This That and Whatever

Aug 31, 2010 – Vicki arrives this week on Friday.  Hopefully she makes the connection in Nairobi to Kisumu.  She has to pass through immigration which can take a while.

This post brought to you by Bhavniks ltd, your first choice for wedding cakes and internet access.  Cakes made while you browse!

There are a lot of internet cafes in Kisumu, some with what we might think is an unusual side business – or maybe the internet is the side business.  At one ksh (about 1.2 cents) a minute I’m not sure haw much they can actually make.  I think one way they make money is having a slow connection so you wait a long time to load pages.

T-shirt of the day – worn by a girl: I wish these were brains.

Joyce’s road rage trigger has been found.  Of course she is walking, but it relates the piki pikis (motor bikes).  Since side walks (or paths) here aren’t always available, many time we must walk on the side of the road.  The pikis seem to like to honk at you and then pass close to you, even when they have the entire rest of the road available and no other traffic and the road is just as good on the other side as where we are walking.  This just ticks Joyce off.  So unusual for her as she is always the one back home to tell me to chill when things irritate me when I’m driving.  And what she hates even more is when they drive on the footpath that is actually a footpath on the side of the road and in no way part of the road.  They do this mostly when the road is muddy and the path is drier.  Sometimes they even do it because the road is so rutted (because is was wet and has now dried) it is smoother to ride the footpath.  I must admit, I don’t like when they ride the footpath either and a lot of times I don’t move – pretending I don’t know they are coming. 

It has rained a few nights here in the last week.  This makes the roads much less dusty.  But it has already made some areas very muddy.  I’d like to see more rain, just to see what Mbita is like after lots of rain.

Tuition is going this week at school.  That’s like tutoring for most the classes.  Seems just like classes to me but it is not.  Its to help the kids learn more or catch up.  It’s mandatory and is all day just like school.

The hammer cocks are trying to build a nest on the solar panels at Steve and Judi’s.  I happen to notice that one was flying up to the roof with a mouth full of grass.  We investigated and found quite a bit of debris already on the panels.  Joe cleaned them off last night, but this morning I saw one taking another load up already.  I’ll have to check tonight to see how much is up there.

Went to Kisumu last weekend.  Joe’s football club was playing in a tournament so we could ride there in some comfort.  Since we had 9, maybe 10, players in the car, Joyce road on my lap in the front seat.  Still better than a matatu.  When we go to pick Vicki from Kisumu this weekend we get to ride public.

Interesting that it was quite green on the other side of the lake where the ferry land and Mbita is really dry.  We just don’t catch much rain here, right on the lake.

Got a good meal in Kisumu, and got to the great ice cream place.  Got caught at the restaurant for a while in a thunderstorm.  It’s sort of enclosed but still rain was blowing in from the sides.  When we arrived at where we were staying, with Sandy and Dick, we had to get out of the tuk tuk and pound on the gate, getting quite wet.  But it was a warm wet.

Sandy is an upper cervical chiropractic, so Joyce and I went to get adjusted by her.  For the $6 it seems worth it and we hope to go next weekend again.

It’s weird to me on how many car washes there are around, particularly in Kisumu.  Some roads are just lined with them.  A number of them even have pressure washers.  I’d be afraid to wash some of the cars, as the dirt seems to be holding them together.

While in Kisumu a glue sniffing street boy came up to us and asked for money for food.  Morgan offered to trade him his glue bottle for some food.  He agreed handing over his bottle.  Morgan dug into her bag and pulled out a bag of nuts.  This wasn’t satisfactory to the boy.  He complained that the nuts (peanuts I think) were dangerous.  We said no, but his glue was.  In the end Morgan ended up trading him back.

Time to review pictures and post a few of those.

Remember, Have you cake and eat it to while surfing the waves of the internet at Bhavniks.

Paul

Pictures and Video

Just a note to let you know I added a bunch of pictures yesterday and if you’ve already looked at those, I’m also adding a video right now.

Water

Aug 25, 2010 – 4th day in a row that it had been over cast.  Makes it seem a lot cooler, but still think it could be hitting the mid 80s.  Sort of been expecting rain, but have not seen any yet.  Been drive for quite a few days, not even seeing lightning in the distance.  Make for nice dust clouds when the vehicles rush down the road.  And the lake is getting hazier.  At times it is hard to see Mfangano.

But the big water story is the spoiled (broken) water tank at CGA.  This is a 6000 liter (1500-1600 gal) tank.

Started off about 6:30 this morning with neighbor Joe coming to my bedroom window and waking me saying we needed to go up and handle something at school.  I’ve been tossing and turning a while so it was not to rude of an awakening.  I’m ready to go in less than 3 minutes and we head up.  Of course I’m thinking bad – break in people or property badly damaged.  Then I realized the 2 calls that came in at 4:30 this morning were probably about this.  I just got up, saw that it was just a number, meaning the number was not in the phone, so i turned the phone off.  When I turned it on on the way to CGA, I had 4 text messages waiting for me.

Anyway, Joe explained on the way up that the person delivering charcoal ran into a water tank and broke it.  Why delivered at 4:30am in the dark?  Story I was told was because they had to be in Homa Bay by 6am.  Real reason, most charcoal is illegal because it is made from wood cut illegally.  So don’t want to get caught during the day.  But charcoal is all over here, sold on the side of the road up and down from here.  So not much done to stop it.

We get up there and inspect the damage.  5 foot crack about 1/3rd of the way up the tank, plus part of the top is almost cracked off.  Heard that repairs do not hold so the $500 tank is probably worthless.  The pickup is still in place where it hit the tank, the driver and 2 helpers still waiting for us to show up, a good 2 hours after the incident.

Joe and I talk with the driver.  He points to the pedals and says something about the brake.  We both assume that he said something about the brakes not working and he he tries to turn and didn’t see the tank.  Believable looking at the truck that the brakes are bad.

Talk for a while, get the drivers ID card, try to discuss what should be done.  How much and who should pay – driver, truck owner, coal seller, insurance company (the truck was actually insured).  Talk with all and find out that the coal seller’s parents own the truck, and later that the driver is related – a distant relative.  So we settle with anyone and let the family decide who is responsible and owes what.

After a few moments I survey the scene and note that the road from the kitchen where the coal was dropped to the tank dips down from the kitchen and then back up to the tank.  The top of the road is maybe 2 or 3 feet higher than the tank end and that there are 6 inch high rocks about 4 feet in front of the tank along the side of the road.  So, if the truck coasted down the road from the kitchen, and up to the tank it was quite unlikely that it would make it up the hill, bump over the rocks and hit the tank.  I look closer and note that the road (dirt and rocks of course) shows indications that the trucks wheels were spinning trying to get up the hill like it was having trouble even making it up the hill.  So thinking that the truck just rolled down from the kitchen, up and into the tank and the brakes gave out was what happened didn’t add up.

We question the driver again, with some help.  Ahh, the driver had trouble getting the brake applied.  His foot was stuck on the accelerator because the hole in the bottom sole of his shoe got caught in the pedals.  That makes sense.  He’s accelerated up the hill, his foot got caught and couldn’t apply the brake, a little panic, dark, didn’t want to turn down hill to the gate, turned the other way and boom (or bump, pop) the tank no longer holds water.

40,000 ksh water tank spoiled because of a spoiled shoe.

So we get the coal seller on the phone, she is coming to school to discuss so we take the other 7 bags of charcoal on the truck (besides the 10 they already delivered) and release the driver, helper and truck.  Didn’t really want to take them to the police – that would not help us recover our money, just put a bigger burden on the vehicle owner.

Knowing that not all drivers are licensed, especially piki-piki drivers I asked to see the drivers license.  He was actually licensed to drive commercial vehicles! And he was quick to point out that it did not expire until tomorrow!  He was legal.

The lady came.  She actually admitted some responsibility and wanted to come to a fair compromise.  A bit unusually for a Kenyan to admit such a thing, they are often like kids that deny load and long even if you are standing watching when it happens.  With the help of Willis, a long time CGA assistant to Steve, the real manager, we prayed about it and decided we would keep the 17 bags of charcoal without paying as restitution for the tank. 

Steve didn’t train me for this one.

CGA Acting Manager,

Paul

Monday Morning

Aug 23, 2010 – 8:30am  The start of another week.  This one should be a little busier for us.  Morgan is coming for a visit with Justin who is visiting from the US and Kelsey and Rachelle – both Americans living in Kenya for extended periods.  We will be celebrating Morgan’s birthday today or tomorrow with the kids – pictures to follow.

The excitement last week was Joe having a (unfortunately) former student arrested.  This kid had a very promising future – good student and athlete as well.  He was being sponsored at a good secondary school. 

Here’s the short story.  He was originally presented as a full orphan.  After 8 years he fesses up that both his parents are alive.  His mom actually submitted the forged documents. 

(It’s now Wed afternoon and I’m just getting back to this after a few happening days.)

He started acting up in school, not doing well, skipping class, etc.  And he was ‘spoiling young girls’ in the Mbita area.  Not a good thing.  Joe and the school was still working with him, showing mercy, counseling him and still willing to help.  But minutes after a heart to heart talk with him up at CGA he stole the principles phone.  Last straw, game over.  No longer will he be supported.

He came back to town and Joe did not think was a good thing.  He went to talk with the boy.  When the boy saw him he took off running.  Joe followed suit, in his nice clothes, including dress shoes.  Joe’s in shape, but this kid is fast.  Anyway Joe chased a while, including past the men’s bathing beach, where they were on his side, standing up, all soaped up, shouting he went that way.  Joe’s thinking ‘thank you naked uncircumcised black man’.

Joe doesn’t catch him.  Later that evening Joe has paid 20 ksh to a child neighbor to report to him if the boy returns, has talked to several people to verify stories, made a trip tp the police station and given chase a second time when the boy shows up at home.  He even goes room to room with a candle checking under beds and in closets to see if the boy is hiding.

Fast forward a day or so and the boy turns up at relatives in Kisumu area.  This is the place he went after stealing the phone and a relative searched him, found it and returned it.  A few calls from the police and Joe and they bring the boy to the Mbita police (who are dealing with a double murder of fishermen up the road a ways).  They throw the by in jail and the idea is sprung for the police to bring him in hand cuffs to CGA and talk with the students.  So that happened last Friday afternoon. 

Currently we do not know if the boy is still in jail.  Last we heard, he was in jail and the family was not to bring food (meals are not provided by the police).  Police said they would give him a little so he would not starve.

From the Mbita Police Blotter,

Paul

Dear Joyce – a letter from Brian (not Byron)

Dear Joyce

hello: Joyce I love you with all my heart. I love you like I love God. I now you are thinking Mavin. I now sometimes you cry. I miss Mavin and Micole and Unise. I don’t know the spelling of there names but I miss them. Our best friends are not there.  I don’t have anything to say now. see you goodbye LOVE  BRIAN

(a drawing of a tree here) 

it is ten years old

this tree is next to our house

it belongs to me  

 

(this is a letter that I was secretly handed by Brian’s little brother, Kevin…when we prayed for Mavine, Eunice and Michael in church on Sunday, Brian saw me crying during the prayers…oops about the part that he loves me like he loves God…sorry God!)

Field Trip to Nairobi with Class 8 - Joyce

Traveling to Nairobi can be a huge adventure in itself, but imagine taking 24 8th graders with you on a adventure of a lifetime.  For five days last week I traveled with a group of kids from Christ’s Gift Academy, and 9 other adults (7 teachers and 2 PTA members).  Many of the students had never been out of Mbita so we were looking forward to introducing them to things they had never experienced or seen before.

After traveling for the whole day in a hired bus and one private vehicle, we arrived at our destination.  There were only 4 or 5 kids that vomited along the way…pretty good considering some had never been on a road trip.  We all stayed in a dormitory at a primary boarding school within walking distance of downtown Nairobi.  It was a decent place with two big dorm rooms (one for girls and one for boys). 

The next morn ing we were up and out early to go to the Giraffe Center and we fed real giraffe’s!

The kids enjoyed it so much but were a little intimidated by their long slobbery tongues.  Off then to the Elephant Orphanage where the baby elephants came running out of the bush to their caregivers who had huge bottles of milk (?) to feed them…so adorable, and the kids were amazed.  Then the teenage elephants surprised us all, after the babies left, by charging out of the bush and making a lot of noise.  The caregivers gave some great information about how all of the elephants were orphaned or found alone.  This place is only open for one hour a day and the elephants are actually part of Nairobi National Park.  I love those baby elephants!

Took the kids for a quick look at The Bomas of Kenya, but we actually only went into one building for about 2 minutes.  Not really sure what that was all about.  Then, the most exciting part of the day!  It was buy-one-get-one-free day at the local pizza place.  Joe and I thought it was a great idea for lunch, but we were only about 50/50 on the kids liking it, or not.  The boys said “it is so light”…basically, I think they were hungry since they are used  to filling their stomachs with Ugali (a big lump of maize flour and water…boring, but filling).  We probably should have fed them twice as much pizza so they would have been satisfied.  Oh, well.

Off then to the Safari Walk, part of Nairobi National Park.  It was a nice walk through a zoo-like area right in the beginning of NNP.  It was great because the kids got to see animals up close.  Colobus monkeys, a rhino, ostrich, leopard, cape buffalo, emu, baboons, crocks, and the cutest little pigmy hippo.  We all really enjoyed that day.  It was a mix between a zoo and a nature path.  The animals had really nice enclosures.

I think one of the highlights of the day was our tour of Wilson Airport. This is a small airplane airport and we were able to go right out on the tarmac with the small airplanes. The kids really loved watching the take-off and landings of the airplanes.  The day ended back at the primary school with dinner and a guest bible study leader.  The day was great and the kids loved it.? 

Day 3 began by walking into town and going up to the top of the KICC building, which is the 2nd tallest building in East Africa...about 29 floors.  The kids were a little unsure about the elevator but jumped in, ready for adventure.  We had a nice tour guide who explained a lot about the city as we looked over the rooftops of all of Nairobi.  We also had the opportunity to go to High Court and sit in on some hearings/trials.  One lady was being tried for sending threatening text messages to her husbands lover.  Kind of nice to see that Kenya actually hears cases like that…she pled not guilty!  We had a great Q & A with a court official and the kids asked really good questions.  Then on to lunch at The Stomach Clinic.  Yes, The Stomach Clinic.  Sounds tasty, doesn’t it? It was actually really good Chicken and chapati (or Ugali if you were so inclined…and I was not!). 

Off then to Parliament.  We were able to spend about 50 minutes watching the MP’s and Cabinet discussing political/government issues.  Not quite sure how they get anything done because people came in late, put their feet up and slouched around talking and laughing each other – while presentations and questioning was happening!  Most primary schools are only allowed 10 minutes in Parliament, but Joe and Mr. Gwalla had connections and we were able to stay longer.  Our day ended with a really long walk back to the school in the middle of rush hour.  Rush hour in Nairobi is not anything that you want to be in the middle of.  As a pedestrian or a vehicle.  Every time we crossed a street I was praying that we wouldn’t loose anyone.  We were very successful!  We did not lose anyone or have any injuries…thank you God.  Back home for dinner and sharing.  The kids were great at discussing their day, but the three old ladies (we are 40, 52 and 54) went to bed a little early.  Great day!

Our last day full day in Nairobi was spent touring Kenyatta University, which actually has a nice campus – sort of like a U.S. university.  It was fun when our library tour guide sent one of the girls through the library metal detector with a book that had not been scanned.  The book beeped and the class thought that was hilarious.  They also got to play DJ at the radio station. After lunch we took a drive to Thika (you know, the book The Flame Trees of Thika?) where there were 2 great waterfalls, and a small animal park.  The kids seemed to enjoy it.  Then off to Kasarani Sports complex.  It is the biggest sport complex in East Africa.  It was built about 27 years ago, by the Chinese, and is now having a complete overhaul.  There were workers inside the arena working on something.  I did find a box inside (like a “suggestion box”) that said “Report all corrupt practices here”.   I thought that was pretty funny.  We went into the football stadium, the basketball arena and the amazing swim center. I wanted to jump into the pools so badly!  They had an amazing diving pool with 1, 3, 5 & 10 meter diving boards.  It was beautiful.  I think the next time the kids tour there they need to bring their suits.  Then back to Nairobi to try to get to the National Museum before it closed at 6:00.  We made it with 5 minutes to spare.  So a quick (fully priced) 15-minute-run-through-the-museum and we were finished.  It was a great museum, and the kids were disappointed not to stay longer.  However, they did have shopping on their minds and did not want to delay that.  So, we took them to a big Mega-supermarket called Nakumat after we barely made it through the crazy rush hour traffic of Nairobi.  They had 30 minutes to shop with the little pocket money that they had, but they came out with big bags of stuff.  Lots of candy that they proceeded to eat over the next hour…and I don’t need to tell you how that went.  We had to finally stop the madness, especially since they had just eaten dinner.  When we finally pulled them off of the ceiling, we had a nice closing bible study and finally went to bed, but had to pack first.

Off and rolling by 7am to stop to tour a tea plantation in Kericho by 11:00.  Well, we made it there by 12:45 and had to leave by 2 to make the 6:00 ferry.  We were lucky that we left about 3.  The tea plantation tour was really interesting as our tour guide showed us how all the workers had to sanitize their shoes before they could go inside the plant. After his explanation, we all just walked inside the plant…without sanitizing our shoes.  DRINK TEA FROM KENYA!!! From when the picked tea leaves were put into the processing plant to the end product - it took three hours.  Wet tea leaves to dry tea!  Pretty impressive (except for the shoe sanitation part) We were lucky that none  of us were impaled by the swinging hooks that we ducked under during our tour.  So, about 3:00 (making us quite nervous about the time, since the last ferry to Mbita leaves at 6pm) we rushed out of the plantation and grabbed our lunch that Joe had arranged to be bagged-up-to-go.  Yummy – greasy chips (french fries) and sausage or beef pilaf (with no silverware) for the teachers.  Oh well, it isn’t about the food is it?  We had to drive like crazy to get back, but by the grace of God…we made it…just barely!  We only had one student vomit in the car on the way home!  Thank goodness the ferry did not leave on time and that there was not one more car ahead of us.  Joe’s vehicle barely made it on!  God is good and protected us all along our journey.  The kids had an experience of a lifetime that they will never forget.  I was so happy to be a part of it.  Thanks for letting me tag along Mr. Gwalla!

Mfangano Island

Yesterday Jenny wanted to go and visit one of the Suba Laker Girls soccer players out on Mfangano Island.  Not having much to do, Joyce and I invited ourselves along.  Actually had 6 of us in all.

This being an island of course caused us to have to take a boat ride.  We chartered a boat, one of the few steel boats on the lake, at least in these parts.  The boat maker and captain is actually a British chap who has been living here in Mbita for 23 years.  It would take at least 23 blogs to describe this man.  Quite an interesting fellow in a number of way.  But we hear he makes a killer pizza in his brick pizza oven.

It was a great day for a boat ride on the lake.  Had cloud cover most of the day.  The boat also had a tarp over the seating area – which can hold over 20 we are told.  It was about a two hour trip out.  The lake was calm, the breeze just right, so all we were missing was the rum punch.  A lot of the time we were close enough to shore to see the sites.  A lot of little beaches the people come to bath, wash themselves or dishes or both,m or park the boat.

Where we live Rusinga Island is just across the water, connecting with Mbita (main land) making our area look like a bay (which I guess it technically is since the two are connected with a causeway. Mfangano is also in view, along with a few smaller islands causing the lake to not look all that big.  But once you get past Rusinga on the boat and can look out to the lake, you see nothing but water all the way to the horizon.  The lake is 160 by 200 miles, so it does go on for a ways.  The average depth is only 130 feet, so pretty shallow over all.  And it sits at an elevation of 3700 ft.  Okay, enough of the geography lesson.

 So our destination was Wakula Beach.  Doesn’t this nice sign just remind you of some nice Hawaiian beach call to the tourist?  Actually the sign is part of some cultural museum located on a different part of the island, but you can come to this beach and take a 90 minute walk to see some rock paintings.

This is a fishing village which generally go by a name that ends with Beach.  There were 6 dozen or so home and a couple little shops just off the beach.  From town things spread out to the surrounding area with many more homes.  The place is remote, being that it is surrounded by hills like you see in the background on all sides.  But there must be a number of families around.  We took a short walk and found the primary school not to far away.  It had a nice football pitch and some new buildings being constructed.  I was actually kind of impressed with how nice the school property was.

Wilson, the captain, seemed to get stopped quite often.  Seemed like many people know him even out here, not that he knows them.  But within minutes of arriving he got asked to look at the posho mill (powered maize grinder) and someone’s boat engine (which was very similar to ones that he is the representative to sell in the area). 

We came to this place because Joe and Jen wanted to visit one of the girls that was on the Suba Lakers Football team.  She just turned 15 a couple weeks ago and has a new baby.  Since she is kind of in a remote area, this was a surprise visit to her.  Joyce and I didn’t actually go to see her, since the other four were there to do that and we didn’t want to overwhelm her with a couple white strangers.  Her place was a 30 minute walk from town.  But they wanted to come and see the new baby and encourage her.  She made it through second term before she gave birth.  The school says she can’t come back third term – they need to make an example out of the girls how get pregnant. I don’t think I agree with that stance.

Joyce and I hung at town, other than our little walk.  Had fun listening to Wilson talk with the locals.  Watching the drunk fishermen try and talk with us.  And entertained by the drunk older man waving the walking cane and threatening various stuff.

We headed back to Mbita a little late.  Once the girl’s mom returned, she insisted on cooking them lunch – fresh from the garden and chicken from live to table in about 30 minutes.

Again, saw much local life on our way back, complete with swimmers waving at us

(see them  over Joyce’s shoulder).

And a special treat on the way back.  We stopped off at the Mfangano Island Camp.  One of those overly plush resorts in the middle of fishing villages that you don’t expect to be there.  Only like a minimum of $250 a night per head.  There’s a new manager and Wilson wanted to meet him, since he has done work there before wanted to make contact in case they needed work in the future (see I told you 23 blogs to cover Wilson himself).  This is the open air bar – the manager, a youngish English lad that only started a couple weeks ago, bought us drinks.

On the way back you got a good view of the haze the hangs on the lake. you can see that the hills are more obstructed the further they are.  Also note the bland blue sky at lake level and the gradual brighter blue as you get to the top of the picture.  Wilson told us that it’s from farmers on the other side of the lake burning to get ready for the growing season.  But I’ve noticed it all the time, so something else must contribute to it also.

Do to the late start on the return it ended up a sunset cruise.  The haze made for a remarkable red sunset on the horizon.

That’s Wilson in the corner.

From a day on the lake,

Paul

Byron

So, here is my update on Byron.  Since we were here last year I (Joyce) have been trying to get Byron enrolled at CGA.  It is really  difficult to get into any class except for the Nursery class because the class of 30 second graders becomes the class of 30 third graders….and so on.  Out of all of the kids that we are lovin’ on, Byron is really the only one who has a chance to get it.  He is also the only total orphan, except Mavine, Eunice and Michael, and that is who CGA caters to…the total or partial orphan. 

Anyway, Lillian, the Orphan Overseer at CGA and I visited Byron, his grandmother (not really his grandmother…it is so complicated) and his uncles last year.  We told them that I wanted to help Byron at CGA but it was up to them to provide the legal documents of his birth and the death certificate of his mother.  So many people have forged these documents at the beginning of CGA only to find out later that some of the kids actually had parents, so they are pretty strict about proper documents.  Of course, last year no one did anything to secure the documents.  I could not understand why these people would not do everything in their power to help this child, but some people can be really lazy here in Kenya.  The good news is….Byron’s uncle has the mother’s death certificate now!!! And the birth certificate is relatively easy to get so we are 75% there.  David, Byron’s uncle, seems to really care about Byron and Byron is always happy to see him.  According to some records that David has obtained, Byron was born on June 25, 2007.  I really think he might have been born one year earlier…but no one ever seems to know their date of birth.

Today I decided to take Byron to the doctor because there are several things that I was worried about concerning his health.  I am pretty sure that his mom died of AIDS so I wanted to have him tested and YAY!!!  HE IS NEGATIVE!  No HIV/AIDS for this sweet Luo boy.  Next, he has a real big tummy and I wanted to see if he had worms…YES….he has worms and amoebas! So we got some medication for that.  Also, he had a terrible puss-filled ear infection last year and I wanted to check on that…it seemed fine!  I was also concerned that his head wound, from being hit with an axe (apparently an accident about 2 months ago) was not healing very well and I wanted the doctor to see the wound.  Go figure, the child gets hit on the top of the head by an axe and no one took him to the doctor for stitches.  Lastly, when I was wiping his little bottom after he poopered yesterday, I found some blood so that really concerned me.  So Dr. Sawa sent him to the lab for a stool sample, and a finger prick.  I told David that I was a mom and would be happy to take him to the bathroom and Byron was awesome and just poopered a little bit in the cup for me!  This is too much information, isn’t it?  

When we were finished with everything we came away with 3 prescriptions, some betadine for his head and once vitamin tablet.  It cost me a total of $24.00 for the doctor’s visit, the tests and all the medications.  Byron should be in good shape soon if his grandmother will give him his meds.  David said that he will help with those.  He seems to be a really sweet young man…about Nick’s age, with no wife or kids yet.  He has a good job working for an NGO helping school kids with uniforms, shoes and books.  I am hoping to be able to have him help our other little friends Oluach and Odis.  Their father is a drunkard who would not pay Oluach’s school fee of $1.90 so these brothers are not in school…I will save that story for another day.

Sister Adrian, Byron’s nursery school manager, says that Byron considers me his mother now.  I don’t know how I am going to leave in 2 months, but at least I will be able to keep up with Byron if he gets into CGA. Yesterday, Sister Adrian (who has been an nun for over 50 years!), Byron and David showed up at our house on David;s pikipiki (motorbike).  Byron was able to tell them how to get here!  The child is brilliant…but also a cheeky monkey!  When I was approaching the area where he lives a couple of days ago, I saw Byron kicking, Jackie Chan style, another little boy.  I think he is the terror of his neighborhood, but he is left alone all day, locked out of his house, while his old grandmother tries to find work, with no one to love him or discipline him.   Most of the time Byron is hungry when he comes to play at my house.  Who doesn’t love to feed kids???  I love to feed kids and do it every chance I get! 

I will let you know when Byron is enrolled at CGA…it is really excited  to know that there is occasionally something we can do that will make a life=long impact on a child.  Byron will have to walk down a dusty road everyday over a mile to school, but Lillian says that these little ones can always do it.  It might take a few weeks to get used to it, but I am breaking Byron in now because our house is near the school.  He will have a uniform, new shoes and two meals a day at school and teachers that will love him and not “cane” him.  And he will learn about Jesus too! How can it be better than that?  I know, he could come and live with me, or Morgan, or Ashley or Nick! 

Not Much to Report

Aug 18, 2010 - Been a slow couple of days.  Not much going on for us.  Kids have been coming over some, but not much.  Not much happening at school.  One of the other mzungus brought a laptop by with a bad screen.  I past some time trying to see if I could do anything about it.  Always like taking things apart to see how they work.  Did get it fixed.  Nothing obvious and I didn’t want to do any additional damage.  I did figure out an easier way to squeeze the screen to make it work.  That was about it.  At least it was no worse off.

You know how vinyl car seats absorb and retain heat so well?  Well I’ve found something even better.  Ugali.  (The corn maize and water stuff that is boiled until the consistency of play dough but not as tasty).  They can serve it hours after it is cooked and it is still to hot to even handle your bowl.  And it will still burn your mouth.  The stuff is just a hunk of bland heat retaining mushness.

Need to do other things and it is already the 20th, so this blog is going nowhere anyway.

Paul

Joyce’s Fun Facts

DID YOU KNOW THAT…

Mavine, Eunice and Michael laughed and laughed on the phone when they talked to me yesterday!

most Kenyans are afraid of dogs and frogs.

it takes 1/2 if a bucket of water to flush the toilet properly.

when you greet a Kenyan by saying “hello” the answer is usually “I’m fine”

you always have to shake everyone’s hand when you enter a room.

it’s not very much fun to step on a cockroach or a gecko in the middle of the night, with your bare feet.

eggs do not require refrigeration…really!

you should pick tomatoes when they are just turning from green to yellowish so the birds don’t eat them.

tomatoes turn from green to red in just 2-3 days just sitting in your kitchen

tomatoes are delicious…and we eat them everyday!

I still don’t want to eat ugali.

Brinkley, the cat, likes to kill the mice and cockroaches in the house – YAY!

Lake Victoria looks like a white-lighted Christmas tree at night because of all of the fishermen out in their boats (they use lights to attract the fish to the top of the water)…it is so pretty!

today I am taking Byron to the doctor to get rid of his worms, talk about why he has blood in his poop,  see why his head has not healed from being hit with a panga (machete) and have him tested for HIV!

MORE FUN FACTS TO COME LATER!!! 

This, That and Other Things

Aug 16, 2010,

Can’t remember is I’ve relayed this one.  Morgan had a phone conversation with Mavine the night she was in Mbita.  Here is Morgan’s side (as best I remember)

------

Hello,

Hello.  Is this Eunice?

No.  Mavine.

Hi Mavine

Where are you?

In the toilet.

Yes the toilet.

No, I can not smell it.

No Mavine, this is a phone.  I can only hear you.  I can not smell the toilet.

---------

The kid has an inquisitive mind.

Even though Joyce is no taller here in Mbita then she is in Beaverton, she is easier to spot on a crowd.  I think it is the ponytail she is often wearing.  It could be the white hat.

Many cockroaches have seem to succumb to the dudu dust even though my prime target was the ants.  The ants seem under control right now as well.

Brinkley (the annoying cat) caught a little mouse in the house the other day.

We’ve now thrown three frogs from the house.

Joyce is back from Nairobi with the 8th grade class.  Trip was good and they made the last ferry of the day – just barely.

It got a little lonely without her and I went into a bit of a funk for a couple days – even after she was back.  I was feeling like – been here long enough.  I’d be okay with us going home anytime now.  That has passed for the most part.

Attended a football (soccer for you Americans) tournament over the weekend.  Talk about dysfunctional.  15+ teams and they expected to complete it in one day on one field.  Of course the 8am start time slipped a little, to something past noon.  I thought a fight was going to breakout when the refs started to leave while the sun was still up (about 6:20pm).  The Ref finally came back onto the field for one more match about 30 minutes before sunset.  I left at that time.  Only one of the 2 teams I came to see got to play.

Someone I’ve never heard of (that is Steve did not tell me about) just came buy for transportation money to go to Kisumu for diabetes treatment.  Fortunately the guard spotted the man’s name on a note stuck to the board.  I let him have $10 for the journey.

The dogs are chewing up the day bed pad in the room they sleep in.  They’ve done it twice.  As far as we know they had not done it before.  So the pad’s now need to sleep in another room so the dogs can’t get to them.

The tomatoes are coming, the tomatoes are coming.  And will be coming out our ears soon with all they Steve planted before he left.  Good thing we like them.  Yumm salsa.  And Joyce got more garlic for us, so yumm, yumm.

No pineapples for over 3 weeks.

We have a house guest for the week.  Jenny is her name.  A speech therapist.  Been working in Nairobi for a while, but thinking of doing her work in the Mbita / Kisumu area.

The best pictures as still being missed.  Like the camel in Mbita, giving rides for 20 ksh.  It looked pretty pathetic, but would have been a good picture.  And the one of the motorbike carrying a couch and 2 chairs down the road.

And even with a camera, it still sometimes does not do justice to the scene.  Like the sounds that go with a sunset.  Or the real expanse and wonderment of the hundred lights on the lake at night, from the fishermen trying to attract the bugs to attract the fish.  Like trying to show the wonderment of stars on a postcard.  I’d really like to have camer-aroma.  Some of the pictures would have totally different impact if you could smell the aromas (or stink) that is involved.

Time to look at more pictures from the other camera.

Paul

A Sad Day in Mbita

Aug 13, 2010 – I’m sure everyday is a sad day in Mbita for somebody.  With the poverty, disease, meager wages – if one is fortunate enough to have a job, lack of food and death I’m sure sadness is here everyday.

But today it was closer to home and I actually found tears in my eyes.

Today Michael, Eunice and Mavine left Mbita.

It started off as a slow day for me.  Not much planned – needed to go towards town to make arrangements with Margaret, the banana craft lady, to talk with her group about their solar cooker.  Wasn’t sure what else I wanted to do while waiting for Joyce to get back from Nairobi – reunited at last.

I did have to go up to school at some point to by George.  That was it for needed school duties today.

So on my way to see Margaret I decided I would continue on into town for no particular reason.  After talking to Margaret, I decided to take the road that goes by (oh my, just noticed the sunset – a brilliant orange – red - yellow ball just touching the crest of the foothills on Rusinga Island across the lake) Erin and Paul’s home, where Michael, Eunice and Mavin stay.  I saw a vehicle being packed up, with chairs, trunks and other personal items tied down on top.  Erin was standing next to the car as I walked up.

As I listened to her my heart sank and my eyes teared. 

Erin, Paul and the kids relatives had visited child services yesterday.  It had been decide that a meeting was needed with the child services people close to where the relatives lived.  So the kids had been packed up, placed in the car and were headed out to a town they did not know, with people they did not know.  Fortunately Paul was driving, so he would be with them.

But the fact was that there would almost no chance that they would be returning to Mbita this day, or in the weeks to come.

Marvin is the outspoken one, and told the children’s officer that he did not know these people, did not know who they were, did not know where they lived, did not want to go with them. 

It was a sad day.

All week they three of them had been at an overnight camp, with 20 other kids, at Seek up the road.  It was a Children of Discipleship program where they had meditation time, bible studies, meals, singing and dancing.  Since Joyce was gone, I had been invited to dinner last night.  Much to my delight they were all dancing and singing when I arrived.  After dinner it got better with a run through of the program that the kids would present at a beach up the road in the morning.  These beaches are small fishing communities and are considered the poorest of the area.  Mavin had a verse her was reciting and in the prodigal son play.  All three were dancing and singing.

But they would not get to make the trip and show the blessing of God with the kids up the road.  They needed to go in the morning to the meeting with the child services people and had to miss the opportunity to evangelize to others.  I knew how excited they were to be able to go to this camp.

From Mbita,

Paul

Bachelor Living

Had to re-publish I forgot the blog sponsor – Stomach Check Point featuring cultural and modern foods.  Might need a head check to eat here, but worth a try with that catchy name that says it all.

Aug 12, 2010 – Besides battling ants and dealing with the dogs covering the floor of the veranda with shreds of foam from the cushion, the best thing about being left along is eating whatever you want.  Yes, hot pizza and a cold beer every meal.  Not even in my dreams.  No cheese, no refrigeration. 

Being left on my own for meals here reminds me of a time in high school when I needed to fend for my self for a weekend or so one summer.  Must have been summer because of my food choice.  Must have been high school, because the older siblings were not around, and the younger one probably had to go on the trip with the parents.

My food of choice was watermelon.  I’m pretty sure I had watermelon and only watermelon for 4 out of 5 meals a day.  I probably skipped the 5th meal.  Nice cold watermelon, nice thick slices.  Delicsh.

This time my food of choice is guacamole, salsa and baked chapatti wedges (like tortilla chips).  Fresh made quac and salsa.  Delicsh.  Not as easy as the watermelon, having to walk a mile to get the avocados and having to cut up and prepare everything from scratch, but worth the time.  Only having it one meal a day and some for snacks, if their is leftovers.

But the prep work for making a meal for one is not quite worth the work three time a day.  So I’m down to 2 meals if I’m preparing, with maybe a snack if i have leftovers.  Just another component of the Mbita diet.

I’m done,

Paul

Ants

Aug 12, 2010 – Brought to you by other things that make you cringe – adult circumcision – VMMC (Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision).  Make me wonder what non-medical circumcision is.

By the way, I found one last sponsor Group le Computer.  Their signage over their door read Group le Kleaners, offering, among other services, dry cleaning, landscaping and beautification.  I went inside and no one was there, not even the person who ran the joint.

Ants – I’ve been having a running battle with them for a week now.  I may be making some headway finally.  You who have looked at the pictures saw that the ants greatly out numbered the bites of cat food.  I’m not so worried about the cat, but the ones in the kitchen are another matter.

Did you know that ants like guacamole and don’t like salsa?  Love, love, love honey, like jelly and are fond of peanut butter, don’t do coffee.  I’m using DOOM, the bug killer.  Love the name, not so impressed with the results.  Says it will last 2 weeks – I’m not getting 2 days out of it before the ants are back where I sprayed.

Always nervous spraying a killing substance of any sort in the kitchen.  Been trying to avoid the food and even the containers, but with the wind blowing, who knows where it ends up.

Best way to get the ants off something – dunk it in water and watch them float.  Only works for items that are okay to dunk – sealed honey jars = okay, bowl of cat food = not okay.  Best solution for the cat food is to set it outside and forget about it long enough.  Long enough for the dogs to find it and eat it, ants and all.

I’m now trying dudu dust.  It’s a powdered insect killer.  Seems to be working around the cat bowl.  Always a little hesitant to use it in the kitchen and get it on my hands.  I keep wondering how much I need to ingest before I get sick.  Drawback – doesn’t work well on walls when the ant path is come from the ceiling. 

Besides not wanting to eat a lot of them (a few are expected here and is okay) they are small ones that I have trouble spotting.  With my old eyes going so I can’t see them well without reading glasses, the small size and the dimness at night, I don’t see them at first.  First I fell them crawling up my arm.  AHH, not again.  Set the item down, sending the ants scurrying in all directions all over the counter, brush them off always leaving a few sneaky one that make it to the cuff line, look at the spot the item came from to see what else is being molested by them, sighing, start gather all the items to be dunked, clear the shelf, spray the DOOM.  Wash hands, find the ants up the sleeve, sit and enjoy the food – with the glasses off.

Time to let the laptop rest and recharge.  Need to do the lunch dishes and relax before going over to SEEK for dinner.  Should get 2 of the three of rice, beans and ugali and also sukumu wiki.  Yum, but at least I’m not cooking for myself.

From the kitchen,

Paul and the ants

Joyce vs Paul II

Aug 8, 2010 – Any of you who are ardent followers know that I’ve written about this before.  The inherent differences in how Joyce and Paul handle things.

Well it has not changed and even more evident to me this time around.  I think this is because I know that Joyce is different than I am, so this awareness being present I’m seeing all the time.

Those of you who have forgotten (due to age or drugs) – I know you all read it – I’m talking about Joyce = Yes, Paul = No.  Joyce is ready to jump in an help out everyplace, especially if kids are connected.  She actually seeks out opportunities.  She is give first and worry later if it causes an onslaught of requests.  I’m on the other side, say no first, review the situation, see if there MIGHT be a problem later down the road with more requests coming in, or the situation getting out out of control.  Then if all looks okay, proceed with caution and never get to close to the edge.

This is why I’m sitting here in Mbita, all by myself in a 4 bedroom house and Joyce is in Nairobi with 24 8th graders.  Okay, part of that is Joyce is a social butterfly and I’m not. I don’t lkie to be in group situations where I don’t know many of the players.

This time around, there is a difference.  I just keep my mouth shut (most the time, occasionally I come out with some word of caution or concern) sit back and let her go.  I’m just in amazement how she’ll jump from one thing to the next and in between ask 3 others if they need help.

Sitting alone in Mbita, '

Paul

PS.  ever wonder why I use alpha to denote the month in my dating at the start of blogs and not just 8/12/2010.  Because 8/12/2010 is December 8th here, not sometime in August.  So to avoid confusion for myself, I use alpha, not numeric.  Won’t you just sleep easier now that you no longer have to puzzle over this.  BTW, I think their way make more sense.

A couple more items

Websites that think you have all the bandwidth in the world.  Should be a setting to set that you are limited and only load what you ask for and just minimal ads, videos and pictures.

I know google mail can tell when your connection is slow and will offer a more basic mail system.

I finally figured out my Zain modem.  I was testing with the school’s phone sim and it worked.  Figured out I needed to put my sim in the phone and send a special text message that seemed to register my sim as wanting to connect to the internet.

That wasn’t in the directions and I wasn’t told by the sales person.  I saw a comment and thought it was for setting up to use the internet on the phone but decided to try it anyway.

First blog with ZAIN,

Paul

First World Electronics in a Third World Country

Aug 10, 2010 – This topic is so popular that I had two sponsors fighting over top billing.  Mbita Cybercafe is centrally located downtown right next to the stage.  You can practically step off the bus right into the cafe.  That’s about the best of it.  The sign is much more impressive than the cafe itself – no coffee served.

Our other sponsor is the ghost business Island Le Group of Computers.  They must of run out of money putting up the sign, for I could not locate them anywhere.  But again, an impressive list of services.

And here is a picture of most the electronics I brought to use.  Missing a few items, the camera used to take the picture, the electronic thermometer that had part of it strung through a window, and probably a few cables.  Also, all my memory cards fit the slot in the netbook, so no extra card readers.

I did better this time round in reducing what I brought.  I cut way back on the duplication I had last time – in case I lost or spoiled (Kenyan English for broke) something. I also downsized the laptop to a netbook and the video camera to a small memory card model and only one battery. 

(BTW, if you look closely you can see the start of my slimming down figure in the laptop screen)

The best move I made was going to the netbook.  The battery life is great – I can use it all I need at school without having to worry about plugging it in.  And the adaptor is small, and the weight is vastly less than the laptop I had last time.  It fits into a small backpack so I can carry it with little hassle.  The laptop turned out to be to big for the backpack I had last time so I ended up needing a second bag to carry it in anyplace I took it. 

Not without limitations and irritations however.  The keyboard is small and taking a little getting use to.  The screen is also small and some windows do not fit on it and you can not see everything and in some cases no way to make them smaller.  No dvd drive for watching movies or doing back up or loading programs. However, the biggest complaint is the 1st world programs.  Most think that the internet is a given and that they can use it anytime (or all the time) they like.  They use it to check for updates or just download them, checking in with the mothership or whatever site is trying to track them.  Programs seem to by default set to on the auto update, phone home, get me to the internet features.  And some seem to have no way to turn them off completely without creating other pop up notices.

I’ve set up my firewall to ask me before any program tries to do internet activity.  I was bombarded with notices telling me every program wanted access and wanted it now.  It did help me figure out which ones where sneaking behind my back for access and I was able to turn most of them off.  I wish the developers would be smart enough to know that you do not always have 24/7 internet going and shouldn’t even try to connect if it is non-existent.  But it also means that some little process is running within my limited netbook resources soaking up processing speed and battery power.  There needs to be a universal setting to say ‘cut all the unnecessary processes and don’t dare try to use the internet unless I specifically ask you to.

When you are using a mobile internet connection, the speed is relatively slow to almost non-existent.  So having some program trying to download it’s 15 mb update while I’m trying to access mail is a no-no.  And then, I’m paying by the mb, not unlimited, so I want to say what I spend my money on.

Speaking of price, I’m, probably spending more on the internet then some families live on.

The last item about PCs in general is that of standards for things like pictures, cables, videos.  There should be one of each, not 50 like videos have. -Sorry you do not have the correct codec to view this video, click here to download-.  What the heck is a codec (yes I do really know what it is) why did you not use one I already have, and what garbage software are you going to try and install with it if i click download.   I’m having to jump through to many loops and hoops to get videos in a format I can upload (or watch for that matter).  I’ve decided that PCs are not user friendly.

I’ve purchased 2 cellular internet modems for both the services that I know exists in Mbita.  I think there are 2 more in various places in Kenya.  One is not yet reached Mbita, the others web site does not seem to be working, but I hear the price is cheap.  I’m using a modified pay as you go plan – I purchase a lot of MBs and use it until it runs out.  The faster service here I’ve been able to work with, but it is more expensive.  The other slower (2G) service I have not been able to get to work yet, but it is cheaper and also has some unlimited choices.

And on the subject of cell plans, it is almost as confusing here as it is in the US.  The explanations are incomplete and poorly worded.  They change with some regularity.  And nobody who sell the phones can actually tell you the differences or much about any of them.  They have top 10 friends plans, after hours plans, lower cost to same network, and special VOIP international plans.  And they all have different codes for finding out your balance (since 90+ % are prepaid).  Some offer ways of getting a small credit, up to 100 ksh, so you go in the hole, but you need to repay with interest.

All kind of phone choices.  Most can be used for any cell company – just exchange the sim card for the one you want to use.  Handy.  We do this because it is cheaper for local calls on one company and better on another for international.

They even sell phones here with solar panels on the back for charging.  Great idea maybe.  The only time the phone isn’t in my pocket is at night when the sun don’t shine.  It would take a change in behavior for me to be able to take advantage of this.  But probably a slick idea.  Not seeing many flashlights in the phones as I did last time.

On to other electronics.  I’ll be surprised is anyone reads this whole blog.  It’s more for me to document my annoyances than anything else.  And I don’t care if the readers are bored crazy. 

Batteries are another problem.  I think most all my items take a different battery and therefore charger.  Okay, a few use AA. but for some reason I decided not to bring the rechargables along.  The nicer rechargers are small, light and have no cord, just plugs that swing out to plug directly into the socket.  The worst is the one for my new video camera – big, bulky with a long stiff cord.  It’s almost as big and heavy as the camera itself.  It almost made me not buy the camera.  For Joyce’s camera battery, I had to buy a new charger since the one it came with did not handle 220v.  Fortunately a lot of electronics handle either 110 or 220, but you need to check.  Once Nick burnt up his electric razor traveling out of the country.

Then there is the cables and plugs.  firewire, usb (which has mini, micro, printer, extension and probably other plug ends) and electrical cords with funny shapes to plug into the little black boxes they come with. 

The torches (flashlights) here with the built in solar panels are pretty neat.  At least you recharge them during the day when you don’t need to be using them.

We use a lot of candles.

Joyce’s luxury item was her iPod and speakers.  More batteries, cables and connections.  Unfortunately her iPod is not holding a charge well, so we need to use it mostly with the docking station, whcih has to be plugged in to charge the iPod, since it won’t charge it when batteries are used.  And the batteries don’t last that long anyway for the speakers.  Should have brought those rechargables.

I also like the small digital camera I bought for this trip.  It’s about 1/2 the size of my previous one, so it is very easy to carry in any pocket.  It’s fairly quick in starting up to first picture as long as i don’t care to zoom in.  But only 3x zoom and another battery type with its own charger.  I should have checked the charger i got for Joyce’s camera.  It had adaptors for other size and shaped batteries.  maybe i could have just used that one.  I tried a little bigger one with an 8x zoom, but the pictures at hi zoom seemed to be blurry due to shake, even with the anti-vibration feature.

Sorry for the delay, big business going on here in the managers office.  Having some millet delivered and trying to find out a fair price.  Willis is confirming.

Ee, joyce went off to Nairobi with her cell phone and US charger.  Forgot the adaptor however so she can’t charge the phone.  Another great aspect about foreign travel with US goods.  We use a power strip at Steve and Judi’s that accepts multiple types of plugs, so did not even think about this when she packed.

Confirmed at 150 ksh per tin.  This upset the lady because she got 160 last time.  For 80 tins this is 800ksh - $10.  A tin here is an official unit of measure.  It’s a heaping full tin can.  Looks to be one of those institutional sized sliced peaches cans that you see in Costco.  It’s filled, and then you scoop double handfuls of the item on top until heaping and it runs off the sides.  Very precise and widely accepted.

Well enough of this exciting topic.  Thank you to Mbita Cybercafe and Island Le Group for their generous support.

Paul

PS.  I know 3rd world is not the PC way of saying it, but I thought it made for a more catchy title.

Day One

Aug 9, 2010 – This blog comes to you courtesy of Amazon Guesthouse, the only Bed and Breakfast i have seen in town.  It’s the place for all your volunteer groups to stay.

Joyce left this morning for Nairobi with 24 8th graders for their 5 day tour.  I’ll let her write about that.  I’m just mentioning it because that means I’m on my own for 4-1/2 days with out my security blanket, which is my wife.  She’s the social one, handles most of the details and cooks the meals.  That last one may be the most interesting aspect as the week continues.

I’m currently up in the CGA manager’s office getting a few tasks completed.  Not too many of them as I have to stretch them out for the week (and month and quarter).  Since school is out I’ve only had a couple requests to spend money.  Holiday pay, veggies to go with the maize and beans, gas for a stove.  All answered with a no at this time, but I’ll talk to Willis about it.

Willis is a long time volunteer here at CGA.  Has been around for quite sometime from what I can tell.  He’s the number 2 guy in the manager’s office and my go to guy for questions.  He does a lot around here, from paying bills, taking payrolls to the bank, trying to secure the title deeds for the land that was supposedly given to the school, organizing the secondary boys for the work days during the holidays so they can earn pocket money for next term, to making the a terms worth of purchases in Kisumu for class supplies and food.

But Willis does not show up much, not nearly enough.  Yes he is a volunteer and he does have a remodeling project going in town, but I understood that he was going to be showing up at least a couple times a week.  I’m lucky to see him once.  It will probably get worse this month as it is holiday, so activities at school at at a lull.  I’ve heard he was going to stop by today and that is one of the main reasons I’m hanging around, to hopefully talk with him about a 1/2 dozen items I’m not exactly sure how to deal with.  most of the time my answer is ‘No. Not now.  Let me talk to Willis about that.’  So if Willis is not around, the answer stays ‘No’.  It’s not like anyone is going to starve to death.  And I’m not sure I’m getting all of the story, or people are just testing me to see if I’ll give something up.  Not my money I’m handing out, so I’m erring on the side of saving the money for a rainy day.

Somebody just showed up with millet, for the ugi (porridge).  Why the heck today, school is not going, we are not using it for a while.  They can wait until I get answers before they get paid.

While 90 percent of the students attend CGA for free, there are a few fee payers, kids who need to pay $60-75 a year to attend.  That probably only covers the uniform costs, so it’s not like they are required to pay anything excessive.  But about 15% are behind.  I verified the list I was given by Steve to make sure it was up to date, in case payments came in I was not aware of.  Seventeen still owe.  If not paid by the start of term 3 the kids will not be allowed back on campus.  I understand that works well for getting money coming in, or at least parents coming in with sob stories.  My plan is to make the parents / guardians pay at least part of the amount and commit to a time to pay the rest (if I’m feeling generous that day).  Probably easier to just to keep the kids out until payment comes in.  People tend to take a mile when you offer them a week.

Well the battery is running low, so I need to go before my computer shuts down.

From CGA,

Paul

News Bits

Even though Joyce is no taller here in Kenya then back home, she is easier to spot in a crowd.  I think it is the pony tail.  Maybe the white hat.

Price of avocado is up to 15 bob.

We will be seeing Vicki in one month.

There are a few value Village outlets here in Mbita.  Came across at least two today.  At least I’m assuming, but they had the Value Village tags on them.  An they wanted to charge me more than I would have paid in the US.  $3 for a Polo shirt.  Outrageous!

Paul

Random Posts

The people here in Mbita got all gussied up to go to the polls to vote yesterday.

I think I’ve noticed one thing that is more important to Kenyans than cell phones.  At least half of them anyway.  Hair.  The women just have to have it done, and frequently.  Even the lady next door who usually doesn’t have enough food to feed herself and 3 kids of under 5.  Most fashion are cornrows with extensions.  This is better than the wigs – which look like shredded hefty trash bags.  And all short lengths in a style I’ve never seen showing to much forehead.

Had my first icy cold Stoney Tangewisi.  De-licious.

Got my first sunburn today.  The back of my neck from walking into and about town.

We are just finishing our first month here.

Looks like the new constitution is going to pass 2 to 1.

In Brief from Mbita,

Paul

Cockroaches

Aug 5, 2010 – Talking the little critter ones here, not the public transport ones.  They are throughout the house, coming out after dark.  First major sighting ( more than a couple ) was one night I wondered into the room where the cat food bowl is kept.  Can’t remember why I did this, probably to see why the frinkin’ cat was complaining again.  Seems the cat likes to have someone watch while he eats.  Anyway, I shown the light around and poof, several started scurrying away from the bowls.  Of course the ones in the food bowl couldn’t easily escape.  I left wondering if Brinkley saw these as special treats.

The next was the night we heard unfamiliar noises in the house after we went to bed.  Like someone walking around looking for things – strange since both doors are locked form the inside.  I walked into the kitchen, a cockroach heaven in any land, and flashed the light on the backdoor to make sure it was locked.  It was.  As I turned the light flooded over the counter and many small sized, like could hide under a dime, scattered for the recesses, and the several bigger ones did the twirl and spin and took off.  I left trying not to think about where they explore, what they eat, and what they leave behind as they run about the food prep area.

It was Fenny moving around packing that was the strange sound.

The next night we had Joe over for dinner.  We had more left-overs than we could manage and since that is about all the longer most will last without a fridge, we wanted to eat as many as possible.  Joyce does the prep, including reheating the beans from the night before.  At the table, where we eat by candlelight almost every night (how romantic) it is a little dim and hard to see details.  This is probably good and with the need for reading glasses to see close up, I’m sure I miss many surprises in my food, which is just fine with me. (some of you have probably noticed that my spelling, or typing, is better this trip than last.  It is not that I’m wiser, or took a remedial course, it that the program has a spell checker and points out my mistakes and I have a hard time not going back to correct them to get rid of the squiggly red lines.)

After the prayer Joyce removes the lid from the reheated beans and spots a huge bean, right in the middle of the pot on top of the beans.  It only takes a moment for her to realize it’s not a bean, but a decent size cockroach getting it’s last beauty treatment.  She spoons it out and dinner is great.  I’m just now wondering about all the little critters I saw that were actually about the size of beans.  A delicacy in some parts of the world aren’t they?

Joyce just showed me the half flattened gecko, the one she stepped on last night on her trip to the bathroom.  Poor little fellow never saw it coming i’m sure.

From Mbita,

Paul

Greetings

Aug 5, 2010 –

Hello.

Hello, how are you? 

I am fine, how are you? 

I am also fine. 

The first day Intro in almost any language course.  And here in Kenya is no exception.  This is a exchange we get several times a day and a annoying number of times if we walk into town.

The fun thing is that I don’t think most of the people actually understand what they are saying.  It was just rotely memorized, or they picked it up from others.  So my side of the conversation doesn’t really matter, the response from the locals is the same.  I hardly every ask how they are, probably because I do not know this person and I don’t care how they are, but if I say anything, and even if I don’t, I get the ‘I am also fine’.

The best are the ones that have a little understanding of it, or at least recognized that my response is ‘correct’. Often I’ll say something that is not relevant, such as Mississippi, or Awful, or Music Man.  Then watch in enjoyment as they shutdown for a moment in a blank stare and you can just see they mind going into overload processing what I just said.

From Mbita,

Paul

Names

August 5, 2010 – Most individuals here have as one of there names an English type name.  Joseph, Paul, David, etc.  Besides this they will also have 2 or 4 Kenyan names.  It seems they mix and match these to a certain extent.  CGA has the kids write there sponsor every term.  One of the items that must be checked is that the kid uses the same names that the sponsor knows.  Otherwise the sponsor starts asking what happened to the kid they thought they were sponsoring and why did they get a new one and nobody told them.

The spell of some of these English names is interesting, showing that they are not generational names passed on from their forefathers.  Steve got a child named after him – Stevan.  Joyce is often spelled Joice.  Their is Mavine (Marvin I think was the goal).  An of course the pronunciation isn’t always there.

One girl had a child and named him Joseph.  She was calling him Jeff one day.  Joe inquired and said he thought that child was Joseph, why are you calling him Jeff.  Oh, that is the nickname she says, the short version.  Of course Joe disagrees and says it is Joe.  No she says it is Jeff.  Joe asks how she got that.  Well you remove the ‘os’ from Joseph and you get Jeph.  Of course. That’s the way it works.

Well time to move on this morning to hopefully get something a little productive done.  Blogs aren’t productive.  They are a way from me to escape where I’m at.  They are also a good way to make others think I’m doing something worthwhile when I’m feeling anti-social.

From Mbita,

Paul

One of the hardest names for these folds is Joe.  Usually takes our friend several tries to get the person to understand it.  They use Joseph here, but not Joe.  

Five Bucks Flushed Down the Toilet

Aug 8, 2010 – Literally, five dollars flushed down the toilet.  Well not exactly literally – it wasn’t five dollars, but a pair of kid’s shoes.  And most toilets don’t flush here, and are pit toilets anyway.

Joyce had heard that our Byrone could not go to school because he did not have any school shoes to wear.  So she enlisted the help of a few people to get him a pair.  Mama Anil next door was going into town so Joyce gave her 400 ksh to buy a pair of kid shoes.  Once those were acquired, she brought the to school and sent them with Junior (I think) to deliver to Byrone.  Deed done. 

Heard a couple days ago from our kids that Byrone’s shoes were gone.  What?  The story was that a neighbor of Byrone, a kid actually, not sure how old, but somewhere between Byrone and a couple years older, was jealous of his new shoes.  So she took them and threw then down the pit latrine, the long drop, the outhouse. 

Five dollars flushed down the toilet.

Joyce bought low fat milk.  First of all I didn’t even know that existed here.  But it was Kisumu, which is a bigger city.  But low fat, come on, we aren’t watching our weight here.  Yes we are dieting, but for the little amount of milk we use, I think we could go with the fatty stuff.  And I’m pretty sure the Mbita diet plan calls for the whole stuff.

Speaking of milk, here in Mbita is the first time I’ve seen bubble gum flavored milk.  They also had chocolate, strawberry, banana and a couple others.  But bubble gum, yew, I can’t imagine.  Only here in Kenya.

The referendum is coming in a couple days here, on wednesday.  Watch the news for it.  Suppose to pass and not cause chaos.  Please pray for that.  We are staying put until we see for sure that one side doesn’t get ticked off when they lose.

Closed the schools books for the month.  The first try for me.  I seem to be off a few shillings, maybe a few thousand, okay 37,000 ksh.  But that is only the first pass.  I need to go back over things and see if I missed anything or not, or double counted some expenses.  Stay tuned for the exciting updates on the continued saga… Hope I don’t cause you to loss to much sleep over this.

Did I mention that Kisumu must be the NGO (non governmental organization – usually a non-profit) capital of Kenya?  There are so many there, in so many various states of existence.  It probably has to do with the fact that it is a bigger city, in a province with server poverty and HIV/AIDs problem.  But it seems like every mom and pop humanitarian effort that thinks it can do good sets up in Kisumu.  This isn’t all bad, it does bring a lot of outside money to the area, but a lot of it probably ends up going to the wrong people.   I don’t think you can go a block and not run into one, or at least someone that wants to have one, or asking for money for one (which probably is a scam).  Some are just briefcase NGOs – paperwork filed but if they do anything it is to collect money.  Some blew out faster than they blew in, but still have internet sites and signs around.  A few are making a go of it, but it would be interesting to see for how long.  It would be interesting to see a study done on the status and longevity of NGOs in Kisumu.  And probably 80% of them have AIDs in their name or at least their mission statements.  I think this is overkill.  Yes it is something that needs to be addressed, but I see it as more of a symptom of a problem – poverty.  And poverty has many more symptoms – disease, malnutrition, prostitution, malaria, etc. 

There is little coordination between the NGOs and not even easy to find ones that may exist, and particularly what they actually do.  I don’t think it is the most effective way to help.

And the abundance of NGOs brings a lot of white people with it.  Everyplace you go you see them, particularly the nicer places and in the nicer vehicles.  With so many whites around you sure don’t feel out of place, or at least as much out of place.  One reason why I like Mbita better.

Enough rambling on that subject.

And happy birthday Jon, only a few hours late (at least from your perspective)

Time to go do something productive, maybe,

Paul