A quiet day - family history, interesting people & a soccer match

Wednesday July 15th Cloudy, not so hot today. It was a quiet day, we felt lazy! An elderly man came up to greet us as we sat on the steps waiting for Michael, telling us that he was off to the hospital up the mountain, and needed money for medicine. I didn’t know how he’d get there, he was so frail, although matatus do climb the hill. We had no small change to give him.
When I heard a noise inside, I went in & got a lovely smile from Michael who was tidying up his room. He said he’d been up a little while!
We had a nice breakfast of boiled eggs & maandazi (square doughnuts).
Afterwards, we looked at family photos. There were a couple of Michael aged 9 or 10, he looked SO different! There was also one of his mother taken in the early 90’s when she worked as cook for Swedish missionaries in Tazengwa. Before that she travelled around, giving birth to Michael in 1980 & Jeremia in 1984 to unknown fathers, leaving them with her parents. She eventually married before giving birth to Evelina in 1998. A couple of years later, she got sick with a stomach ulcer, but they couldn’t operate because she was pregnant again. After asking for the pastors to come to pray for her, she lost the ability to speak, then died - so they don’t know whether she’d become a Christian or not. Evelina now lives in Arusha with her father, Bonifac, who's a businessman.
Babu died on Michael’s 18th birthday (20/9/98), it was a severe blow to the family. He’d biked up country to take some seeds to his younger brother, and seemed fine until he entered the house, when he was hit with severe stomach pains. They called the local missionary who got him to hospital, where they were told that if they’d been half an hour later, it would have been too late. They operated, but he remained very sick, and eventually was sent to a larger hospital. A 2nd operation uncovered a pair of scissors left behind from the 1st! Unfortunately he never recovered, and after having both legs amputated, he died. He told Michael to look after the family being the oldest male descendant.
We were shown some photos of him, one when the new church was opened in Tazengwa – he was its 2nd pastor. We looked at another book but it was mostly of Rosa in different outfits - we teased her about that!
Michael got out his English course certificate from last year, he was sad to have only got C’s, he wanted A’s – but as he averaged over 60%, (GOOD), I gave him my hearty congratulations!
We walked to Saidi’s place later, he's one of the mzee’s nephews, & sat in the shade drinking weak tea. His wife is from the same tribe & village as Michael so they get on pretty well. We talked about the drought and how dried up the fields are. They are looking after a child with severe tongue-tie from an area suffering severe hardship, and also have two others, aged 5 and 6. The little girl was SO scared, it was a real shame!
We walked back through the primary school grounds, lots of boys came over to say hello, and didn’t want to stop shaking my hand. They kept asking us to come back when we carried on walking!
Lunch was at 3: of ugali, yummy mchuzi, bananas, avocadoes & oranges. We got full up fast as we had 2 cups of fresh fruit juice first!
We watched an interesting TV documentary about wildlife problems caused by climate change as a result of deforestation. It covered a whole year in a river catchment in Tanzania. It was fascinating to see a brown trickle meandering down a dry river bed shortly becoming a raging torrent, sweeping large section of bank away, but it was sad to see the wide-spread death of wildlife in the floods and also in the dry season.
We went for a short walk to visit Saidi’s old aunt briefly, then watched the first half of a soccer match between two local teams, played on a bumpy sandy pitch. One team was much better than the other (won 7-0), but the ball would shoot off at odd angles, and once knocked a spectator off his chair, which everyone thought was veyr funny! There were no nets, just goalposts, and the lines were marked with silver sand. We were surprised to see an armed soldier patrolling the grounds; a group of ladies were rather cheeky to him so he only passed them once.
Back at Rosa’s, we watched some of the Tour de France on TV, then a music channel. Poor Frank slept on a sofa for two hours after school!
I was told the squeaky noises on the roof were rats not monkeys, so I was glad they weren’t visible!
We bathed at the guesthouse, before eating fried salt pork and mashed potato sausages at the restaurant with Fanta to wash it down.
After tea, we went into town in the dark to visit the mzee’s mother, who’s over 100 years old! We were shown into a room in a large house by one of her daughters:- the tiny lady was top n’tailing with another of her daughters. A friendly little boy came into the room too.
She’s very frail, only sitting up with help; her hands are deformed & crippled by arthritis so she has to be hand-fed - she can just manage to hold a cup. She has to have throat massages + sips of water, that she tries to gargle & spits back out, trying to remove phlegm.
A short walk away is her husband's house, he's an elderly Muslim. He'd been out the day before. We were told by three men sitting outside to go in and wait, so we sat down on the sofas. I had to reach past Bruce to shake his hand when he came in, and got quite a fright when he seized my arm & dragged me forwards to face him! However, he was really very friendly, and loved talking to us!
Afterwards, we said goodnight to the 3 men sitting outside in three languages – Kipare (the local tribal language), English & Kiswahili - it did make them laugh!

A day in Kiswani

Tuesday July 14th It was hot today!  We went outside at 7.30 to wait for Michael, sitting on top step watching the passers-by, mainly children going to school.  When I heard Michael’s door open, I went inside to let him know where we were and received a lovely warm greeting.  We went to mama's for chai & bread after being told to sit in the porch in the early morning sunshine to get our Vitamin D!  While Michael went off to fetch water from the nearby stream, we sat outside with Rosa, who told us a little more about the family, and Michael's sickness last year.
Michael's grandparents, Michael and Maria Kikumbo, (bibi and babu) had lived with their seven daughters (Maria, Joyce, Lucia, Regina, Rebekah, Rosa and Upendo) in Tazengwa (Nzega-Tabora region). Only five are left now: Michael’s mother Maria died in 2000, and Rebekah died of snake bite last year, aged 33. She was still at bibi's, having never married, due to being mentally handicapped and epileptic. 
Rosa moved away ten years ago when she got married, Regina lives in Singida, Joyce in Igunga, the other two are still in Nzega. 
Last April, just one week after starting his English course in Moshi, Michael was taken to hospital.  After a day there, he was transferred to the large Christian hospital, KCMC, where he had a hernia operation.  When he phoned his aunt, she was SO upset to hear his quavering voice saying, “Mama, I’m so weak” – this really upset me too!  She went by bus to Moshi to try to find him, it took all day!  It’s a very large hospital, over 1,000 patients, with many wings & floors, and is built into a hill with entrances on at least two floors, which caused confusion when people tried to give her directions.  She was just about to give up & go home when she decided to try just once more time – success at last!  Michael was SO pleased to see a relative, although the director of his school had been looking after him. Over there you need people to bring you food and to wash your clothes, hospitals don't do this as a rule, although they found out that KCMC will provide some services for a fee. As it wasn’t too expensive, they made use of this.  He was there for two weeks, then spent a month at Rosa’s before being well enough to return to Moshi to start his course all over again.
One of her husband’s first wife’s sons (aged in his 30's) had died when Michael was in hospital, and is buried in the nearby public graveyard. Rebekah also died about this time, so it was a very difficult month for the family.
Michael returned, saying we could do our laundry. He and Bruce started washing outside, I washed our undies inside throwing the dirty water down the choo. I was pleasantly surprised to be told I could hang them outside, as usually you put them in your bedroom, it's offensive to air them in public! The guys were still busy soaping up when I went back outside to hang mine on a clothes line near the cattle pens. I was slightly embarrassed but also amused to see that Michael was washing all my clothes, not Bruce’s!  When I joined in, we formed a production line – Michael sudsing, Bruce doing the 1st rinse, myself the other two!  We had fun measuring our hands against each others’- Michael’s are just slightly larger than mine, but Bruce’s are much larger than both! Michael refused our help with his washing as he only had a few to do. 
Whilst lunch was being prepared, we sat outside chatting about the political systems of Tanzania & NZ – challenging talking re proportional representation in Kiswahili!  At once stage I completely lost my train of thought, it took a while to find where I'd got to again! Very embarrassing!
Some monkeys started jumping and swinging through the trees towards the stream, the old male coming last - they were fun to watch but were very obscured by leaves & branches so I didn’t get the camera  – then one walked near our tree!  GRR!
Lunch was ugali, mchuzi + sukuma wiki – a kind of kale cut up very finely - followed by oranges. The topic was the drought in Kiswani – some people are eating uji once a day like the Maasai.  The rains started as usual so they planted maize; then the rains stopped and the maize withered up once it reached 1'.  Some people are getting food in the mountains, but it’s too far to take the cattle: they cut/carry from the bush.
After lunch, we talked politics again indoors, then outside under a tree we talked about the different foods grown in NZ & Tanzania.  One grown near Tazengwa has a leaf that elongates greatly if you roll it between your hands.  As there's only one rainy season down there (Dec-March), they have to preserve food well to last till the next one.  Sweet potatoes are cleaned and peeled, boiled, then sliced up very finely before being dried in the sunshine. They are stored in the dark in sacks.
Later on, we went for a walk, but couldn't use the stream-crossing near the house as some men were bathing there. Michael had suddenly turned back, saying we’d better go another way because some men were bathing and "I wasn’t used to it!"  Too true!  Crossing the stream higher up, we followed a track leading to the dirt road up the mountains - Michael mdogo’s school is up there, passing tall trees + bush. It was nice & green up the mountains, but the flats were dry.  Michael pointed out some of the more interesting types of tree including a kapok tree.  He used to collect the huge seed pods in Tazengwa when he was young, filling sacks with 10-20 kgs of down to get 200 Tsh; it takes a very long time and is very bad for the lungs.  Date, oil & coconut palms grow here, Bruce was very surprised to see coconuts away from the coast.
We didn’t manage to get high enough to get a good view of Kiswani, Bruce got puffed before we cleared the tree line. On the way back down, we took pics of and from the rice paddies.
We met little Michael & Frank on the way home, dragging an old tyre that they’d been playing with.  Michael wanted to hold Michael's hand, but annoyed him by dawdling, and ended up holding mine. I praised him for being so well-behaved, he gets told off so often as he tends to get into mischief, his hands are always busy! It was nice he was feeling friendly today, the day before he'd been so shy he wouldn't come close.
We went through the village to visit Michael mdogo’s aunt, then his grandfather – but he was out.  His grandmother was too sick to be visited.  I greeted some mamas plaiting hair, they wanted to do mine too! 
At the bridge, Bruce was pestered by an old beggar & a strange-looking lady who got annoyed because he wouldn’t answer her.  Just as well he didn’t understand, she wanted to go home with him or have him go to her place!
Outside the guesthouse, we greeted a young Maasai we’d seen the day before. Unfortunately it soon became apparent he was drunk and also sniffing something off his fingers!  He invited us to have a soda, so I went over to Michael, who was sitting on the steps watching, to tell him what was going on. He came over, stressing that we only drink soda, not beer.  He went off, saying he’d be back soon.  The miller came over, inviting us to his place - but we didn’t get a chance to go.  He showed us the dried cassava he was making into flour, I thought he was grinding stones!  In the mornings we would see schoolgirls dropping off small bags of grain or cassava. Some had bikes and would leave them in a rack there.
I was very glad when Michael said it was time to go to bathe & still no sign of our Maasai friend! 
We were met by a young girl near Rosa's, she went off with Michael & he came back carrying a ladder. The fundis had arrived to fix the electricity! It seemed rather late to be climbing up in the semi-dark - it was nearly 7 p.m. 
Michael went to the jiko to discuss something with Rosa, then came back to tell us the news - he was so surprised when I said I’d already understood, as they’d been speaking in Kisukuma not Kiswahili! No wonder I’d been a bit puzzled about some of the words!  It caused a lot of laughter!  They’d decided we should take some hot water over to the guesthouse to bathe as the water there would be too cold. They wanted us to be able to see what we were doing!
Well, our power went off just as I finished dressing in the bafu. Fortunately I was able to find the bed without tripping over. The lights soon came back on so Bruce was able to bathe without any problems at all. 
Michael was most concerned when he came back in case we’d been inconvenienced, then asked us to wait on the sofa. At 8.45 along came Michael & Rosa bearing pots of food + a large basket of plates.  But they’d forgotten water, a stool and a table!  It was very nice: rice, chicken, bananas & spinach; Michael loves rice & bananas!  We talked till Jeremia phoned at 10, we went to bed so Michael could ring him back.

Kisiwani

Monday 13th July What a sleepless night! The neighbouring bar played LOUD music all night. After checking the time at quarter to four, we decided not to try to get back to sleep, so had a shower and got up. It'd been hot, but we'd only had the fan on low so it wouldn’t make too much noise!!! Needn't have worried about that!
We went downstairs just after five, Michael turned up at half past, looking a little embarrassed to see us waiting! We took a taxi to the bus station due to safety reasons. There was tight security at the gate, only one person is allowed in at a time, & if you don’t have a ticket, you pay 200 Tsh. I guess it's to discourage touts, salesmen and pick-pockets.
After putting our packs under the bus, we climbed on – it was a long way up! It had three seats each side and seven across the back where we sat, Bruce in the middle stretching out his long legs! We started having a lovely chat about Michael’s favourite subjects: history & politics, his new room, etc. It was rather a shock when the ticket inspector came round and found some other people had the same seat numbers as us! He decided Bruce and I should move forward, but I was so disappointed, I felt like telling him we'd been apart for almost two years and were just starting to catch up! However, I decided not to cause a fuss! It seems seats are quite often double-booked; different agents selling them - although they each get a seating plan with their seat allocations on it. Some companies are sell tickets twice over just to get more money.
The bus set off very late, 7.45 a.m., but we didn’t know why! There seemed to be interminable discussions between the inspector and some of the passengers.
There were good roads as far as Korogwe, which we reached at noon, stopping for 1/2 hour. Not much further on, we turned off onto the A4, a dirt road. The landscape became very dry: baobabs/thorn trees, not much other vegetation. After a while, interesting mountains started to appear, rising sharply out of the flat plain. Some of the many rivers had water, but others were dry.
Closer to the mountains, there were lots of big trees, flowing rivers, but no grass. Late in the afternoon, we started to stop at every little village to drop people off, before coming to a final halt in Kiswani (‘on the island’) in the Same district at 4 p.m. There's no sea or lake there – but it’s like an island of flattish land surrounded by tall mountains! If you click on the map to enlarge it, you'll just make it out near the Kenyan border, half way between Moshi and Tanga.
The last section of road was SO bumpy that the person in front of me nearly hit his head on the padded piece housing the seat lights/ventilator! I think there were sore bottoms all round!
We were met by a few folk who helped us with our bags. After crossing back over the bridge the bus had driven over, we went up a small dirt road to a house surrounded by a big hedge which we entered through a large gap: Mama Rosa’s.
Mama Rosa is the sixth of Michael’s grandmother’s seven daughters, and she is only five years older than him (33) – but her husband, a doctor, is called ‘the mzee’ (old man) as he’s 62! Unfortunately he was away in Mbeya, attending to a family matter. They have two boys, Frank (Standard 4), and Michael mdogo (little Michael to distinguish him from ‘our’ Michael!) who’s repeating S1 – he started school the year before, but has only just turned six: usually they start at 7 in Tanzania. There are 7 standards (Kenya has 8) in primary school. Only about 10% of Tanzanian children ever get to secondary school, although the government is trying very hard to make more schools available. There are two primary schools, a kindergarten (chekechea) and a secondary school in Kiswani.
The house has an open-plan lounge/dining room, two bedrooms (the main one has a bucket-flushed European toilet!) and a traditional choo off the lounge that leads into a large storeroom. We were amused to see an electric stove being used to store pots and pans in the dining room! The cooking is done over an open fire outside in a small lean-to jiko (kitchen).
Pic: lounge/dining room showing the low table where we ate. As it only sat four, the others ate at a big table near the back door behind the sofa.
After our things were put in the boys’ room, we bathed in mama’s ensuite using a jug of water. We had black spicy tea at 5.30 - yummy, and the bread & oranges that Michael had bought on the way. It was our first food: we'd left too early to eat breakfast, and we only had enough change to buy water on the way.
Some visitors came to greet us: a young man, Ntarula, who’s from Kigoma but is studying Form Three here, and a young lady called Francisca, recently married, also from Kigoma. Her husband turned up later.
When Michael tried to switch on the TV, he got a small shock & the power went off - the fuses didn't blow so that was a bit scary!
We went for a nice walk with Michael 'round the block' after inspecting the section around the house, which is surrounded by hedges on three sides, and tall trees near a stream on the fourth. It was sad to see so much bare soil where there are normally plants – the drought has been bad here too. Michael was surprised to see that the banana palms had died since February.
Then Rosa took us to see the family's guest house, it was their former home. It isn't far away, and has a small mill on one side and Rosa’s pharmacy on the right. The front door is up several tall concrete steps leading into a lounge containing a sofa, with 1-2 bedrooms on each side. Half the wall between it & the next room, which also has 1-2 bedrooms on each side has been removed. There is also a small kitchen annex at the back leading to outside. Each bedroom has a bed, mosquito net + ‘self-container’: a small room with squat toilet on a small platform, a tap that doesn’t work (you use a bucket!), an open space for washing with a hole in the wall to drain out the water.
The small two-room pharmacy only had a few stock medicines & bandages. Michael told Rosa about Bruce’s rash, which had reappeared on Sunday, so she had a little look, and was sure it'd just go away again. We hadn’t been sure whether it was a staph rash or caused by poorly-prepared beans - but it wasn’t terribly itchy & TCP seemed to calm it down. Some of the wheals were a whole inch across!
They also own a restaurant + bar behind the guest house: the outdoor tables stand under a thatched roof under huge trees; the bar/servery are in a little kiosk on a raised concrete area with more tables. She sells fried pork + soft drinks as there are no girls to serve in the bar.
We returned to Rosa’s for a nice dinner at 8.30: meat mchuzi (stew) and rice, followed by pieces of banana and oranges, before returning to the guest house to be given a couple of rooms there.
It was a bit noisy for a while, there were lots of people outside talking & laughing (in the bar?) till late. I woke up far too early, so spent some time thinking and praying about Michael & our children, thanking God for the opportunity to see them all this year. I was sad that we'd missed 8 hours of conversation on the bus by having to sit apart!!!
It was impossible to get back to sleep once it was five: the mosques started up, the bus honked its horn, the first trucks roared away, roosters began to crow & people talked outside as they started off their day!

Back to Nairobi

Saturday July 11th It was a somewhat cool night disturbed by hyenas, and was cloudy when we got up at 6.15, but cleared up later, and was very hot in Nairobi! After an early chai, there were lots more farewells. We left at quarter to 8 to walk to Ezekiel’s where we had some more chai before walking to the school. The taxi driver had refused to return to Luka’s, saying it was too far and too expensive – TOO TRUE! - but he wouldn’t drop his fee for the shorter trip – GRR! There were lots of passengers this time: us, John, Ezekiel + Joseph (one of the Enkiloriti teachers). Daniel accompanied us to the car to see us off.
It only took 40 minutes to get to Duka Moja this time. On this better road/track, it was possible to drive at 20 kph! Ezekiel farewelled us there, having business to attend to, but Joseph came all the way to Nairobi with us to get some exam papers for the school.
I had a private giggle in the taxi: the radio announcer was talking about various celebrities who were sharing a 'bath day'!!!!!
We reached Nairobi soon after 11, it was a good trip, but we were shocked at the condition of the cattle we passed, and of course the maize was in an even worse state.
At the internet, I still couldn’t access Xnet mail, but was pleased to have an email from my parents on Yahoo saying they’d successfully contacted Amex on our behalf. We changed some USD into Ksh to cover our last expenses in Kenya, also giving John his wedding present.
After a cheap lunch, and even cheaper public toilets (10 Ksh for two), we took a bus back to near Nicholas’ – but during the slow journey bin heavy traffic, it caught the edge of a matatu whilst on lane-changing manoeuvres. They just swerve from lane to lane without indicating or checking that the way is clear, it's amazing there aren't more collisions. Quite a kerfuffle ensued, each driver accusing the other of causing the damage, some of the passengers got involved too! I was praying it wouldn't become physical!
As our bus had ended up diagonally across 1 ½ lanes in a 3-lane carriageway, vehicles on our left had to veer onto the footpath to get past! Some of the passengers started to complain vociferously about the long delay, some even got off the bus and started walking to find another.
Eventually a police van passed us, without slowing down or showing any sign they’d observed the problem, but it must have stopped at the next roundabout & told one of those on point-duty to attend to it, as soon afterwards, a policeman was seen striding purposefully towards us. After a quick word to both drivers, both vehicles started up & drew into the nearby petrol station. Another brief discussion, then we were on our way again – don’t know if any money changed hands or not, couldn’t see.
When we reached our stop, Joseph accompanied our bags on a motorbike taxi back to the ‘shopping centre’ whilst we walked! Poor Bruce wrenched his back again stumbling on a stone. We were saddened to see a dead cow in a patch of grass on the way.
After backpacking our bags from the centre to Nicholas', arriving at about 2.30 to a quiet house, we were greeted by Elizabeth, Emily + the little ones. We wennt to bed to rest whilst John & Joseph returned to town to find the exam papers. We got up a couple of hours later when some children started playing noisily outside. After repacking our bags, we sat in the living room waiting for someone to turn up.
I walked round looking at all the pictures and calendars festooning the wall. One calendar (from a Pentecostal church) had ‘miraculous’ stories – one situation was frankly impossible: a woman gave birth after being pregnant for three years! Another one really made me laugh: “a woman conceived and gave birth to a boy after being in bareness for 4 years!”
After John & Joseph returned at 6.30, we were offered ‘cocoa chai’!!! John was very surprised to hear we hadn’t been offered anything earlier on - so were we! He told us Yasintha is also drinking cocoa instead of tea, they believe it’s bad for mother & baby. She’ll also have LOTS of uji, like the Wahaya in the Bukoba region – they get really fed up with it in the end!
John got Michael on the phone unexpectedly. He was so excited to hear me speak, his voice sprang up an octave, but we didn’t have much time for more than greetings, as John's phone ran out of credit. Michael didn’t ring back but we'd be meeting the next day anyway!
We talked about visiting the local pastor again, but again John was too tired. We watched the TV news & weather, surprised to see the maximum temperature was only 22 deg, it seemed much hotter! We spent the rest of the evening chatting with Nicholas, who'd come to Nairobi 17 years ago to be closer to good grazing. They are used to having the kiangazi (drought/dry season), but it’s the worst he’s known.
Our supper was very late, at ten, but was very delicious: cabbage (a vege at last!) + chapattis, followed by pieces of orange & banana – YUM! Poor Maurice had gone to sleep on a chair, but could only eat just a mouthful or two before slipping back into sleep again, nearly in his plate! It seems cruel to expect little kids (he's only 4!) to stay up so late, I don’t think they realise how much sleep they need.
We didn't get much of that, it was a VERY noisy night: barking dogs outside till early in the morning, then a rooster clapped its wings together & started to crow well before dawn!

Enkiloriti School, drought problems, an infected leg

Friday 10th July Nice weather today.  We went to Enkiloriti school, first stopping at Saruni’s house as he wanted to meet me.  We had chai + rice and an interesting conversation. 
He's keen to sell his remaining cows to buy a 50 x 100m plot in town, to build a complex of 4 shops in front, + a house behind.  Here it costs 2 million Ksh, & would be rented out for 20,000 KSh/month; in Nairobi the cost would be 5 million to gain 40,000 Ksh/month.  He hasn't decided which town to build in: Ewaso has electricity + water but no good road access; Suswa is on the Narok road, has water but no electricity; Duka Moja is also on the main road – but has no electricity or water!He’d also buy a plot to live on & farm, he still has 20 children to educate!  There are 15 families around him each with 30 acres.  He told us an Mzungu wants to buy a plot on the mountain to build a tourist hotel – getting them to stay out in the wilds could be a problem!
We were told how some of the old men just can’t cope with losing so many cattle.  One had sent his 134 head up into the highlands with a younger relative as he couldn’t take them himself.  When only 25 returned, he asked: “Where are my cows?” When he was told the rest had all died, he fell face down on the ground in a faint, & every time he hears or thinks about his loss, he suffers some kind of fit.  Another old man ran off, others have even considered hanging themselves – unheard of in the Maasai.








When we arrived at the school, we waited in the small makeshift office, partitioned off from one of the three main classrooms, and signed the Visitors’ Book while the students assembled.  We spent a short time with them: they sang us a song of greeting; I sang them one in Kiswahili which they knew so they all joined in, then I shared briefly about NZ then Bruce encouraged them to study hard. 
Some of School Board were there: Ezekiel (treasurer), John Nkalo (chairman), Pastor John ole Punyuk (Harvest Church), Pastor Moses ole Kishau (Festival Harvest Church, he'd been one of the speakers at the seminar). 
Ezekiel shared how the school began in 2001 as a joint project of Festival Harvest Church & CCF Australia, who built the main building + provided some water tanks.  He was the first teacher (untrained), and taught them all he knew of English and maths.  He was very  relieved when a government teacher turned up! 
John Nkalo shared re the school’s problems – out of 220 students, only 120 are still attending - but there were only 70 today.  Some had stayed home knowing the two government teachers weren’t going to turn up!  As there aren't enough S7 pupils to start the higher classes, they go to Ole Sharo or repeat S6!
Rosa, the cook, told us how she started working there to try to earn some money to help her family – but she hasn’t been paid all term.  She wants to help the children but without being paid, her own children suffer.
Some of the students shared how they are being affected: one boy, in his mid to late teens, shared how desperate he is to proceed in his education, & how frustrated he is, repeating S6 for the 3rd time!
Pastor Moses prayed for everyone, then the students went for lunch: a cupful of ugali + beans, provided by the government.  I think they also get some chai.
We walked round the school, talking with Ezekiel and the three Johns.  A couple of Ezekiel’s children came up to greet us and to walk with their father.  Nine of them attend this school, but the eldest goes to Ole Sharo and there are still two at home.  The main building consists of three well-built stone classrooms with concrete floors.  There is a separate iron building with dirt floors and no glass in the windows: it was supposed to be the staff room & student common room, but has to be used as classrooms.  The teachers’ accommodation is a two-room metal shack – about garden shed size – with no kitchen or toilet!  One window has a hole in the mesh large enough for an elephant’s trunk to reach in!  There is no fencing anywhere on the grounds so it is open to wild animals.  We then went to look at the clinic (right), started three years ago, but unfinished due to lack of funds.
Ezekiel listed the school’s problems as follows:
1  Water  The plastic tanks are now split, the stone tank contains just a little green water.  The large reservoir dug by bulldozer in 2005 by the government is used by elephants - the children are too scared to use it.  The broken-down bulldozer is still there, it hasn’t been repaired.
2  Fencing  The school grounds need fencing, any wild animal can enter – the chief danger is from hyenas.
3  Teachers  There aren't enough for all eight Standards, so students who want to go to High School are repeating S6 or have gone to Ole Sharo.  They need at least two more teachers, Maasai dedicated to the community, as well as better housing (outside teachers are unwilling to live there).
4  Classrooms    They don't have enough, & the two dirt-floored ones without glass windows or shutters are bad in windy, wet weather.
5  The clinic  It needs funds to complete the roof and plaster inside so it can be used.
6  The Cook  She's been unpaid for a whole term - fewer fee-paying students means trouble for her as well as the teachers.
Shumbai came up as we were leaving, limping badly, telling me how sore her leg was – so I promised to see her back at the manyatta.  I was really worried thinking about blood poisoning/osteomyelitis etc. + how she’d get home.
We had chai at John Nkalo’s and talked about the food aid: even if someone had only received a cup of flour, they were very thankful.  One old man wanted to give us a goat to bring back home to slaughter but we had to explain it wasn't possible.We had lunch at 4 with Ezekiel & the 3 Johns.  Pastor Punyuk had some interesting questions re the Bible - the significance of Mt Sinai, Christ’s infant dedication & why God was called “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”.  Bruce explained their significance, assuring him that Christians don’t have to follow Jewish practices. It’s easy for people to get ‘hung up’ over the Old Testament and to want to follow Jewish ceremonies which are no longer necessary.The pastor told us he’d never before seen any Wazungu ready to go into Maasai houses and eat with them, they just come to look around, then go away again.
We were given a large watermelon by John Nkalo on behalf of the School Board, Ezekiel gave me an ndege (beaded ornament representing the Holy Spirit) and Bruce a belt.  Pic: one of his wives + child, Pr Ponyuk, us, Ezekiel, John Nkalo.
Back at Luka’s, we were invited to Susannah’s hut: she was cooking ugali and gave us a taste - it's very different from other types we’ve had, being quite dry & crumbly, + they add beef fat & sugar!  It's actually very nice and tastes rather like bread!
I eventually found Shumbai just before dark – so had to use a torch to look at the wound.  Unfortunately the skin was getting quite discoloured around the wound, + the lower leg was very painful to move.  Bruce cleaned it out again, rebandaged it, then we prayed for her healing, telling John if it got any worse she needed to see a doctor immediately or go to hospital - not easy in these parts.
We had a lovely time of fellowship after tea, people squeezed into the living room: children on the floor/chair arms, adults standing or on chairs.  There were some touching farewells, I got hugged by most of the mamas too.

A seminar and Moses Teeka

Saturday July 4th We had an early breakfast of chai/chapattis, then had time to bathe + wash my hair, waiting for Ezekiel to come. It was a bit embarrassing having a big audience of mamas and children when I went outside to comb hair in the breeze - one mama had a go too!
We left at 9.30, carrying our day packs, to attend a seminar at Nalepo Baptist Church. On the way, we visited a family badly affected by the drought, and had chai in the mama’s hut, listening to their story. One son owes 10,000 Ksh school fees, so he can’t get his Leaving Certificate - which means no work or college prospects. Bruce shared a word about having hope: the mama started crying, so I stayed in the hut to pray with her; we had a tearful hug.
They had 400 sheep/goats & 300 cattle, but now only have 200 sheep/goats and 30 cattle. 2 sons took us round the manyatta, some corrals are not even used now, although all used to be full.
We were all told to go to the toilet in the bush before reaching the church – no facilities there + the seminar would have NO breaks!! When we arrived at 11, it had already started. As it didn’t finish till 5, we were glad of the frequent opportunities to stand and sing between speakers. John & another man took turns translating into English. We enjoyed the messages apart from one. The preacher was repeating a message he’d heard in town: the drought was God’s punishment on the Maasai as they hadn't been giving to Him; they needed to give Him everything, especially their best. He also said their church was too small so they should build a big stone one! It's true there were over 400 packed into the iron building, but a lot were from other churches!
The 2nd speaker was good, sharing from 1st/2nd Timothy, firstly about the need for wives to be obedient, and not want to emulate women in other places who strive to be church leaders. Instead, they should set a good example for the other women. Men and women are equal but have different roles. He encouraged the men to ‘fight the good fight’, i.e. to be diligent in the faith and not give up.
When the meeting ended, we were told to stay inside to eat with the pastors: potato stew, chapattis & beef -it was so tough I finished ½ hour after the rest!
After 1 ½ hours' walk, we reached Moses' manyatta just before dark, to be greeted by many people. One baby had a pale swollen face – malnutrition? - but I didn't get another look at it.
We sat chatting with Moses in the hut we were to stay in. There are 20 primary school children + 15 pre-schoolers on the manyatta. Soinkan, John’s full sister, is the only one at High School, she's in Form One at Najile, and has been chased away for owing fees. John’s youngest sister, Pirisat, changed primary schools this year as the teachers were absent so often her studies were affected.
Only 3 of Moses’ 5 wives are still living here, John’s mother is at Luka’s to get feed for John’s stock and another is with her eldest son.
Moses had 300 sheep/goats and many cattle, but now has only 60 sheep/goats, and a few cattle. As a fat sheep is now only worth 1,000 Ksh instead of 5,000 (over $100!) he’d have to sell 20 to be able to send all his children to school!
It was hard to get to sleep as dogs were fighting outside our hut until very late; one of the young ones kept getting picked on, making me jump with its sharp yelping.

Visits to Ezekiel and John Nkalo, Inkoirienito church.

Friday 3rd July A sunny day, but a cool breeze.   Visited in the morning by Frank, in Standard Five aged 13, one of Raheli's sons.  He tried to speak a little English with us: “Will you come to the house of my mother?” 
More men came to visit and tell us their problems, including Ezekiel Nkalo who we’d met in Duka Moja.
Ezekiel had 300 sheep/goats and 200 cattle, he now has 50 sheep/goats + 30 cattle; 2 wives and 12 children (aged up to 12).
John Nkalo, his brother, had similar numbers of livestock, but has fewer cattle left now.  He has 4 wives and 20 children! He's the chairman of Enkiloriti School Board.
Pastor Daudi from Inkoirienito AIC only has 5 cattle left now.
Ezekiel has been saved five years, but already had 2 wives; the first is a Maasai chosen by his family; the second is a Kikuyu married for love!  He'd like to be a pastor but would have to forsake a wife.  Bruce says he can still be an evangelist. 
We walked to Luka's dam for human/stock water - nearly empty, it should be nearly full!  Then we walked to the maize/bean plantation (left). Eland & giraffe








had got over the boma in the night and eaten some of the plants that have survived.  Only a few look any good, they are in a damp spot where water/urine drains from the yard: some half dozen had tassels or silks, the rest were small & stunted.  We were told that maize crops grown near towns/villages are at risk of theft, people bring donkey carts to take the cobs to sell in Nairobi! Then we visited some of the sites where dead livestock (above right) that died near home were taken, but hyenas had pulled some down the hillside.  Most died on the mountains, too weak to cope with the 2+ hours' walk.  We saw no feed suitable for cattle, only a picking for a few sheep/goats.








Pics: feed situation (left); the best feed (right): just a few square metres of 1 cm long grass!
Back at Luka's, they were helping an old man, walking with two sticks, onto a motorbike to take him home.  He’d come the night before, thinking we’d brought relief food with us, very disappointed that there was none. We had chapattis, chai and a wash before walking to Inkoirienito church. 








The large government-built reservoir has been fenced to keep out livestock, they are only allowed in in supervised groups.  The intake area needs altering to prevent erosion and silting, water has been entering below the concreted stone area. It has never had much water in it since it was built in 2007. Pics: left = 2007, Bruce is way down the far end! Right = water remaining 2009.
The church water tank built with funds from NZ shows a little seepage, it's nearly full, being conserved for John’s wedding!  Pic: 2007 after thanksgiving service.
A large area has been cleared near the church to use for a school or kindergarten.


We walked to Ezekiel’s house past more heaps of bones and the remains of his failed watermelon crop. On the way we'd passed close to the River Elina (right).  Steep gorges fill with rushing water from the mountains when it rains.  Many cattle are lost each dry season, falling down the banks trying to get to the grass in the river bed.  There were LOTS of flies there. 
His 4 year old son came to meet us, dancing for us with incredible skill!  He's said to be an excellent mimic & singer, and wants to be a pastor! 
We talked about the problems in the area and the need for sponsors/aid whilst we drank chai and ate rice and potatoes together. 
Enkiloriti Clinic started 3 years near the primary school but is unusable, as it has no roof. Going to Duka Moja for treatment is very expensive.
The Primary School doesn’t have enough teachers; no suitable teachers' houses; the parents can’t pay teachers’ salaries – non-government teachers rely on these, they have only passed Form 4.  To work for the government, you need a College diploma.
After walking round Ezekiel's shamba, we went to his brother's, but only his wives and some children were there.  They have also lost many stock on the mountain, but some died near the huts. 
The men were amused, as we sat on stools outside, by a boy uttering strange cries - I was embarrassed to be told that the first were those of girls before circumcision, the second those of boys! 
Pic: nice view of distant mountains, huts + donkey corral: the poor things only got let out at midday! 
Amusing sight: 2 little girls carrying shoes in lesos on their backs, each holding a jar of VERY dirty water – their ‘babies’ and ‘milk’!
Returning to Luka’s through the bush, one section was so slippery I was given Luka’s stick to help!  There was some kind of monkey in the trees, but I only caught a brief glimpse. 
We were visited by 2 girls in the evening: Shumbai and Dagili, + some women: Mary (just had her first baby), Maria & Susannah.  I was given 2 bracelets, both made by Shumbai: 1) Kenyan flag design from Shumbai; 2) “I love you” given to Bruce by Susannah, but too small - given to me instead!

Off to the Great Rift Valley

Thursday 2nd July Cool & overcast again. We watched the cattle being taken out to find pasture at 8.30, then looked over to the sheep pen, one ewe was rejecting one her new twins. Most are Dorper or Dorper cross. The cattle were very thin, many very weak and likely to die soon, even some yearlings. One old cow was no longer able to stand, so lay outside the house all day. They belong to Nicholas and his brother Moses. Nicholas earns some cash by using his vehicle to deliver meat, and by handling baggage at the airport.
We were shocked to be told our vehicle arrangements now had to be renegotiated, it had been agreed we'd just ensure it was full of petrol when returned! After two hours of frustrating discussions, we decided to use public transport as we didn't have enough money to fulfill the new demands!
It took an hour to reach the internet café, frequent traffic light failures cause long traffic jams; the traffic police control the large roundabouts but are sometimes very slow to let each line of traffic take its turn.
I found that Amex had changed its phone number to a collect one - no good for cell phoned! I wasn't sure if the only public phone we saw, complete with armed security guard, would even connect me to an operator. So I sent an emergency email to mum & dad, asking them to contact Amex on our behalf.
There was only a short 1/2-hour wait on the bus before it left. It took 2 1/2 hours to get to Duka Moj, a small ‘town’ between Mai Mahiu & Narok.
We were impressed by the lush feed near Limuru on way out of Nairobi, but it soon petered out. From Mai Mahiu, everywhere became more and more arid, any grass was short and brown, and the maize crops had failed: surviving plants were small, scattered, withered & dying.
We went to a small cafe for a little food and met a nice Maasai man, Ezekiel, who shared some of the problems in the district with us. John went to find a car to take us to Luka’s manyatta near Inkoirienito church, but we were very upset by the amount he'd negotiated, 3,000 Ksh (NZD 75!!!). We went to buy some food from one of the small stores: 4 kgs rice; 4 kgs maize flour; 2 l oil; some tea; 4 kgs sugar; a sack of potatoes (15 kgs?); total Ksh 1,000.
We stopped 3x on the way: 1) the unfinished clinic (above left) at Ole Sharo, built by church funds, an Australian dental team, NZ friends, + a Narok District Health Board grant. It still needs roofing, a doctor’s house, an incinerator + a toilet.








2) John’s 3-roomed house (left), a similar house for his mother (right) except built with traditional walls, the kitchen/store room (below left), and the “the deepest choo in Maasailand” (36 feet deep!) (below right). John was gifted 3 acres by Inkoirienito church for the work he's been doing for them. The houses' floors were unfinished, the kitchen/store needs mud plaster, the choo needs finishing. 3) Some neighbours: the wife has a bad back, her husband has TB.








The 25 km trip took 2 hours (including stops), so it was dark when we reached Luka’s manyatta. A tall boma (fence of thorn tree branches) surrounds most of the huts, the small failed vegetable patch + the animal enclosures. Small night pens made of twigs/mud with thatched roofs contain the youngest calves, kids & lambs. They are let out in the morning before their mums go out to graze, stay around the manyatta all day, then get another drink in the evening before being shut away again.
There are many huts here: one for each wife and some for others. Those who live here include Luka & his 2 wives (Maria & Joyce), his son Paulo + his family, Pastor Petro + his family, Luka’s father’s widow Raheli + her children – one of whom was widowed last year, and lastly John + his mum.
This time we stayed in Paulo’s hut (Maria’s son): 2 small rooms in a rectangular mud brick building with dirt floor & iron roof. He has 2 wives, Susanna and Yasintha, who is one of John’s 5 sisters.
Pics: our sitting room, bedroom, view from the window of traditional huts.


Traditional huts are oval, built (usually by women!) of woven twigs plastered with cow dung/mud. The narrow doorway leads into a narrow passageway, where young livestock may be kept at night. The main room contains a smoky cooking fire, 1-2 wooden stands for pots, pans and any other belongings, a timber/cowhide bed, + possibly some stools or a bench to sit on. A smaller room contains another bed for children/guests. Windows are a couple of 4-6" holes, often plugged with cloth for privacy! Smoke escapes through these + the space between the top of the walls & the roof.
Lots of people came to greet us when we arrived; we were pleased to see that the children weren’t scared this time! After being taken to our hut, we spent some time with some of the men, who wanted to share with us how the current drought was affecting them. They all had similar stories.
Moses had 30 sheep/goats, + some cattle, now he just has 5 sheep/goats. He has 1 wife and 5 children.
Isaya Kishau had 300 sheep/goats and 30 cattle, he now has 50 sheep & goats, and 13 cattle; 2 wives and 10 children.
Daniel Teeka had 10 sheep/goats and 7 cattle, he now has 3 sheep/goats and one cattle beast; 1 wife and 3 children. He’s John’s full brother.
Luka Kishau had 300 sheep/goats and 30 cattle. He now has 60 sheep/goats and 5 cattle; I'm not sure how many children he has, many are now married. He’s 53 years old, same as Bruce.
Paulo has no livestock of his own, his dad says he’s his ‘errand boy’, but he has two wives, and a number of children. Yasintha was expecting her fourth; I don’t know how many Susanna has.
Some people in the Inkoirienito community have lost all their cattle; all are finding it hard to cope. They say they have avoided malnutrition because everyone has been helping each other. In other places, if you go to your neighbour for help, you’ll be chased away. Between 40-50% are now Christians out of the thousand here.
Even the local leaders are in trouble, despite their small government salaries. One in Ewaso town having lost all his livestock, sold his fence!
The rains that usually arrive in March failed; there was just the odd short shower until mid-June when they got a week’s rain. Attempts to grow maize & beans failed; the cattle started to die from April on, the sheep & goats followed suit, even the donkeys.
John has been to World Vision in Narok but they don’t work in the area. He says there is no aid from the District Health Boards in Suswa or Narok, although an NGO leader told me that they are the ones organising relief food. It’s a long way to Narok, 12-15 kms on foot through the bush to Duka Moja, then another 45 kms to Narok by matatu (minibus taxi).
We were pleased to hear they want to form a Community Based Organisation (CBO) to better use donations and to access government funding. They want to fund projects such as helping people with school fees, loans for micro-enterprises, build water tanks/health clinics etc. Bruce said it could also act as a community bank: in good times they could deposit money from cattle sales & use it later for school fees.
A lesson from this year – heed the early warning signs, sell surplus stock or you lose them + your more valuable breeding stock.
Cattle had been worth 15,000 - 20,000 Ksh ($400), but are now 5,000 Ksh. Hides are worth only 50 Ksh, so dead cattle haven’t been skinned.
We ended up eating at 10! It was good to get to bed, but our sleep was disturbed by cold winds, dogs barking, pounding feet as they chased hyenas past our hut,then the whoops of hyenas in the distance.