Storm Front Coming

The most exciting news of the day, and the last couple of days is that it looks like a storm is brewing and headed our way. There has already been a bit of thunder, the clouds appear to be getting bigger and darker and we are hoping it will dump some rain on us. Not that we need the rain, more we want the rain to give us something new.

The weather is changing, it is definitely getting hotter. The mornings however seem to be cooler and have a cloud cover, so that is very nice. The clouds have been burning off mid morning and the days, particularly mid afternoon seem to be hotter. Part of the reason is the breeze does not seem to be as consistent.

I’m also waiting for the east horizon on Lake Victoria to clear up. When we first got here a couple months ago, the island of Mfangano was quite clear. After a couple weeks a haze started to build up between here and there and has not gone away, even with the seemingly constant wind. I am glad that we get to stay around for an extended period to see the different weather that happens. Being someplace only a week or so only gives a snapshot of what the weather is like, sort of like thinking you can describe an elephant by only seeing its tail.

Speaking of large animals, we have not seen the hippos in Lake V for the last couple of weeks. We miss them. I also think I deleted all the pictures I had of them. I think this happened because when I reviewed them later I did not notice the small dot in the center of them that were the hippos. There really wasn’t much to wee anyway, so it is not a great loss. However, if the hippos do not come back, it may have been the only proof that we did in fact see them.

A few weeks back we also came across a small, 3 – 4 feet long, alligator on the shore down by us. We’ve only have gotten a brief view of it scurrying away from us. Travis and I did flush it out one day from the bushed it was hiding in, but it ran away and quickly hid and we could not find it again. No picture of this either.

We had another Polytechnic meeting today. Trying to get the committee to move fast has just not been possible. They seem to be able to only focus on a single topic at a time. We have had meeting with both the Minister of Immigration, who is an MP from the local area, and the Homa Bay Diocese’s Bishop. The meeting today was to give a report on how these meetings went. The MP said we could probably get some funds for tools, furnishings and other tangible item, but not repairs nor operating expenses. They would just refer to us as a youth polytechnic and leave out the connection to the Mbita Catholic parish part as the state can’t fund religious organizations. They did the same thing when the MP help get the electricity in to the compound here. The Bishop said he was meeting with the finance committee today and call us to tell us what they say about helping out. We are not expecting much here. This was reported to the committee today and since we did not have anything definite from the Bishop’s office the committee didn’t think we could really do anymore planning. I said how about other things, such as other steps that need to be taken, timing of when things need to happen, how to happen the rest of the shortfall because we don’t expect enough funds from the two sources to cover the expected shortfall. No can do since we don’t have a definite from the Bishop. Must have that info than so we can plan. We will convene again after we have heard and then we can go forward. They talked of borrowing money then based on the promise of funds. I asked what happens is the promised funds do not get delivered? They said we will rely on what the Bishop says, but not the MP as he is a politician and it may not go as he says. So we wait another two days probably to find out what the Bishop says and get the committee back together. We relayed our fears of time running out going at the pace that things have taken so far. Things have to happen. There was agreement, we will move faster when we hear from the Bishop. They also talk about if they can just get started, get a few funds to get the tools, get a couple students going, it will all work out then. What about the expected 800,000 shilling shortfall over the next 3 years. But they have not even seen that projection or asked about anything that long term. But once the Maier family is back in the US, they will help fund raise for them. How many times do we have to say this is not the Maier financing family. But we did say we would probably talk about it when we got home and maybe some funds would come, but we have commitments when we get back, so it would probably be close to the end of the year. So unless they were planning on opening in Jan 2010, they need other plans. Enough rambling about the committee, we aren’t always frustrated about the progress, we are at times inspired and do think there is a chance.

Father Charles has decided to start raising chickens. The coops were already here so he only needed the chickens to start. The Christians brought a couple, he got some instead of rent payments and picked up a couple that were just running around the compound. Throw in a little feed, some sawdust for nesting, water troughs and a perch and you are set. Not quit, as what started as 7 chickens yesterday is now 3. One tried to escape under the wall, didn’t make it and literally got it’s head eaten off by some other animal. Two others were just dead, and one is sickly and I don’t think it is expected to make it. And we were thinking about raising 100,000 for the Sori Children’s Home. Lossing that percentage in one night would have been a major disaster. I’ll let you know how this chicken raising goes.

Nick has gotten creative again with his campfire. He used chapatti dough and some of the hotdogs we got in Nairobi to create wiener wraps that he deep fried in a pan over the fire. They didn’t turn out to bad, even with no mustard available. He is also still experimenting with roasting ground-nuts over the fire. His second attempt was slightly better than the first, but not nearly the quality of the roasted ones you get in town.

We are having very intermittent power around our portion of the compound. It only seems to be on for a limited amount of time in the evening. We are pretty sure that Father C is going to the power box and turning it off when he feels like it to prevent its use during the day. It comes back on about the time he wants to go rest and watch his evening news. We also got a ‘bill’ from the Sister Adriane for our share of the last month’s bill that they need to pay. We owed 2,000 shillings for the 4 light bulbs we occasionally use for a few minutes some evenings. This was pretty outrageous in relation to our use and what others get charged and use around the compound. But, we paid up and Father C now has his own line and meter, so we don’t have to worry in the future. Joyce did find out that the power bill is like 400,000 shillings in past due amounts. Guess somebody hasn’t been ponying up their share in the past. Relatively power here is quite expensive. Next time I come maybe I’ll being my own solar panel for charging all my electronic equipment.

Trying to be productive with my free time I’ve been trying to develop my Survivor skills. I don’t now if I’ll ever apply again, but just in case I’m working on my fire starting skills. I want to be the first survivor to start a fire on the first day of the game. I’m pretty good using a magnifying glass. Of course you need sun and the magnifying glass to use this method. I did learn some things that will help using other methods, mainly patience and what type of material and wood burns easily and will maintain embers long enough to ignite larger pieces of wood. I’m not moving on to the bow and spindle method and not had much success. The ‘strings’ on the bow keep breaking. I’ve tried it with just my hands, spinning the spindle and applying pressure at the same time with the palms of my hands, but had to stop when the blisters appeared.

The kids are starting back to school after the December break so our yard has become much quieter. We do miss them some, but they are having partial days so far and showing up afterwards so still are having some kid time.

Joyce and I both are losing weight on the diet here. I mainly attribute my lose to not having the between meal snacks available. I also am not eating as much at meals as the food is repetitive and a little boring. We haven’t actually weighed ourselves, but are going on how loose our clothing is fitting. MTD (you know who I mean) – I hope you are keeping up your success in dropping a few pounds, otherwise I may actually get to be lighter than you.

God Bless and eat a Big Mac for me,

Paul