Tuesday, May 26, A day with no agenda,

Today we started out washing clothes. There are clotheslines for all of our clothes at one time. Wow. Omo was the detergent of choice.

Breakfast was roasted peanuts (still warm), bread with jelly, honey, Blue Band (margarine), and peanuts (well, I had a peanut-margarine sandwich). There was also tea and chai.

After breakfast, I fixed a clock. The first problem was the battery had been replaced with a small lizard. It ran out of the battery compartment onto my arm, and then under a couch. The second problem was a bent minute hand and torn cardboard face. We got it all running with some duct tape and a fresh battery. You just cannot count on a lizard to keep pedaling at the right speed to keep accurate time.

We headed downtown to the Internet, checked email, and bought water. We headed home, taking the shortcut that Herb had recommended: go straight down this road til it dead-ends, turn right, and that will bring you out on the road in front of the orphanage. Hah! We went straight until we were almost in someone's yard, turned right, and went until the road ended at the edge of a deep valley and a line of trees. We turned around to retrace our steps. A man was standing a few houses back up the path by his house. He asked if we needed help. It turned out his name was Moses, and he offered to lead us the way we had been going to get home.

We walked through a gate into someone's back yard, followed a footpath to the bottom of the ravine, jumped across two or three streams, passed a group of women washing clothes, followed the stream a little ways, then started up a narrow and steep path that lead through a common graveyard, for those with no family. We passed a grazing cow, and finally reached the top of the hill, right behind the Mission to the Fatherless compound.

We bid goodbye to Moses, who had lead us through the wilderness to the promised land. He also had 8 children, however two have died. One of his daughters is studying to be a nurse, another is in college in Massachusets. I gave him my email, and he said he would contact me when we returned to the States. I like it when a wrong turn has positive consequences.

Home in time for lunch, well, at least for the leftovers. We had not-so-sweet-potatoes. The sweet potatoes here are not as sweet as the ones we are used to at home, but they are really tasty with a little honey. After lunch, Gail and Kayla went in town to browse through shops. Evey and I went back to the Internet to finish her blog. It was threatening to rain, but, fortunately for us, held off.

When we returned, there was a mountain of peanut plants on the kitchen floor. A crowd of people were standing all around, pulling peanuts off the plants, throwing them in baskets, and discarding the greens. Soon we will have fresh peanuts... maybe some peanut butter. We will also use the discarded plants to make mulch. The peanut plants were transported in the Mission to the Fatherless van. Now it needs a good interior cleaning.

I telephoned the chairman of the Computer Science Department, Juma Kilwake, at Masinde Muliro University, and we set up a meeting for Wednesday (tomorrow) afternoon at three. Charles had met Mr Kilwake earlier today when he inquired of Mr. Rotich (their offices are adjacent) when the chico construction might begin (he was told, perhaps on Monday).

The rest of the day was just spent relaxing and talking. Herb bought ice cream for all of the children which they enjoyed after a short praise and prayer time. Then Sarah and Lisa and I helped some children with homework; David and Kayla played with those that were done already.

P.S. The wheelchair arrived today! Now we have to get it to Naomy Ruth.