Kenyan Famine

Several of you have asked how close the famine in Kenya is to us. The city of Lodwar, less than 200 miles away, is located in an arid climate. An arid region typically receives less than ten inches of rain a year and vegetation is scarce. Their daily temperatures range between 90 and 100 degrees. People there aren’t even able to grow crops and be subsistence farmers but are instead are nomadic herders depending on their animals for survival.

The Turkana people who live in this area are losing their means of livelihood because their animals are dying due to the lack of food and water. These are the Kenyans closest to us that have been affected by this drought. Some of them live only about 50 miles away from us. It has not rained in this area for five years. It is estimated that 70 percent of their livestock have already died.

In May, Bishop Dominic Kimengich of the Catholic Diocese of Lodwar, made an appeal to our bishop, Bishop Maurice Crowley of the Catholic Diocese of Kitale, for food relief.

We personally along with the other Maryknoll Lay Missioners in Kitale felt called to help. We were able to donate approximately seven tons of foodstuffs, including

corn, beans, flour, cooking oil, salt and sugar. A truck delivered these desperately needed items to the people of the Diocese of Lodwar in Northern Kenya on Saturday, July 24th.

Several students at both St. Anthony’s and St. Monica’s Secondary Schools where we teach have families affected by this famine. Families are being forced to migrate to Kitale because they can no longer feed their families in their home area. Once here since they have no money, they are only able to find housing in the slums.

Last week in his homily, Bishop Crowley thanked the members of the parish for the contributions. He was extremely proud that we were among the first to respond to the needs of our neighbors. He is hoping to be able to send another lorry (truck) filled with more supplies in October. If you would like to help with this effort, make your donation to MKLM. On the memo line of your check designate John Korb MA – famine.

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