Back at Dirubi

First, let me apologize for not blogging last night. I know a few of you are waiting to hear from us but sometimes, fatigue wins.
We got to worship with our friends at Kamulu Sunday morning, which is always a blessing. Francis Mbuvi preached a great sermon and the singing was amazing. Very African. We even got to see an original song perfumed by the youth. After worship, we quickly set out for Kericho to be close to Dirubi where the new training institute is to be built. On the way, we stopped for some supplies at Nakumat at the Village Market. Security was quite a bit tighter there than usual, owing to the tensions surrounding the UBL killing.
Last night we stayed at a new hotel, called the Dream Cottage Guest House. It was nice, newer than the Tea Hotel, but smaller and with little character. Meals were prompt though, rare in Kenya. This morning we went to Dirubi, site of our first orphanage. Across the road is the new site for the Vocational Training Center. This requires a word of explanation:

With over 900 kids of all ages in our orphanages, every year a few of them graduate from high school. We had to come up with a way to get them some edge in the employment market in order for them to have some shot at taking care of themselves. Up until now, there were just a few but every year there are more and more. Next year, there will be more than 40 and each year the number increases to around 150 per year. The new KWO board of directors decided that building a training center for our graduates would be the best way to tackle the problem. Last month, John DeFore made his (maybe) last trip to select the best site for the new center and Dirubi was selected.
I am here to finalize the building plan and meet the new principal and the builders who will construct the facility. It's very important that we get this right. This will be the biggest thing we have every built, so good communication and planning on the front end could save a lot later. So today we were on the site. I brought a good, long tape and we walked the entire site. It is more than big enough, but it has a small stream running through it, so my initial plan required some modification. After all of our discussions, we went to our hotel for the next few days in Kisii and I have been modifying the plan in order to print for the builder. We will meet him tomorrow.
Sorry for the lengthy explanation, but it's the whole reason for the trip!  Here are some of the pictures Paul and I took . By the way, Francis let Paul drive us from Dirubi to Kisii, about a 90 minute drive. He did great!