the members as dividends: $25/per member to pay school fees for their children. They then sold 20 cocks at $7.50/ea and 300 chickens at $4.50/ea for $1500. $500 was saved. They then saved an additional $200 for savings of $700. The remaining $800 was used to purchase a dairy cow for $600, with the balance of $200 used to buy grass for the cow ($100) and cow medications ($100). Of the $700 in savings, they made another dividend to the members, each receiving $70. In January 2015, we donated $330 to the group. They used $100 to repair the chicken coop, $20 for chicken medication, $20 for food; leaving as balance of $190. This remained with the treasurer. In April, 2016 we donated $183 to the group, leaving a balance of $373. Of this, they used $250 to create a homemade incubator for hatching eggs. Of the $123 remaining, they purchased 133 eggs at $.15/ea for $20. This left $103 that was saved. Their next effort was to purchase an electrical incubator and to receive training on how to use it. The training cost $30, and the $73 remaining was saved. Of the 133 eggs purchased, 120 hatched into chicks, raised to maturity, then sold $5/each, giving a balance of $600. its these proceeds, they paid $400 down payment on the electrical incubator, owing $200 before they could use the machine. (It was delivered to them on the condition they not use it until paid in full). With the remaining $200, $104 was used to buy food for the cows, with $96 remaining in savings. $90 was distributed among the members with $6 remaining on account. The group now has 14 members, despite losing 1 to death (leaving 4 small children), and 1 who moved away. In May, 2017, we donated $800 to this group. Please note well: if the math above is wrong, blame the author, who flunked third grade math AND was translating Kenyan Shillings to dollars as he wrote!
May 27.....Okay, so I forgot that not only do Kenyans treat time as an expanding commodity, but distance too...as I was reminded when Fr Joseph invited me on a pastoral visit tour this morning. It's 1 kilometer (2/3 of a mile) to my church, he said, then we shall visit 2 households for prayers, they are each about a kilometer apart, then we shall head back to the Bishop's house. Pretty easy, I thought to myself, a mile of walking, even under the late morning sun, a cakewalk...As we approached kilometer 7 (maybe 4 miles), I asked Fr. Joe where his church might be, just being curious (and nearly having heat stroke....) Oh, he said, pointing to a bend in the road so far ahead that ancient ships likely fell off the face of the earth at that point, it's just past that bend...Somehow that 1 mile stroll became a 7-8 mile journey, meeting beautiful people along the way, stopping by more than half a dozen homes to offer prayers, as well as seeing his church and hearing of plans for future development. Back now, a bit tired, but grinning at the remembrance that time and distance are as malleable as play dough as cultures both collide and embrace under African skies....
May 30. Been away just a bit. Sunday was peaceful with the Word but no Eucharist for a service. Still beautiful prayers and singing and then a lot of rest that afternoon. Yesterday we went back to Moses' group to hear their proposal for the $900 we have for them. They are truly a delight! From a downcast and somewhat hopeless dealing group 4 years ago to an energetic and growing gang that is very confidant in its' abilities to do well. They will buy two cows with their money, using the balance for food and medication. The fun at the market with Mama Joyce getting Tea a custom made dress for the outrageous price of $16 (!!) and a shirt for moi for $14...Oh my!! I'll b heading back a bit early, June 12 be home rather than the 20th. All good though and still more than a week and a half left here. I don't know what the attraction is, but it's definitely there. To be among so many who are materially poor but emotionally so rich is a true blessing. To have see a total of three white people in two plus weeks, and not Ben to think abut that fact except when they appeared is also a gas. The school children remind me daily of what an oddity I am, but, as mama once reminds each group that we visit, we all bleed the same red blood. I love this place....This morning saw us with the young ladies group. So energetic and funny! They will use the $800 donation to pay off their egg incubator ($250), buy a young cow to raise for milk ($300), lease an acre of land to grow grass for the cow ($70), buy some high quality eggs to incubate, raise to maturity and sell and chicken meal which rounds out their expenses. With the $100 remaining ($20 from this gift and $80 from prior savings) they first thought of micro lending to each other but now considering a dividend of $10/member. The afternoon was restful. Clothes tat I washed early this morning all dry by noon. We also stopped by the market for some material, Tea's dress and my shirt. Picked up some cooking spoons made of wood as well.
June 1. A delightful yesterday at Issac Omondi's place. Isaac is a 5 year long teacher here at the school, teaches 1-8th graders and a couple of years ago asked for help starting a poultry project. We got him a few hundred dollars or less from somewhere, and he has really run with this. Now he has chickens and roosters, a pig that is ready to give birth to 10-15 piglets, a sheep that just had a lamb, and now he's anxious to add a dairy cow. He's already planted the grass for the cow feed and it is growing well. We shall give him a grant of $300 which will enable him, with the sale of his piglets, to the purchase a cow. He treated us to a delightful early lunch of chicken, rice and ugali. YUM! We then headed off to the market where I got Tea some dresses, picked up the two clergy shirts I had made, then did some shopping for mama Betty, and then home to read and rest and talk story. Dinner conversation with the bishop is always interesting. He spoke at length about the diminishing understanding of Christianity here, with so many prosperity gospel types and evangelicals who have no sense of the history of the faith, the creeds or the depths of our faith - exchanging all of these for outward appearances and the rush to collect money, cars and wealth. We indeed live in pagan times and the fields are ripe for a return to Jesus: teacher of compassion, gentleness, non-judgmentalism, acceptance of the outcast, and a willingness to die rather than kill. It's just before 7 am now, the rooster who's been going off since 4 is finally satisfied that the sun has obeyed his command, finally he has taken his rest, and the first small noises of morning begin here in the household, as fires are lit, water boiled for chai, and something sure t be delicious prepared for breakfast. Today we shall visit Julius' group and give them the $800 for their dairy project and I'm sure, African style, we shall have lunch with them.
Issac Omodi with a sample fresh egg, and with mom
June 4.. A lazy correspondent I have been! A recap since Thursday perhaps. Julius' group greeted us with singing and dancing and more singing and dancing as we arrived to deliver the grant sums. They have already built an enclosure for the cow to eat and sleep in. They then gifted us with bags and bags of local foods like avocado, taro root, watermelon and various green leafy veggies.
On Friday I mostly prepared for the next day's training on leadership, focusing on the various kinds of leaders we see in everyday life then discussing how Christian leadership differs from what we are used to.
On Saturday we walked through magnificent countryside paths to the training. We arrives for the 10 am class right on time, only to be greeted it's a room full of empty chairs! Typical African time, we finally had our group together and got started at 12:15! All good though, lots of dialog, sharing, insights...beautiful. All followed by a treat of chai (sweet tea) and fried donuts, just like malasadas but without being rolled in sugar. Today, Pentecost Sunday, we shall drive to one of the larger churches and the bishop will preside, with several congregations coming together for this special day. My prayers are especially with the good folks of St E's as the blow balloons and tie them up for our traditional Pentecost celebration. It's a clear blue sky morning, a bit cool and very beautiful. One more week in Africa. I'm already missing it...
June 4 Pentecost was a beautiful 5 hour celebration wth tons of singing (in Italy you can't get a bad meal, in Kenya you can't get a bad singer!). And in the midst of it, St Peter's gifts of chasuble and stoles were given to some of the clergy, who wept as they received these completely unexpected gifts. As the bishop said, these vestments are expensive in the US, they are unattainable in Africa. Then folks held a merry-go-round to raise money to complete their church building. This was filled with lots of singing, dancing, donating and then doing it all over again. After lunch and good byes we visited Fr. Joseph's parish that was "just there" he said...meaning in fact it was an hour by car away across some of the most battle scarred roads this side of Mars! This small parish is made up of lots of kids and young adults and several widows. For $200, they can buy 2 acres surrounding their church to build a community center for these folks. I gave Fr Joe the $200. We arrived back at the farm tired but smiling at the memories of a really beautiful day.
June 5-6. Because of some delays in getting the balance of our funds in cash from the bank, we were delayed Monday and Tuesday from visiting the groups and giving them the funds. We plan to give $800 to the young poultry women's group and $900 to Moses group, followed by about $500 each to Isaac for his new cow, the bead ladies and the dairy farming ladies. Hopefully today, June 7, the loot will be sprung and we can make our deliveries later this morning. Because of terrorism, bank regulations have stiffened and all kinds of hoops need jumping through to liberate the funds.
It's yet another blue sky morning, roosters going wild, children arriving laughing for school, and a real treat for breakfast this morning: sausage! Yummy!
June 7 - 12.....the balance of the trip involved quite a bit more waiting for the bank to release the dough, and gratefully, during my last two days more dough was freed up (good thing, cause someone had his mask and gun ready to retrieve the sums in an alternative way....). The Moses gang left us with a two liter bottle of the best tasting African killer bee honey you could ever eat and many kind words of thanks for the tremendous support given by the people of St E's. Indeed, all the groups, with teary eyes, asked that their heartfelt gratitude go to all of you, and they promised to work hard, to use the gifts received wisely and to look after those among them even worse off. Soooo, deep thanks for the gift of this sabbatical, for all your financial support for our Kenyan friends! May God continue to bless you all and I look forward to seeing you August 13!
That there's honey! And below is money!
