Cooking in Kenya

Is that saimin cooking over a charcoal stove?? You betcha! Lunch today.....

A Story

Bishop Ruben told us the story of his then 11 year old son who had a bone marrow disease that left him unable to produce red blood cells. After over 40 blood transfusions, the doctors told the family the boy needed a bone marrow transplant or he would die soon. Except, the transplant cost $100,000 and the family made maybe $100 per month. The boy, on the return trip from Nairobi to Kabula, reminded his dad, then an Anglican priest, of Jesus throwing out the demon from the epileptic boy. "Dad, when Jesus cured the boy, he told the spirit to never come back. When you pray for me, you pray for a cure but you don't order the disease to never return." When they arrived home, Ruben told his elderly parents the grim news that their grandson would likely die within the month. That night, thinking more of the boy's comment about prayer, Ruben and his brother Robert stood at either end of the boy's bed,  and prayed their hearts out that the illness killing the boy leave him and never return. The boy went to sleep as did the rest of the family. The next morning the grandfather opened the chicken coop to let the chickens out.  The young boys, like Ruben's son, were charged with keeping hawks at bay since the hawks often waited for the chicks to emerge -- breakfast. Ruben's boy had been too weak for months to take up this task, but something changed that morning. The boy came running out into the yard, picked up stones, and kept the hawks away. He then went back to lay down. A few days later, taking the boy to the local doctor to test his red cell count, the doctor asked if the boy just received a transfusion. No, he had not, came the reply. Why do you ask? Because his red cell count is nearly normal. A few more days pass, another test, and his count is normal. The boy is now 34 years old, in his third year of university in Turin, Italy. Stories like these remind me that while God always heals, restoring those who surrender to peace -- sometimes there are also cures. Amen.

Good morning!

Yesterday we travelled to a very remote village, maybe two hours into interior red clay roads. The countryside, all rolling hills and corn and thatched homes with elderly brightly clothed women carrying jugs on their heads....simply gorgeous. We went there to have a Mass and to baptize a total of 10 folks, ages 9 months to 90 years! About 50 people came, among them about 20 children with runny noses, torn shirts, wide eyes and smiles, who, it seems, saw their first white man! Sometimes I feel like a combination celebrity and three headed monster!

The Mass was held in a place that would make the finest Cathedral blush: waving corn fields, banana trees in full fruit, blue skies and warm sun, the people sang and prayed and smiled. What a day!

Another Best Day

Beautiful kids in a remote village

Internet Delays -- Sorry!

Wednesday June 12, 2013

Last nite was a no internet nite and perhaps today will be the same. The local provider is Safaricom and it seems they’re having some troubles....

The side roads in Bungoma town are something to behold. Holes are simply filled with large rocks and huge bricks in any old way. Driving on these roads is something like those old fanny shakers – you know, you stood up, put that big rubber strap across your butt and shake baby shake! Such are these roads!

The people continue to be beautiful and surprising and sweet.

Our current co-op of barely post-teenage women, all with small children, found half a dozen ways to skin the cat of a cheaper chicken roof (cheaper than corrugated iron), many of which were ingenious, like using locally weaved mats or corn stalks. My bride’s suggestion of chicken wire covered with banana leaves was also a winner!

Tuesday June 11, 2013

The most persistent sound at the farm here in Kabula is the water well hand pump.

It starts and stops intermittently at say 4 am and maybe rests around 10 at night.

Now, in the mid afternoon, it’s never given a rest.

What a luxury piped in water is!

I particularly remember this luxury as I haul two buckets of water from the well, one for wash, the other for rinse, of the last few days clothes.

This morning, as we met with the third and final micro business of my short tenure here, I learned of bats with bodies as big as human heads that swoop down on unroofed chicken coops and carry off whole, squawking chickens!

Do they turn into Bella and her dead guy boyfriend when they get to where they’re going??

Maybe I better put off star gazing until daylight hours....

This conversation came up because the gals have started a poultry business and have a bunch of chickens, but, the chicken house is roofless and corrugated iron for a roof is very expensive.

Tonight’s homework: figger out a cheaper roof!

The Bees Have It

Monday, June 10, 2013

Today got off to a slow start, as poor Bonaface, our trusty driver, had a flat in a town that had several folks who thought they could repair flats, but alas, thinking didn’t translate into reality.

So with gum and duck tape, Bonaface somehow made his way home, the flat got fixed and we were on our way.

First to a meeting with the bee master, Vincent – a bee keeping expert for 15 years; a slight, soft spoken older man, he told us of the bee keeping co-ops in the area, the educational support available and, best of all, he has bee keeper clothes for harvesting hives – a sort of white nylon space suit.

Gentle man, his biggest concern in harvesting honey is ensuring no bee dies in the process...

With bee uniform (and smoker – an ingenious combination of tea kettle and accordian bellow -- used to put the bees in a sleepy state) we at last headed to the project where we were greeted with singing and hand shakes and smiles.

The group reported its decision to reduce its many projects to just two, with the men doing the bees and the women the poultry.

The money that will come from the bee harvest of honey will first be used to buy roofing material for the poultry hut and some disease resistant roosters and fertilized eggs.

The group came to see that doing one thing well is far better than doing many things poorly.

When business was done, each person stood and shared something of their own life, the size of their family, what education each has, and, most movingly, their own experiences with God.

We ended our time with healing prayers and anointing with oil of maybe 40 people who were sick, from smallest children with fevers to the elderly with sore stomachs and everyone in between.

All through the anointing prayers, the whole group sang songs of thanks – and I can only say thanks too for being allowed to be present among this gathering of so much pain, yet so much joy.