Car Woes

Cars in Kenya for the most part are nothing like in the US. Our car is considered nice by most Kenyans but in all honesty I would never have let my daughters drive it to school let alone use it as their main mode of transportation. Most days it does get Cindy to school and back safely. But that does not mean we don’t have our moments.

Before we got this car in May it had only been driven once a week, basically to church and back by another lay missioner. My older brothers had said it wasn’t

good for a vehicle to just set. They need to be driven regularly. I was afraid that we might see some problems now that we were driving it almost daily.

A couple of weeks ago I thought I could smell something in the car. I checked the motor and saw the radiator needed water. I put in a couple of buckets of water and still could not feel water. I looked under the car and saw water. NOT GOOD NEWS! I called our mechanic who came and got the car. The water pump had blown (you have to understand, here they keep fixing things until they are absolutely worn out). He also put in a new tail light bulb, changed the oil, worked on the shocks (with the roads we have it is a wonder that they even last a month) and fixed a fuse. Within two days all the repairs were complete and we had the car back.

Last Friday we went shopping at the market and then to some of the shops downtown. At our first stop I noticed a whistling sound when I opened my door but it stopped when I closed the door. I thought I would need to call our mechanic, John, when I got home. After we stopped downtown and finished shopping the car would not start. I called John and luckily he was in the area. He checked various things and then called one of his workers to bring a battery so we could jump-start the car. Ten minutes later one of his workers came on a motorcycle with a battery tied on behind. We tried to jump-start the car but it still would not turn over.

Now it was time for plan B. You have to remember we are parked on the main street of Kitale. So three of us pushed the car out into the street (think what it must have looked like for an older white man helping to push the car while a Kenyan is driving). Thank goodness once we got the car into the street we were pushing downhill. John popped the clutch and the car started. Cindy and I jumped in so John could take us home before he took the car into the shop. Talk about service. There was corrosion in the starter and we had the car back the next morning.

Sunday afternoon our askari (guard) told me we had a tire losing air. I took the car to a petro (gas) station to have it checked out. They couldn’t find a leak. But on Tuesday the tire was almost flat. I took it back and had them fix the puncture. The next morning I went out before Cindy went to school and saw it was flat again. I changed the tire so she dropped it off to be repaired again. Later in the afternoon I got the tire and they put it on the car for me. The cost--- $1.10 each time.

We have gone almost six months without a punctured tire. I guess it was time to have one, but we are thankful we have a car to get us around. I think we average driving about 175 miles a month. It’s a good thing we don’t drive more as petro costs about $6 a gallon.

Season of Long Rains

This last week we’ve changed from the season of short rains to the season of long rains. The short rains were typically afternoon showers that lasted 20 to 30 minutes. The morning started out clear but the clouds gradually built up over the course of the day. Late afternoon, about 3:00 or 4:00, a shower would start, a nice slow, gradual rain lasting less than 30 minutes.

Now that the long rains have started the temperature is definitely cooler. Many days start off cloudy and stay that way all day. If the sun shines the daily high temperature might reach the mid 70s. However, on a day like today that has been cloudy all day the high is probably mid to upper 60s. The rain can start any time but usually in the evening and night lasting an hour or more. Often we will have two rains in one day. These rains are hard rains and often have thunder but we haven’t seen any lightening.

We live in the highlands at an elevation of about 7000 feet above sea level. Because of the altitude we are getting plenty of rain although less than 30 miles away they are in a drought area. The maize and beans grown here are looking good and doing well.

We aren’t growing our own food, but we are enjoying the beautiful green foliage and flowers in our yard, the school compounds and in the neighborhood. The most common types of flowers are bougainvillea, hibiscus, morning glories, poinsettias, roses, marigolds, dahlias, etc.

Enjoy some of the beauty we are experiencing.

I posted some pictures of the Centennial Mass we attended for the Maryknoll Fathers at https://picasaweb.google.com/geog13/CentennialCelebration

An Enemy of the People

Kenyan students are required to read three books during their secondary education: The River Between by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Shreds of Tenderness by John

Runga and An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen. They must know these books inside out as there are comprehension questions and compositions they must write about these books on the KCSE they take at the end of their Form IV (senior) year.

Several theatrical groups have developed plays based upon these set books and tour the country visiting schools. It is a win-win situation for everyone. The

students get a chance to see the play reminding them of plot of the book and perhaps enhancing their understanding. The theatrical company makes a good profit while having steady work.

I had the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to go with our Form IV students to see

An Enemy of the People. It was written in 1862 by a Norwegian playwright Henry Ibsen. In a nutshell it is about a person who expresses an unpopular view and stands up against the local government. For these reasons he is labeled An Enemy of the People when he is actually trying to help the common man. Two famous lines from the play are: "...the strongest man in the world is the man who stands most alone." and "A minority may be right; a majority is always wrong."

Of course, the girls are always glad for an outing. They didn't have class that day. Those that had spending money bought lollipops and other treats to eat. While waiting for the play to begin and again afterwards they got to see and visit with other students, even boys from neighboring schools.

On the way back to school they had a special treat. We stopped at a kiosk near the school and bought white bread and sodas for lunch. As they never get these items at school, they were thrilled.

Paper Clip

Every once in a while something happens that really "blows my mind" and makes me aware once again how different our world is than that of an average Kenyan.

Students at our schools aren't allowed to have phones. Now that there is only one more week remaining in the term, girls are wanting to call their parents to inform them when they will be coming home. Many of them are also requesting transport money. They will need to be riding a bus or a matatu home. There is a wonderful thing here called MPESA. It is a tranfer of money over the phone. A person goes to a MPESA booth anywhere. They indicate a phone number that they want the money sent to, pay the money and a small fee. The receiver then gets a text message (here they are called an SMS) that tells them the amount of money they are to receive. You take your phone to a MPESA booth and pick up the money. It is so easy to do.

Phones here are pay as you go. It costs money to make phone calls, but not to receive them. If you want to talk to someone, don't have money to make a call or don't want to pay for the call, you flash them. That means you dial their number and let it ring once or twice, but don't allow enough time for them to answer. They can see who flashed and if they want, they will call you back paying for the call.

The girls and I have worked out a system when they need to call home: once they have my approval to make a call, they line up to flash their parents during tea time, lunch, or breaks. About four or five girls flash and then we wait to see if anyone calls back. It works pretty well.

This afternoon the girls were lined up to try to call. I had taken a book with me in case I had time to get to Literature Club. It is a thick book with about 300 pages. While waiting the girls all wanted to take a look at my book. You have to realize that they pretty much only see textbooks. It is a novelty to see a novel that is so big. But that's not what amazed me.

I had used a paper clip to mark my place in the book. As they were looking at it and passing the book around, one of the girls said, "This is nini (what)? Mrs. Sitati was talking about it in Business Studies the other day." They had never seen a paper clip before and couldn't even name it! They wanted to know what it is used for and how it worked. After checking the page number in the book, I took it off so they could look at it. When they finished, I told one of the girls to go ahead and put it back in the book. They couldn't do it. They didn't know how!

Something as simple and ordinary as a paper clip.

Interesting Question

I had a fellow teacher ask the most interesting question this week. I'm guessing he is in his 40s. I know he has a daughter that is a freshman in St. Moncia's. As is typical of many Kenyan families, he lives apart from his family because of his work. I'm not sure where his family lives, but he lives on the school compound in teacher housing. And I'm not sure how often he is able to see his family. (It is considered rude to ask people about their families and other personal matters.)

The Friends Across Borders trip was in Kitale last week. The sixteen participants visited St. Monica's one afternoon. This group was made up of five married couples and six singles. Their visit began with an assembly. After flag raising introductions began. Of course in our culture when you introduce yourself you tell a little about yourself. It is only natural to say, "This is my husband, John."

So the question asked was, "Why were there so many married people in the group of your visitors? Why do married couples travel together? If I want to travel I don't take my wife with me." I'm sure that question is indicative of traditional marriages. They aren't based on love, mutual satisfaction and support, or the desire to spend time together.

I thought it was interesting that two young women practice teachers (student teachers) who were sitting nearby were nodding their heads when I was trying to describe our marriages based on love and friendship. We want to spend time with our spouses. Yes, we have other interests and spend time away from one another, but depend on our spouses for companionship and actually want to travel and spend time together. I don't think those young women will settle for a marriage based on traditional values!

Friends Across Borders

The Maryknoll Lay Missioners in Kenya have had the pleasure of hosting the sixteen members of the Friends Across Borders trip the past two weeks.

Here is a description of FAB: “Friends Across Borders is Maryknoll Lay Missioner’s mission awareness program. We invite you to deepen and enrich your understanding of mission by joining us on an exciting mission trip. You will have the opportunity to experience what you could never discover in travel brochures, films or books. You will experience what life is really like in communities where MKLM missioners are living out their faith, and working for, and with, the local people.”

These sixteen people arrived in Kenya on June 11th and will be leaving tomorrow, June 23rd. While here they have visited all ten lay missioners in Mombasa and Kitale to learn about our work. They were able to visit most of our workplaces and interact with our co-workers. Along the way they learned Kiswahili words of greeting and thanks. The final three days was spent as tourists going on safari in Maasai Mara.

Here in Kitale they spent time at both of our schools: St. Monica’s and St. Anthony’s. The traditional dancers performed several dances and songs at St. Anthony’s. District competitions were also going on that afternoon in football (soccer), table tennis, lawn tennis, and badminton so they were able to be spectators Kenyan style. My Form II (sophomore) girls took tea with the group during their visit. This enabled both groups to have good quality time to chat and learn more about one another and their worlds.

Since we live in the tropics we always enjoy time outdoors. Our final day with our FAB visitors was spent in our compound having a picnic resting and informally visiting.

We wish each participant of FAB the best as they return home and reflect on their experiences in Kenya. We know from personal experience, they will never be the same people again.

Click here for more pictures of our newest friends.

Kakmega Forest

Last weekend we took a day trip with some of our fellow missioners to the Kakamega Forest. It was about a two hour drive from Kitale through some beautiful country. We had views of Mt. Elgon, the Nandi Hills, fields of tea and sugarcane among all of the maize.


Funerals are usually held on Saturdays so people can travel to attend. Funerals are a big event and anyone associated with the family, tribe and village are expected to attend no matter how far they must travel. We saw three funerals on our drive.

Our destination was the Rondo Retreat Centre in the Kakamega Forest run by the Trinity Fellowship. It was a beautiful compound for guests. We arranged for our tour guide there and had a delightful light lunch in their dining hall. The grounds are a paradise in the middle of the forest with beautiful landscaping. John and I plan to go back to spend several days there when we are on holiday from school.

The Kakamega Forest is the only tropical rain forest still existing in Kenya. Once upon a time this forest would have spread from the Atlantic coast of Africa across the continent to the Indian Ocean. Some of the animals that live there don’t exist anywhere else in Africa. There are over 300 bird species, over 500 species of butterflies, 27 types of snakes (John jumped when he heard that), five kinds of monkeys plus many others. Fortunately the snakes aren’t often seen.

We took a short two hour hike with a guide through part of the forest. Since it was about 10:30 when we started most of the animals weren’t visible. We did see several birds, butterflies and ants including the vicious soldier ants. We saw a type of orchid, several mushrooms and several plants that are used for practical or medicinal purposes by the local people: toilet paper, sandpaper, stomach ailments, and diarrhea.

On the way home we stopped for a roadside glimpse of the Crying Rock. It is a huge rock pillar that stands high above the land with a smaller rock on top. When it rains water seeps out from under the top boulder running down the pillar leaving a stain that looks like tears. As we were sitting alongside the road looking at it a small boy about 10 years old came over to the car and wanted to know if we’d like to hear the local stories about the rock. Of course, we said yes. Unfortunately because of the traffic zipping by on the highway we weren't able to clearly hear the stories he was telling us. However, the part that we did understand is that there are caves at the base of the rocks. In these caves local people still perform cleansing ceremonies when someone's actions have harmed others.

We enjoyed the day very much getting to see another part of Kenya.

For more photos of our trip click here.