22 September 2011

Trip to the Kitale area: Matunda, Go-Down, Nzoia Scheme, Machine, and Misikhu

It's different, these days, when I travel to the Kitale area.... since I vacated my mud hut in February. But, God is so cool! Simultaneous to no longer having my own house to stay in... he led me to discover the Karibuni Kenya guesthouse. I absolutely love it!


Relaxing with a good book from their library and a hot cup of tea.

My room for this visit. Last time I had a room in the main house.


Faith, Tony, Sinclair
On my way from Matunda to Nzoiza Scheme - on the back of a motorbike taxi - I happened to see Sinclair (a brother to Martin) in the Go-Down area. Or, I should say, Sinclair happened to see me... and hollered. I had Wycliff (my taxi driver) wait a bit so I could stop by the house. Only Faith and Tony were there, but it was good to see them after so long. (Martin, plus Mary and Zadok, weren't around.)



Ken, Helen, Mary, and Joan
I took Ken and Joan (the couple that now stay in my former mud hut) to meet my friend, Mary Alu. They've heard me speak often of her and also of Nzoia Scheme (the area where she lives). It was a nice outing for all of us. We also met Mary's friend and neighbor, Helen.

I spent the night at Mary's house. In the morning - after a lot of rain overnight - the roads were a mess! Wycliff really struggled to make it through the slippery slop without us falling over! The photos don't do it justice, at all. It was actually quite treacherous. Another boda boda (motorbike taxi) driver asked Wycliff (in Swahili), "Do you really think you'll make it?" Wycliff ignored him, keeping his full attention on his driving. I've always had complete trust in his skills!


The slippery road in the Machine area


Interestingly, "Machine" is the actual name of the village market area.


Pretty view of maize and Mt. Elgon, from my hotel room balcony at Misikhu.


I spent a couple of days with Agnes and her boys at Misikhu. I sympathized with some of her recent struggles, but also rejoiced with her regarding her good watermelon crop. After the watermelon was harvested, she planted peanuts on the same piece of land. She also awaits her maize harvest. Additionally I tried to encourage her regarding some issues with her oldest son, Tony.

Adu (short for Anderson)

Duane, Adu, Agnes, and Zach

Pope (short for Popino) and Duane

Duane, eating lunch

Zach, having fun with an empty box

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wait ... who is Pope?

deb said...

Pope is Agnes' second-oldest son. On this day, he had just returned from weeding a neighbor's maize crop.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful view of the landscape and Mt. Elgon.

-Ryan Y