Weekly Update 11-12-07

I think we are beginning to understand what is meant by rainy season. It has become very obvious in the last 48 hours that we have only been flirting with moisture up till now. We did some major mud bogging in traveling to Kyambeke for their Branch Conference yesterday. The deviations were snarled with big rigs that just could not negotiate in all the mud but our smaller outfits were able to maneuver around with some effort and get through. Fortunately for the guy who washes our truck for us our vehicle was not the dirtiest one in the parking lot here this morning. I drove the Pococks rig yesterday as they are the new charities couple and wanted to become familiar with the country there as they have some projects kicking off there soon. We then rode home with President Taylor after conference. The members sure made an effort to welcome him as it was the first time he had been able to visit since his arrival last July. We had the baptism for Francis & Sarah after the conference sessions and before the training. The branch has had a failure in their potable water system recently so we filled the font from the rain water storage. Although the water in the font was less than 3 feet deep the bottom was not visible because it was rather murky but they did throw a little chlorine in to reduce the threat of bugs. It was obvious from the excitement of the converts that the water was sufficient to do what it needed to. They are going to be a real asset to the branch there. Another investigator we are working with was there for the baptism and it looks like we will be having similar event in 3 more weeks.
We have been pestering the apartment manager for several months now to come and replace some missing wood tiles in our floor. He finally sent some guys over Saturday to do that. They found that termites were what was causing the problem so treated for them then returned today to replace the damaged tiles. Since this is an all cement structure the termites must have been in the original tile that was put in. Hope it solves the problem and that not too many of my remaining brain cells were destroyed by fumes as we stayed here during the process. We have contracted for another guy to come and refinish the floors this week in the entry hall and sitting area as they have been somewhat abused by the missionary tenants over the years. It should make our living conditions here a lot more tolerable but then when we visit with our members in their mud huts I realize how spoiled we are.
We think we have found a home for the little crippled girl we talked of several weeks back. There is a Mother Teresa Sisters of
Charity home for handicapped children that we found through our volunteer work at St Mary's. The branch in Ilima needs to do some paper work with the Village Chief to verify the death of her parents and the expected disposition of remains upon her death and then it should be a go. We visited last week and were impressed with the work they are doing. They currently have 54 residents of which only 7 are ambulatory. We left them a new wheelchair and the promise of some crib sheets, quilts and a few more wheelchairs on our return. The grandfather will be able to visit whenever he is able but at 84 years of age they don't expect that will be for very much longer.
The branch president at Kilili called today to cancel our weekly trip there tomorrow. It has been raining fairly steady so the roads are very bad plus the majority of the members are busy planting their shambas now that the moisture has arrived. We have also canceled our trip to Ilima this Friday as they are doing a run off of candidates there in preparation for their National Elections scheduled for 27 December. The branch president doesn't think it would be good for a couple of Mazungus to be near during the rather volatile environment of their electoral process. All the missionaries have been advised to avoid all the political rallies that are organized here in the Nairobi area for the next month as it is not uncommon for opposing parties to have some rather violent clashes at these events.
The Christmas decorations are starting to be evident in the shopping areas here but the weather is certainly warm enough that it sure don't feel like Christmas. We were able to add zebras to the list of animals we have spotted while traveling the Mombasa Highway en route to our branches this week. Saw a bunch of them feeding with some gazelles this last Thursday.