To Market, To Market

The JOIs of international travel. Up and wide a wake until 4am. Of course the neighborhood music, and barking dogs during the night didn’t help. Or the visiting cats that came in through the window who were being chased by the barking dogs. Of course, finally fell asleep until the goats and roosters helped me welcome the sunrise a few hours later. Thank goodness for the fresh coffee and chai tea waiting for me.

Today is a shopping day. We need to get provisions for our meals and we always get a list of the needs for the home. We started out going down to the local market to buy some fresh vegetables. This year we had some of the children come with us for an outing. Instead of just being the two of us we have 3 extra adults which mean 3 extra hands to hold. The Burkura market is only down the road and a short walking distance.

The market is on Tuesday and Saturday and you can purchase anything from clothes to vegetables to cloths and cookwear. To give you an idea of the pricing, we bought a dozen each of carrots, onions, and tomatoes, 2 cabbage heads and fresh ginger for under $5.00

Yes, here come the baby pics……you knew they were.

We returned home and had a chance to spend time with the younger kids and babies until our Matatu came to take us into Kakamega for a MEGA shopping adventure. And thank you to Rachel Dewey once again who sent over toys for the little ones and they loved them.

Kakamega is the nearest town and only about 1/2 hour ride. We hired a 14 seat Matatu to take the 5 of us and 5 kids into town. In addition to the needs of the home and ourselves we came away with treats for the kids and what would be a trip to town without a stop at the hardware shop.

5 filled carts later — we all fit into the Matatu to head home for dinner, prayers and of course a movie with the kids.

We made it back without a hitch – well, almost.

It was a long trip and so far successful. It feels so good to be back at Rehema with the kids and the Aunties. Feels like we were just here except the kids are INCHES taller and the puppies bigger.

We left Rochester a little late and got to our JFK flight for last call. After an hour on the run way we set off for our 14 hour flight to Nairobi. Yes, 14 hours, but it is the only direct flight from New York. We were met by George and Wesley from Rehema and a very large van. Thanks to the very generous friends and family we had 6 50lb bags filled with clothes, toys, shoes and necessities for the kids and Aunties.

We went to the Rehema guest house to unload and immediately got back in to two cars to head into Nairobi to purchase a sewing machine. As you can see Mary Stevens – Mr. Tom’s wife came this year. She is great seamstress and will be helping to mend clothes, and many other items as needed to continue to make this homey. She is also in the nursing field and will be helping to see how to improve medical help for the kids.

Rehema Home, Nairobi

We were able to stop at the Rehema Home in Nairobi to take a tour and drop off some donations. We were able to see where George and Wesley grew up and the home for 60 children.

Georges Office

I was able to see George’s office and take a pic so he can see what I see when we zoom. A quick stop to the cellular store, supermarket for snacks and back to the guest house to repack for the next days journey to Bukura.

The Journey to Bukura

The journey to Kisumu Airport is not horrible if you are 1 or 2 people going for a short visit. There were 5 of us, plus backpacks, carry on luggage and don’t forget those 6 50lbs bags. Jack the ever faithful Rehema driver and a friend came in two vans to collect us for the 1 1/2 hour journey to Bukura. The hitch? Well if you remember last year the van broke down on our way. This year the van did great. It was the other van that ran out of gas – the van with the luggage. We had a little 1/2 hour delay to get up and running again and on our way to Rehema.

We got to Rehema and greeted with hugs and kisses, got settled in and started to make plans for our mission.