Ngenymesut

This morning, we got on the road by about 8am. We expected that this 45 kilometer trip would take 1 hour and 30 minutes, and it did. In Africa, distances are measured in the time it takes to get there, which is highly variable, depending on the road. In this case some of the road was pretty bad. Check out the pictures on Picassa by using the link to the right.

We saw a lot of interesting things along the way, like distance runners training, and brick makers firing bricks in a clearing. Ngenymesut is in tea country, so tea shrubs grow everywhere. The rolling hills and lush, green, vegetation reminded me of Midland (not)!

We started our time at the orphanage by visiting with the widows. We wanted to know more about their lives and find out if they are over-worked. These four ladies were pretty quiet, but they did manage to convey their deep gratitude to all the donors who helped save their lives. We prayed over them and then took a tour.

This home houses and feeds over 60 people in dorms, one for boys, one for girls, and one widow's quarters. The have a dining hall with attached kitchen that will accomodate about 100 people. The toilet facilities are simple latrines they call a "cho". They also have a clinic with a nurse, and a small library.

In addition to the basic necessities, each orphanage has special projects that they do with the help of local church members to make some money to offset their costs. They have a posho mill, which grinds the maize corn that is grown here into meal, which is used to make ugale, the staple starch here. They also have a chain saw with which to cut their own firewood, some livestock and poultry, and a tailoring shop.

The tailoring shop is where the widows and some older orphans are taught to sew and make clothes for the orphans and the community children. This is a well equipped center, with patterns and samples on display.

They have a great water supply here, tapped from a protected spring up the hill and piped about 500 meters underground by gravity. I took a sample for pathogen screening, but I suspect it is quite clean.

Overall everyone there was happy and healthy and glad to have met us. There were many pictures made, on both sides, and friendships begun. We planted trees in honor of our visit, as we did in March. That's a cool thing.

On the way home, it rained and we had another flat tire, this time John Cherry and I changed it. It was not easy with the crummy jack they had, so we made our first stop in Eldoret at the Nakumat (kind of a walmart/home depot hybrid, but smaller) and bought a better jack. Two tires in two days, we are starting to worry.

Tommorrow, we are going to Kapsabet, which is only 5 kilometers from Ngenymesut, so more bad roads ahead. Tomorrow night we'll be at the tea hotel in Kericho, another pretty place.

Take this thought with you, church: As we were ending the meeting with the widows, John asked them if there was anything else they needed to make their lives better. They couldn't think of a thing. They have a few clothes, a happy (if large) home, food, rewarding work, and the love of the Lord, and so they could not think of anything more to ask. If I asked you, what would your answer be? We like to think we are the givers in this situation, but their example is a greater gift to us, if we choose to accept it.