It was as smooth of a journey as I have ever had. All my flights were on time and the planes were not full. I had an empty seat beside me on every flight, something that has never happened before, and my bags arrived with me. Francis was ready at the airport to pick me up and all of our road journeys have been without incident. I really couldn’t ask for more, (except maybe a business class upgrade!)
Yesterday, (Thursday) we went into Nairobi to do some shopping. I am looking at welders to buy for our training center, but we had very little luck in that. Francis has promised to do some research, and we will try again on my way home. We managed a trip to my favorite hair stylist, Kiki, at the Sarit Center. She was amazed at how shaggy I had become as she clucked, “Come, come, let’s get that off you.”
Kiki and her friends are quite nervous these days. The conflict with Al-shabab, an Al-Queda affiliate, is heating up. Recently there was a grenade attack in Eastleigh not far from where she lives. The Kenyans responded by arresting over 600 people in Nairobi! It sounds dangerous, but you still have a much better chance of dying in a road accident than a grenade attack. They are rare and random, typical terrorist tactics. The Kenyans are nervous, but defiant. Their new president, while not really a desirable choice, is at least strong when it comes to security. Can you imagine the FBI arresting 600 in a day?
We had lunch at Java, and got some KFC take out for dinner. Afterwards I spent two hours repacking for my long trip up-country. Francis had to go back later for Charles and Darlene Coulston who arrived last night.
Today we made a quick stop at the Nairobi Great Commission School in the Karen district of Nairobi. We met Tom Opondo, their registrar, who also helps Healing Hands International distribute food aid to those in need. He had contacted Stephen to say he had seventy boxes of rations for us to take with us. Healing Hands has been very good to us lately. They drilled a water well at Londiani, which would have been very costly, and have held drip irrigation seminars at three of our orphanages so far, with more to come.
Afterwards we drove on to Kikitemo Feeding Station, one of my favorite places. The thing I like most about this place is the hard-working spirit of the many widows and orphans who make up this community. Their latest project is making greeting cards from recycled paper. They get shredded paper from a printing house and mulch and soak it back to pulp. Then they add a dye for color, or not, and press it into card sized sheets. After they dry, they decorate them, add a sheet of writing paper on the inside, bind them with thread, and package them with an envelope. They look fantastic! I’ll be bringing a few back to show off at Java House on Wednesday nights at GCR, and we are working on a project to make Christmas cards you can buy this fall to show your support for Kikitemo and KWO.
After we left Kikitemo, we made it safe to Nakuru, no run0ins with police at all, and here we sit at the Kunste, waiting for dinner. Tomorrow we will make the very long drive to Kinyach, in the Pokot tribal region. Look for today’s photos on the KWO Facebook page. I will post again Sunday night after we reach Eldoret. Be blessed!
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