More Sights and Adventures

Malaha
We head to Malaha - home of the Luiahs - perhaps as in Hallelujah!! We bump our way along and just when we think we have seen the last of the small side roads we find another and another and another … we cause a stir because a vehicle has come – and our national relief manager, Chris, is like a celebrity son – one who has done well but has not forgotten his home, his mother, his roots…. He is a humble man of great integrity and he is honoring us by taking us to meet his mother…
Some of the kids are nervous of the white people – most giggle a lot … they love the truck and want to climb all over it … we go into the house and we can hear them – very jolly … playing in the truck. We are happy the truck has four wheels all attached and functioning and they see it as an amazing vehicle …. Puts things in perspective.
We tour the village and hear the story of each home – who lives where and why … most want us to pray over their homes and pray into their lives… what an honor.
As if that was not enough – they have cooked for us and given us plenty from their meager resources …. And as if that were not enough some give us gifts!! A broom and a basket.
The farm land is very productive and we see the crops – pumpkins, amaranth, maize, sugar cane and he list goes on.
We visit Pastor Augustine whose family treats us like royalty. We see their home, their church, they share their dreams … build a new church building – send their eldest daughter to the USA to study medicine. We take photos of the family – photos are precious here - we must find a god place for prints … really nicely done to send to them as a gift. Photos are precious here.
It is interesting to go into a mud hut in the heat of the day and find it cool and comfortable… one begins owning a small round hut – additional huts or add ons come later ..
Chris’ mom is so lovely despite a hard life - she is truly a woman of grace. She was the first of 5 wives so Chris has 4 stepmothers. We talk about polygamy and its effects. Most old men have many wives – they encourage the younger men to have only one.
The people are voting today on nominees for local government and we stop to greet people – what a patient group waiting for 9 hours to vote – they are a peaceful people and it is s pleasure to meet them. 9 hours!!!

Goibei
This a place high in the hills where Carol and Betty taught some years back. We are pleasantly received and enjoy a tour of the facilities … No wonder they speak of it with such fondness. The road to get there is a crazy mix of humps and bumps punctuated with very short stretched of tarmac or the remains of tarmac. The students are completing exams and heading home for the month of December, we enjoy our visit and the beautiful grounds. In a God ordained moment - the very first person we speak with had been a student of both Betty and Carol! You just can’t plan such things! We visit the mission side extensively – what a beautiful place! We take lots of photos which we look forward to sharing with Betty and Carol.

Kisumu
Located on the shores of Lake Victoria – this is the second largest lake in the world (second to Lake Superior). Kisumu is a great place to eat fish so we eat tilapia for dinner – fresh and tasty! The highlight of our visit is yet to come – early next morning we take a boat onto the Lake for a hippo watching (Nile hippos), bird watching, fisherman watching extravaganza! The largest hippos weigh 4.5 tons!! That’s a lot of hippo!! We enjoy it all - the boats and fishing styles fascinate us and our guide Daniel does a good job of narrating, although all Lauris could hear was the motor!! This a good thing really because we have no oars. Only a stick but he lake is shallow. It is full of water hyacinths which float about with the wind. By the time we head back toward our starting point, we are hyacinth-ed out! We land rather precariously nearby
We head back for breakfast and depart for Eldoret through the tea growing areas on more crazy roads - tea as far as the eye could see in some areas…. We find a little spot where tea is for sale so we are now drink Nandi Hills Tea for breakfast.
Anyone for a picture show?? I so wish I could upload photos to this blog or even to Picassa web album but so far no luck. Come and see us for a picture show!!