Visit to Meru

Saturday, the 24th of October dawned sunny and mild...perfect for our 3 hour (yeah right!) trip to Meru. Henry, a co-worker, calls Meru 'home'...and had invited all of us to visit his 'mum' and other family members...

After a slight delay in our departure time...about one hour, which by African standards means we actually left ahead of schedule! we headed out of town. Our first stop was to buy rice in an area of Kenya that is famous for their rice fields...sorry, no photos of the fields, but I thought this snap below was picturesque...
We drove up to an exuberant greeting by Stella, the first-born...she was dancing, singing and waving her arms in the air as she ran from the house to open the gate for us!

Then she and another sister brought out jugs of HOT water to assist us to wash our hands.

Inside the house we found places to sit as we visited with Henry's family...this is Virginia and Paul, two of my co-workers...
Mrs Gacau, another co-worker and Doug, another missionary at Missions of Hope and our designated driver for the day...
The feast! To the far left you see mokimo (a dish made with variations of potatoes, bananas, maize, beans, peas, pumpkin greens) - this one was mashed potatoes and bananas. Forward from the mokimo is rice. Behind the rice is chapatis (a bit like tortillas, only thicker), then arrowroot (not my favorite). Behind the arrowroot is a meat stew and next to the arrowroot is roasted potatoes.
After lunch, fruits were brought out for dessert - two types of bananas, two types of passion fruits - here you see Henry eating passion fruit like an African and Mom eating it like a Mzungu (white person)...and having such fun in the process!
Here is Henry's mother...he is the last born and loooooves his mama! Next to her is a family friend who is like part of the family...
Henry with a niece who is a twin and has his mum's name...
Various sisters and their kids...yes, they were all introduced...but since I did not have my paper and pencil out I have forgotten them! sorry...

I think this is the youngest sister...who Henry follows...
On the way to the family shamba (garden) we passed a couple of cows...very healthy looking!

Not many photos of the shamba, but let me just say I was impressed. They grow so many fruits and vegetables - in fact everything we ate this day was grown in the garden, plus they also have avocados and macadamia nuts!
Virginia on a tour of the compound...
I think this is the kitchen area where lunch was prepared...

Then we assembled outside for family photos...the first photo includes some of the BDS staff members...
And this is just family, although for some reason the mama did not make it into this one! But her sister Sarah (far left) joined us late and got into the picture...the Mzungu up front is actually a cousin who is Albino...his name is George.
And the kids!
The BDS staff...l to r; Jane Gacau, Doug (not actually BDS, but we claim him!) Kurz, Virginia Kamau, Henry Mwenda, kneeling with child is Paul Mburu...I didn't think I needed to identify myself!
We spent much time in the yard dancing and singing praise songs...at least I assume they were praise songs, as they were in Kimeru - the language of the Meru tribe...




Close up of Sarah. She teaches at the primary school and was Henry's teacher as he was growing up...she is also much like a mom to him...

Gifts from the family shamba...carrots, pumpkins, potatoes, green beans, squash and who knows what else!
On the way home we stopped at a roadside market...here is Doug with his 'negotiating' face on!

At the end of a very long and fun day...
I must say we were all spent, but Doug was exhausted as he dropped Mom and me off after 9pm that night...thanks Doug for being such a sport! Next time we will hire a driver!

A day in Huruma...

Last week Mom visited a nearby community called Huruma. We have several groups that meet here, but she visited two of them; Baraka and Agape. One of my co-workers, Jane Gacau (we call her Mrs. Gacau) took mom on her first ever matatu ride to get to Huruma.

A matatu is a 14 passenger mini van...the drivers are well-known for their crazy driving and the risks they will take to get from point 'a' to point 'b' in as little time as possible! It is frustrating for drivers of private vehicles, but I must confess I find it rather exhilerating as a passenger.

This first shot gives a feel for the community...
This man is/has a mkokateni (mom calls it a go-cart)...you can see he is posing for the photo. Mom is fascinated by these men who spend their days hauling just about anything, for a price. At the moment, this one is taking a break, having a smoke.
The chairlady, Lucy Nyambura and another member of Baraka. They meet in this 'hotel' (small cafe) each week. The owner is also a member of the group and served tea and bread.
Next several shots of the members during the meeting...the meetings usually begin with a word of prayer, encouragement from God's Word and sometimes praise songs. Then they spend about an hour collecting savings and loan payments, and taking care of any other business in the group such as; new members, loan arrears, new loan applications, exiting members.




The whole group, plus Mrs. Gacau (front left) who is the staff member who facilitates this group.
While Mrs. Gacau was balancing the money, Mom decided to step outside to see what she could see...let me just say that when Mrs. Gacau looked up to see her 'charge' had departed, she panicked!

But, of course she was just fine...walked with a few of the group members who wanted to show off their businesses to her...this man cooks and sells 'chips' (french fries)...
This lady is a green grocer...those tomatoes look yummy!
She sells firewood...
...and this is Patrick, the tailor...
...beautiful dresses for little girls...
Okay - these little fish are called omena and come from a town called Kisumu...
This close-up shot shows tiny little dried up fish...cooked properly they are deeelicious!
These shots were taken during the walk to the next group meeting; Agape.

She took this shot of the group outside...

One of the businesses is a hair salon...here a mother and daughter are having their hair done.
Mom became fascinated by the variety of hairstyles and also loved to watch...

They headed back to the center...and she took this photo along the way...
...I was ready to leave for the day when she got back and as we were heading out, we met three friends...next to me is Eunice - she handles our computers, then Isabella - one of our social workers, and my dear friend Josephine (large with child!) - she is the head social worker.
As I write this entry, Mom has left Kenya. I am even now praying for her safe journey and feeling sad and lonely!