Kenya is a land of contrasts. Shadow and light overlap. Natural beauty and poverty's blight share the same landscape while waves of goodness and caring erode obstacles of corruption and suffering. The west is no different, other than these contrasts are easier hidden in our busy, comfortable lives. Change is occurring, but we have to realize it is not in our province to know time or circumstance. God has a will and it will be done. He gives us the gift of empowerment when we seek His will and not our own.
It is Sunday and unbelievably, three weeks are almost up. Hanna and I have been talking about our experiences here, how to make sense of them; how we may be changed. We wonder in what ways change will be expressed in our lives at home. These thoughts tend to be overwhelming as the answers are complex, and how they play out unknown. I contemplate Psalm 147. Peace that surpasses understanding, knowing God’s thread is woven throughout the fabric of our lives.
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David and Ann, their daughter Terry and the rest of us pile into the minivan for a Sunday drive, Jeff at the wheel. We head west through Kisumu towards Majengo dodging potholes and cows. We climb upwards high above Kisumu, the road narrowing and more hemmed by trees. Finally we turn on a dirt track and park. David’s former primary school teacher and her husband greet us. Her husband is 80 and spry, still raising a garden, chickens and has a gas operated Poshe mill for grinding maize into flour. Earlier, as a young man, he had farmed coffee, working with some of the largest growers in Kenya. Unfortunately, in years past the price of coffee dropped dramatically and much of the plantations were pulled out and replaced with tea. Later when we return we will enjoy sodas, avocado and ground nuts (peanuts) with them, but for now our goal is the equator!
David leads us up the red dirt cart track past the Friends Church where he attended as a boy. Our walk gradually leads up a steeper path and we are joined by some of his acquaintances, one who is a community health worker that had just finished a circumcision clinic for the village. HIV/AIDS prevention is gaining wider acceptance in Kenya and there is an emphasis on circumcising boys, which has been shown to reduce transmission. Because so many births are home deliveries circumcision doesn’t occur after delivery and is delayed until the boys are older, sometimes teens. Youch!! When a village has circumcision clinic compliance is good and few boys hide. Apparently peer pressure to show up, and the promise of partaking in a village feast after the clinic are enough motivation. I asked her about bleeding and infection complications which are not common, and treated with herbal preparations if they occur.
As we climb higher past tethered goats, calves, and small farmsteads with maize and ground nuts the landscape is more rugged. The hills are littered with boulders, some as big as a small house. Tucked between are cultivated fields of maize, bananas, and millet. The sky is blue but hazy and I breathe hard. As we walk the trail levels and is cut into a side hill shaded by eucalyptus trees. To the horizon are more of these hills, farms, boulders, and people working their land. I imagine a movie set design team carefully planning how to build this illusion, but it is no illusion—this is real. What is more amazing than the terrain is how these farmers have blended their homes, farms, and lives to fit the landscape, rather than the opposite. Stunning is a subtle adjective for our surroundings, breathtaking only marginally better.
David with Terry on his shoulder takes us past his old primary school. Again the school is nestled among beautiful trees which he helped plant as seedlings, and huge boulders. Cisterns catch rain water from the roof as there is no running water or electricity. He shows us his class’s industrial arts project from years ago, an outdoor kitchen made from mud bricks they produced and built with. We walk on to his family home, but his father is not there. The walls are thick and roofed with corrugated metal. The garden surrounding the house is slightly terraced and there are many trees for shade which David planted as a boy. Our walk crosses a narrow swale and then goes up, leaving behind the small farms as we pass more and more rocks. A narrow chasm through opposing boulders finally leads us up to the highest point of the hill. We are standing on the equator atop a massive rock promontory with 360 degree views. To the SW lies Uganda, Lake Victoria and Kisumu to the east, and in the foreground all of the farms we had passed by.
Looking east towards Kisumu and Lake Victoria
We all enjoy the view, a water break and pictures before heading down. We stop at David’s namesake’s home. Mr. Isuvi was a laboratory faculty member at the University of Nairobi for many years. Following retirement he returned to his family home where he farms and mentors others in the community. He has a beautiful farmstead and has been working to reclaim some wet land for planting bananas. He is not a young man at 76, but he moves like a cat down the rocky trail, talking about wanting to bring electricity to the community. Selfishly, I ponder what changes would occur. We part company at a fork in the trail and move down to David’s teacher’s home, where after a brief visit we leave for Anne’s mothers for Sunday dinner.
Mssr's. Isuvi
We shared several meals with Kenyans in their homes, but were surprised that often the guests are fed while the host waits; only eating after the guests are done. We were greeted by Mamma Anne and her son, Anne’s younger brother. Anne’s father passed away many years ago and her brother was the elder or Mizei, of the house. He brought a basin for us to wash hands and we all sat family style at two tables passing ugali, chapatti bread, rice and a freshly stewed chicken. Following the meal we washed again and had chai. Anne’s mother gave her a parting gift of a live chicken which found its way beneath one of the seats. We also had a quick stop at David’s sisters to say hello. Shortly after leaving we stopped at another “official” equator monument for pictures. The road on this side of the hill leading to Kisumu was in perfect shape! There is hope!
At Mamma Annes's with Hanna and Terry Isuvi
Meeting in the middle!
August 2
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