Nov.7 Dark Territory

Dark Territory

Uganda turned out to be a whirlwind over four days and we were unable to correspond for a number of reasons, one being the need for a Ugandan SIM card, and another being blackouts so we couldn't charge up our equipment!

After crossing the border from Rwanda, we stopped at a service station for a rest stop.  Unfortunately, as we were disembarking from the bus, one of those wicked, sudden rain squalls came up in a rage...horizontal rain, winds that shredded the large, fabric highway sign, throwing it onto the power lines and causing some sparks.  You couldn't stand under the garage canopy for shelter because the rain came and drenched everything.  Passengers scattered and we headed for the little convenience store.  The rain beat so hard against the glass doors that the store began to flood and the proprietors were rushing for brooms and rags to stop the influx of water.  Branden had to use the facilities so urgently that he ran through the downpour about 50 yards and got into the latrines which had NO roof!  He came back absolutely drenched and shaking with cold.  Back on the bus we both changed into dry t-shirts, but Branden continued to shiver uncontrollably for quite some time.  We still had another 7 or 8 hours to go before reaching Kampala.  Branden was feeling very poorly and I began suspecting malaria since he was fluctuating from a fever to chills.

When we got to the Jaguar Bus Line depot in Kampala, we were mobbed by taxi drivers vying for our business.  Meanwhile, Branden, dizzy and unable to stand is lying flat on his back, eyes closed and moaning.  One driver insisted he was going to die if he didn't take us to a hospital immediately.  I got suspicious when a lady nearby continued to loudly harass the drivers.  I asked what the problem was and she said they were thieves who had taken her money and refused to return it or give her change.  I didn't know where to go, since Prima was supposed to meet us.  One taxi driver loaned me his cell phone so I could call her since my phone wasn't working.  Prima had just called the bus service five minutes previously and was told the bus wouldn't be in until 7:00. Well, we had arrived just before 5:00.  It would take her almost an hour to get to us given it was rush hour.  Now Branden is vomiting out both ends and needs to find a washroom to clean up.  A couple of taxi drivers help him walk to a nearby restaurant with a washroom, come back for some clean clothes that I dig out of his suitcase.  We again go through the ritual of insisting that he take us to a hospital, but I insist we have a friend coming to "pick us".   Eventually, Prima shows up and the two drivers insist on being paid.  She demands, "For what?". And they reply, for offering to take us to a hospital!  But you didn't!  I took out the money I had changed at the border and she took a 5000 shilling note and gave it to them whereupon they began to fight over the note and how it should be divided.   (Equal to about $2.00).

Prima took us to the International Medical Center located at Watoto Church, formerly Kampala Pentecostal Church.  The doctor took him in immediately, ran a complete blood work up and had the results in less than 30 minutes.  No malaria.  It was food poisoning.  An IV drip with two litres of saline  and glucose, an injection to stop the vomiting and a regimen of antibiotics.  If he improved within two hours, he might not hospitalize him.  In two hours, the fever and headache were gone and Branden, now feeling good somewhat better, was able to stand and walk quite well.  Prima drove us to the Watoto Guest House in Kansanga.  We got there about 10:30 at night.  It was a long day, over 18 hours since we had woken up to catch our taxi to the bus station in Kigali.

Tuesday (Day 2)

Early to rise, with breakfast at 7 a.m. We are picked up at 7:30 and arrive at 8:30 for team devotions.  There are 600 people present, some of them country representatives who have been here for director's meetings over the past week and a half, people from Canada, USA, Norway, Holland, UK, Australia and other countries.  An amazing worship band leads off for about 20 minutes and then we have some reports from team leaders in charge of self-sustainability projects.  There are amazing reports of the progress in establishing farms, chicken ranches, goat herds, vocational and trade schools that all contribute to the sustainability of the community.  In northern Uganda, two parcels of land, one 600 acres and another 1000 acres in size have been purchased for farms.  A good report included the construction of a dam 20 acres in size that would irrigate the 200 acre vegetable farm and store enough water to carry them through the dry season.

Bonny was assigned to us as the Watoto leader who would be our guide for the duration of our stay.  He and Benson were absolutely amazing, full of information and good ideas.  Benson was our van driver, and I must compliment him on his skills and patience, driving in the Kampala traffic.  Kampala was designed for a city of 65,000, but it now has a population of 3 million, with another million commuting in and out of the city each day for work!  The traffic jambs are horrible, causing commuters to spend up to 5 hours a day in their commute.

In the morning, we went out to the 207 acre farm that is almost in full production with crops like corn, maize, watermelon, eggplant, tomatoes, carrots,  cabbages, sweet potatoes and rice.  We were told that last  year they harvested 35,000 tonnes of rice from 70 acres.  A lot of the crops are planted in sequence so that the crops mature over a period of time rather than just the one harvest.  A lot of the crops are used to feed the 2400 orphans in the Watoto Villages.  This was the farm where they have constructed the 20 acre dam and have irrigation pipes throughout the fields so dry season will not have the dire impact it usually does.  With irrigation, it's possible to grow 3 full crops a year.  Uganda is on the equator, thus creating ideal conditions for growing.

We visited the chicken production plant where they currently have 8200 3 month old chickens that should start laying eggs in February 2014.  The entire operation is automated, from feeding to watering and egg delivery to the egg crating room.  Plans are for two more chicken barns which will result in approximately 2000 dozen eggs per day.  It will have a positive impact on the community providing local employment and supplying eggs and meat.

We then visited the goat pens where there are a couple hundred goats that provide about 500 litres of milk per day.  There were a whole lot of goats in the milking stalls ready for milking.  Each goat has an ID number and the quantity of milk from each goat is logged at each milking.  It was the funniest thing getting Branden to milk a goat.  He was squeamish and uncertain and freaked out just touching the udder and teats.  Eventually, he did manage to produce a couple of streams of milk!  It provided a lot of laughter for the hands present as they observed his antics and exclamations.

We went back to the church for the supper hour, and then back to the guest house for bedtime.

Wed (Day 3)

Pick up was a little later because of heavy traffic. We first went to "Bulrushes", the Watoto Baby House.  Interestingly, it is located on one of the seven hills of Kampala where all the important buildings, the seats of power and economy, are located;  the parliament buildings, the state house, the Supreme Court and justice buildings, and the 5 star hotels.  The Baby House formerly housed the officers quarters during the reign of Idi Amin Dada.  It had been confiscated from Asian owners under the Asian Properties Act.  After Amin was deposed, the property sat vacant for quite awhile.  Watoto saw an opportunity  for an orphanage for abandoned children, so close to the seat of power for the country, much as the baby Moses in Egypt survived under a death decree by being placed in a basket in the bulrushes and being rescued by the Pharaoh's daughter and raised under the shadow of the authority in the land.

This is the first orphanage I have ever seen that is equipped with incubators.  Newborns, including pre-mature infants, are rescued from hospitals, garbage heaps and latrines.  "Rescued, Raised, Restored" is the motto of Watoto Childcare Ministries.  The number of babies under care during our visit was 32, but there have been as many as 120 under care at one time.  The babies remain here until about the age of two and then are integrated into a family unit in one of the Watoto Village homes to be raised in a family unit with a "mom and dad and siblings".  Children with disabilities are kept longer because they need specialized care.  We found some that had cerebral palsy, scoliosis, blindness, asthma and other debilitating diseases.  But they were all being loved and cared for.  The staff is amazing!  There are nurses and trained professionals and pre-screened volunteers who give the babies the care they need.  We were surprised by the height of little sinks in the washrooms, just 16" off the floor, giving toddlers ready access to washing facilities so they learn good hygiene.  Our visit here was very moving as we were able to hug and hold these babies.

Richard had spent a year on oxygen.  Now at 3 years of age, he is very lively and has an attention span of 15 seconds before he's off running or climbing onto something.  We turned around to find he had overturned a desk on the lawn and climbed up onto the pedestal like a monkey.  He didn't seem to need any oxygen at all now and will likely graduate to a proper home environment.  I was able to hold him for less than a minute, the whole while his head turning in every direction for his next conquest.  It took 5 attempts for Branden to finally snap a picture with Richard looking towards the camera!  We met Jason in special care.  Jason has cerebral palsy and scoliosis and had contracted pneumonia.  He was on oxygen to help him breathe.  Couldn't help but stop and pray for him. There were six volunteers from Newfoundland who had come to help care for these children, some coming for six weeks, others for a little longer.

 We then headed out to Subbi Village which has 1240 of the 2400 children.  We had met Brian earlier at CLA in Kigali where he is the head cook.  He comes from Subbi and asked us to greet his family there, which we did.  Mama Maureen is a widow with 4 of her own girls (now grown up and in university) who is now a house mom to 4 girls.  Josephine and Bernadette (aged 19 and 20) and Jemima (11) hosted us for lunch.  Lunch included matoke (cooked green bananas), potatoes,  cooked peas and carrots, beans, sweet potatoes, beef stew, peanut sauce and cabbage.  It was delicious!  

We brought some gifts for the children, but they are pooled in storage for special occasions, like Christmas, and distributed fairly to all the children.  We interfered just a little, asking for a little grace for the girls who had prepared lunch for us.  They received a small note pad and pen, and were so delighted.  Whew, third suitcase down.

After lunch we toured the trades section where students are able to learn automotive, metal work, welding, amd carpentry.  A tradesman came from Canada and trained 4 young men over a three month period, who in turn trained others, now numbering about 50.  At the facility, they make the furniture, chairs, metal window frames and everything the homes need as they are built.  Very impressive!  Each new home is a duplicate of all the others that have been built.

Thurs. (Day 4)

We left at 7 a.m. and headed for Jinja at the headwaters of the Nile River where it flows out of Lake Victoria.  Three countries share this massive lake with lots of papyrus flourishing on its banks.  We took a chance that we might arrive in time to catch a rafting trip.  We arrived just before 10 a.m.  A group had arrived at the rafting company office at 8:30 and were still there waiting to leave, having donned life jackets and helmets.  Could we join them for a half day of whitewater rafting on the Nile River?  Had we booked in advance?  No.  But Moses talked to the big Australian, suggesting we could ride on the support raft and be picked up at a certain point by Bonny and Benson in the van.  So it was that Branden got to live out a dream and take on Class 4, 5 and 6 rapids on the Nile!  Well, the Class 6 we portaged half way down before putting in the rafts in a slightly calmer section of the rapids.  We got good and wet, often jumped out of the raft in the warm, calm waters and hung on for dear life in the raging waters.  Three hours later we were put ashore to join Bonny and Benson with the van.  We drove back to Kampala for a fantastic Thursday evening service on our last night in Africa. We stopped to get a couple of pizzas to go as we made our way to Entebbe and the International Airport.

Farewell Africa and all the new friends!  Wheels up at 1 a.m. on Friday morning.  We flew for 18 hours plus a 2 hour layover at Heathrow in London to land in Seattle at 11:00 a.m. on Friday morning.  How do you get to live the same day twice?  We caught a bus from Seatac at 3 pm for Surrey, BC.  Hello Canada and home!  And unforgettable 3 weeks...

Rwanda Wrap Up

The last couple of days have been ones of finishing up our time in Kigali, Rwanda.  Saturday was a homework day for Branden.  Remarkably, he has not only caught up, but completed all his assignments.  That gives both of us some relief as I don't have to keep on him about it.  We also took time to hand wash all of our dirty clothing and set them out to dry on the porch railings.  With all that work, we also had to have an afternoon nap.

Our bus tickets also arrived for our trip to Uganda.  What we were quoted was 10,000 francs each, but having Sarah get our tickets for us, we got them for 8,000 each.  That's about C$12.00 each!  Compare that to flights ranging from $950 on Kenya Air and $1800 on Ethiopian Air for two of us.  White a savings, I'd say.

We spent time visiting people on campus over lunch.  Especially Brian, who is from Kampala and had a lot of good information for us.  He is actually from one of the Watoto Villages.  He gave us his house number and wants us to visit his home.  That may even be possible!

Sunday morning we went to church here at CLA, but Branden had a bout of something that sent him running for the washrooms.  No need to elaborate, but we have been laying low all Sunday afternoon.  We met up with Fulgence who came to bid us farewell from his country.  We had supper together and a good visit.

We met another interesting young man of 28, named Felix.  He survived the genocide at 11 years of age and described to us the conditions at the time.  It was horrible and hard to imagine.  He has studied to be an accountant and will finish his fourth and final year in August.  Bit his passion is to serve God and bring reconciliation to his nation.  There are many here who have been marred by the genocide, having lost family, missing some who fled to Uganda or Tanzania.  Now some of the refugees are returning as things have returned to some normalcy in Rwanda.  But the damage done inside of people will take a long time to heal.  We have met so many of the casualties and they have their struggles coping in various ways.  I have a much better idea of what post traumatic stress syndrome is.

Well, our next communication will be from Uganda.  Looking forward to it.

Nov 1. Return to Kigali

Once again it was an early morning at Peter and Diane's, but this time Branden and I packed our backpacks so we could leave from the school and head for Kigali.  There were still some things to firm up regarding the next leg of our adventure, traveling to Uganda.

Once again we got to ride in the cool of the day in our short sleeved shirts while Peter and Diane donned clothing fit for fall or early winter. Branden and I didn't find it too cold.  Even the motorcycle drivers had coats and scarves over their faces.

At the school, Peter and I spent some time going over his plans for 'rent to own' sewing machines and how to calculate fair trade value for work the women would be doing, either mending and alterations, or sewing custom clothing.  As the women startup a small business enterprise, some may need a micro loan to get going. We fleshed out a plan that could be taught the women so they could determine a fair value for their services.

We struck out for the bus stop well before lunch.  The first bus was already packed and we would be forced to sit on the uncomfortable fold down aisle seats.  We turned the tickets back in and demanded a refund.  We paid top price for the tickets and we wanted a comfortable seat this time.  We would wait for the next bus.  And a good thing we did.  The next bus was almost empty.  We took the back seat as we would probably be the last ones off.  Finally we had leg room.  This was a little larger bus than the matatu minivans.

We got into Kigali in good time and I followed the route into the city on "Maps" on my phone which showed us where we were.  Instead of getting off at Nyamagogo which is quite a ways from our quarters, we jumped off in unfamiliar territory and asked two mototaxis to take us to CLA/Wellspring Academy.  One of them new where it was and we were off.  Only 5 minutes and we were there.  A lot sooner than the 15 it took us on the day we left.

Now we needed to organize for our Kampala trip.  I went to the office to pay for our guest house lodging and in passing asked the girl about the bus to Kampala.  Wouldn't you know it, turns out Sarah is from Kampala and has taken the same bus many times.  What we didn't know was you had to pre-purchase tickets for the bus.  It meant another trip to Nyamagogo.  But Sarah offered to pick up the tickets for us and bring them on Saturday.  At the Main office, I was trying to arrange for a taxi for 4:30 am Monday morning.  Both those girls were also from Uganda and found an English speaking taxi driver who would come that early in the morning and get us to the bus on time.  Then there was the matter of arriving in Kampala without Ugandan currency, no SIM card for the phone and no phone number for the guest house we will be staying at. I checked my email and Susan from Nairobi office bad contacted her sister in law in Kampala who had already agreed to pick us up.  Amazing!  Everything was set without hardly any effort on my part!  How does that work?  In Kin-rwandan, "Murkoze, Emana".  Thank you, God!

Well, not much else to do now than go for a late lunch/early supper and catch up on posting blogs and Facebook messages for the evening.

Oct.31. School in Ryabega Village

The house comes astir at 5:00 o'clock with the sound of roosters in the yard and the maid setting the table and the clanging of pots and pans and she begins preparations for breakfast cooked on a charcoal burner.  We sit down to a meal of pancakes with peanut butter, honey or jam toppings and coffee.  We are out the door at seven to two waiting moto taxis and wait for two more to arrive.  Because they are late they are called "masasa" or old men because they move so slow.  Actually the term is one of respect if you happen to be older, like me.

It's about a 15 minute ride to the village school where Peter and Diane teach.  The school is actually in someone's home where the living room and dining room have been rented and transformed into a sewing classroom complete with blackboard and treadle sewing machines made in China.  The dynamics are interesting as Peter and Diane teach through an interpreter and a national teacher teaches by writing notes and drawings on the blackboard.  It's a very thorough 6-month program at the end of which the students receive a certificate.  There are two sets of students a day, one class in the morning and one in the afternoon.  They range in age from 20 to 50.  Some of the students become very good at sewing and go on to successfully start a home business and to support their families.  They can use the sewing machines and make purses, handbags and clothing to sell.  The sales are split 3 ways between fabric costs, sewing machine repair and maintenance, and student income.  It doesn't take long before a student has raised enough money to buy their own machine.  Each class starts with prayer and a devotional for half an hour and then the classwork begins.  Peter is working with local pastors and church leaders to see the construction of a sewing center for a proper school and a cooperative that will produce items for sale and generate income to support the teaching staff.

While Branden was excited to try his hand at sewing on a treadle machine, Peter and I took a long walkabout through the village.  We visited the site of the new sewing center that is being built which should be finished by the new year and receive final inspection and approval by the government.  The sewing center will serve as a classroom for teaching sewing and also a cooperative where former students can sew articles for sale or garments by order.  It's great concept that will help women become self-employed and self-reliant.

On a construction note, they were digging the septic system which looks like a three-foot diameter well that is hand dug about 40 feet into the ground. One, and is down in the hole with a shortened pick and shovel, another is on top with a rope and bucket to pull up the dirt from below.  There are foot hold carved into the side of the banks of the Bole.  I peered down into the hole and could barely see some movement as the man was probably over 25 feet down to the bottom.  A good way to bring on a case of claustrophobia!  They don't  use cribbing or any of the safety protocols we have in Canada.  The sewer system empties into the capped off hole and fluids gradually seep into the ground.  Solids eventually just compost and there you have it, a septic system.

Our walk took us past a one room home where a man and his wife and three children lived.  They don't seem to need a lot to be content.  Here you can host dig up red dirt, add a little water and form mud bricks that are then dried in the sun.  When they assemble the bricks into walls they just moxie ip so fresh batch of mud and "glue" them together.  The government is now insisting that public buildings like churches use fired bricks.  All buildings need to be covered inside and out with a cement stucco coating.  It prevents deterioration and possible collapse during heavy rains and flooding.  We walked through planted fields of maize and corn and beans, staples here in Rwanda.

Our walkabout took us to the village center where new shops were in various stages of completion.  Only a couple actually sported signs.  We continued on to where a daughter church had been constructed and enough money had recently been raised to install the doors a day windows.  There is actually quite a building boom going on and Peter pointed out all the houses that had sprung up in just the past year.  As we passed mud home after mud home, the children who are out of school right now until January, would come running out to us and hug our legs or waist.  Their clothing is the same color as the ground because they sleep on the ground.

We got back to the classroom and ate the lunch Alphonsina had prepared for us.  During the afternoon class Branden and I distributed bouncy balls, skipping ropes and postcards out on the street.  Branden played soccer in the dirt lane with a dozen neighborhood kids and sure looked like it afterwards.  To go home, we walked to the highway and flagged down a Toyota pickup.  Peter and Diane got in the front and Branden and I climbed into the box.  It's amazing how many people wave and smile along the way.

We were dropped near the open market and went in search of inexpensive fabrics for Diane's sewing students.  I was able to barter some good deals as well and donated the fabric to the school.  We had a bit of an entourage following us through the market and a lot of laughing and yelling.  When we had more than we could almost carry, we summoned moto taxis and the four of us headed home.  Long days and you sure are ready for bed by 8:30.  So ends our first full day in Ryabega.

Oct 30. Nyagatare

In the morning, I did some laundry by hand, had a shower and repacked in preparation for a trip north to Nyagatare.  We took moto taxis to the Nyamagogo Bus station.  It only cost us 1000 francs each or $1.50 for a 15 minute ride.  Pretty reasonable, I'd say.  We asked at the front gate which bus would take us to Nyagatare and immediately a young man called us to follow him through the crowded bus lines to a matatu (15 passenger mini-bus) already crammed with people and often crammed with as many as 21 people and not all of them small as Branden found out.  They squeezed us on board and we waited...and waited.  We noticed the front seats were up and the engine cover was up on the front seats.  Looking out the window we saw a couple guys and the driver comparing some parts with some more on the ground.  I didn't recognize the parts very quickly, but they looked similar to starter solenoids.  We were sure we were catching the 2:00 o'clock bus, but were we sure we were going to Nyagatare?  The sign on the bus showing fares along the route didn't seem to include the name of our destination, but we were assured that we were on the right bus!

Finally, at 5 minutes past the hour, the engine roared to life and the engine cover and front seats assumed their normal position.  We had been told the bus trip would be around 2 to 2.5 hours long.  Well, this bus stopped frequently to let off 3 passengers and let 4 more on.  How is it even possible?  The traffic in the city of Kigali was really congested and sllw moving, but once we got out on the en highway there was only large lorries to contend with.  Underpowered with the weight of too many passengers, the bus driver still tried to pass everything on the road, including transportation trucks.  At one point we were halfway past a transport and the driver had to use the brakes (thank God those still worked) to slow down and slip in behind the transport before coming heading with a gravel truck.  There are always a number of close calls that make you wonder if you made the right decision about the trip.  One lady that got on the bus at a particular stop eating dedicated up sitting by Branden.  She was a bit taken with him and tried communicating with every Effort glish word she could muster.  Failing in that, she dug out some oranges and offered him one which he declined.  She would not be deterred.  She peeled the orange and was about to hand feed it to Branden.  He decided to take the now-peeled orange and feed himself.  Eventually, after more stops than we could count, we were told to transfer to another minibus that would take us to our destination.  The purser wanted 6000 francs and we were told not to pay another fare on the new bus.  I saw our driver pay the other driver from the funds we had given him. OK.  It's a good thing it wasn't much farther to Nyagatare because a rather large woman got on board and took the place of the 'orange girl'.  I was scrunched up in the back seat with my knees around my ears.  Branden was squished between me and the big one.  We're we ever glad when the bus pulled to a stop at our destination about 10 minutes later.

We got into Nyagatare about 5:30, only a half hour before dark.  We were immediately surrounded by moto drivers on their bikes wanting us to hire them to go where?  We didn't know where to go as we expected Peter would be there waiting for us.  One moto driver pushed up to Branden and asked him if he was a boy or a girl.  His hair is short enough that it was hard to tell for an African, and besides, he was wearing lime green shorts that were gender neutral, so the guy felt he could honestly ask the question.  Branden was pretty angry about that, but he remained calm and didn't give the guy a knuckle sandwich.  We moved over beside a soldier carrying an automatic weapon, exchanged pleasantries and called Peter on the two numbers he had given me.  The call would not go through on either number.  What now? I sent a request to his Facebook address, still no response.  Meanwhile, we are drawing a lot of attention from bystanders and it is getting darker.  I find a phone number for Diane and rang it.  Whew!  Diane answered and Peter is at home waiting for my call, which I had tried both on the bus and at the bus stop. He would be on his way shortly.  I think I asked at least three times if he was on his way yet and he hadn't even left the house!  Finally, Diane said he was out the door and on his way, really.  Eventually, he showed up on a moto taxi. That's what they usually use for transportation. We hired two more and rode to his place, arriving at 6:00 just as the curtain of night dropped down around us.

Alphonsina, the house maid, had a wonderful supper prepared for us and I caught up with about 17 years that had passed since I last saw Peter and Diane in Watson Lake, Yukon.  They are now over here in Rwanda affiliated with Youth with a Mission.  I called my Diane in Canada on Skype to let her know we had arrived safely.  I forgot to close the call as the phone was passed from person to person.  During that time I brought out the package my Diane had prepared and sent along for our friends.  It was Thanksgiving dinner!  Including a stuffed turkey!  Well, their was an excited scream as I brought out each item and placed it on the table.  A can of pumpkin pie filling, a can of cranberries, 2 packages of gravy mix, 2 packages of Idaho mashed potatoes, a package of cake mix, cupcake liners, scented candles in glass candleholder and a hotpad.  Then I dug deep to bring out the stuffed turkey.  Now I have taken a real frozen turkey all the way to Thailand, to be sure.  With baited breath, everyone waited as I slowly pulled out a ”webkins” stuffed toy turkey!  The beauty of it was that my Diane heard it all through the open phone line on Skype without us realizing it!

Soon after all the excitement, we prepared to call it a night as Peter and Diane's day starts early at 5:00 a.m. And we are going to be up and gone with them at 7:00 a.m. to the school.

Wellspring and Rain

Why can't I sleep past 5:00 a.m?  I think it is because that's when the birds are the noisiest. It's also when all the crickets and night bugs stop their chirping because the birds are waking up.  It he sounds of Africa are amazing!  You don't need an alarm here.  I even wake up now at the sound of a mosquito in the night.

Jeff gave us a one hour tour of the complex, explaining the vision of developing a Christian school of the highest educational standards.  Much of the teaching and learning style here is by rote and memorization, the "chalk and talk" scenario with little student input and participation.  They began 7 years ago with kindergarten and the lower grades.  They gradually added more grades until in January they will add Grade 10.  This year they received the highest recognition by being awarded a certificate for the top academic school in the District of Kigali.

To achieve the goals of reaching international standards of education, they have also begun an intense teacher training program featuring in service practical experience using more interactive teaching styles.  In fact, the program is receiving so much attention that they are training 2 head teachers from each of 800 schools.  Because they have trained Rwandans to teach Rwandans, the program is looked on very favorably by the Ministry of Education.

The school has grown to 500 students and eventually will have capacity for all the grades right up to Grade 12.

When the Komants first came to Rwanda, this piece of property was the least desirable plot in the city.  It was 17 acres of undeveloped overgrown brushland.  In 12 years it has been developed into a complex that includes the church auditorium with it's administration offices, several residences, classroom buildings, 2 science buildings, a library, covered meeting areas, playgrounds another administration buildings housing offices for the school and the Wellspring Foundation.  Almost the entire property is beautifully landscaped with one corner that is rented for outdoor weddings.  But by satellite, the drainage ditch looks like a natural stream bed, but is actually a concrete, stone lined run-off channel.  The foundation spearheads the teacher development program and the catering group that provides food to the students 5 days a week.

At another corner of the property with a separate access gate and guardhouse, a firstclass medical clinic is under construction. It will be open to the community at large.  It is a beautiful 2-storey building that houses offices, waiting rooms, toilets showers, examination rooms and doctor's offices.

Ingeniously, about seventeen 40-foot shipping containers have been configured in such a way as to provide 2-storey storage space with a roof spanning them to provide a dry metal working shop area for fabricating everything from metal bench brackets to railings and metal doors and posts.  It is also where they keep things like wheel barrows, welders, cement mixers, etc.

With what we saw today, you would want a dry place to work.  At noon, the heaven's opened and the rain beat down, rather across...horizontally!  Even with a 10 foot awning over the patio, rain canhit the windows!  We happened to be in a corner room above the church auditorium having lunch when the rain hit.  You could not see past the tree outside the window.  The rain literally thundered.  It was like trying to look out your car windows in a carwash.  The rain was so intense I thought the windows might crack.  Brandon thought it would be cool to go out and have look.  He got an umbrella from somewhere and went to open the door which knocked him backwards as soon as he unmatched it.  The force of the wind and rain was unexpected.  He tried to take a video with his ipod andhe sounded like a reporter giving a commentary on a tsunami!  Fifteen seconds and he was more than soaked...the umbrella not doing one bit of good.  Locally, they have been praying for rain.  The bean crops are planted and rain was sorely needed.  The price of beans has tripled because of poor bean production and it is a staple food here.

The rain kept us indoors for part of the day, but by 4:00 we were able to walk the 12 minutes to the MTN Center for supper and some breakfast groceries.  Then home again...In the dark.

Oct.28 Ride to the City

Catching a ride with Pastor Ed from Victory Family Home Of Champions into Kigali is one of the smarter things we did today.  Hauling two suitcases, three backpacks and a bag onto a matatu would have been a colossal nightmare!  And it most likely wouldn't go to our doorstep either.

Ed takes two of his children to the international school which is just like an American school and based on the American school system.  Since the family is returning to the US it makes sense.  The school is basically for the children of diplomats and International dignitaries that come to work in Rwanda on a long term basis.

It so happens that Ed drops the kids off at the school and then drives right by the front gates of Christian Life Assembly. It was kind of him to agree to take us, but it meant being at the road at 7:00 a.m. He stopped along the way to fuel up the Landcruiser.  Regular gas is 1000 francs per litre or about C$1.50.

Dropping the kids off at a school with armed guards at the gates really took Branden by surprise!  But with children of high profile people in the country, the protection needs to be extended to the most vulnerable.

Ed drove us onto the CLA grounds and took us almost to the door of our guest house accommodations.  We unloaded and went in search of a key and found Jeff in the Administration Offices of the Wellspring Foundation.  We walked leisurely through the grounds, gleaning information along the way.  What an amazing operation.  We scheduled an hour with Jeff to get a guided tour of the whole operation the next day.

Our quarters were more than adequate and very comfortable.  We took the rest of the morning to have hot showers and get cleaned up.  There is a catering group on campus that provides meals for the school.  We are able to eat a big cooked lunch for 2500 Rf each (less than $4).  Now we are really feeling spoiled!  After a lunch like that, it's time for a nap of course.  Then it's homework, journalist and blogging.  We can't get a wifi password until tomorrow, so to connect to the Internet we need to go to the Bourbon Cafe at the MTN Center.  It's only about a 12 minute walk.

When we reach the MTN Center, I am able to get unlimited Internet on my phone for a week for about $10.  And I top up my airtime for the phone.  Next surprise.  The ATM's here don't accept Mastercard.  OK, we'll go and eat supper.  The supper tab came to a little more than what I had, and Branden hadnt brought any money.  Down three floors I raced to get what I had left of Kenyan currency changed into francs.  Now we had enough.  We walked home in the dark down a cobblestone street, wondering why the street was vacant and coming up with scenarios that got more weird with each one.  I mean, is this street one that has a reputation for muggings or robberies?  There are no street lights...I wonder why.  Look!  There's someone coming out of the bush...and he's got a stick!  It's a piece of bamboo.  Grab it, Branden!  Why me?  Cause you said you could run real fast!  Just then the shadowy figure turned off the street onto a path that took him away from us.  So much excitement.

I tried accessing my bank account on the cell phone that night with my new unlimited connection, but my bank must have recognized a foreign source for the access request and blocked my password.  Not much we can do now but research a few options.  I texted a friend in Rwanda who is also from Canada.  He too had serious difficulties in transferring money on his first trip.  On a return trip to Canada, he got an international Visa Debit card and has no trouble at all now, unless a bank machine has run out of money.

I have time to make a Skype call to my Diane in Canada before she heads out the door to work,  and I turn in for the night.

Sunday in Humanga

There's a knock at the bedroom door in the morning and a request for any clothes I wanted ironed.  Wow.  So I hand Fulgence my white shirt I had set out for the day.  African tea for breakfast with some sweetbread and donuts while still in sleep pants.  Since we are going 30 km farther south to Humanga, we need to leave early to catch a matatu.  It's only a 10 minute walk to the roadside stop to catch the bus, but you never know how many full buses you have to let pass before there is one with room enough for three people.  I had 5 small bouncy balls in my pocket.  You never know when you need to start a riot.  We were at the bus stop for quite some time and getting to be the focus of attention.  I took out one ball and bounced it toward a boy of about 15.  Well, he had fun with that.  Then a couple more boys crossed the road, so I asked Fulgence to get their attention, and I tossed them another ball.  Well, a much bigger boy saw the ball bouncing and grabbed it from the boys and got on a bus.  Oh,well, our bus rolled up just then and we were off.

There are about 24 passengers on these buses and it seems the drivers have to jockey for position, constantly passing each other to get to the next client before another driver.  What makes me apprehensive is, how fast can you go around corners without rolling one of these buses over?  I just know the bad feeling when two wheels leave the ground when you're making a righthand curve, too far to the left, another bus coming from the other direction, also hugging the line and your driver has to correct even more to the right to avoid a collision!  UGHH!  Miraculously, we arrive safely at our destination.  Someone must be praying!

A short 15 minute walk and we arrive at the house where a large basement with daylight access doors has been cleared and set up for a meeting room.  The only musical instrument is a large cowhide drum on the floor and a smaller handheld drum.  There are about 8 children, 6 women and a couple of men.  It's still early, though.  Don't get discouraged.  People straggle in and the elder announces we are starting on time, 9:30.  The bass drum starts a beat and the children's choir stands and sings a couple of songs.  Then the 6 women sing a song.  Meanwhile, people are straggling in and finding a seat.  Eventually there are over sixty people in the room and there is a brief announcement and some words about being on time for church.  There are introductions and welcomes and Branden and I are asked to bring greetings.   There is more singing, more enthusiasm, and now dancing.  Then it is my turn to preach with Fulgence as my interpreter.  My, he was good and we had a great time together.  The people received the message with enthusiasm and we were able to pray for each one individually at the end.  Then more dancing!  And more singing as we closed the service.

Afterwards, Fulgence and I walked down to a piece of property that had been purchased where they planned on building a church.  When we got back, a lunch was prepared.  We ate and visited with the elder who had conducted the service.  A group from the church followed us to the bus stop and we made that harrowing journey again, hanging on for dear life!  We were dropped off right where the truck accident had taken place the night before.

We walked home in the brilliant, hot sun, got changed into something cooler, had a light lunch with some fruit.  We were going to go play soccer with the kids from the orphanage.  We brought a brand new soccer ball from Canada to leave with the kids after our game.  There were 30 who wanted to go but we could only cram 24 into the Landcruiser.  A half dozen started off on foot to the bus stop where a road went off and climbed about 3 km to the top of a hill.  We jostled the kids around, I had 2 on my lap, Branden had one, and we were crammed in like sardines.  At the bus stop, Ed stopped and the six got on the roof for the journey to the top of the hill.  We played soccer until 4:45 then headed back down the hill.  We could only go 10 km per hour as there were so many ruts.  At the highway again, the roof passengers dismounted and the orphanage kids went home in the vehicle. The rest of us walked home.

Supper with the family and then pack up.  I got re-packed before the power went out.  Branden by candlelight.  We had arranged to catch a ride with Ed when he made the school run with his kids at 7:00 a.m.  I was awake at 5:00.  The family was up with breakfast for us, the first time Branden ever had an open Denver sandwich.  All the way from Canada to try something new.  Hahaha.  We had quite an entourage from the house to the orphanage gates, everyone except Branden carrying our suitcases, backpacks and bags.  "I feel useless", he said.  No, you should feel honored!

Sheli

Saturday morning in Sheli, Rwanda.  What to do? After breakfast, we spent a couple of hours at the Victory Home of Champions.  We had some things we had packed for an orphanage in Rwanda but did not know of any before we got there.  How cool that not even two blocks away from the family we are staying with, there is an orphanage!  We had a good assortment of children's clothing, mostly t-shirts, and some toys and school supplies.  Well, school just happened to close for the summer vacation this weekend, except for the American kids who attend international school.  They follow the American schedule.  We thought Ed and Deb would be best suited to distribute the booth.  They will choose those most needing a piece of clothing.  And the gifts will be used for prizes or birthday gifts.  We took a couple skipping ropes and some bouncy balls and went to find the kids.  We played with them and talked with them, encouraging them to use English as much as possible.  Of course, we were able to pick up some of their language as well in all the jabbering.

After lunch, Fulgence was our guide back to town on a mutata (mini-bus) and we found an MTN wireless agency to set up my phone for Internet service.  The telephone instructions did not match my brand of phone and none of the techies in Sheli could figure it out.  The man I met was a wiz and in a minute he had my phone connecting.  With that settled, we took motorbikes and went to CLA (Christian Life Assembly) to check on accommodations again.  Without phone service, people were wondering if we had gotten lost since we had not shown up on Friday.  We connected and apprised them of our plans, that we would be in Sheli for the weekend.  Anyway, Sheli was the address we had used on our immigration landing cards.

After a brief visit with Jeff, who I had held as a baby in Zambia, we went to the Bourbon Cafe at the MTN Center, had a meal while watching a soccer match on the television.  It only costs fifty cents each to catch a motorbike.  Almost dark, but that's how we chose to go back to the central bus station to catch a matatu back to Sheli.  It's amazing how many vehicles are on the road that are ill-equipped to be on the road at night.  No tail lights, no brake lights, and sometimes no headlights.  So riding a motorbike at night could be risky. We arrived at the bus station and in the mess of 50 or 60 buses (or more) you have to find one going the right direction and to the right place.  Getting on a bus here is no small feat, especially when all three of us must be on the same bus.  No one lines up and waits politely to board.  Five people at once are trying to squeeze through the door.  Fulgence was is an expert.  He's on.  Branden is ahead of me.  A couple on his right are trying to elbow their way on and a fat lady hauling a big bag is trying to squeeze through the door on his left. I give him a push and he is at least on the step, but he's inside.  I am wearing my small backpack and I grab the edges of the bus door, spin sideways, get a foothold on the step and heave.  There is some yelling of an African word that seems to carry the meaning, "Make room, make room!". So I joined loudly in the chorus and everyone began laughing.  I was almost the last one on.  Good grief, what a production just to get on a bus.  You don't buy tickets beforehand.  You must pay the amount for the distance you travel when you get off.  And the bus is ALWAYS crowded!  It was well after dark when we arrived at our stop and walked to the house.  That evening we watched a movie about Nelson Mandela after the power came on.  Then it was bedtime.  It happened just at the bottom of the hill from us, between 9 and 10 that night.  A big gravel truck carrying a load of sand, lost its airbrakes, rolled at the turn several times, and crashed into a concrete roadside building.  Ed, from the Victory Home, has seen 5 bad crashes in the year he has been here.  He responded to the sound of the crash and transported 3 men to hospital.  The one with a long gash in his back, right down to the rib cage, had just gotten a lift at the top of the hill!  One of them had severe head injuries.  All were badly hurt.  We saw the wreck on Sunday morning.  Not good.

What value is a chicken?

Emmanuel has a dream...and a plan.  He wants a cellphone of his own, but his mother and father are not going to buy one for him.  So he saves his money until one day he can go to the market and bought a chicken.  Once he has made his selection and paid for it, he tucks the chicken into his jacket and boards the mini-bus (matatu) for home. When he gets home, he fusses over his chicken and at bedtime takes the chicken to bed with him.  Well, when his mother finds out, she puts a stop to that.  Now Emmanuel is waiting for the chicken to start laying.  He will sell the eggs at 100 Rwanda francs each until he can afford a cellphone.  His mother declares, "I am not buying you any airtime!". That's okay, my chicken will just lay more eggs and I will buy airtime!

A chicken can cost about 3000 francs, or about C$5.  That might not seem to be a big deal until you discover that a national medical card costs 3000 Rf a year, which one needs to get medical attention at a government hospital or clinic.  Each visit will cost an additional 100 francs or 15 cents.  I thought that might help put things in perspective.  We know of many people who do not have medical cards.  In one village church, I asked an elder how many do not have medical cards? 30.  That was about half.  How many who do not have a medical card now, need medical treatment but cannot get it?  5.  There it was.  A need that could be filled.  We paid for 5 annual medical cards.  Or 5 chickens!

Flight to Kigali

It was one of those early flights that Brandon hates.  Up at 4:30 to do final packing, clean up dishes and stack bedding and do a final cheque of the flat.  Erastus arrives 15 minutes early and that puts even more pressure on. We arrived, aiming at being at the airport by 6:00 a.m., at exactly 6 a.m!  Our flight with Kenya Airways was smooth and uneventful.  It actually arrived early in Kigali and we were through Customs and Immigration at the baggage claim at the original arrival time.  Fulgence was there to meet us with his big smile.  We hadn't received confirmation for our accommodations in Kigali so we agreed to go south to a village called Sheli.  It is about 45 minutes south.  The route crosses a river into South Province, Kyomini District.  The river banks are thick with papyrus reeds.  It flows south to Lake Victoria making it one of the headwaters of the Nile River.

First order of business is to exchange foreign currency.  The airport rate was apparently too low at 650/dollar.  The taxi driver took us to an exchange where we got 678/dollar.  The rate actually changes depending on the size of the bill.  The taxi then took us to a place where I could get a SIM card for my cellphone.  That cost a whole $1.50!  Then I added about $3.00 airtime so I could text and make calls.  Now we were off on our adventure.

Rwanda is very clean.  There is almost no litter anywhere on the streets.  We discovered that on the last Saturday of every month, they have "umuganda".  One representative from each family is expected to work together with others in their communities to keep their neighborhoods clean.  It's like a national workbench.  Not only that, plastics are. Other allowed into the country, like grocery bags.  You can actually be fined at ports of entry for bringing in plastic.  I actually saw a woman detained by security who was engaged in an argument about her plastic bag!

We finally arrived at the village where the cab driver refused to drive up the access road, oops, trail, no, washed out path.  He hardly got off the paved road and stopped.  We understand,oaded lure suitcases (3) and our two backpacks, and the three of us went up dirt paths, through yards, past brick and mud buildings, all the while being stared at by the local citizens as if we had just come from another planet.  The little ones showed obvious fear and wonder at the same time.  Fulgence assured us that his father knew we were coming and that everything was fine.  In fact, we were given a very warm welcome and our bags were whisked through the house, out to the back courtyard and in to a two-room building made of mud bricks and painted plaster.  And the door had a functional lock...and there were mosquito nets hanging over the beds! What more would we need?  The toilet facilities were of the non-flush type a day the shower room was typical baked mud walls with a polished cement floor.  No running water, of course, except for the yellow buckets that someone had run to the river to fill.  The kitchen was a wood fired earthenware stove made of mud bricks.  Good thing, because the power went out frequently while we were there.  I preferred to have my tea from the electric kettle.  We generally relied on buying water bottles for daily consumption.  There is a sanitizing liquid of which they add a small capful to every 5 gallon container of water to make it safer for drinking.

Fulgence has a brother, Ivan, two sisters, Yvette and Yvonne plus cousins or nephews, Emmanuel, Safari and Eric who also seem to live at the house.  I don't know where they put them all but we were added to the mix.  His mother and father obviously have a gift of hospitality because there were always new people coming through the door and sitting down to share tea, a meal, or just have a conversation.  Fulgence' father, Sylvester, is a lawyer and often has clients come to the house for consultation.  The power goes out sometime around 6:30 and comes on again after 8:00.  So dinners are often eaten by candlelight.  I've even seen Sylvester read and write his documents by the light of one candle!

Since we had arrived quite early in the day, we wwalked down the highway about 2 blocks to the Victory Family Home Of Champions.  We were introduced to Pastor Ed and his wife Deb and three of their children, Samantha, Caleb and Kiera.  They are from Colorado and have been here almost a year, and will be going home in January.  There used to be over 60 children in this orphanage, but the government has instituted a policy of integrating orphans into family units and closing down orphanages.  There are still 18 children here who have not been placed.  We were told that some children have not been placed in good situations for them, and 40% across the country have returned to the streets, either because of abuse or re-abandonment.

We were given a tour of the orphanage and it's facilities.  A large wood-fired kitchen, boys and girls dormitories, shower rooms, classrooms, and a beautiful chapel.  There was a cow and and calf, goats and a couple pigs.  The cow gave 15 litres of milk a day!  More milk than needed, so some is sold.  They used to have chickens, but there are nesting jawks nearby that knew wherebtheir dinner was, and if the chickens were free-ranged, they were often stolen.  On December.6, all the former students will be coming back for a reunion.  They will stay overnight and have a celebration.  Each one that leaves will have the opportunity to take a live chicken home with them.  We have entrusted Fulgence with the responsibility of finding 40 chickens for this event and left him with enough finds to do that.

Ed and Deb invited us to snack with them and stay for a movie with the kids.  By movie time, the power was out and thought it best to leave and visit with our hosts where another meal was being prepared.  We were offered shower and toilet facilities at the orphanage if we wanted them, but we felt we could manage where we were.

Cellphones are often used for flashlights here, so we managed to make our way home in the dark with a cell.  The path is steep ago times a nx rugged.  Got there safely.  We had an interesting conversation by candlelight, sometimes in French, sometimes in English, at other times in Swahili and also in Kiwandanese with Fulgence translating.  Branden hit it off with the boys and they were off to see the animals...a cow, 4 goats and 5 chickens.  We ate and the power didn't come on again until after 9:30.  It was an early night a day just as well.  We had been up since before 5 a.m.

Farewell Kenya

Even though it's our last full day in Kenya, we aren't finished yet!  Because the trip from Nakuru was so sickening, we slept in.  Needed it, and the Tylenol helped knock me out.  It doesn't take anything to knock Branden out, he is a sleep machine.  We had been notified by phone while in Nakuru that our order was in at the pharmacy across the street from where we stay.  We picked up two first aid kits, one for the orphanage in Riruta and one for the school in Kwangyare.  That many children and no way to treat them for cuts that can easily get infected.  Branden liked the kits so much, he ordered one for himself to take back home.  While at the chemist, I got some medications for decongesting the football on my shoulders.

Really feeling under the weather so took a nap after the pill until Pastor George came to pick us and take us to the orphanage.  School was just out when we arrived.  My what a flood of kids!  This visit, we got a tour of the orphanage, the sleeping quarters and the kitchen.  We saw the progress on the chicken coop and the goat pen.  It should be usable by tomorrow evening.

Branden just can't stay away from the animals.  Along with some of the school kids heading out the gate, they took some time to defoliate some shrubs for goat treats.  Branden can now get close to them as the level of trust has improved.  The goats have come from enclosures and are now enjoying some limited freedom although the nanny is tied up and her baby won't go far away from her.  I am told the resident children are so excited about the goats, they go out during their school breaks to watch them and pet them.

Everyone seems to be happy with the whole operation.  Of course the hens are still a little traumatized but they will soon settle down in their new quarters and begin to lay.

Speaking of laying, I'd just love to do that but we need to finish packing for our 5:30 departure in the morning.  Next entry will likely be from Kigali, Rwanda.  Signing off til then.

Oct 23. Nakuru

Our driver had an airport pickup in the morning and the client's flight was late.  So we got off to a later start than we had planned, leaving Nairobi around 10:30.  It's a beautiful drive as the road north traverses farmland and meadows and even pine forests at the higher elevations.  Donkey cart seems to be a more popular form of transport for these locals.  From the escarpment one gets a magnificent view of the Rift Valley and the dormant volcanoes.  Everything is such a lush green.  Makes me forget winter is coming back home in BC.  Three hours later we find a Java House in a Nakuru mall and have lunch.

As we drove into town, we saw the sign for Section 58 that was part of the individual structions I had received at Heathrow Airport from Josey.  It was near the Dog Section where they train police dogs. I think we asked directions from 4 or 5 people on the street and it seemed like each one had a different interpretation. There is no signage yet as this home was opened just this October 1st.  The "blue" gate wasn't to a residence, but the entrance to a gated community with a guard.  On that lane we found a black iron gate through which a child peered and then ran to get a key and let us in.  Great security for the "Masters Touch Children's Center".  There were 3 children and 2 caregivers on the property when we arrived.  Two children were away for some legal paperwork to be completed.  The children there were 4, 6 and 7 years old.  Mwangi, Rosemary and Daniel.  As the manager was away, we spoke with the two ladies and our driver was an able interpreter.  They tried hard to contact people about sources for goats and chickens.  How fortunate that on the backside of the property lived a man with goats.  So out the gate and around to the other side of the block we found the goat caretaker.  He gave us the phone number of the the owner and then ran off to herd the goats from their  grazing area back to us..  As he arrived with about 20 goats, the owner also drove up.  After introductions all around, we talked goats.  Of, course the one I wanted could produce 4 litres of milk a day.  She had a kid and the price for the "prize" goat and her kid was 38,000 KES or almost $500.  He wouldn't budge on the price because he had paid a lot for her to import her.  She was a Germany Alpine breed.   Another German Alpine was in the herd and she had lost her kid due to poisoning.  The herders had neglected their duties and the whole herd was showing it.  With good food and care, the goat we finally chose would do well.  She was pregnant and in a month they would have to stop milking her so she could gain strength during the last 4 months of pregnancy.  Then after three months with sucklings, she would be producing milk for the orphanage. This one was priced at 15,000 KES or about $180.  To make sure they got off to a good start with their little farm, we also purchased a two month supply of dairy meal and 50 kgs of chicken feed.  There's lots of grazing for the goat in the yard.  A cow would need a lot more pasture.  The seller of the goat also offered a free stud service in future and also free advice to help them manage and learn about raising goats.

After sealing the deal for the goats we went downtown to the market and bought the feed and got some nice laying hens.  Had to get the rooster at another market stall, and he was a  fine specimen.  We put the whole lot into the trunk of the car and headed back to the home.  Well, there was some excitement.  Then there was the planning of where and how big to make the pen and the coop.  With the assistance of our driver, we came up with a quick and dirty budget and I emptied my pockets for the materials.  After some photos and a prayer, we headed south in the dark.  Drivers are constantly flashing their high beams a day transport trucks often have no tail lights.  No wonder oir driver sticks to 60 km/hr.

This was the worst part of the trip.  The transport trucks literally puke out black diesel smoke, especially on the uphill grades and with the amount of traffic, there is very little opportunity to pass.  Result, a pounding headache and sneezing and stuffy, runny nose.  Don't feel so good, but on the other hand, feel great.  Mission accomplished in Kenya.  Just one more thing before we leave...to deliver the two first aid kits we ordered for the school and orphanage here in Nairobi.

Now for some sleep!

Oct 22 - Got Your Goat!

This morning we were picked up by Bishop Stephen and taken to the school in the slums, and I mean slums.  The homes are sheets of corrugated tin and mud walls eroded by rains.  There is no running water and no sewer facilities except the open ditch paralleling what might pass for a road.  Across from the shacks is the school yard and buildings.  I would estimate the property itself is 250 feet by 120 feet.  There are approximately 8 classrooms in the school with tin roofs causing the rooms to get quite hot when the sun is shining and quite noisy during a rain.  Can you imagine the learning environment?  They don't have the benefit of air conditioning or even a fan!  The children range in age from 3 to 16.  They start school at 6:30 in the morning and are given their first meal of the day at 11:00, a bean soup and a chipata or a deep-fried bun that is served and eaten outside where they sit on the ground.  They get another meal after one o'clock.  The children do not look forward to weekends because they go home to their shacks and there is usually nothing to eat until they get to school again on Monday.  The families typically try to survive on $1.00 a day or 80 Kenya shillings a day.  There are 160 students in the school.  They wear a simple, inexpensive uniform, even if it is just a uniform shirt.   A uniform will cost on average 1500 shillings or $18 Canadian.  There are 22 students who have recently come into the school from the neighborhood who have no uniforms.  It is one way to distinguish from kids in the hood sneaking onto the property during school hours.  There are no school fees.

One boy, Alfred(14), was brought into the school with open sores on his left leg.  We later put together a simple first aid kit to treat minor cuts and help prevent infection.  Alfred was a cart-puller.  It's basically a two-wheel car axle with tires and fitted with a wooden frame and pulled by a crossbar in the front.  It's the local method of moving furniture, building blocks, cement and steel and anything else.  I wouldn't want to do it because your feet are both the power and the brakes and if you're load is heavy or out of balance, it would be easy to have an accident or a runaway.  I think that is what happened to Alfred as his legs were covered in bruises.

We had the opportunity to visit each class and each teacher, led by Lawrence, the headmaster.  He has been doing this for 10 years with little pay, getting only enough to give basic support for his wife and child.  For him, it is not a job, it is a calling.  He is so proud of the students, some having already gone on to college.  The students are studying for the country wide standardized tests held on Nov.11 and in particular, he pointed out students who scored over 400 points out of 500, and others who were over 390!  These kids live with many disadvantages yet many have excelled in academics and done so eagerly.  In Kenya, there are many classrooms with 70 students and one teacher, we are told.  The largest class here had about 20 to 24 students.  Branden was able to share with the senior class a little bit about the seasons in Canada that generated a few questions about surviving in the cold.

We were introduced to the dream for what might be on this plot of land in the middle of the slums that is already making such a difference.  We went to the new office building constructed of concrete and nicely finished and painted.  It is fitted with a washroom and shower room, a waiting room and office.  We saw the plans for adding another floor and toured the adjacent development for a medical clinic.  Plans include another floor for visiting physicians, eg eye specialists, gynecologists and ear,mouth and throat specialists to come and treat people in the locality.  The third floor will become hospitality quarters for visiting professionals.  There is provision in the plans for a dispensary after clients have seen a doctor and received their prescription orders.  There will be another gate constructed to the medical facilities from the roadway.  If the work on the office building is any indication, this facility will be a jewel in this community and provide an absolute miracle for many of the local residents as it serves the poorest of the poor.

After lunch, we were picked up by Pastor George and his wife, Regina to go on a goat and chicken hunt.  It took awhile on very rough road, but eventually we found the farmer who had goats and cows.  He had 10 goats and gave us a choice of two nannies.  One was pregnant and wouldn't give birth for 5 months, then a 3 month wait before the kid(s) were off suckling.  The other had a male kid and would be giving milk for human use next month.  Both the same price.  They decided on mother and kid and so we stick them in the back of the wagon.  We stopped at a feed store and paid for 70 kgs of dairy feed and 50 kgs of chicken feed that will do for the first two months.  There will be milk and eggs and hatchlings very soon.  A couple of men are coming tomorrow to build the goat bedroom and dining room and chicken coop with nesting bins.  The goats and chickens have to be locked up at night as it is very difficult to get a firearm to ward off predators, if you know what I mean.  We picked up the chickens in two cardboard boxes and got the whole lot to the orphanage and stuck them in an extra storage room and LOCKED the door.  We returned to the feed store to pick up the feed sitting in front as they had closed.  Everything is shut down for the night.

While picking branches to push through the barred window of the temporary goat pen, Branden had a three-horned Jackson chameleon crawl off a branch onto his arm.  Regina thought they were poisonous as they are used in witchcraft and said if they bit you, the flesh would turn black and begin to fall off.  No,... he likes us.  We'll take him back to the flat for the night.  So we have a room mate for the night.  We checked on the Internet and they do make very good pets, just illegal to export.  Once in awhile Branden goes to the bathtub to check on Kevin and I overhear him talking to his new friend.  Yup, its been quite a day!

Oct 21 - Hero's Day Holiday in Kenya

I can't believe how cold it was at 6:30 this morning!  I actually had to put on my sweater.  Erastus, our driver, came at 8:00 to take us on a safari in the Nairobi National Park.  Roads crisscross throughout the park with road names and arrows pointing you to every point of interest with unique names, like;  Leopard. Cliffs, Impala Plains, Lion Dip, Hippo Pools, Lion Valley, Ivory Burning Site, etc.  The only problem was that there was usually no indication as to where the main gate was!  We put on a few miles just trying to get out of the maze of roads.  We found the main gate at about 3 pm and headed straight for Java House for a very late lunch.  Some of you know what it's like when you are on the hunt.  Food was only on the menu of the wild things.

Branden was the only one who was able to get a glimpse of a lioness lying in the tall grass.  That's because he managed to climb out the car windows and stand on the sill.  We did see a lot of wildlife; zebra, Thompson's gazelle, Impala, eland, wildebeest, hart beast, water buffalo, bushbuck, giraffe, warthog, baboon, monkey, crocodile, guinea fowl, ostrich, vulture and more.  There was one place we could get out and walk along the banks of the Hippo Pools, but only with an armed escort.  Rhinos had been spotted there in the morning and they don't take chances that a park visitor will have an unwelcome encounter.  The hippos were no where to be found, but we did see the old croc that may have intimidated the mother with the young hippo causing her to move to another location.  The park is beautiful and very large covering 117 square kilometers, a jewel within 15 minutes of our location.  Hard to believe you are in such a vast parkland of savanna and valleys and rivers with jets taking off overhead and city skyscrapers as a backdrop.

Oh, by 10 o'clock in the morning, the skies had cleared and the sun was starting to heat things up.  Got a bit of a sunburn on the one arm nearest the window.  After lunch we went to our flat for a nap.  Five hours later, Branden still isn't awake and often yells in his sleep about something...sometimes it's intelligible with words like Nairobi mixed into the garble.  I think he's having a really good time...even when he's asleep!

Oct 20 This is the Day

At 8:30 we are out the door and walking to church.  400 meters to the Valley Road roundabout and then another 600 meters down the hill to Valley Road Pentecostal Church (renamed Christ is the Answer Ministries or CITAM).  Well, the cars and buses and pedestrians converging on the main gate was astounding, then as we got closer we found out why.  There was a security detail of 3 uniformed officers with metal detectors checking each person entering and others checking vehicle under carriages with mirrors before they were allowed to enter the gates to park.  We were 15 minutes early and just got a seat before the service began.

Get this.  A 7 a.m service for the staff.  A 9 o'clock public service that lasted til 11:15.  It's like fighting your way upstream against the incoming crowd once the service is dismissed and the next crowd is coming in for the third service that starts at 11:30 and just as full.  About 5000 in attendance filling the main floor and balcony to capacity while at the same time two other services are happening in other buildings, one for youth and another for young adults with 1000 in attendance at each.  There was quite a traffic jamb in the parking lot AND on the side streets around the church that reminded me of PNE parking in Vancouver.

The music team was amazing, consisting of keyboard, drums, guitars, bass and a saxophone player.  There was a lead singer and 3 or 4 singers and at least a 50 voice choir.  Superb!  The choir did a number featuring an amazing female vocalist that could have taken top marks in one of those "Got Talent" shows you see on TV.

After fighting our way out through the crowd, almost everyone we met was on their way to church and buses again were lined up and unloading passengers for church.  This is one lively place on Sunday morning!  Oh, that's not all, on Friday there is an all night worship from 9 pm to 6 am!  It will include a songwriter and worship leader from Uganda.  These people are fervent and dedicated.  This church has sponsored a number of other churches in the area.  One of the branch church pastors was on the platform and announced the dedication of another new church building.  This group of churches numbers about 50,000 members.

We stopped in at our flat and then headed for the YaYa Center and the Masai Market and to get lunch.  Just as we turned off the lane towards the market, a man came up to us wanting to sell us bunches of flowers.  I wasn't interested, but he said he was just starting his new business.  Guess what?  I made an investment in his business of $5.75 for 21 red and white roses.  Branden and I thought we could come up with 21 reasons to smile or the "21 Rose Mile".  We began to give roses to every woman we met on our walk to the mall.  Even reaching into cars with women inside that pulled in front of us from a side street to enter the main street, the lady begging in the shade of the fence, the 4 Muslim women who were surprised by the old guy and the handsome young guy, and then the last woman just outside the mall who was almost in tears at the gift saying, "You made my day"!  We often asked the question of the ladies, "Can I make you smile"?  And Branden tried to get a photo of their smile.  The last one called me into the picture, too.  All of them were grateful as we walked away without asking for anything in return.  Well now, wasn't that fun?  The 21 rose mile.  Try it some time.  Good therapy for the soul.

We found the Masai Market on the 3rd floor patio and browsed for quite awhile.  It was difficult to get away from the vendors as they tried every trick in the book to part us from our money.  We had only brought enough for lunch.  An Ethiopian I had met the previous day wanted money for food as he hadn't eaten in 2 days.  So we stopped in at a bakery where he selected 4 big kaiser rolls and a sweet bun.  Branden and I ate a smaller lunch than we had planned, but somehow it felt like it was more than enough and we were satisfied.

Heading back to the flat, we had a vendor skillfully prepare a sugar cane stick for us, dicing it into a plastic bag.  We couldn't eat all of that.  You can chew and suck out the sweetness in the cane for a minute, but then you end up spitting fibers for another five minutes.  The return trip became the Sugar Mile as we gave out samples to folks we met, with the last few cubes going to Joel, the gate keeper.  That cost us a whole 60 cents!

We dozed while waiting for Bishop Stephen to come and get us for a visit to the orphanage and school. Once he arrived with his wife, Florence, we went and spent a couple hours with 64 children ranging in age from about 5 to 16.  A lot of them are survivors from the election massacres or 2008.  They sang a few welcome songs for us as we arrived and genuinely happy to see Bishop Stephen and his guests.  We had a suitcase full of Tshirts and balls and skipping ropes and girly things and Canadian flags.  You wouldn't believe how excited they were about the little flags!  And could they skip?  Oh, my!  I saw skipping moves I'd never seen before.  We had to inflate the soccer ball and left the pump with it (and a whistle) which the older boys used to get their version of keep-away going.  There were balls bouncing, skipping ropes swinging, and a lot of smiles and laughter.  The sound and activity was enough to crack your face and warm your heart.   We had also left a good quantity of school supplies with the teacher to distribute as needed and also reserved some supplies for the other school.  In order to integrate these kids into society, the orphanage accepts over 100 students from the community who come for classes at the orphanage school.  Out of 1800 schools in Kenya, this school ranks in the top 100 in the standardized tests administered in the whole country.

Bishop Stephen has had a pretty hectic schedule with the recent conference and was flagging, so we left the orphanage for our base and visited with the staff here.

Here I must acknowledge the generous donations of school supplies and gifts from congregants at both the Church on the Hill in Logan Lake and Terrace Pentecostal Assembly where Branden comes from.  YOU have been a genuine blessing.  And the Bishop has invited you all to come for a visit.

Fun and Pain

First order of business is to book flights to Kigali, Rwanda for Friday.  I found out you can't book tickets online for persons under eighteen.  The solution was to walk 25 minutes down the road to the YaYa mall and the Kenya Airways outlet.  I love walking and there are lots of interesting people along the way!  Well, we ended up walking past the mall for about 10 minutes and got directions to go back to the main intersection.  Of course, we remembered that.  It was the major intersection with no lights, no 4-way stops, no obvious procedures and where traffic just went in to the center and jostled and blew horns to bully their way through.  By the time we got back, there was a policeman and a civilian frantically waving their arms to get the traffic moving again. And a bus trying to make a u-turn in the middle of it all.  We stood there for a few minutes watching the chaos unfold.  That's probably what distracted us from seeing the mall when we went by the first time.

The mall is new and shiny, and six storeys tall.  To enter, you are met by two guards, who use one of those airport security wands to detect metal and you have to empty your pockets of everything that sets off the alarm.  We found the Kenya Airways office and were able to secure the tickets we needed.  Then we went and had breakfast at the Java House.  Very fine breakfast at a very reasonable price.  We checked for the date and time of the Masai Market which we had heard about earlier.  We strolled through the mall window shopping and planning on coming back with more shillings.  An interesting expat who has lived in Kenya for 45 years had some personal perspectives to share with us.  When she found out we were going to Rwanda, she insisted we go see the mountain gorillas. She had been within 20 feet of a huge silverback for an hour on her trip there and refused to leave with her tour group until she was satisfied with her visit.  The cost was $700 each.  We thought we should just hike in through the mountains and see them for ourselves without the wardens.  You should have seen her face!  Priceless.  As we left the mall, we stopped to thank the security guards for their thorough work in making us feel safe while we relaxed at breakfast.

Back to the flat and past the Kenyan cooking show on our lane.  We saw how they were washing their eating bowls, so went to the flat and got a tin server for the ugale and a bowl for the meat and veggie relish and asked Joel, the gate keeper, to go and buy some for us.  He would know which vendor to go to.  So we had ugale (oo-gawl-ee) for lunch!  The taste, the texture, the one-handed procedure for forming the ball and impressing your thumb to make a spoon-like depression with which to scoop up some relish and put it into your mouth brought back many memories.  It was so good!

While waiting for Bishop Stephen, we unpacked and sorted out things for the school and the orphanage.  We heard kids playing on the other side of the security fence.  It sounded like a school yard so we went in search of the entrance.  Out our security gate and through the neighboring security gate, getting permission from the gate keeper, we found kids.  We had taken a handful of the really bouncy balls and showed the kids how to bounce them off the ground and about 20 feet into the air.  Well, there were kids running in every direction trying to catch the erratic balls as they bounced every which way.  Then in the chase one of the boys stepped on the back of a sandal of a little girl and she went down hard on the broken tarmac, tearing out the knee in her slacks and skinning her knee quite badly.  So much fun suddenly came to an end.  Five balls were still going, but the girl was on the ground crying.  We hadn't brought slacks or trousers with us, but I went back to our flat and found a fancy white t-shirt with glitter, went and asked for her as she had gone into one of the apartments.  Lavalee came out without her pink slacks and wearing a hijab and bare legs.  I examined her road-rash which looked painful.  I apologized for causing such a commotion that resulted in her being hurt, sorry I couldn't replace her slacks, but would she accept a gift to make up for it.  She smiled and said yes and thank you.  Branden almost lost his camera as children wanted to see it and he learned how quickly and easily it could be grabbed and gone.  Now we have to face 64 orphans who all want a piece of whatever we have to give.  I think we will involve the orphanage staff to keep chaos under control when the time comes.  Good insight for Branden as to how quickly we can instigate a riot, a revolution and a ruckus!

Eventually, Bishop Stephen arrived and we visited for an hour and made plans for our schedule as he still had a part to play in the conference as the plenary speaker tomorrow.  We will start on Sunday afternoon.

It was now approaching 5:30 pm and time to go for supper.  Branden and I struck out in the same direction as the Fairview Hotel because there had been another Java House along the way.  We were stopped along the way by a sock salesman, so I bought a pair of cotton socks for about $1.85 and we chatted for awhile about Canada and snow.  It took awhile for our orders to come and darkness was falling only as it does in Africa, like a curtain!  It was raining and dark when we left the restaurant and the sidewalks are neither wheelchair friendly nor pedestrian friendly.  There are many tripping hazards and cavernous holes where storm drain covers are missing and then watching out for cars and thugs hiding in the darkness.  No streetlights to speak of, only vehicle lights if they are not glaring in your face.  Branden has a theory that if you walk along cracking jokes, the Africans will smile and the white smile will immediately give them away in the darkness.  So we chat it up with the people in the road side market who are now packing up their fruits and vegetables and flowers.  We ask them if it is going to rain and they retort vehemently that it IS raining.  Oh, "yanera pura", which is Chibemba for "It's raining", that I learned in Zambia.  Then they teach me the Kiswahili expression with another comment which I wasn't supposed to understand.  So I just replied back, "Inkoko" (chicken) and they breakout in peels of laughter.  Now we can see them!  We were wet but warm when we arrived back at the flat.  Still about 24 degrees, even in the rain.  Time to wind down for the night now.  It's nightfall for us and your day is just starting back in BC.  Have a great day!

First 24 hours.

Apparently, most people who come to Kenya, and arrive as late as we did, tend to sleep in until 4 pm.  I was awake at 10 (yes, in the morning!) and Branden was fast asleep so I went on a fam tour of the neighborhood.  The lane we came in on last night was dark and deserted, but now it was lined with people using charcoal cookers making omelettes, porridge, chipatas and other things.  Don't ask about the other things.  I noticed the office front door was open on my return and went in to meet Susan, the receptionist.  What a wealth of information!  She has family in Rwanda and Uganda.  We talked!

Then I met David B who has been here since July 2.  He offered to take to get a SIM card for my phone.  The airtel card was a good deal costing only about 75 cents with $5 worth of airtime that would allow me to call Canada for about 3 cents a minute!  I don't know why we pay as much as we do in Canada, unless we are subsiding the telecom here.  We took the SIM card to David's office to cut it down to fit the SDmicro slot in my phone.  He's done it several times including his own.  Well, it didn't work.  I tried the London SIM and it recognized that and the iPhone SIM worked fine as well.  So it was back to the shop for some advice.  The "no -working" SIM worked in the agent's Nokia though, so no refund. Back to the office to troubleshoot on the Internet, but no luck.  In the end, I went and bought a safari.com SIM card for $36 and about $3 of air time.  It's working finally but all that nonsense took until 4 pm.  I should have slept!

In the evening we walked a kilometer to the Fairview Hotel with some of the staff for supper.  Along came a couple of other people from the University of the Fraser Valley!  Calen, who bunked in with us to get some rest before a 3 am flight back to Canada.  A student who was here with a research team studying urban agriculture and sustainability.  He liked our approach.  His team was just on there way to visit Westgate Mall the day of the attack by el-Shabab and ordered out of Nairobi by the Canadian university authorities.  So he went to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.  Now he was finally returning home.  The other person, Sherry, is the daughter of Gary and Marg Foreman, missionaries we met years ago.  Gary passed away about 15 years ago but was one of the influencial men in my life who encouraged me to pursue missions.  Imagine meeting his daughter who is now an instructor at UFV who was on contract with Save the Children to research and write a child-friendly version of the charter of rights for children in East Africa.  She had just come out of the dusty Sudan and was also heading home.  What an interesting dinner table discussion we had.  Well, it was well after dark, so the staff would not allow us to walk back in the dark as it can be quite dangerous.  It seemed like a wasted day, but in the end, very interesting.  With the phone working, I was able to contact Bishop Stephen who was actually involved in a conference and unable to meet us til Saturday afternoon.  So ends our first 24 hours in Kenya.  Oh, it also makes me feel real good when people we meet assume Branden is my son!

Thursday Oct 17 - Leavin' London Behind

We could have slept in, but my alarm clock scared us awake at 7 am, well, not Branden, I had to scare him awake! We were cleaned up, packed and out the door at 7:35.  A five minute walk to the bus stop and we arrive just as the #140 is pulling away.  Missed it!  I knew we should have been out the door at 7:30.  This bus service runs 24/7 and in10 minutes another 140 arrives.  We step aboard and tell the driver we are going to Central Bus Station.  "It's alright, mate, this one is free to the airport".  At the airport, it's up two floors in an elevator, then across to security, and then enough time to catch breakfast at the Giraffe Cafe.  We order a breakfast omelette each, without toast, at double the price we pay in Canada.  $5.95 didn't seem so bad at all and I forgot we were looking at a menu in British pounds.  Then the currency conversion nails you with just about double the price!  Branden thinks everything in London is inflated.

As we were getting up from the table, a jolly black lady is trying to get in at the table next to us.  I smiled at her and asked her where she was from.  She just got off the plane from Nairobi, so I mentioned we just happened to be going there.  She asked what we were doing and we mentioned visits to schools and orphanages.  Well, she lit up and shared how she just opened up an orphanage in Nakuru on October 1st.  She was starting with 5 children, and another being added and by the weekend, 2 more children from Kitale (where Rebecca spent some time this summer) whose parents have both died of Aids.  That makes 8 children.  She showed us pictures on her iPad of the children and the home she is renting.  It was the former residence of the local MP who had just vacated the premises to move to his own newly-constructed home.  It wasn't available in August when she was searching for a suitable location, but then it came open in September and she signed a lease for the equivalent of $500 Canadian a month.  Pastor Josey was educated at a Bible School in Colorado Springs.  She is traveling in the US for about six months to raise support for this new orphanage.  I couldn't help but admire her dream and her vision.  We may even get to Nakuru on this trip.  It's only a couple of hours north in the Rift Valley.

After breakfast we go back down to ask for gate instructions since the board was flashing, "Please wait".  Well, no gate number and only 30 minutes before they close for boarding.  We went down to the lower floor where there was an information booth and showed that our tickets had no gate numbers.  The girl told us it should be up on the board, but said it was displaying a wait notice.  Wouldn't you know it, that as she took us to another departure board, it read Gate 48.  It must have changed on our way down the stairs.  Now comes the complicated directions to get there.  Go to the end of the terminal, take a left down the elevator (two floors) and follow the directions to the underground train where you wait for the right train to get to terminal 5.  At the platform, there is an 8 minute wait for the train but it is going to the wrong terminal.  Another wait for the next train and it is a 4 minute underground ride to the correct terminal.  Wow, we're not there yet!  Up two more flights to departure level.  After check-in, guess what.  Down the outside stairs to tarmac level, across to the plane and then up the stairs into the plane. Finally!

Nope. Now we get to wait another 45 minutes because a passenger who was in a wheelchair couldn't be brought down the stairs to the tarmac, the person responsible was on a first responder call and other staff had to be located to bring her by another route to the waiting plane and then use a lift to get her up to the aircraft door.  I was just telling Branden how lucky he was to have the middle seat with the window seat vacant beside him when the pilot explained the reason for the delay.  Guess whose seat if was? Yup!  The very person we were waiting for, Sahra.  Sarha is only 38 but moved like she was over 80. She took the window seat but eventually took my aisle seat because she had to get out in the aisle frequently because of severe back pain.  Sarha is Somalian, born in Mogadishu.  She fled as a child due to the civil unrest and somehow made her way to the US where she became a citizen and now resides in Massachusetts.  She has a cousin in Nairobi that she has come to visit 3 times since 2007.  She wore a head covering and was in obvious pain, holding her head and awaying back and forth or holding her head in a pillow against the seat in front of her.  The cabin crew brought her pain medication every four hours, so she was a bit out of it.  How do I know all these things?  Because of her condition and lack of understanding of the visa application and landing card, I helped fill out her forms from the information in her passport. She could barely print.  Her speech was slurred and it took careful attention to understand her, but for the last 30 minutes of the flight we chatted.  She asked what we were going to do in Kenya and after telling her some of our plans, she simply said, "God bless you".  Well, with a 186 km tail wind, we not only made up for the lost time, but got to Nairobi 5 minutes ahead of schedule.  How does that work?

Well, that got our feet on African soil.  Erastus was sent to pick us and waited for us to get through immigration and customs.  Both were a breeze.  Two guys with four gigantic suitcases should have brought more attention.  We proceeded to "Nothing to Declare" and one customs lady asked what was inside and I explained we had gifts for friends, and some gifts from family members for missionaries...and we had gifts for orphanages.  For orphanages?  Yes.  Keep going.  We came out of that ordeal (hahaha) to find Erastus holding a pink sign with Harry H printed on it.  After exchanging some money, Erastus took us to the PAOC Guest house.  We arrived at 11:30 ready to come to rest inside a locked iron gate.  Safe.

London Layover - Wed. Oct.16

Although we left Vancouver at 7 pm, we traveled 9 hours until 4 a.m. Vancouver time to find out it was already 12 noon when we landed.  Time zones can sure mess you up.  Now it's 10 pm here in London but we are wide awake because our bodies tell us it's only 2 in the afternoon!  So I'll just take an afternoon nap and get up to catch our next flight 9 hours from now.

The first shock on arrival was the cost of a taxi to take us out of the airport to the Apple House guest house just 12 minutes away.  $60!  The young proprietor of the guest house was from Venezuela and he gave us some valuable tips.  A free city bus back to the airport and then about $20 for all-day passes for the two of us to travel anywhere on the subway.  So we did take time to traipse around the city for quite a few hours.  First and foremost was to ride the giant ferris wheel known as the London Eye.  Another $60 I wouldn't normally spend but it was a unique once in a lifetime time experience and an engineering marvel.  The ride lasted about 40 minutes inside enclosed capsules that can hold a dozen people.  The floor in the capsule stays level the whole time and you can walk around to all sides for viewing and taking photos.  We then crossed a bridge over the Thames and wandered around Parliament Square, Westminster Abbey and walked under the shadow of Big Ben.  Then we went for the traditional English fish and chips for supper!  That was worth it.

Now to find our way back at night while taking a different route...oh, and the bus driver from the Central Bus Station didn't know about the street we wanted to get off on or even the name of the Guest House where we are staying.  So we kept our eyes peeled and yelled when West End Lane came up and a five minute walk later...voila, there we were!

The weather was drizzling when we arrived in the morning but by mid-afternoon the skies had cleared and it was warm and sunny.  Tomorrow, Africa!