Brenda Marshall & Cled Fursland
 
Below is a list of winning raffle tickets.
                         
Flight for 4, 111 Yellow  AF5V QD5F
Magnetic cheese set, 105 Pink A82Z  865K
Papillon voucher, 20  White   AD912648
Bottle of Bianco Pink AQ8B 9E5F
Mans Wrist watch, 458 White   A69Q RA4E
M & S Florentyna set, 492 Pink AQ8B 9E5F
Ltr Jack Daniels, 435 Green   AA2Z VA4T
Sanctuary toiletries, 299 White A69Q RA4E
Lamp Co voucher, 345 Yellow  A72Q 2A4E
Bottle of Tawny port, 142 White AC1E YE5A
Bottle of Macallan whisky, 583 Pink AQ8B 9E5F
Water set, 149 Yellow AF5V QD5F
Luxury photo album, 8 White AC1E YE5A
Chocolates, 107 Yellow AF5V QD5F
Bottle of Glenfiddich Whisky, 365 White AD77 LA4V
Bottle of Red wine, 184 White AC1E YE5A
Emellia toiletries, 444 Orange AQ6E YE5F
Bottle of White wine, 129 Pink AW 334571
Bottle of Red wine, 477 Orange AQ6E YE5F
                                               




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Wednesday 20th October
Sad Goodbyes.
It should be a reasonably relaxing day today.  Christine went off early to see her mechanic in Runyenjes (again).  The first part of the morning is spent catching up with things and we need to start packing because we are leaving for Nairobi tomorrow to stay with John and Susan Edwards who we have known for some time.  Isaac and the boys work for John who has his own building business.  Just before lunch Sandy, Brenda and I walk across to the disabled school where the boys have started work again on the toilet foundations.  After looking at the work and taking some photographs we go to see some of the handicapped children who are sitting under a tree.  One of them, John had been left tied to a tree by his family as they could not cope with his handicap.  He is 21 years old and is just beginning to talk.  We meet Faith, one of the lady helpers who shows us around.  The boys and girls have accommodation at the school and a group of youngsters from the UK had painted some of the rooms together with the walls of the compound whilst they were here during their gap year.



  Jane, the youngsters’ teacher joins us and we go outside to see the children again.  They sing us several songs led by a girl who is singing lead and beating the time out on a plastic container.  She is very good but I wonder what life has in store for her.

After we say our goodbyes Jane shows us a fish pond that is being dug out by both handicapped and able bodied people in the school grounds.  We go back to site for lunch which is rice and beans.  There are two meetings this afternoon, the potential new Trustees meeting and another one so we tidy up and change the seating around.  Sandy had already swept and mopped the hall out in the morning but it very soon got dusty and muddy again.  It is a national holiday today (Kenyatta day) so everyone finishes work after lunch including our cook which means that there is no Chi for the meetings and lots of washing up to do.  The fire had gone out so I have to get it going again, Chrissie comes back for a late lunch and helps Sandy and I prepare the evening meal which we are sharing with Patrick and Harriet.  Grace and Catherine visit with some chapattis for the meal.  They say goodbye to us and we are sad because we have hardly had chance to see Grace on this visit.  They are going off to a wedding reception, which seems to be a regular occurrence for Grace.  A Land Rover from the 1950’s turns up, it has a convertible top and would be quite a rare find in England, it’s owned by the husband of one of the new Trustees.  Christine departs again as the mechanic has told her that the truck will be ready at 4pm.  We also say our goodbyes to Sammy and he is a bit disappointed that we have not been able to visit him and Apinja, his wife. I tell him I will write to them.   It is nearly 6.30pm and Harriet arrives, but Patrick is still at another meeting.
 
We realise we don’t know how to make Chi for the Askaris so we have to ask Michael how to make it.  There are no complaints that night so it must have been alright.  Patrick arrives and we get a message from Christine to start without her.  It is beef stew, chapattis, rice and beans.  Christine finally arrives; she has left the vehicle at the top of the drive with the engine running. These are instructions from the mechanic.  We sing a few songs and Patrick reads to us from 2 Corinthians 4 v 7-12.  "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.  So death works in us, but life in you."

Patrick is very good as always and prays for us all and then he and Harriet leave by 8.30pm as they know we have an early start in the morning.  We pack and are able to fit our small case into the big one which is a big help, because we brought so much extra with us, then it’s bed by 9.30pm, which must be a record.

Thursday 21st October
Bivouac in Nairobi
We are awake at 5.45 before dawn, a quick wash at the tap and a cuppa, and then we wheel the bags up to the top of the site to the Toyota.  Christine has already started the beast just in case.  We don’t trust it to get us back to Nairobi so go to pick up Isaac at Runyenjes for the drive to Embu where he will negotiate a good price on the Mutatu that we will be travelling in, then he will drive the truck back to the site.  The vehicle seems to be behaving itself on the journey but Chrissie has been told take it easy and not race the engine.  At the bus station Isaac goes inside and gets us a vehicle all to ourselves which costs 3000 Ksh including a tip.  After goodbyes to Isaac, we are off.  The journey back to Nairobi isn’t as bad as our trip up country but it is still hot, dusty and uncomfortable.  The A2 road is being redeveloped in conjunction with the Chinese Government and it is chaotic with lots of diversions and traffic jams, however we finally arrive in Nairobi bus terminal which is right in the centre of town.
 
Our Mutatu driver was quite safe and only got animated a couple of times in discussing the sacking of a Government Minister who was actually doing some good and that the bus terminal is to be sited out of town when the new highway is built.  It is hectic and crowded at the terminal so we all go upstairs to the Classic Restaurant for breakfast which is very nice.  There is a cool breeze on the upper floor and we can see everything going on in the street below.  We have a message on the mobile from George that he is on his way to pick us up.  George is John’s driver who I have known since he drove us about in 1998 when I first came to Kenya.  He is the most careful and thoughtful man and also the older brother to Isaac, Abs, and Patrick.  As we have left our bags at the left luggage we collect them and stand outside looking conspicuously at every likely vehicle that passes.  At last George arrives in Susan’s car and we cram into the back.  John’s house is across town which is another hot, busy journey.  We finally arrive, it is a privately guarded compound but John’s home has an extra gate leading to it.  We unload and Joseph greets us, he is John’s cook who is another old friend.  The house is small but beautifully finished with an outside kitchen and an add-on tent which is where Sandy and I are sleeping tonight.



John arrives for lunch and shows us round the Shamba (garden) which has a stream meandering through it.  We walk slowly up the plot with John explaining his plans for developing the site further, amongst other things he wants to build another house on the land.  John has a quick lunch and leaves to finish off some work elsewhere.  We are treated to spaghetti bolognaise and salad outside, it is very hot but we are able to sit in the shade.  The girls are going to do some shopping in the afternoon so they have a shower and then George will drop them off in town.  Just before they leave Susan’s sister, Jane arrives; she has been staying for a few weeks.  When they have all gone I have a leisurely shower which is wonderful, my first for 9 days!  Then I sit outside the tent and read until John returns.  He has to do some shopping locally for wine so I go with him in his old truck which is falling apart.  It has no seatbelts and the generator warning light is on continually.  We buy wine, nibbles and tangerines and just as we get back so do the girls.  They have bought lots of jewellery and ornaments for Brenda’s stall back home which will make money for Peacemakers.  Sandy and I have to repack our bags to carry some of the goodies with us.  John’s wife, Susan is still at work, she has to help prepare a speech for the President which I suppose is a good enough reason to be late home.
 
We all sit down for a drink and some nibbles; the plan is to go to an Asian Restaurant tonight so John warns us not to eat too much.  Susan finally arrives and after another drink we all squeeze into her truck with John driving.  The Restaurant is quite new and very swish and the decision is to sit outside to eat.  We all choose something different and all share the dishes.  The food is very nice and is very cheap too.  It is a lovely, relaxing evening with lots of chat.  At last we have to go back and prepare for our trip home.  The taxi is booked for 6.30 so we ask for an early call from the Askari at 5.45, it is very nice sleeping in the open with the tent flap up but the wildlife is quite noisy.  We both sleep fitfully.

Friday 22nd October
Latte for Late Comers.
Tom, who is John’s Askari, calls us at 5.45, it’s still dark but by 6.00am it is fully light – that’s how near it is to the equator!  Chrissie and Brenda get up too to see us off.  We do a final bit of packing and the taxi comes at 6.30, Tom takes our bags up the long winding path to the driver.  We say our goodbyes and speed off.  Already there are lots of adults and school children walking about and even at this early hour Nairobi is snarled up with traffic, there is a huge queue of vehicles on the other dual carriageway as we head out of town towards the Airport.  Our driver tells us that it sometimes takes 2 hours to get into Nairobi, because people insist on using their cars, so what’s new?

The Airport is really badly laid out, at our terminal we are dropped off right by a large raised pavement which we have to lift our bags over, then as passengers reach the entrance there is a security scanning machine, so if it happens to be raining a queue forms outside and everyone gets wet.  At the Virgin check-in we are asked if we are flying today and where is Marshall Brenda?  We explain that she is travelling home later in the month so we are sent to the ticket office to repeat our message and then back to the check-in for our boarding passes.  Next we go through security and passport control then up the short elevator to the duty-free area.  I take a look at the departures monitor and our flight number doesn’t appear yet.
 
So we take Susan’s advice and turn left and keep going until we get to the coffee shop at the end, which is the best in the airport.  I’m really looking forward to this and we order chocolate croissants and latte.  I decide to check our boarding passes which to my horror state that boarding is at 7.30 and it’s at gate 10.  It is already 7.45 so I race off to the gate to ask if there is a mistake.  No, there are special security checks on the flight today, so I dodge back to the coffee shop, gulp down my coffee and offer the pastry to a nearby customer.  We make our way to gate 10 where we go through yet more security checks, body checks and yet again our hand luggage is searched. We then have to wait for nearly 2 hours before boarding.  If we want the toilet or a drink we have to go back through security and start again!  I notice that our aircraft is surrounded by armed soldiers, which is a bit odd; perhaps there is a celebrity rapper on our flight!  Eventually we are allowed to board and find our seats, it’s not too crowded thankfully.  I read for most of the flight and Sandy watched a film.
It is sunny and 14 degrees in the UK when we land.
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This morning is spent preparing the hall for the Trustees meeting.  40 chairs are taken for hire for an event elsewhere which leaves us with just enough for ourselves.  Patrick has fetched a mechanic to work on the car after trying to get the boys to bump start it.  The mechanic gets it going but it’s not running on all 4 cylinders  He pronounces that it needs a new spark plug – not 4 but 1!  They manage to drive it away despite the steep incline on the drive.  In the meanwhile Chrissie goes off to get some photocopying done before the meeting.  The get-together was due to start at 9.30am, but Patrick, Sammy, Grace and Christine have arrived by 10.05.  After Chai (very sweet tea made with milk boiled up with tea leaves and sugar), bread, jam and a chat it finally got going at 10.30.  Grace has to leave at 11.00, Sammy at 12.00 and Patrick at 13.00.  Apinja turns up at 10.40, she had a message that the meeting would start at 11.00am.  Then Emily appears at 11.15, she has had Malaria and is still not too well.  Despite all the interruptions the meeting carries on.  The outcome is that they are going to propose some more Trustees and invite them along to a further meeting next week.  Peacemakers Kenya will remain as a Community Based Organisation until May 2011 when the license runs out.  It was stressed by Brenda that they will now have to begin to generate their own funds as Peacemakers UK is very short of money.  Indeed the work on the site is slowing right down because of this.
Sandy read Ephesians 4 verses 1-6: Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
Brenda then said "Blessed are the peacemakers, not Catholics, not Methodists, not Anglicans, not Baptists."  Everyone departs and Sandy and I type up the minutes, then we sit in the shade of a tree until Brenda, Christine and Cyrus return.  They have Phillip with them who is an ex-addict and he knows Cyrus.  Another gentleman turns up who is working in the area; his name is Luthman, which is a very interesting name for a Kenyan.  He is curious to find out about the Resource Centre as are many others in the area.

  After Chai we decide to visit Thuchi River Lodge which is just down the dirt road, for a Sundowner.  We have stayed at Thuchi before, it’s been really run down in the past and is looking a lot smarter than when I first stayed in 1998.  Just as we get level with the property a large blond man crashes out of the bushes at the side of the road.  He is immaculately dressed; it is Per, a Norwegian who is working at an East African Pentecostal Church (EAPC) Orphanage down the road.  We met him briefly when we were last in Kenya in 2007.  He explains to us that he was checking the water pressure at the gate valve which is just outside the Lodge; people keep messing with it which reduces the pressure for the Orphanage which is further down the road.  Per comes with us for a drink by the swimming pool, which is very refreshing.  Isaac and the boys arrive and we buy them a soda, which is the generic name for any fizzy non-alcoholic drink.  As we talk, we realise that Per was at the same Bible School in Kvinisdal, Norway as Brenda and her husband, Dennis.  He is a really interesting man and has been visiting this area of Kenya for the last 20 years but his wife never comes because she doesn’t like flying.  They have 3 daughters and 13 grandchildren.  Per used to work for the Post Office but is now retired.  He spends most of his time writing birthday cards….We finish our drinks and it begins to rain, the boys had arrived in the truck so we take it back to the site to prepare the meal, mushroom omelette, rice and tomatoes.  One of Chrissie’s friends had sent her some dried mushrooms so this is a real treat for us.  Just as Christine sets off to pick the boys up they arrive having walked from Thuchi.  We all eat together whilst the deluge hammers on the roof, it looks like the rainy season is upon us!  The boys do the washing up then go back to Plainsview.  We talk about the events of the day then sort out some hot water for washing, then to bed.  It rains heavily during the night.

Sunday 17th October 2010
The Benefit of Bananas.

We awoke to strange noises in the distance which turned out to be prayers and singing.  We were able to have an extra half hour in bed because it is Sunday.  Brenda and Chrissie are planning to go to the EAPC Church nearby.  I decide to do some clothes washing instead.  Everyone in Kenya uses OMO which is a UK brand of washing powder from the 1960’s.  It is very powerful and can be used in cold water.  Because the water is so soft it takes ages to rinse the detergent out of the clothes, but it leaves my hands and especially my nails, very clean.  They seem to have grown very quickly since being here (my nails, not my hands). I think it’s because of all the bananas I have been eating.
Before Christine and Brenda return we manage to finish typing the minutes from yesterday’s meeting.  The boys visit just as we are getting lunch together but they don’t stay long.  We have egg and tomato sandwiches which are really tasty, all home grown organic apart from the bread.  I am then tasked by Christine to sort out all the photographs of the construction on the site to date and put them into one file.  It takes about 3 seconds to ask and 3 hours to do it.  I even find some short video clips of everyone helping to put the roof frame on Kisimani House.

  We are getting to the point where the money will dry up soon so Brenda and Christine go through bills working out priorities.  We have our meal early for a change, it’s spaghetti, tomatoes and bacon with a glass of wine, lovely.  Afterwards I do a slide show on Christine’s laptop of all the photographs.They aren’t in sequence but that’s a job for some other time.  The rain which has been threatening all day begins and there are a few brief power cuts before bed time.  The downpour is so heavy that it wakes me up in the night and I wonder how much water is needed before we are swept away, being at the bottom of quite a steep slope.  It doesn’t happen and I fall asleep eventually.

Monday 18th October 2010
A Grand Day Out?

We are going to Embu today, Christine, Sandy, Me and Abs (Absalom) who is one of Isaacs’s younger brothers.  I’m very excited because Christine doesn’t let us go out much.  Before we set off Brenda has an early visit from Apollo, a Pastor who she knew from a long time ago.  He has fetched a chicken and some eggs; the chicken is too young to eat so Chrissie is going to rear it until it is. The eggs are just right for scoffing before they get too old.  Another visitor, Caesar, the Head Teacher from Kivuria School which has a separate unit for handicapped children pops in to see us too.  Ardeley School near Stevenage has given money to build a toilet block for the disabled children and because of the rain, the holes that have already been dug in preparation have begun to collapse.  As work is slowing down because of lack of money on our site it is agreed with Caesar that some of the boys can start on the foundations tomorrow as the Ardeley money has been ring - fenced.

At last we go off to Embu with a food shopping list, a building shopping list and a visit to Chrissie’s mechanic planned, because the truck still isn’t well.  Christine, like a sailor with a girl in every port, seems to have a mechanic in every town!  On the way the Toyota starts making strange noises as if something is loose so we stop and take a look underneath but can’t see anything obvious, we drive on carefully, expecting something to drop off and clatter in the road.  It doesn’t happen and when we get to Embu there is some sort of parade which slows us down, but we dive down a side street to the office of Doctor James who is a retired Opthalmic Surgeon who helped us run some free eye clinics in 2007.


Doctor James & Dave

James is so glad to see us and we give him a large bag of blind canes that have been donated by the Hertfordshire Society for the Blind.  He is delighted to take them because he has links with a Blind School and is also planning a free Clinic in the North with the Embu Lions soon.  Then we go on to find the mechanic who has a shack on some rough ground in an even rougher part of town.  We have already ‘phoned ahead and he is expecting us.  We explain what had been done to the truck in Nairobi and he takes it off for a test drive.  He decides that he needs some time to investigate the problems so we head off to a wood yard for some prices for Kaka (which means friend) our Carpenter.  Afterwards we walk into Embu to a supermarket and Abs goes off to the hardware store with his shopping list.  Following shopping we leave the bags and join Abs.  The builders shop is a hive of activity and dangerous too, with men continually hurrying through the shop with big sheets of sharp metal.  Abs has got most of the things that are needed but we want a particular brand and colour of green paint to finish off the doors and the assistant keeps telling Abs that they don’t sell it.  After persisting we eventually get what we want, sometimes persistence pays off in Kenya.  It’s lunch time so we decide to leave all of our purchases while we go to a café.  Tandoori chips are the meal of choice, but they are too greasy for me so I leave half of them which is a pity because they are very tasty.  We have a soda too and are able to relax for a while.

For the first time since I started visiting Kenya I am beginning to feel the effects of the altitude and would gladly have fallen asleep!  Christine rings the mechanic who says he wants to show her something on the vehicle which sounds a bit ominous.  We agree that she and Abs will go, leaving her mobile with us.  We have instructions to mooch around Embu looking for a driving licence wallet for Isaac and buy some air time for Christine’s new internet phone.  Sandy and I decide to have a coffee before we leave so we are presented with two cups of hot milk, a spoon, two sachets of sugar and two of Nescafé.  The waiter snips the ends of the sachets and leaves us to it.  We drink the coffee slowly then pay the bill and go for the mooch which lasts hours, being punctuated by hiding from a drunk (twice), being offered a shoe shine - Sandy in Crocs and me in flipflops, a visit to buy a top up card, the offer of a plastic wallet (no thanks) and standing around breathing in diesel fumes and red dust at the side of the road looking anxiously at the gathering rain clouds.
Eventually Sandy rings Abs, the news is that the mechanic is just testing the truck and they will be with us soon.  I am so glad because I do not fancy a ride to Runyenjes in a Mutatu which are small, overcrowded mini buses manned by a squadron of ex Kamikaze pilots.  Christine and Abs finally arrive and we fall into the truck, dusty, hot, tired and suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.  As we approach Runyenjes the truck loses power and the temperature gauge goes off the scale.  We turn the heater full on and keep going, Abs rings the mechanic who tells us to take it back!  We press on to another mechanic who Christine knows, just outside Runyenjes and as we roll up the engine dies.  Sandy and I go on to a chemist to buy some cough medicine (not for the vehicle) and just as we walk back Chrissie and Abs appear in a white Toyota saloon.  It is a friend of the mechanic’s who only wants petrol money to take us home.  We drop Abs off at Kathageri cross roads and go on to the site, arriving at the front door in style to the amazement of Brenda.  Everyone has already left so I light the fire and clear up the dining room whilst the girls make corn beef hash, bananas and custard and stale cake, not I hasten to add on the same plate, although it would save on the washing up. 
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Aah - it expresses total love and acceptance even though they are so different.   It certainly promotes the Spirit of Christmas.

I want to take this opportunity of thanking all our sponsors and friends who have so generously given of themselves throughout 2010, to the various Peacemakers’ projects in Kenya.

Most of you are aware Christine Gibbard has now been in Kenya, as a volunteer, since July 2009.  She has been concentrating mostly in supervising the building work of the Resource Centre.   If you would like to browse through our website, you will see up to date photographs of the progress made there.  The Prayer House and adjacent rooms are now completed, also a traditional house in the garden, which I stayed in when I was there, it was lovely and cosy (we are hoping to build another two for retreats next year).  The kitchen is now in use and the house will take a little longer to complete.

Peacemakers have also rented a neighbouring shamba (allotment) to grow vegetables and banana trees and we are rapidly becoming self- sufficient with our food and selling the surplus.

Once we complete the house we hope to become operational which means we will advertise for the hiring out of the facilities to the community and further.  All our buildings are multi-purpose and can be adapted to facilitate any event.  We hope by the income that this will generate, we will be able to build a restaurant and a community hall from the proceeds raised in the near future.

During this year there have been a number of our sponsors from the U.K. visiting Kenya and serving the community in a voluntary capacity with their talents and professional training skills.  Relationships and friendships have been formed with promises of returning again sometime soon.  Gap year students will never forget their hands on experiences either, nor will they ever be the same person again.                       

Peacemakers U.K. and Kenya are a family of volunteers and we so need one another.  As a sponsor and friend you are also part of this family now, so may I urge you to continue to support and care into the New Year and throughout 2011, in either fund raising for the house to be completed on site, supporting kids with special needs, projects etc., or visiting and serving as before, and praying for those in the field.

Christine will be coming home in January for a rest and the renewing of her visa. If you would like to help with her return airfare; that would be an extra blessing. We will have to hire somebody who is trustworthy and reliable to live, work and care for the centre and the many activities that are already running on a regular basis, while Christine is in the U.K.  I will be travelling back with her sometime in February.

Your sacrificial giving has not gone un-noticed or taken for granted and I pray to God that whenever you go shopping, He will fill your basket with many blessings.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL FROM THE REST OF THE PEACEMAKERS FAMILY

                       With Love and every Blessing for 2011
                                              Brenda

Once again Patrick the Ugali magnet arrives just before lunch time.  On the menu today is red kidney beans and rice which is delicious.  Pudding is small bananas and avocados the size of coconuts.  After lunch Brenda and Patrick spend a long time together talking about the upcoming meetings and the Peacemakers vision.  Just as he leaves, Patrick’s mother turns up just as it’s getting dark.  She appears to be in her mid-80’s and has recently been widowed.  We met her a few years ago but she doesn’t seem to have changed much.  The evening meal is fish bone mash; well I thought so because I seemed to get most of the bones.  We work on until nearly midnight and our budget doesn’t total up properly, but I’m too tired to continue.  This is worse than being at work!
 

Thurs 14 October
Branded!
When we awoke at 8.00am Christine was already working on the submission.  Sandy thinks she was up until the early hours at the computer.  The fire had gone out overnight, so this time no “Ray Mears” tricks; a piece of cardboard lighted from one of the calor gas rings in the kitchen does the job.  The boys arrive from Plainsview where they are staying, the other builders appear from the locality and we all stand outside and pray for a short time asking the Lord to bless the work.  There is a little more typing to do and then we go off to Runyenjes to get it all photocopied and bound.  There is a private College which teaches IT skills who will do the work for us.  We need 5 copies which have to be signed by Sammy who is our Chairman of the Trustees.  We all cram into the small office in the College whilst the documents are prepared.  It’s thankfully cool because the temperature is over 30°c outside.  Finally it is finished, the bill for nearly 2 hours work?  Just under £5.00!  Then we deliver them to the local Council Office and do a bit of shopping on the way back to the site.

There's a meeting of local ministers at the Prayer House which should have started at 2pm but we don’t get back until nearly 3 o’clock.  There is only one pastor who has arrived which is pretty typical timing for rural Kenya and we are beginning to fall into the same habits!  We leave them to it and have a very late lunch under the trees.  The other attendees arrive in dribs and drabs and they all join in with a ladies’ prayer meeting which was to have started at 4pm.  Afterwards Sandy and I help to prepare the evening meal; the boys are eating with us tonight, it’s beef stew with sweet potatoes and chapatti.  There is an incident in the kitchen whilst we are all working, Christine brands me with a hot frying pan on the forearm, but I take it like a man and only complain every ten minutes.  Despite that setback it turns out to be another scrumptious meal.  After the men left we chatted for a while before going to bed early for a change.

Fri. 15 October
The Flying Sofa.
The boys were late in arriving from Plainsview.  The truck wouldn’t start, so they had to get here by motorcycle taxi, which is a new development since we were last in Kenya.  When we were on the way back from Chuka the other day we saw a small motorbike coming towards us which had a three seater sofa tied on the back.  It’s a good job it wasn’t windy!

Christine goes off to get Martin, our mechanic in Kathageri, to take a look at the vehicle.  I was on fire making duties again which took me three goes before it caught.  When Christine got back we decided to go and get some cement from Runyenjes and some other building supplies.  We picked up Cyrus at the crossroads then headed back stopping on the way at St Barnabus Primary School, Kathari where we met the Head Teacher, his Deputy and the Chairman of the School Committee.  We gave them a large bag of pens, pencils and rulers for which they were very grateful.


St Barnabus Primary School, Kathari.

Back at the site Patrick had arrived, and it wasn’t lunch time!  He had left his sister-in-law’s car overnight after the pastors’ meeting because he thought it had run out of petrol.  We left a ”For Sale”  notice on it but there were no offers.  After lunch we went to visit one of the Peacemakers Trustees who runs a clinic nearby.  Unfortunately she was not around; she was in Nairobi on a course.  Next we went to Mukuria Primary School were we gave away another bag of stationery.  It was just as the school was closing for the weekend, nevertheless the Head was very glad to receive them.  We then had to go and visit a secondary school which one of our sponsored children, Purity, attends to pay her school fees.  She was still at the school so we gave her a lift home where she lives with her two year old son, Sanchez.  Purity is 18 years old and is living with a friend who took her in when her family threw her out.  We just got back to the site in time to load a hundred chairs on to the truck for a function tomorrow; we hire them out for 5 ksh each.

It was our turn to cook tonight, tuna pasta with onions, tomatoes,  garlic and peppers.  We also had a glass of red wine which was very pleasant.  Tomorrow there is a Peacemakers Kenya Trustees meeting and Christine is at it again slaving over the lap-top typing the minutes.  I managed to wash my hair and get a shave down by the water tank tonight just as the Askari, Michael was passing by. He muttered something about me being too hot; I suppose it was because I had taken my shirt off!  Later we talked about the upcoming meeting until 10.30pm.
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Sunday 10 October
Toilet Paper and Timing Belts
I’m sat outside the National Museum in Nairobi.  I’ve been in the country since 7.50 this morning when we landed after an overnight flight.  Our little party consists of me, Sandy, my wife and Brenda.  We are visiting Kenya to see the Peacemakers Resource Centre, make contact with the various projects that we are involved in and re-envision the local Pastors and Ministers with the Peacemakers vision.  Sandy and I were last in Kenya in 2007 and Brenda in 2009.  So far it’s been very interesting.  Christine, who has been living in Kenya for more than a year, met us at the airport with Livio who is driving us back to Kathageri.  We have a 15 year old Toyota Hilux 4x4 with a double cab and pickup body which is actually owned by Peacemakers, being bought with a very generous donation by someone in the UK.

Brenda is planning to stay on when Sandy and I are due to leave 2 weeks on Friday, so she and Christine went off to arrange to extend Brenda’s ticket, leaving Sandy and I in the airport café which was full of British squaddies!  I decide that I should visit the facilities before we go up to Kathageri as it’s a long drive but each toilet I try has no paper.  As there are no newsagents open at the airport I have to walk swiftly across the road to a public toilet behind a pub.  Thankfully it’s spotlessly clean but only 5 sheets remain, but I manage!
Once we get going on the road Christine asks Livio if he will drive us around Nairobi centre to point out some landmarks before heading up north.  Even early on a Sunday morning the traffic is busy.  It’s a mix of new and old cars, trucks, bicycles, motorcycles, handcarts and the odd camel.  It is made worse by the fact during weekends in Nairobi all traffic lights are set at green.  It’s hot, dusty and chaotic.

Once the guided tour is finished we head up the hill by the museum when suddenly there is a bang and the engine stops. We are on a part of the new highway out of Nairobi that is being rebuilt with Chinese help.  Livio gets out and lifts the bonnet and after a minute or so announces that the timing belt has snapped.  A police lady comes and tells us to move along but declines to help us to move the vehicle to a safe place despite me telling her I’m too old to push it.

Christine calls our mechanic but being nosy I take a look at the engine and can see that the timing chain cover only has a few bolts holding it on and has recently been removed.  I decide to leave well alone.  We leave Livio to sort out a mechanic and dodge across the traffic to the museum which thankfully is nice and shaded because even at this time of the morning it’s already baking hot.


Brenda, Christine and Dave outside the Nairobi Museum

In the meanwhile a friend of Olivio’s arrives with 2 helpers.  They remove the engine and take it away to replace valves, valve guides and have the cylinder head skimmed.  All this work is done in less than 4 hours including refitting the engine and moving about by public transport!  As they work the traffic rolls by sending up clouds of red dust from the earth.  The windows were all left open when the truck ground to a halt so dust settles everywhere inside the cab.  At last the engine is running again and we set off once more just as dusk is falling.


Sandy, Christine, the mechanics and the truck on Museum hill, Nairobi.

Three hours later after a harrowing journey we arrive at the first venue for our two centre holiday, Plainsview Academy which is a private school run by our dear friend Madam Grace.  There is overnight accommodation here and we are met by Isaac and his work crew who are building the Resource Centre.  They have made us pasta and Bolognaise which we all sit down to eat at 9.45 pm.  We then have to wait until we have water heated for washing as the showers aren’t working.  To cap it all the toilet isn’t flushing.  We fall into bed at about 11.30 remembering to tuck the mosquito net around us.  The cow outside is a bit of a nuisance but I soon drop off to sleep.