Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Sunday morning walk to see the girls

Sunday, August 13

Rose and I decided to walk to the girls' home for a visit, about a two hour walk. As we were getting ready to go, Mama Alice was sweeping the leaves from the lawn - they will go into the compost.


A labor intensive job with a short broom made of what look like reeds. Neither short nor broom are ideal for raking.



The intrepid walkers start off.


There is one "tarmac" road running through the area to Uganda, and nearly every other road is dirt.


Rose ran into Baba Florence (Florence's father, a neighbor) and he escorted us the first part of the way, catching up on news. That is, they caught up on news. Even if they'd been speaking in Kiswahili rather than Kiluhya it would have been lost on me.



Such pretty countryside.


There are several mosques in the area, though it's heavily Christian. I haven't heard of any Christian-Muslim strife here.



So, we've hit the tarmac road - about a 10 - 15 minute walk from Rose's.




A typical roadside shop. Closed on Sunday.


Beautiful baskets and floor coverings. Imagine trying to make a living selling to people who happen to stop. They may have other markets, but if the house behind is any indication, they aren't very successful.


And on we walk. The sides of the road, and often also several yards further in, are worn with foot traffic.



The intersection at Kambi ya Mwanza. The girls' home used to be about 100 yards to the right at the t-junction, down a dirt road. Their new home is nicer in every way.


Rose stops for a soda at a small shop.


Just hanging around on a Sunday.



I'll post a better description when I get these really figured out, evidently we have one at Rose's home. These are little fruit and tomate paste cans repurposed with a small chimney welded on, and an insert like a little funnel. I think they are paraffin lamps.









A general store.


Another general store. Lots of shops seem to sell some pots and pans, some rain boots, some fabric, some rope . . .



This seemed to be a big brother taking his sisters to church.



A petrol station. We're at about the hour mark here. I'm eating peanuts and drinking water, thinking longingly of the coffee I didn't finish.


Rural homes.


A pretty scene.


I HATE the sugar cane - everything about it. The West Kenya sugar factory is only a few miles from here, and lots of farmers grow sugar cane. The factory sends its trucks to the farmers, destroying the local dirt roads, only some of which they repair. They have a monopoly, so the farmers always live in poverty. The trucks are wider than the allowable maximum with the cane loaded sideways, and they frequently maim or kill pedestrians who are walking on the path next to the road. And, it's the "man's" crop, which only comes in every 18 months, so the husband gets a lot of money at once, culturally the wife isn't entitled to any of it, most farmers still don't seem to bank, so it's a cycle that keeps everyone poor. And the owners aren't Kenyan, so most of the money leaves the country. They do donate 3 kilos of sugar to Rose's girls' home every Christmas. So that's all right, then.



Entrance to the Kakamega rainforest. I'm arranging to take the older girls on a little field trip there Friday, if all goes well.


No one seems to fence, even Rose and Nick, so the cows are tied in one place, then moved during the day, often herded by little boys.


I couldn't get a really representative photo to come out, but this is a huge rock at the top of a substantial hill, gushing water. It's the source of a rushing river below.


So pretty!


This is actually the third person Rose picked up on our walk who escorted us chatting with her. Nearly there.



The local farmers rarely have a vehicle to transport produce, supplies, etc., other than something like a simple handcart. I've also never noticed a woman with a cart, donkey cart, etc. - they always seem to be carrying on their heads or backs.


It's 50 Kenyan shillings to get into this shop, which has a satellite dish and advertises "football" matches. Rose wanted to go in and check it out, so they let us in for free. Not sure why, as it was two cramped bleachers of men, sitting in a dimly lit room, watching what looked suspiciously like it was about 30 seconds away from being porn. We fled. Well, I fled. Rose is always dignified. She spent much of the rest of the walk railing against the inroads that porn and comercial sex workers are making in the area. Then a small child called out "Mzungu (basically, white person) I love you" - and Rose and I agreed that neither of us had ever heard a Kenyan child calling I love you. She blames the porn.


In this little complex, just to the right of the Corner Shop (exactly as billed - bread, soda, soap, shampoo, bread, matches. . .) is the new Vumilia office.


Getting closer. These charmers are on their way home from church. The little one on the left just tickled me.


Neighbors to the children's home. Getting closer.



Construction on the admin building, which will serve temporarily as the girls' home when they move out of the dorm. They'll have individual bedrooms for 2 - 4 girls. THEN they'll move to small group homes clustered on the property with 8 - 10 girls and a house mom each.





On Sundays, two young men from Kambi come and give religious instruction to the girls. The guys seemed nice and the girls enjoyed it. My atheism frowns, but it's a very Christian culture and church-going is a social mainstay in addition to the religious aspects.












The drying rack.


Who knows that kind of bird this is? They are everywhere.







The girls help with all the chores, with only two caretakers. Here they're serving up the ugali (like grits or polenta - boiled corn meal) and sukuma wiki - like collard greens or kale.




The hand-washing station - Rose is a stickler.


Lunch outside - everybody smiling.


Everybody putting food in our mouths.



Not long after, I headed into Kakamega to run errands for Rose while she had a meeting with a prospective project manager.

But here's another song from the other day:

YouTube Video

I didn't start filming early enough, so I'll try to have them do it again. But this was so spontaneous. Yes, that honking laugh at the end is mine.

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