Things You See Here

Dear faithful reader, it’s time for another episode of “Well, That’s Africa”.  This is one of my favorite games to play because you see the most outrageous things as you travel through the towns here in Kenya.  Some were so weird or foreign that we exclaimed, “Well, that’s Africa!” It’s since become a common saying.

I’ll start off with my favorite occurrence.  I saw this in the town of Sotik, which is the halfway point to Nairobi.  We had stopped for a bathroom break at the gas station and were standing by our car when two men came driving in.  They had an old Datsun pickup (the little ones) and in the back they were carrying two full grown cows.  I kid you not.  It looked like they were driving one of those low riders, because the front end was lifted off the ground.  I didn’t even know how they drove, as it looked like only the back wheels were touching the ground.  They had come to the gas station because they had a flat tire (big surprise).  The front end was lifted up so high (because of the weight of the cows in the bed) that the attendant didn’t even have to jack it up and could easily fix the flat there.  It was the funniest thing I had ever seen and I wish I had taken a picture of it.  You had to see it to believe it.

In the town of Migori a couple of weeks ago, I had a twofer.  We were buying some lumber for projects around the farm.  The lumber yard just happened to be next to a welding shop.  So while I was waiting for the lumber to be loaded, I looked over to the welding shop and I saw a worker out front welding, without any goggles.  Now I’m not a welding expert, but I’m pretty sure you are supposed to wear safety gear to protect your eyes and such.  I prayed then for God to protect this young man’s eyes.

It was at this time that a matatu (taxi) stopped in front of the shop.  No joke, I think this matatu broke the record for how many people you can stuff in a small car.  Not only did this driver have the requisite three people next to him and four people in the back seat (with all their luggage), but then this guy also had five people in the boot (the back of the station wagon).  One of the people in the boot got out and a man carrying a huge suitcase ran up to the driver.  He tried to convince the man to let him (and his suitcase) get in the boot.  The driver motioned that there was no room, as the roof rack was packed to capacity also.  They spent a few minutes arguing.  I saw those poor people stuffed in the boot and they looked so miserable.  I think they were afraid the driver would let this new man into the vehicle.  Eventually the driver took off, leaving the man and his suitcase standing on the side of the road.

One of the more serious things happened one day when we were coming home from Migori.  As we were nearing our village, we saw a mama carrying her child on her back.  The child was about nine years old and was suffering from malaria.  She was on her way to our local clinic and was still more than two miles from her destination.  We had no idea how far she had already carried her boy when we spotted her.  We stopped our car and invited both of them in to drop them at the clinic.  The boy was so sick he just laid there not moving.  I was so blown away by this mama.  She was willing to walk however far the distance, carrying her sick child on her back so he could get help.  That is love.

I am so blessed that the wonderful people who support us have allowed us to buy malaria medicine to help these people.  We have become a sort of pharmacy here in Matoso, giving it out to those in need (along with prayers, of course).  Malaria medicine costs a day’s wage for the average person.  Because of the cost, many people don’t get the medicine they need when they or their family member gets malaria.  They simply can’t afford it and they pray that they will be able to ride out the sickness.  Often time, this results in the person becoming so sick they get near death.  Now people know they can come to us if they need malaria medicine.  We now have the resources to help people like our Sunday School student, Victor, who last Sunday was so sick he started vomiting at church.  We were able to give his mother the medicine necessary to fight the disease.

There are so many things to see here in Kenya.  Some good, some bad.  Some funny and some tragic.  I am thankful that we are able, thanks to the grace of God, to help out the precious people around us.  And a big thanks to all of you who have helped us to make a difference here in this wonderful country.  We couldn’t do it without you!