A Kenyan "Wake", Pesky Mosquitoes, And A Drunk Butcher!

(Saturday September 24th)

Nandi Hills

Today we all slept in, except Dad who was in his office studying for the message the next day...an with the news that an older lady from church died, he was also trying to prepare to officiate his first Kenyan funeral, I think it looks kinda big to him, since funerals in Kenya are an even bigger deal then at home, the funerals often last for a several days, or more!


Mom an I made a big lunch, an we all had brunch together, an also invited Dishon since he was in our front lawn washing vehicles.


We had a good day doing various jobs around home...an then in the evening Mom made some popcorn, an we all went to hippo point with apples, popcorn, an cookies, an spread out a blanket, we enjoyed the family time, as well as the cool breeze off of the lake.

Thunk! into the deep puddle...

Then much to our surprise our good friends Richard & Janet (ex-Muslim)  an Richard sister, came to the lake on their piki, along with their son Peace, Janet is very largely pregnant an ready to have a baby any day! (An Since I'm so late in getting this blog post out, I can now say that they had a little baby boy named Peter Gerold! Dad is as proud as a peacock to have a little Kenyan Boy named after him.) We sat at the lake and talked with our friends a long time, they had come to the lake to buy some fish for supper, an had no idea we would be there! it is crazy how much they feel like family to us....It was a really great Saturday evening!
(Sunday September 25th)
Today Dad & Mom along with Wayne an I left early together to go to IC class, with the twins coming at the regular time, since they were both not feeling the best.

The driver trying to think of a plan of action...

After the service we went to one of the orphan boys home for lunch, he is maybe 12-13 yr old an he had gotten some money to go on a visit to Nakamatt (grocery store) with his school, they had also went to a zoo the same day, but he save his money an bought food at the grocery store, an decided to invite the pastor an his family to his house for lunch on Sunday! We felt incredibly honored, an completely unworthy! to think of all the other things he could have gotten for himself at the store! he lives with his grandmother, an his grandmother, an a neighbor lady, cooked up a big meal for us, an the orphan boy named Downing, was so proud to have us at his house for lunch, he showed us pictures of his Dad before he got killed, it was really touching...After lunch we were just around his home there, an he was having so much fun showing us around, he even took us to the river with his 4 cows to get water, an to watch the other boys jump off of a high cliff into the river, it was really neat to watch them. Dad & Mom rushed on after lunch to visit someone else who was sick, but beings us children had brought a separate vehicle we just hung around at Downing's house, since he simply loved having all of us there.

When you do everything else by hand, why not push a vehicle out by hand!?

We finally got home around 5pm. an promptly got ready for a compound gathering at Wayne Yoder's house, we looked at slides of when Wayne's family were missionaries in Belize, back when Wayne was just a young boy, it was interesting to see how earlier missionaries really had it a lot harder then we do now, with no email, an lots of other things that we missionaries today have so freely...

(Monday September 26th)
Today Dad was out an about meeting with the deceased widows family, trying to make arrangements for preparing of the body, as well as other funeral arrangements.


The boys were busy around the compound...
And Mom an I were busy around home here, Mom did all the laundry today...I worked on the blog, then we helped each other clean up the house, an make supper, since we had invited Jake & Janice's family, along with Jakes parents that are visiting from Wisconsin.

WOW! bless their hearts, even if the goal was to make a few shillings which they did get!

We wanted to have them over for a meal before they go home again, an it's good they came, because over the course of conversation we discovered that Jake, (The missionary pastor from here.) an my Mom are second cousins, leave it to Mennonite's to discover such things over dinner together! an so us children would be third cousins with Jake! interesting. an since such things are so interesting to us Amish an Mennonite people...trying to discover if our great, great, great grandpa's might have possibly been related! good gracious. but it was neat to discover we have "family" way over here in Kenya!
Jake did however express his sincere gratitude to discover that it is through my Mom's Side of the  family that he is related to us, an not my Dad's Side of the family! ha! he also mentioned the fact that he hasn't been able to sleep the best, since finding out he's related to us! ha! ha! we seem to be sleeping quite solidly though.

The Kenyans stood back in amazement at the power of the truck!!

(Tuesday September 27th)
Today Dad was out visiting various church people, as he found out on Monday that an old man, who was in the hospital also died, he was in instruction class, so that makes Dad all the more busy with two funerals in our Nyakoko church over the next week, I think Dad is thinking, "what next!?" but of course ever positive Dad... I over-heard him tell someone the other day that, "well! at least I don't have a wedding yet this week too!"  an I thought, ***Wow! way to be positive Dad!***


This evening we all went to Wayne Yoder's once again for a compound get together, as there were several families visiting our compound, that were coming from the states, they had been in Nakuru AMA mission, an are here in Kisumu for a day or so, I think some of them had been missionaries here in Kenya years ago, an some of the missionaries from here knew them some way or another...an since they had several youth girls along, an Stacy has one of her guy cousins here, we youth had a random v-ball game.
We had a great evening....
(Wednesday September 28th)

Beside the road where we had gotten stuck at...

Today Dad & Mom an Wayne went to Bible study


The twins worked in the shop an worked on several of the compound vehicles.
I was around home, folding laundry, cleaning the house, an making food for the twins...
I went walking before dark, I missed having Wayne to walk with me, but Dad & Mom came home late from Bible study, since they had people to meet with before an after Bible Study, an Bible study was a bit longer then usual with making plans for the 2 funerals coming up, an all the organizing a funeral an wake take, an all the food it takes as people from everywhere come for a funeral, to eat an party, so it takes a lot of food, but thankfully we CBF people were not doing all the cooking by ourselves...

A couple that we visited in the Nandi's, he is a pastor, an they got married 3 weeks ago...

(Thursday September 29th)
Today the three bro's an I along with Clarissa, as well as Stacy an her cousin Anthony who is visiting her from Nevada, went hiking in the Nandi hills with nurse Jabet, she goes into the mountains to visit peoples homes to make sure that their living conditions are as sanitary as possible, among other duties as well.

Nurse Jabet waiting on these slow white people to keep up with her...

We hiked some very steep trails an then we went to nurse Jabet's home for lunch, she made us a feast! complete with rice, beans, beef, potatoes, an chapattis, we even got COLD sodas! wow! after lunch we went hiking once more, we hiked back in to a water falls, it was a lot bigger then I expected! it was quite huge, an very cold an refreshing, we hiked up hill to the top of the falls, an then down a steep hill to the bottom of the falls, at one point I had to hold on to vines to slide down the hill, it reminded me of some hiking I had down out in Arkansas the one winter...

Wading through streams....

Through still waters....

But one exciting adventure that I need to tell you all a little about was, that on our way back in where we were planning on meeting the nurse to then go hiking, we got stuck! we hit a pretty big puddle... hoping we could make it across, but alas! we dropped down in the puddle right on our axle with a solid thump! it was a lot deeper then any of us expected! an since we didn't have four well drive we were quite stuck! we spun around for a while trying to get out, but then finally we all got out of the vehicle trying to jump over the mud an water outside our doors, an analyzed our situation, an before long a whole crowd gathered around trying to see what these "white people" did this time, they tried pushing us out, they even dug the mud away from the tires, an put stones under the tires to give it traction, getting themselves all muddy an wet in the process, but we were simply stuck. we had tried getting a tractor that was close by to come pull us out, promising to pay him, but he claimed it would take too long for him to unhook his trailer an he was busy, so we contacted bishop Joseph who luckily happened to be close by, an since he had the missions new Hilux truck he was more then happy to come pull us out of our dilemma, an soon we were off to our awesome rest of the day!
We all had so much fun together, an got home in time to shower an get ready for compound prayer meeting at Joe & Glenda in the evening.
(Friday September 30th)

...And finally the rewarding water falls...

Today we all got ready an headed out for our church for preparations for Yuanita's funeral, an older widow lady from church.
We got to the central town Masogo an Dad filled up his van with all the church people that gathered at Masogo, an wanted to go along to the funeral home to pick up the body, as that is a huge thing here in Kenya to all go to the funeral home an pick up the body an return home with all the family, we had also brought the "stone crusher" an that thing was filled to the gills!
Dad drove the one van, an beings Stan still is feeling very weak from the sickness he had, he drove the other vehicle.

Donkeys on their way home...

So that left Steve, Wayne, an I in the muddy little town of Masogo, Waiting for Daniel Okalo to arrive, we sat in the muddy, sleepy, little town armed with shovels and water, an once Daniel arrived we started walking to the house where the funeral was planning on being at, the boys were planning on helping with the mammoth job of hand-digging the grave, in the sweltering heat, thankfully, the Kenyans only dig down 4-5 feet, an not 6 feet. While they were digging the grave, I went to the well an worked on washing my shoes from slipping an sliding through the mud to get to the house where the grave was being dug.

Wayne cutting loose on the grave...

The natives got a huge kick out of how the dirt flew when Wayne was digging

The Kenyans motto: Why outdo your self when you have all day! sigh...

Putting up the tents an cooking food for the funeral...

I tried to keep the grave diggers supplied with water, an a snack, an finally other people started arriving an ended up helping a bit, Daniel an my brothers were not very impressed as on the previous Sunday many had committed on coming to help dig the grave, as that is a big job, but then most waited to come till way late! (I found it rather humorous that Steve being the Men's Sunday school teacher, said he inserted that with his Sunday school the next Sunday when the group was all talking about helping each other an caring for each other especially in the church, an Steve mentioned that that would even include everyday tasks of helping each other in the fields or digging a grave, or what ever it is that needs to be done for the church! lol he is funny!) Even a drunk man appeared to lend a very unsteady hand to the grave digging, an talked way more then he worked...obviously saying things that didn't make sense, as the rest of the men were laughing uproariously at the things he said, an he also wanted to dig the grave, but they soon took his shovel away an made him leave the grave, to which he got rather upset, but in his foolish drunken state he soon forgot that he wanted to help dig the grave, an instead sauntered over to us white people an started a conversation in luo/English that made very little sense, an kept staggering uncomfortable close to talk to us, an also staggered too close to the grave, an I thought that any minute we might have people in the grave that we wernt expecting to bury! as he kept jabbering nonsense into our faces, Wayne, our family clown, started randomly talking to him in Dutch, telling him that he should maybe just leave, an the drunk guy started laughing like he understood what was being said, an even agreed with things Wayne was saying to him, (In Dutch.) laughing an slapping his knee, an saying, "yes! yes! your right!" now it was us siblings turn to laugh at what a fool he was making out of himself, because Wayne had just told him to leave an he was laughing an saying, "yes!" even though he didn't understand a word that Wayne had said.
There seems to always be several drunks at a funeral, since it is "party time" for a lot of them. But makes me feel bad for the family that is mourning... that these loud drunk men need to be there.

Playing at the well...

Steve with a little friend, showing her pictures on his phone...

So after they were almost finished with the grave digging, they called us in to eat corn an beans, the drunk man also came, an while us CBF people where eating supper the drunk man was actually working on putting up the walls to the big tent they had set up, an he did fairly well, but missed some hoops for fastening, an would randomly say things in Luo to the people eating, an everyone would laugh, an shake their heads in disgust! the time I had to laugh is when he poked his head through the corner of the tent an kept waving across the tent room to Dad, an saying, "I'm greeting the white pasta! an I will see you at your church on Sunday" looking as sober as a giraffe! An then, he also emphatically stated that he will also be becoming a member at our church as he loves Jesus! all the church people laughed, but he looked very serious, an then continued with setting up his tent, an pulling on a gap in the one corner that was supposed to be the doorway, but he was certain the side of the tent should reach, an kept pulling on it till I thought the tent may collapse! someone finally told him to stop pulling on it...what a fool his liquor made him!

The grave being dug, an visitors arriving with cooking pots on their heads.

After setting up the tent the drunk started butchering...

The men went out to finish the grave digging after we had finished eating, but before we ate our corn an beans the body arrived which was a huge cultural experience for us as we had never heard ladies mourning like this! literally yelling! making hideous sounds, an clapping their hands over their mouths, in a rhythm, an making war-hoop sounds with their hands over their lips slapping their lips in a rhythm that sounded eerie, it gave me goosebumps, an it sounded like what I always imagined Indians sounding just before they swooped down on an unsuspecting white settlement! We could hear the mourners long before we saw them, coming an carrying the casket as Dad was struggling to get his vehicle back in there without getting stuck, so the casket carriers came first with women yelling an swaying everywhere, sobbing out of control, an bending over in their grief, lamenting, an crying out repeatedly, "Mamma nita! mamma nita!" they finally took the casket to the house setting it on the floor in there, an people could go inside to view the body, as the family sat around shaking hands with everyone, Dad soon came bouncing into the yard with his mud splattered vehicle, looking very tired, an later told us that he had the immediate family an several church people in his vehicle an the family was yelling an screamed the entire way to the house, an the ladies from church tried to drone out the mourning by singing, which resulted in a chaos, an volume, unknown to our sheltered ears before this! Dad said he was so ready to get the casket off of the top of the van an the people out of the inside of the van!
So after the grave was dug the three bros left to go back to the compound an set up the volley ball net as there were still visiting youth around, an they wanted to play volley ball as well.

The children an animals could hardly wait, as meat is a rare treat...

Yumminess...NOT. several hours later we were served this same meat with great pride.

Lillian, the daughter of the lady who died...

I was planning on returning home, but on second thought I thought I was seeing too many interesting things to leave now, an that I could always play volley ball later, so I stayed, an got to see the cooks lead a few goats into the back of the tent, an slaughter them! I went to take pictures, only to discover that the drunk guy had now turned into a butcher! I couldn't believe it, but he was actually doing a straight job, an helping with the butchering for meat the next day, at the funeral...but the rest of the evening consisted of singing with a loud boom box an DJ, blaring music into the dark, African, starry, night with the moon casting an eerie glow over everything, and so they had a scripture passage by one of our church brethren, then another loud song that woke everyone up, an the ladies would start singing, clapping, an slowly moving around to the front of the tent in slow, small, in-beat steps, their brightly colored traditional dresses, an matching head scarves glowing in the intense darkness, an so we had what they call the "wake," with a steady rotation of a devotion, blaring music, slapping mosquitoes, prying your eyes open incase you missed an interesting moment, devotional, blaring music, slapping at mosquitoes...an so on as the night progressed, we left at around 11pm. after a supper of ugali an meat,( I desperately tried not to recall the butchering that I had witnessed several hours before, but tried thinking rather of Abraham, an how he preparing his meat on the spur of the moment for his guest's as well, but I soon found out it took more then fond thoughts of the ancient patriarch, to get the stringy,  extremely tuff meat down my throat, I found it helpful to simply swallow the glob of flex ridden meat, if I could not bite off a bite sized portion.) we were very tired an worn-out of jungle-funeral-culture, the rest continued all night (except for the ones having devotions, the CBF brothers eventually went home, leaving the party goers to their music an dancing.) some partiers spreading down a thin blanket on the dirt floor of the house, as they had now moved the casket outside, an others not sleeping at all, but dancing, singing, an clapping literally all night! before we left I wanted to tell one of my friends good-bye an in the darkness I looked into the mud hut, an the floor was simply littered with ladies sleeping on the floor, they were so packed together that you could not walk between them!

"Brother's Make Good Pet's" her shirt says, hummm never thought of that!

We left being a bit scared to drive out to the main road in the dark, as the church people had warned us that it was not advisable to do so in the dark, as you never know what may happen...they told us that a few weeks earlier a women was attacked by robbers, she was stabbed an all her money an things stolen from her, an this had happened on the same dark dirt road that we had to travel home on, but with a prayer on our lips, an a high gear in our vehicle we reached back home safely! Praise God!

We slept solidly that night an felt better then most of the sleepy-eyed, crowd the following day, they lay around trying to sleep, or resting their head on the chair in front of them, the piano player simply snoozing away with his chin resting solidly on his chest, waking up at the nic of time, to sing along with the closing song, but looking in a daze, from a long night of piano playing the night before, he pounded on several same keys throughout the entire song, looking like he would rather be in bed, then pounding out the several same erythematic notes, he was pounding out for these throngs of mourners.

Posing in front of a mud hut...how cool is that!

An so ends this very late blog post...but in my next post you will see why I simply did not have time to write the post this week on Mondays like I usually do...
Hope you all have a great weekend!
So long,
~Sylvia
For The Miller's