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Blog Kisumu July 25, 2017

July 25, 2017

Kisumu, Kenya

Hi Family, Friends, and Everyone!

Some you may know that I arrived back here in Kisumu on July 6, to work with KMET once again to finally finish helping them build the final phase of the KMET Building.  I think and hope that it will finally get done before I leave here on September 18.  In fact, we are planning to have a dedication just before I leave.  It will have been 8 years since Hinda and I first came here to help on this and other things in 2009.  WOW!!

Just a bit about the journey.  It was very long – some 26 hours or so, sitting in planes, airports, flying, waiting, and getting tired.  In the Dubai airport, a very kind woman came up to me as I was trying to buy a bottle of water and bought it for me.  These are the Muslims that Trump is trying to keep out of the United States!  Imagine!!

I am working hard and feeling it more than ever before, Part of it is that at work I am upstairs and downstairs so many times a day, and then when I get home to rest, there are stairs again, so I am constantly climbing.  Good exercise?  Maybe.  I hope so.

Home is in a nice part of town in a large compound with about 5 or 6 houses including mine which as 4 apartments.  The only problem is that it is a little further from work than I would have preferred, but it is very quiet and secure.  Actually, it is very close to the local zoo, which among other animals has lions which roar very loudly at night.  If you have ever heard a male lion roar you will understand.

One of my jobs is to help raise money to buy building supplies, pay the contractors, etc.  Two years ago I asked a particular hotel that we have done a lot of business with to contribute to our building fund, and they agreed.  Since then, they never paid their pledge which was fairly substantial.  When I came back I followed up with them and others.  Some have in fact contributed, but this particular place did not.  Last Friday afternoon when I had already gotten home, I received a phone call from them to come and get their check.  I tried to explain that I was home and would come the next morning or Monday.  “NO!  Come Now!!  Of course I did, but after waiting for 2 years, it had to be now or never.  Oh well!

The Presidential elections are scheduled for August 8 and there is a lot of tension here in Kisumu and around the country.  In 2007/8 there was a lot of post-election violence and many people were killed and injured and there was a lot of looting.  No one knows what will happen and all are hopeful that the election will be calm.  Our office will be closed for the day preceding and after the election so that people won’t have to travel.  Many people are stocking up on their food supplies, and I will also.

Because there is a fear of looting, some of the supermarkets have very little stock and sometimes one has to go to more than one store to get what you need.  But also there are some large supermarket chains that are having big economic problems and as a result, there are lots of empty shelves.  I mean EMPTY EMPTY!!

Cooking here are home means making everything from scratch and by the time I get home, I don’t want to have to chop and grate vegetables, make rice or some other thing.  The pots and pans leave something to be desired, the knives are dull, the refrigerator is small, so Hinda suggested I hire someone to help with the cooking.  I hired a college student to come 4 nights a week and do the cooking.  I pay her a fair wage, and of course buy the food, and then she also stays to eat and if there are leftovers – usually- takes them home to her aunt, uncle, and nephew where she lives.  Good for me!  Good for her!

So, I’ll leave it at this for the time being and send some photos.

Enjoy and love,

Peter