Friday, May 29: Shikoti

Today we got up early so Evey, Gail, and I could go to the Internet before it slowed down. It did not turn out that way. We did get there early... in fact, the staff was having devotions and the cafe was not yet open. They let us in, and finished their prayers, and then helped us get our laptops configured for their network. That did not go well, as they entered the wrong IP address at one place, so nothing worked. After resolving the issue, the Internet was still very s-l-o-w. We were trying to get the important tasks done before returning to MTTF to leave for the bush. About 9, the Internet started working really well, but we had to go.

While we were using the Internet, there was a commotion outside. Lots of horns honking and people yelling. It turned out that a motorcycle thief had been caught in the intersection by the cafe. He was being beaten with big boards. They were about to set him on fire when the police arrived, shot into the air, and pulled the victim from the crowd, saving his life. When we left the cafe, everything was back to normal.

We called Charles and asked him to pick us up on the way to Shikoti as we had overstayed our planned time. Sarah, Lisa, Kayla and the others at MTTF had left earlier to walk the 4 miles into the bush. The plan was for the rest of us to ride 8 miles by road in the van so everyone could ride back. The roads were fair at first, but as we headed into the bush, they became very treacherous.

Shikoti is a small village on an island, surrounded by rivers. When it rains, it cannot be reached. When there is little rain, you can drive across the riverbeds. However, the dirt roads have very deep ruts where the rain has washed away the ground. We could not drive any faster than we could walk. Charles had to choose his path very carefully or we would be stranded straddling a very deep rut or smashing the bottom of the van on a large rock. There were a few steep up and down hill sections as well. The last part of the trip was on a path just wide enough for a motorbike. I do not know how the van fit.

Papa Herb's Providence Academy and Church was started some years ago so the children in Shikoti would not have to miss school when the rivers were high, and so the little ones would not have so far to travel. There are about 40 students and 2 teachers. They sang a few songs and recited their alphabet rhyme for us. There is also a church there, and the pastor Benedict played his famous guitar for us, and his wife and the teachers sang too. The guitar is famous because he added an electric pickup to it that he connects to an amplifier powered by his car battery. But then the car has no battery. David played a few tunes on the Dulcimer, and then we visited a bit and headed back home. We got stuck a few times, but Charles always managed to rock the van just right to get us going again.

Next we stopped at the Agricultural Fair in Kakamega. Here we saw a variety of farming technologies, sample crops, and camels. Yes, there were two camels you could ride for a fee. Or you could ride a little electric car (pushed by the attendant). We saw some solar cookers that looked like they would be good at MTTF. Herb said he might look into one in the future. We saw quite a few of the children from MTTF at the fair. They were attending with their school.

We stopped for lunch before going on to Home of Providence, another orphanage in Kakamega. Home of Providence cares for abandoned babies and other orphans. There were two babies under the age of 2 weeks when we visited, as well as many very young children. Everyone got to hold and feed babies while we were there. They need a lot of love. The home has a schedule where the older children come and take time to hold the babies.

By the time we got back to MTTF, we were all pretty tired. After supper we had a worship service. Some singing, testimonies, and preaching by Isaac; Vincent translated into Swahili. They announced that there would be special presentations, a sort of competition, among the guests and MTTF children on Saturday.