Weekend with Alfayo

Our plan Friday was to drive to Ndhiwa, making a quick stop in Kisii to fix our Safaricom phones and internet.  What we forgot was that “quick stop” is not something that happens often in Africa.  We spent about two hours trying to get the sim card registration fixed, something that should have been easy.  Instead we were frustrated and left with the phones working and a promise that the modem would work too.  It didn’t, so we are still on the backup Orange network which is very slow here.

We arrived at Ndhiwa about 2:30 in the afternoon.  After touring the place, we retired to Alfayo’s house to rest before dinner and recording the choir.  When he showed us to our room, we could hardly believe it.  I stayed here last year, and the room for me was pretty simple and adequate.  Since then he has painted, laid tile, and built a bathroom with hot water shower and everything!  We were so excited!  Alfayo jokingly said that this was Tim’s room, no one else could stay here, but I think he only did it for Susie.

We got to play with Alfayo’s youngest child, Enoch.  He was born last year and diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome and a hole in his heart.  They have had a few tense times with him, especially the heart issue, but the hole seems to be closing on it’s own and he is growing fine.  He was a joy to hold and cuddle, especially for Susie who loves babies.

The choir recording went well, although several of the members are sick so there were a few more coughs than I would like.  The choir director was suffering from Malaria but rose to the occasion and led well.  We had a great Kenyan dinner and talked with Alfayo for a long time, finally getting to bed a little late.

This morning we went to see the other two orphanages that Alfayo oversees, Manning and Grace House.  They are 14 and 24km away respectively.  In the US that means 10 to 15 minutes away, but in rural Kenya it takes about an hour to Manning and another to get to Grace House.  We had to dodge sugar haulers, who actually do own the road, and some very rough places.

Manning was in great shape.  We toured the grounds and recorded the choir, who were surprisingly good considering it’s a smaller place.  They have a new manager here, on the job about two months.  She seems eager and willing to learn under Alfayo’s direction.  We couldn’t stay long because we had to get to Grace House and back to Ndhiwa.

Another hot and dusty drive to Grace House which is literally back in the bush.  The last kilometer we were making our own road over a cow trail, around sugar fields, and peoples farms.  Grace House looks amazing.  It’s like an oasis in the middle of the bush.  The manager here is Joseph, the man who donated the land.  He really loves the kids here, and you can tell that they love him as well.  After our usual tour and recording, we had lunch and then were preparing to say goodbye when we saw the children playing volleyball.  I couldn’t resist that so I played with them for a little while.  Not such a smart decision with my foot injury, but I survived.  Everything seems healthier in Kenya to me.

More bad roads and anther hour and a half and we were back at Ndhiwa, having tea.  Now as I finish this up, I need to study my sermon again since tomorrow is Sunday and we will be driving over to Glasscock Orphanage for worship.  We are both having a great time and really feeling the love of God for these children. Check Facebook for pictures, assuming I can get them to go...