Uriri and Chebaraa

Yeterday we awoke at Uriri Orphange, after staying at Kennedy Chadi’s house there.  We toured Uriri, one of our older orphanages to see what was new.  They have installed the cane crusher that we moved from Muhoroni and are putting it to good use.  Both crushers are working well and were running almost the entire time we were there.  This project makes a lot of profit for the orphanage, meaning we do not have to contribute as much for small needs that come up during the year.

Kennedy is also adding a new pond for fish farming.  The first one is doing well and they are expanding it.  This is a project that they were able to start on their own, thanks to profits from the crusher.  It provides fresh fish for the orphans to eat.

We also got to see the new brick making machine in action.  This machine uses a small amount of cement with local soil and compression to make a brick that is uniform is size and does not need to be fired.  They are still practicing with it, trying to get the ratios right.  I’m hopeful this will help us build a better building at a lower cost.  There are several pictures of this on Facebook, added to the Uriri Feb 2013 Album.

After Uriri, we drove into Kisii to get a nights rest at the Dados.  They have good showers and fast internet, so I like to come here after being in the field for a few days.  First, we had to wrestle with Safaricom some more, as my phone quit working again.  We finally got it straightened out and then hit the Nakumatt for supplies.  Later that evening, Stanley Rotich arrived at our hotel.  Stanley is the WBS worker who has a church in Transmara district that we are just beginning to support with a new feeding station.

This morning, Stanley guided us to his place called Chebaraa.  It’s a long way away from Kisii.  It took 3 hours to get there, down the highway towards Bomet and then down a very bad road to Chebaraa.  We found the entire church and many kids there waiting for us.  The church already owns 1.5 acres and has built a dining hall/church building and a small kitchen.  They are feeding 25 orphans on their own and we are now going to take care of them.  We hope that the church will decide to reach out and feed even more orphans.  That’s how we judge their performance and how they earn our trust.

The place looks really good and the people were very friendly and happy to see us.  We met with the entire church, received some gifts from the widows there (I got  a walking stick, perfect for my lame foot), and then met with the elders.  They are a good group of men who have done great work so far.  They were very willing to do whatever we asked with regards to the orphans and are very excited to be apart of the KWO family.

We couldn’t stay long because of the long drive, so we departed around 2:30pm.  We took a different route back, one that I hoped would be shorter, but it was not.  We got back to Kisii around 6:15.  To say we are tired would be an understatement.  Tomorrow we will stop at Ongoro on our way to Kapsabet.  More fun times ahead, stay tuned!