Out of the City Part IV: Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria is the 2nd largest fresh water lake in the world (Lake Superior is 1st).  It's the largest lake in Africa and lies in three countries: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.  Who would have thought we'd ever see it?  Not me, that's for sure.  But first . . . we have to finish up the pictures from our lo-o-ong drive on Friday, August 26.

A field of sugar cane.  When I was young, I lived on a sugar beet farm north of Taber, Alberta, Canada.  My siblings and I hoed sugar beets in the summer to earn a little cash.  That was in the days when sugar beets were hoed by hand (well, not by hand, but by hand with a hoe!  Here in Kenya, when you say by hand, you mean by actual hand).  The sugar beets were turned into sugar at the local Taber Sugar Factory.  Here in Kenya, sugar is produced from sugar cane which is actually planted by hand.  Each little sugar cane plug is plugged into the ground by hand.

Another view of the gorgeous countryside.

We saw a few thatched roof huts.  Back home, people teased me that I would have to live in a hut in Africa.  I think I prefer the flat in Nairobi that I live in to a hut out here even though there are no walls or gates or barbed wire here.

We saw many loads of dried sugar cane being transported to a local weigh-station.

Some loads of sugar cane were pulled by trucks and some by tractors.

This is a peek into the weigh-station where the sugar cane is weighed and then transferred to wherever they make sugar.

It's about 6:45 p.m. here at Lake Victoria.  Seems to be lighter than it is at that time in Nairobi.  Exciting to be on the shore of Lake Victoria.  We learned a little bit (but not much) about Africa in our elementary school days.  I remember learning about Tanganyika which later became Tanzania.  Lake Victoria was named after Britain's Queen Victoria (who was also Canada's queen).  Kenya was once a British colony so there are many things British here.

We're here with our traveling companions, Peter and Pauline and their one-year old.  She was a really good little thing considering the fairly long drive we just took.  She basically sat on her mother's lap the whole time.  There's not a car seat law here in Kenya.  

Out of the City Part III: Religious Revivals and Waving Wheatfields

As we neared Nakuru, we saw a definite increase in people.  A "prophet" was coming to town.  People with suitcases on their heads were getting off buses and matatus.  They were dressed in their finest.  Tents had sprung up.  Thousands of people were congregated in a big open space.  The road was being washed for the prophet to drive upon.  Ribbons and bunting were put up on overpasses.  We could see that the people had great desires to be spiritually enlightened.  Would a "prophet" be this popular in the West?

I am so grateful that I know that we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are led by a true prophet of God.  The Spirit has spoken quietly to my heart that President Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet and that if we listen to him, we will be doing God's will.  And the great thing about it is that you don't have to take my word for it or even President Monson's word for it.  You can ask God yourself and if you are sincere, He will reveal the truth of it to you.  I know this is true.

Posters everywhere for the prophet.  Sometimes he calls himself "the Lord." 

People getting ready for the prophet to pass by on his way to Nakuru where the two-day revival will take place.

Interesting big poster for the prophet and his healing crusade.  Notice the address of the event:  "next to Eveready."  That's how addresses are around here.  You just say what you're next to or what road you are on.  No exact addresses.  Even hotels say "next to . . . "

Blue and white bunting being installed on this overpass.  Excitement is in the air.

People come from afar dressed in their best.

I tried to get a picture of all the people on the grounds of the event but through the truck window it was hard to do.

Another try to photograph the thousands.  Just google for "revival Nakuru 2016" for pictures.

We're passed the Revival and are on to the farmland.  Beautiful sky too.

Interesting how cattle and sheep and donkeys meander beside the road and never shy at the cars zipping by.

Sheep. Goats. Cattle

Wheat field waving in the breeze and a gorgeous sky.

Another wheat field.  We even saw two pivots that were owned by a very well-to-do landowner.  Pictures of that later.  By the way, the pivots were Valley pivots.

Gorgeous landscape.  More pictures to come.

Out of the City Part II: Zebras in the Wild!

Exciting to see zebras in the wild.  I was surprised that from a distance they look like gray horses.  They blend in with the foliage and you don't even notice the stripes.  The zebras have free range in this part of Kenya.

My first wild zebra!!!  I was so excited!

Aren't they cute?

Notice the brown tinge.  I always thought they were black and white.  But no . . . they are brown and black and white.

A herd of zebras in the wild.  These pictures were taken just west of Naivasha.  Isn't the countryside beautiful?  Except for the trash.  I guess every country has its trash.  But really . . . Kenya is so beautiful.  Why would anyone want to throw garbage on the ground?  (Even a waitress in a restaurant, who took the plastic off the water bottle cap, just threw it on the ground).  So glad my parents taught me respect for the environment.  And I hope I have taught my kids the same.

Brown and black and white all over.

So interesting that cacti grow here where it's so cold.  (This morning, Sep 1, 2016, it was so cold I thought it was going to snow!)  But the further west we go, the hotter it is getting.  Nairobi is higher in elevation and is much colder.  More in the next post.

OUT of the CITY finally!! Part I

Last weekend we finally got out of the CITY!!  Even though Nairobi is beautiful, it's still a city, and this country girl likes the open spaces and the big skies.  It was good for my soul to be away from the walls and the gates and the barbed wire.  But we didn't get away from the traffic!  Still lots of traffic everywhere we went!  And we came upon two very bad accidents, thankfully after they had already happened.  So sad for those who died and those who were terribly injured.  We continually pray for safety on the roads.

We were heading west to visit two church branches -- Kisumu (which is on Lake Victoria) and Busia (which is 2 hrs drive from Kisumu and is on the border of Kenya and Uganda).  Because all the branches are under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of our Mission, LeRon, as mission financial secretary, needed to audit the books.

In this post, I'll put pictures of our 8-hour drive last Friday to Kisumu (which is only 210 miles from Nairobi.)  We took Peter and his wife Pauline and their 1-year old with us to help with the drive and to find the chapels.  We set our GPS so that another time we can find it by ourselves.  And it's good that Peter was with us because we never would have found the chapels.

At last . . . no walls or gates or guards!

Nice to see the small farms with crops flourishing.

Our first view of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya.  The Valley actually starts in Lebanon and goes through Israel and Jordan and down to the Red Sea, then into Congo and Uganda, Kenya and Malawi.  It's 6000 km long.  We've seen the Rift Valley in Israel -- the Hula Valley is absolutely gorgeous.  Then the Rift goes down to the Dead Sea (we've floated there!) and into Wadi Arabah in Jordan.  (Heather wants to camp in Wadi Rum someday).  Kisumu, where we are going, is on Lake Victoria, which is also part of the Great Rift Valley.

Market day is every day.

I love to farm at home.  Not sure I would love it here.  These man are planting by hand, i.e., they drop the seeds into the soil one by one by hand!

Most people have gardens.  It doesn't look like too many people are starving.

We drove an hour out of our way so we could find the Naivasha chapel.  LeRon has to do an audit there in a couple of weeks.  It's only a couple hours away from Nairobi.  But we needed Peter to show us where it is.  Addresses are mostly non-existent here.  Wards and branches are being asked to pinpoint members on a google map since there are no addresses.  Here's the sign to the church. 

You can't really see the steepness of this road to the chapel but it is VERY steep and rough.  Most members don't have cars so they just walk up this road (after a long matatu or tuk-tuk ride to get there).

The Church rents this entire building for the Naivasha Branch.

I took this picture to remind myself that Naivasha is known for its many fields of flowers and greenhouses full of flowers.  They ship flowers to Europe.

Lots of colorful vegetable stands along the road.  They display them in such a lovely way.  Maybe we need to color up our Taber corn stands at home!  I was a little worried though with all the potatoes sitting outside in the sun all day.  Potatoes get that green toxin stuff when they are exposed to sunlight.  Not good.

These trees say "Africa" to me.  Flat topped trees and dark green tall cacti.

Shall we stay in this 5 Star Hotel?

Donkeys, donkeys everywhere.  They are not wild; they are all owned by someone.  They are definitely beasts of burden here.  More pictures in the next post!  (I'm trying to keep each post short).

Helping to Train Kenyan Church Leaders

President Msane, our mission president, asked Elder Torrie and me to help train the leaders of the districts and branches.  Many of them are fairly new in the church and they are always happy to learn how things should be done.  They are humble, good men.  In our Church, men are leaders of wards and branches, districts and stakes, and women lead in Relief Society, Primary, and Young Women.  Men and women have different responsibilities in the church and they are all needed.  This training session was for the men this time.  I trained them on how to fill out new convert baptism records and Elder Torrie taught them about using the Lord's sacred funds from members' tithing and fast offerings in their branches and wards and how important accountability is.  Church leaders throughout the world do not receive pay for their church work; they all have day jobs to support their families.

Here I am ready to face "The Men."  I'm wearing my new Kazuri beads that I like so much.  I talked about the Kazuri Bead Factory in an earlier post.  It was started 40 years ago to give single mothers a chance to earn a living.  All the beads are handmade and hand painted.

The training took place at the Mission Home.

I didn't get pictures of everyone but here are some of the great men who serve in the branches and districts.  All church leaders, both men and women, serve without pay.

Aha!  I caught President Msane in one of his many happy moments.  He looks like a Zulu warrior, don't you think?  That's because he is.

My Grandson Matthew Turned 8!

Happy Birthday dear Matthew!  8-years old!  Wow!  You will get to be baptized by your Dad!!  Wish we could be there!

We love you Matthew!!

Grandpa Loves You!!!

Grandma Loves You Too!!

A Happy Sabbath, a Lovely Baptism, and more Baboons

Last Sunday we participated in a baptism in our Langata Branch.  Gloria, a sweet little 8-year old in our Primary was baptized.  Children of members are baptized at the age of 8, which is the age of accountability.  Baptism is by immersion as it was in the days of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.  Remember what it says in Matthew, that Jesus came up out of the water?   Even the word "baptism" comes from a Greek word meaning "to immerse."  Because the Langata Branch meets in a regular meetinghouse, it has its own baptismal font (unlike in most branches where they use a big metal trough outside).

On the way home we again saw baboons.  There were about 6 baboons playing on the sidewalk and people were walking unconcernedly among them.  Oh for a picture!  Why didn't we stop?  There was no traffic behind us.  But it's normally a very busy road so we didn't even think of stopping.  Then we turned around and went back and the baboons were gone.  There were more later, but not on the sidewalk among the people.  Pictures below.

A happy family after Gloria's baptism.  L-R: Brother (can't remember his name), sister Hope, Gloria, mother Mercy.

The baptismal font is behind those doors.  Gloria is in front, her sister Hope behind her and her mother and brother and a relative and on the right is Andrew Kiserema, a counselor in the branch presidency.  Gloria's mother, Mercy Makau, is a Captain in the Kenya School of Flying and is a passionate Air Scout Leader (in Kenya Boy Scouts).  They have land, air, and sea Scouts here in Kenya.  Google for "Mercy Scouts Kenya" and you will learn more about Scouting in Kenya.  Gloria is also an Air Scout.

Elder Torrie played the keyboard for the baptismal program.  Here we are with Gloria after her baptism.  I was so surprised to see the beads she was wearing.  She looked just like an American Indian to me.  I asked her mom about it and she said that they belong to the Masai Tribe and this is traditional Masai bead work.

Gloria is enthusiastic about everything.  She's learning to lead the singing.

Now for the baboon pictures.  This baboon is much bigger than the ones that were playing on the sidewalk amongst the people.  But it was still very close to the road.

Don't you think it looks majestic?  I think this must be the Dad.

Now here is the Mom.  If you look closely you can see that her baby is hanging under her.  The pink spots on her bottom are supposedly to make it more comfortable for her to sit (or so the scientific people say: I don't think anyone has asked her!)  I would think it would be more comfortable to sit on a nice furry cushion.

As soon as the Mom saw us, she started running into the trees so this picture is a bit blurry.  But you can see her baby clinging to her.