Monday, May 18, 2015, 5:30 AM
We decided that we needed to
return some day to Tanzania to look at all the areas that John wanted us to see
but we didn’t have time. Because of all
the changes to our schedule our trip just kept getting shorter.
When we first realized that we’d
be coming back to Kenya and Tanzania I began studying up on my Swahili
again. I was very happy one day when I
understood everything that John was talking about with a group of people. That only happened once, but if we had lived
in Tanzania, I would have become much more proficient at the language because
not that many people speak English; Swahili is their official language. English is not taught in the schools until
they are older and it is treated like an elective.
John updated us on the growth of
the church in Tanzania. There are now
two Branches in Dar and a few more here and there throughout the country. One couple, the Wilson’s, serve in Dar, two
other couples live in other cities where there are Branches. In Nairobi they are finally, after all these
years, dividing the Stake. There are
also new Branches that have sprung up throughout the country. They did tell us that the couple serving in
Mombasa had been brought out after the terrorist activities in that area. I think that there are still two Branches in
Mombasa.
We thought it was odd that we had
to shoo flies off our meals inside the hotel restaurant. There are a lot of flies here. We realized that this meant flies had to be
sitting on our food before they brought it to us. It’s a wonder we don’t get sick. After that, we started ordering our food when
we came back from our travels, and having them deliver it to our room to
eat. No flies to shoo in our room. We can’t help what happened before we got it…
We checked out of the hotel at 10
AM and took a taxi to the airport. This
was the only day we didn’t see bad traffic and got there way ahead of
schedule. Because the church had to
change our ticket to Tanzania a couple of times, they had to completely re-book
for us. That is why we were in the front
row seat on the plane in business class, not something that happens often. This also allowed us to use the airport
lounge, so we got free food there, and then saw the difference in what they
feed you in coach (a small goodie wrapped in plastic and one drink) and
business (an almost full meal of beef or chicken, vegetables, roll, etc. and as
many drinks as you want). It is nice to
be spoiled once in a while. Also, we
like this particular plane—it has leather seats throughout and they are quite
comfortable.
They even have an
airport lounge in Tanzania. When last in
this country it was so hot we nearly expired in the airport. Things are improving.
After arriving in Nairobi we
decided to take a taxi from the airport and let Shakespeare’s have a rest. Again the traffic was light. We enjoyed finally meeting this couple—Skye and
phone calls and e-mails aren’t nearly as good as meeting the couple we work
with. They had us to dinner, but we were
stuffed from eating in the lounge and on the plane so we had a little Jell-O
and a cookie. We had already become
somewhat acquainted with the Christensen’s who helped us when we first arrived
who were also there. They left after
dinner and we continued to visit with the Shakespeare’s and really enjoyed
talking with them. We went back to our
flat and tried to figure out the ins and outs of the washing machine, which
seemed to stop after it was done washing with the water still in it, the same
with the rinse, and the same with spinning.
It took a very long time to do the wash! But I have to say how very clean this washing
machine got my clothes. Luckily the dryer worked a bit better and I was finally
able to get to bed by 10. Knowing we
will be using Nairobi as our home base means I will not have to wash clothes by
hand during our little trips out of town.
Monday morning I woke up early
again—I seem to be on this go-to-sleep by 10 and wake up at 5 AM schedule. We had breakfast with Shakespeare’s, put our
belongings in one suitcase, and headed out of town to look at some projects. We drove to one of our chapel water projects
where tanks are held up by an iron structure but sometimes get rusted out. We were pleased to see that they refurbished
them because we thought they might break and drop the tanks onto the head of
some unsuspecting person. We noted that
they finally got electricity to the chapel too, eliminating having to use a
generator to pump their water to the tanks and then use it for the chapel. The mango trees planted a few years ago on
this property have really grown and must be producing; however, they have told
the church that they can’t sell anything that is produced on church property or
else they wouldn’t be a non-profit anymore.
No matter what they do, nothing seems to work out. They can eat the fruit, but not sell it to
make a livelihood from it.
The rusted structure
has been reworked a bit—hopefully it won’t fall on anyone’s head.
The mango tree project can now only be used
for eating, not selling because it is on church property and could be construed
as the church not being a non-profit organization. These people can’t seem to get a cash crop,
and now they never will. They used to have
private little gardens in between these trees while they waited for the trees
to mature and could produce fruit. We
only saw one little garden nestled among the weeds.
The Chinese are in Kenya building
a railroad from Mombasa to Nairobi. The
purpose is to get some of the trucks off the road and the goods onto railroad
cars, alleviating the traffic on the main highway. Because of this project many Kenyans have
been put to work. We visited a Branch
President named Simon whose home got removed because it was in the way of this
project. They gave them a little bit of
money to rebuild a new home. Simon is
married to a young gal and they have a 5 year old daughter. Simon’s mother is still with them, along with
a few brothers who also live there. His
father died in 2010 and the gravesite had to be moved also. His mother said that the casket was gone and
all that was left was bones and some cloth.
She had this little hut built over the new grave. (See picture below).
Simon was very proud of the fact
that they had a better place for the women to cook. He was told that smoke was not good for the
women, so they built this stove in one of their new buildings. He said that there was less smoke and also
costs less (they used less wood). (See picture below.)
This is a fence from a broken water project (below) that was done in
2004 when we were there and being used to pen in their goats. They said that two wells were broken in the
area and two were still working.
Presently they collect the water in large barrels so that they don’t
have to fetch it every day. They are in
the process of building a home for the mother, and have yet to build another
for Simon and his wife and child. Simon
also is hoping to get a job with the railroad.
He had learned how to drive one of those big tractors.
Below: This is a whole
line of workers employed by the Chinese to work on the railroad. This seems ironic to me—wasn’t it the Chinese
who were always working on railroads except they were the workers, not the
bosses…
More later, about our divine
(not) hotel in Mtito Andei.
Love, from the Chyulu Hills area
of Kenya.
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