Reunion with Friends

We had a late lunch on Saturday afternoon, during which Pastor Wihale brought up a couple items from
previous trips. He expressed his concern regarding the safety of the food preparation and whether or not this was why Ardie got quite sick on our trip in 2007. He also pointed out the silverware, and said something about what good friends we have been to them and how generous we have been. (Were your ears burning on Saturday, February 13, 2010, Ardie? Around 6 that morning? ) You were mentioned regarding the donated silverware as well. Pastor Wihale actually made each of us drink two bottles of soda during that meal. I felt like I would float away.
Then it was off to the races again – to see the last of the five wells and to see old friends. We stopped at the well which is the closest well to the pastor’s house. This is the well that had been repaired with parts for which the village government had gathered funds. Dan believes that it will not take much to repair this particular well and it is in a location at which there is good ground moisture and the output volume from this well had always been on the higher side.

From here, we walked up to see Ene (pronounced anay). She has cattle, pigs, a bull and the chickens confined in a coop, rather than being free range. These chickens were purchased with money donated by the LCP women. Two hens were nesting and Ene said that these eggs were to be another new generation of chickens. She also has a dark grey cat with white feet. We told her that her animals appeared to be very healthy and she told us that she likes animals a lot and enjoys raising them. For those who have been to Kising’a, Ene is a teacher at the primary school and on our previous trips she has been one of the women who prepared our meals for us. She knows a fair amount of English so it is easy to visit with her. Ene’s home is powered with electricity generated with a solar panel. She has a fluorescent light in her living room along with a TV and DVD player which are equipped with a satellite dish outside. Ene served us biscuits and more soda! As we left she showed us her very healthy looking shamba (this refers to the farm/garden plot which is usually right beside people’s homes. She had lots of tall corn and squash plants growing.

From her house we walked down the hill and up another hill, across the road and up another short distance to visit Mshirk. Mshirk had directed the choir for the secondary school and was enrolled in the secondary school as well. Sometime before Dan’s arrival in 2008, Mshirk was in a terrible automobile accident in which his pelvis was crushed. At this time, he still has a metal plate in his pelvis and to urinate, he has to empty his bladder using a suprapubic catheter. He still has a fair amount of discomfort, but told us that in the future he hopes to have additional procedures to get rid of the catheter and the metal plate. He has a very optimistic attitude and does not seem to have time for self pity. He expressed a great deal of gratitude to Dan for the horn he brought him in 2008, but has not been able to play it much because of all of his medical care up until now. He brought us (Dan, Pastor Wihale, and Sargeon (our student who served as a translator) and I into a small sitting room, then his wife came in and offered us soda or juice. (Dan and I chose the juice over a soda which otherwise would have made a total of 4 bottles of sugared pop for each of us.) Mshirk had started up his generator and turned on his Sony TV and then we watched the DVD from our trip in 2007 which Ruthie Zimmerman had edited and put in the music. Mshirk kept asking about where the music came from and really liked the ones from The Lion King and another one from Rent. He kept saying what a great job Ruthie had done with the music and the video. It was a great trip down memory lane and Mshirk’s English is excellent. I hope that he is able to see a good specialist who will know whether or not it is best to attempt more surgery or know enough to leave things alone, rather than take unwise risks.

Following church on Sunday, we took pictures of the secondary school choir and as we were standing outside the church during the auction, I noticed that I had not seen Yezibel. Previously she has served as an evangelist and has helped with meal preparation for our groups. Pastor Wihale said that she was confined at home and is due to deliver a baby soon. He took us over to see her before we had lunch and we met her husband. I told her husband through the student’s help that he is married to very fine woman. (She was embarrassed.) We hope to see her and her new baby on our next visit. We then prayed together for her safe delivery.