Miller Family Kisumu, Kenya: Visiting Evan's School, Rust, An Smoke And The Vehicle Broke, An A Begging Missionary!!

*This blog will contain pictures of two different events that happened on my last blog post. *pictures of Carolyn's birthday party at school. *An our Girls night out.

Beautiful Kenyan roses...

(Saturday January 21st)
Today we actually didn't sleep in very late...surprise!
I got up quickly an baked some banana bread, (Kenyans just LOVE banana bread.)
Then Stacy, Wayne an I went to a school in Ahero, where a youth guy from our church, named Evans is attending, to get his electricians training.
He wanted to show us around his collage, but the only obligation was to bring him some banana bread, so we did that an enjoyed visiting his school.
The students stay there all week, sleeping in dorms, an eating their meals in the school kitchen, an then they have Saturdays an Sunday's off, it was interesting to see the conditions of everything, an I kept reminding myself that this was a Kenyan "collage," unreal though!
We got to meet some of Evans friends, an he is doing quite well with bringing them along to church, appearing every Sunday with three or more friends with him, we pick him up every Sunday on our way to church an drop them off again on our way home.

So in the afternoon, we were just lazy around home...
In the evening Stacy an I went on a long walk, then I got home in time to help make some supper, which we ate with Dishon, who was still washing vehicles on the compound, Dad an Mom then drove him back to his house since it was late.

Happy birthday Miss Carolyn!!!

There was more spike ball on the lane tonight, it is an almost every evening activity lately.
I think we are all learning to like the game a lot! Thanks to Lester's girls....
(Sunday January 22nd)
Today Dad an Mom went to church early for IC class.
Wayne an I came later, I actually drove to church, I have been driving around Kisumu for a while already, but I had never driven all the way out to our church yet, so I was pretty proud of myself! ha!
After a lengthily service with seemingly unending "testimonies" about various topics we finally dismissed.
I will never cease to be amazed at how long testimony time can last...even with Dad pleading before he opens it for sharing testimonies, to please keep it with testimonies about the message, they somehow still cant resist the opportunity to tell a good long story of something that happened to them that week, that they wanted to tell people about, an what a better time then while everyone is quietly sitting in church an have no option but to listen....I know, I should have more patience, but really!? do I really need to know that as you were walking to a funeral, you fell into a swampy rice field, then had to wash your clothes in the river, an hang them on bushes to dry, before you continued on to the funeral? that was just one of the "testimonies" on Sunday, an many more like that one.....sigh. So many things to get used to in Kenya!

Wayne an I were then invited to Victors mom's place for lunch, as they had invited Rhoda's family that is visiting, an Joseph an Becky, since Rhoda attends Joseph an Becky's church in Aroba, Victor an his married brother David are from Aroba church, an invited Rhoda's family an Joseph an Becky, an many other youth guys from Aroba for lunch.

Some of the school children singing happy birthday...

Victor had just called Saturday evening to invite Wayne an I to come too, since we are good friends with them, an also our church is close to Aroba church people.
We were excited to be invited there for lunch, with all of them, we had a really good time eating good ole Kenyan food, an laughing an talking, I so much enjoy eating at native peoples houses for Sunday lunch!
After lunch however, when we got back to my car, that was parked on the other side of the railroad tracks, an out of sight from the house we were eating lunch at, we all got in.
I was also taking Victor, An two other youth from Aroba back to Kisumu, an after we all got in, I turned my key an........nothing! I tried again....nothing. My battery was completely dead!

Rhoda, the upper grade school teacher...

An we were way back in the Boone-docks......my only conclusion I could come up with was, that my drivers side window didn't work an was down, an when I left my vehicle all manner of curious children were looking out between bushes, an crowding around my car, but as I left I wasn't worried because, I had all the valuable things out, an had them with me, but apparently one of them reached in an turned my lights on an several hours later....my battery was shot.
So we tried seeing what we could do next, the first problem being that we had no jumper cables anywhere.
The next problem being that of all times I didn't have any money on me, an Wayne only had 300sh.
The next problem after that being that, Joseph's an Rhoda's family were now almost back in Kisumu, an my parents had long reached back home already, so there we were....
So thank Almighty Providence! along came a very kind, an generous piki driver an let us use his piki, so Victor an I used the piki an went to the nearest town to look for a battery an jumper cables, but because I was white, the people were slow in helping out, an wanted unreal amounts of money to rent a jumper cable an battery.
Finally, Victor happened to meet up with a longtime school friend, an that friend helped us out so much, he intervened for us, so we were driving from one shop to another looking for cables an a battery that worked, it was SO hot... an terribly dusty, an since I have bad allergies right now with all the dust that is around, I was coughing a lot, an my throat an lungs burned, an riding through clouds of dust on a piki only made it worse!
It was probably the hottest part of the day, and my coughing spells made me feel faint, but I was thinking, I cant faint now, I'm all alone...(Not that you can necessarily plan when, or when not, to faint.) anyhow, I made a rash decision based on my throat feeling like sand-paper, an me feeling like passing out....so don't judge me! ha ha!
So while Victor an his friend were in yet another shop looking for a battery, I saw this lady sitting in front of her hut, doing laundry, so I ran over, an after laying down my remaining pride, (or whatever amount of pride was possibly left after having a dead vehicle, an 4 people to get back to Kisumu.) I asked her if she has any water I could drink, she looked rather puzzled at this out-of-breath white girl, with dust streaked across her face, asking her, a random lady, doing laundry, for a drink of water!

Geneva enjoyed her cake an ice-cream...

I knew the water was going to be bad for me, an I would most likely get sick, but at this point I no longer cared, I was faint, an I needed liquid of any kind right now!
An further more, I didn't have any money to buy water, so like any good "Kenyan" would, I begged....I must say it felt strange to be on "the other side of the fence" for once.
I stepped inside her hut, an cringed as I saw her pick up a dirty cup an scoop it into a bucket of stale water, I didn't analyze the water I drank, I thought it might help me in the long run, I gulped down the warm liquid, an then I heard Victor yelling my name, since I hadn't told him what I was going to go do, since I was embarrassed that I was this thirsty, an had no money to buy water, so I popped back out of the hut, trying my best to look like this was an everyday thing... that I would decide to go visit a random lady, never mind the fact that I was only there for 2-3min. an here we were quickly trying to find a battery, an get back to our vehicle, but thank goodness he didn't ask me what I was doing in her house....I quickly told the lady God bless you! an left.
We were again on our way to yet another shop, in search of a battery....I jumped on the piki, looking back as the lady an her children stood outside her hut watching as I bounced away on the motor bike, no doubt wondering what in the world this begging, white girl was up to.

Shonda, Nessa, An Dassa enjoying the party...

Later we were at another place, an my throat again felt like sand-paper, an it was so hot that even the breeze felt like dragons breath, so while the guys were discussing about batteries, I watched my chance, an casually told Victor that I'm going over there to talk with that old lady, who was sitting there frying fresh chips, an looked like a pretty good natured lady in my opinion, an above all.... a good "water source", so I went over greeting her, an trying hard to not look as desperate as I felt, I asked her if she would have a glass of water for me, since I was traveling through, an don't have any water, (I had drank all of my water that I had brought along, over lunch time.) so she said sure she would have some for me! I'm thinking, Thank God!!! then she brings the cup of water back out, an this time Victor saw what I was doing, an came over saying, "Sylvia! don't drink that water! it will make you so sick!" I told him, " I know Victor, I know your right, but right now I'm practically dying of thirst! An quite honestly, I don't care if I get sick."

Mom made this cake for Carolyn...

Thinking back on what I said...it may, or may not have been totally true..... but at the time, "dying of thirst" sounded like a fairly possible possibility to me.
So by that time they had finally found a generous man to lend us a battery, for a reasonable price, after the battery owner got over the idea that I was in fact a white person, that didn't have money, a mind-blower for these people.

Waiting for Carolyn to dish them each a piece of cake...

So they strapped the battery an cables on the back of the piki, an all three of us got back on, an made our way back out to the place where the rest were waiting in the shade till we got back, then they tried jumping it, but the battery wasn't good....SIGH! so Felix another youth guy from Aroba church, took the piki an went to get another battery he thought would work, so he brought that one back, an it worked better, but the jumper cables were almost void of any rubber protection, an they were twisting wires together trying to make the tattered wires work better, it was awful... the one time I happened to turn the key too soon, before they had their hands positioned where they wouldn't get shocked, but I soon heard screams an saw the guy that was trying to position the wires jumping back, yelling for me to turn the key off till he tells me to turn it on!! I tried not to laugh, because first of all, it was horrible that I shocked him, I got that. But its always this comedy going on inside my head that makes me laugh, I kept thinking of Mr. Beans video of the jumper cables, an had to smirk to myself, the man that got shocked glared at me through the wind shield, I was glad the hood of the car was raised, as I could hind behind there, I apologized profusely, but I could just see his look of, "these women drivers, these days! have no idea what their doing!" he didn't say that though! just for the record.
Well, we were there the rest of the afternoon, trying to get it started, an every time I would turn the key, sparks an smoke would billow up from the makeshift wiring job they had done, an they would go till the smoke got too thick, an I was sure everything was soon going to blow up! it was one of those times when you keep one hand on the key, trying to make the engine turn over, an one hand on the door handle of the car in case those sparks you see flying soon become more then just sparks...it was awful!

Wishing their teacher would have birthdays more then once a year?

Then we finally got it started!!! opake Jesu!!! So Wayne took the car on a spin to see if everything worked, an just as he got back an stopped the vehicle sputtered to a halt....sigh. So we open up the hood again, an find that one of the battery clips spilled off, so we put it back in place, an it started up again, so everyone loaded in, an I started for Kisumu, it was almost dark by this time...an I soon discovered, driving dirt roads with 3 foot deep ruts in the road, in semi-darkness was a challenge, also I had to drive fast enough so the motor wouldn't sputter an stop, an drive careful enough that the clamps on the battery wouldn't slip off....how is that even possible!? I don't know either.
God helped me out that evening, because I was SO TIRED! since the night before I hadn't slept more then 4 hours at the most, an then going all day, an all this stress was almost more then I thought I was capable of, but somehow God brought me strength when I needed it most! thank you Jesus!

Out for Carolyn's birthday...at a foot spa! Ahhh!

So we headed out the dirt roads to the main road, an just before reaching the main road, we come up to this bridge where people have said for a long time already that it is no longer safe to cross, an for a long time the one side had been dipping down at the one end, but tonight I saw that the bridge had taken a new "low dip" infact the edge of the steel plate was sticking up about 6in. into the air, an I had to bump over that an onto the bridge, but first Kevin got out to check an see if it was for sure safe, an he thought it was, so I slowly drove the front of my vehicle onto it, an since we didn't plummet the hundreds of feet below us to our death, I quickly hit the gas peddle, an crossed that bridge quicker then I ever had before! So we all breathed a sigh of relief after we crossed that last obstacle!
I soon discovered on the way home that when they were trying to jump the battery in my car, an all that smoke was flying, they might have charged my battery, but they fried most of my fuses, I had no dash board lights, everything was dark inside, I just barely had regular driving lights, they were terribly dim, an driving back in the dark was another challenge, as the oncoming traffic lights blinded me, an I couldn't see the speed bumps coming up, an was trying to watch out for people that were

Getting my feet an nails done, an feeling like a queen!

walking an biking along the side of the road, an crossing the road in front of me!
We made it back safely, an by the time I drove up to our compound gate it was around 8:00pm an I was so tired I could barely think...I dropped all the people of at their various places, then came home, an drove up to our house, parked an turned the key off, thinking rest in peace dear vehicle I'm home now....but I was soon roused from my semi-slumberous thoughts, with a LOUD BANG!!! I jerked into full awakeness, (I know that's not a word, but it fit so...) an grappled for my door handle in the dark, leaping from my car, as smoke billowed out from under the hood...I stepped back an watched as smoke ascended, an things sizzled an popped..... people started coming out of their houses, wondering what the loud bang was, Someone said that it was so loud that they thought it was a bomb. But soon the smoke cleared, an the men opened up the hood an discovered as bad as it sounded an looked, it was only a water pipe that busted...so while they looked at what all was wrong with the little "bomb-in-the-making car" I went for the house an after a hot shower collapsed into my bed, wondering how I will ever describe to my blogger people how this whole day went!
But alas! After a whole article that is way too long, I told you some of what my day was like...
Well, if you are still with me till this point, I will briefly share with you what the rest of my week was like...
(Monday January 23rd)
Today I slept in for a long time an tried to recuperate from the day before.
Dad an all the pastors had their regular Monday meeting at Java house today for a change from Josephs carport.
Mom had done all our laundry on Saturday, so she was sewing a dress today.
In the evening Rhoda's family made a huge pizza supper for the entire compound!
We all looked forward to that so much! because the pizza's contained lots of yummy American toppings, an even real pepperoni!!
We even had homemade pies, an hand-cranked ice cream, how much better can it get!?
After supper we youth played spike-ball an corn-hole on the lane, with all the visitors we had a good time, with more youth around then usual.

This is the kitchen of the "collage" That Evans attends...

(Tuesday January 24th)
Today Dad was out visiting most of the day...
I was around home today cleaning mostly since we had invited Rhoda's family over for supper tonight.
In the afternoon I took some frozen garden tea, to my friend mamma Kay's hair braiding shop, an also took some toys along for her son Wayne who is 2yr old an has to sit in her shop while she braids hair, an has no toys to play with, an gets very impatient while his mommy is busy, so I took him some toys an played on the floor with him, he just loved it! an I was pretty proud that he even learned how to say my name, he is so sweet! But has a short patience level.
So I was there for over an hour, talking, an playing with Wayne.
Mamma Kay is by far my closest Kenyan friend, an I call her my Kenyan mum, an she loves that!

Wayne, Stacy, an I along with Evans an some of his school friends. *Evans in white shirt an hat.

In the evening we had Rhoda's family over for supper, we had a good evening...but by this evening I was starting to feel really sick...we would all have NO idea why I would be feeling sick..... right. yeah, I know, I shouldn't have drank that water...but I really don't want to hear that now! I just want to quietly suffer, an not talk about how I got to this point in my life! Thanks for not talking to me while I'm sick, or asking me if I took my vitamins, or ate anything from the street side stands recently....hummmm that is too much the way I am when I get sick.... don't talk to me, if you need me, my head is under this pillow. An don't you dare touch the pillow! unless you want to get hurt......Really Sylvia?! grow up already.
(Wednesday January 25th)
So today Dad an Mom went to Bible study, an Wayne an I again stayed home.
I was feeling sick so I didn't get much of anything done.

Playing spike ball on the lane...

Wayne was working on my bomb of a car...
Dad an Mom came home really late from Bible study, an I actually finally got my blog finished tonight, an couldn't send it out because of a power outage, but just before I fell asleep power came back on so I posted it before I slept.
(Thursday January 26th)
I was feeling some better today, so I just worked around home...an then in the afternoon Becca, Londa, Stacy an me went to visit my friend Janet, an played games with the children around there, it was a fun afternoon, Janet even took us to her son Peace's school, where his class sang some songs, an we sang for them, an gave them candy, they loved it!
In the evening we all went to Wayne Yoder's house, for compound prayer meeting...
(Friday January 27th)

Little girl at school...

Today I was again working around home, an some how it was one of my worst days since I came to Kenya...it seemed everything went wrong that could, an I don't usually get discouraged, but I was pretty "depressed" for several hours, but I found being depressed is even worse, then what it sounds like!! So since Wayne an I had wanted to do something together while the twins are gone anyway, we decided to go out to KFC for supper, so that was fun, an made me forget about my crazy day, of working an working an feeling like I didn't get anything done because of things going wrong.
And then in the evening when we got back there were all kinds of visiting youth around an we had some epic volley ball games, so by the end of the day i was once again in my right frame of mind...for the most part at least! ha ha!
So that is all that I'm going to write about this week...
I know this blog is lengthy again, but when I tell a story I have to tell it right, so you get it so....

looking at the 4 white girls that came to visit their school

anyway, I hope you all have a good week, an if any you have a spare set of jumper cables around let me know, since I'm strongly considering carrying cables along in my purse, with other accessories, such as my hand sanitizer, lotion, finger nail clipper, an other items that you never know if you will one day need!

live an learn....

So until next time!

~Sylvia

For The Miller's