Paradise found

We left Vancouver for Kenya on Feb. 16^th in the evening.  We spent the night of the 17^th in London, the night of the 18^th in Nairobi, and arrived in Marimba (close to Meru) in the afternoon of the 19^th.  The countryside during the drive from Nairobi to  Marimba was beautiful, and the only regret was that it was a bit hazy and we could not see Mt. Kenya, which is almost as tall as Mt. Kilimanjaro.  We were so ragged and road weary, but then we arrived at the children’s home and our new home.  INCREDIBLE, UNBELIEVABLE, OVERWHWLMING!  Suddenly we perked up, as 157 girls and their teachers greeted us.  We walked through path with a line of girls on either side, as they showered us with flower petals, whilst they sang songs and danced.  They performed for us, one group following another.  One of the most wonderful experiences in my life!   Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it, and afterwards we settled in for a night’s rest.  Unfortunately Father Jules became ill.

20/02/11

Didn’t sleep the greatest, but got up to a wonderful view of the orphanage and the mountains (foothills to Mt. Kenya) in the background.  Went to mass at 11:00 and did a lot of walking around the grounds inside and out.  Saw some elephant dung – old (a few months?) but still impressive.  After being prodded by Rita, I went down and asked the girls to show me around, so I did what she suggested and reaped the benefits of doing so.  We skipped along and they sang some songs, and somewhere along the line I did my elephant impression, which thoroughly impressed them!  So much so, that I was urged to do it over and over until I almost lost my voice!  Later on I went down to join the girls in praise and worship.  Near the end, the cat was let out of the bag and before I new it, they were serenading me with a happy birthday song – Michael let the cat out of the bag!  I was asked to get up in front of them and say something, which I did, and finished off with the elephant call – laughter all around!

21/02/11

Fr. Jules was still quite ill.  Rita went to town and I did some repairs inside the house in the AM and early PM.  Fr. Jules’ health became worse yet.  Rita and I went to look at the convent, and of course were mobbed by the girls.  Good workmanship in the convent was lacking, but overall it was impressive.  Played a bit of soccer with the girls amidst a couple of elephant calls – this is becoming a curse!  Went back to the house and helped Rita prepare dinner, when low and behold Fr. Jules came out of his room, and joined us for a couple of hours – what a blessing!

22/02/11

Fr. Jules is getting better by the hour – thank you Lord!  Went down to the residences and watched Michael teach the girls to play a game like baseball, but with a soccer ball – kind of boring (for me), so I decided to go and play with some of the younger girls, and had a great time laughing, etc.  Went with Rita to check out the convent and a few other things.  Fixing things in the house, etc.

23/02/11

Did some minor repairs to the house we stay in.  Fr. Jules’ health improved a lot, even to the point of celebrating the holy Eucharist.  Went down to the residences and helped the six older children to take the maize (corn) off the cobs.  Went to mass at the church (right next to the house).  At the end of mass, as a visitor, I got up in front of the congregation (mostly school children) to make a bit of a speech wherein I told of how much I felt accepted and my desire to get to know them better as time progresses.  Rita was in town for a meeting and arrived back (a little ragged) in the afternoon.

24/02/11

Rita left again for town in the morning for another meeting.  Helped the older children again with the maize – starting to learn a little bit of Swahili.  All four of us celebrated mass together for the first time today.  Fr. Jules and I went for a walk to see the convent and the girl’s residence and chapel etc.  It was great to see him up and about!  I ended up with sun burnt arms and cut a leaf from a bush that I thought was aloe – wrong (ouch)!  Rita then showed me which one was aloe – much better, but probably too late!  Also went around with Paul (one of the workers) to see what they had for tools – very sad and needs to be sorted out.  Got one of the satellite systems to work, and will try to get the other working tomorrow.

25/02/11

Went to Meru today.  The trip there and back with three people in a Toyota Hylux was a pain in the rear, but worth it in the end!  Bought some supplies and picked up a bunch of furniture and food for the girl’s residence.  Also got two cell phones and a modem for myself, and Fr. Jules – yahoo!!!  Had a comical encounter with a nun, who thought that Michael was a priest and I was a brother – she was a sweet old Kenyan lady – God bless her!  I was so happy to get back to Marimba!  I got the other satellite system up and running.

26/02/11

Kind of got up on the wrong foot today.  Just felt out of sorts and tired, did a lot of work in the morning, as Rita was in town again – bless her soul.  She has had to go to town every day since we got here.  I was in such a foul mood in the afternoon that I went for a walk to get some solitude and kept bumping into people.  Took some pictures of local children, some shepherds, and elephant dung!  Maybe one day I will actually see an Elephant instead of   Also took some pictures of the buildings on the property.  Bye, bye bad mood!  We have been celebrating mass most evenings, as Fr. Jules is in much better health.

27/02/11

Another glorious day in paradise!  Fr. Jules concelebrated mass today, which was his first time to have mass with the Kenyan masses.  Tried my camera in video mode for the first time – should have had a tripod!  Rita keeps making gourmet food – chicken in tomato sauce for lunch, and a curried fish dish for supper.  I got the satellite dish going, but haven’t even really looked at it yet.  It was a pleasant easy going day today.  Fr. Sebastian (of Indian descent) came in the evening to visit and stayed the night.  He is an astute man with a great sense of humor.

28/02/11

Up early to attend mass at the residence chapel.  Fr’s Jules and Sebastian concelebrated.  During the mass there was a blessing for the 6 girls who were leaving to attend secondary school elsewhere.  Did lots of fixing things (at least trying to) around the house.  Rita was gone to take the girls to there new schools.  Michael spent his first day teaching physical education to the girls.  Seems like I didn’t do much today, but I was doing some form of work for most of the day.

Was hoping to include pictures, but the connection is poor and the files large.  I may try to reduce the size of the image files and see what happens.

Note to self:  describe the entire complex and property.