Back to Nakuru and a fun day!

Saturday morning marked the end of our time in Bondo. We got a chance to sleep in a little bit, since for the first day since we arrived, we didn't need to catch an early ferry! 

Even though we had been staying in a nice hotel, the water there was not safe to drink or even open your mouth in the shower. If you ran the water into one of our white buckets, it was brown and left a brown sediment in the bottom. But unless people buy bottled water, this is the only water source to drink (or worse!). But how can they afford to buy water, when the average earnings is about the equivalent of $2.00 per day? And the prices are nearly evuivalent to our prices in the States.  A coke or water is about $.65.  At that rate, people have no choice but to drink dirty water. Bondo is on the mainland and was where we got the ferry each day to distribute water filters on Mageta Island. But it will be awhile before SWOK will be able to distribute filters there. The project on Mageta was about a $480,000. project.  The project to do the entire county which includes Bondo would be a $10 million project! But Bill and Chat ant SWOK are seeking the Lord's direction to determine if this is where He wants them to go next. This would be a project in cooperation with the county government. 

While we were staying in the hotel in Bondo, we generated our water for the team to drink with two kits of UZima filters set up in Bill & Chat's room. When they came back on Friday afternoon from our last day on Mageta, they found this note on their bed. 

Bill and Chat passed on a special blessing to Andi and I by allowing us to train these two housekeepers in how to assemble, use and clean the filter kits and gave them each one for their families. This was made possible because friends back home had given us money to use to buy filters to be given away. It was an awesome blessing for Andi and I to be able to do this personally, to be connected on both ends of the "gifting transaction". And I'm not able to effectively put into words how thrilled these ladies were to receive the blessing of having clean water. It's something we don't give a moment's thought to but something they only dream about on a daily basis!  

We packed up our vans mid morning, said our goodbyes, and headed back for the long but beautiful drive to Nakuru, arriving home around 7:45 pm. After showers, dinner and team meeting, we fell into bed. 

Sunday has been a rest and fun day. We started off after breakfast with church at the Agora Trinity Vineyard Church, where our teams have been blessed to worship on the previous two trips as well. It's a blessing to be in a large multicultural and multinational church worshipping with other believers. This is an important church ministering to the needs of many who are in full time ministry themselves. We had the blessing to be there on a Sunday with two infant dedications and five adult baptisms as well as holy communion. 

Following the service and fellowship following, we packed back in the vans for a one hour drive to Lake Naivasha for boat rides to Crescent Island and searching for hippos.  We found four (or 5) hippos together (it's tough to tell when 95% of the animal is below water and you dare not get too close). We had a great hike around the island, seeing impalas, gazelles, waterbucks, zebras, wildebeests and tons of different birds. It was a great but long day, arriving back at Tumaini by 8:00 for dinner and cleanup for an early start of construction work tomorrow at Gituamba. 

These are the beautiful cottages where we are staying at Tumaini in Nakuru. 

Our last day on Mageta Island

Today was the final day of distribution of water filters on Mageta Island. We followed the same routine as the last two days but travelled by ferry to the extreme north end of the island where it touches the Uganda border. 
This was also the post populated area we had been to. It is basically the town center of the fishing village. Everywhere we walked, there were nets spread out with little fish being dried in the sun. It was also the furthest distance we had to transport our supplies across land, and we were thankful for the townspeople who once again helped with the task. And of course, many of the women carried heavy loads on their heads!



Following the distribution, we had the opportunity to carry purchased supplies to the local Sir Henry primary school.  This village school has had excellent success in developing student's potential, especially for a poor school in an isolated area. The students were excited to greet us. 




We walked down to the lake horse on the Uganda border and then headed to the wharf, where we again returned by 60' dory for a great open air ride back. 




Bill Coble even got the chance to ride in a bucket seat!

Today's activity finished up the final day of water filter distribution for the Lake Victoria Islands project. We look forward to hearing dramatic results in health improvements among the islanders. You can sense and feel the enthusiasm among the island residents as you interact with them during the distribution, and they are thankful for the generosity of all of you back in America who have donated to make this possible. The residents are told during our translated presentation that we are just representatives chosen to carry this blessing to them and that the gift comes from many, many individuals back in America.  And as a team member, let me personally thank you again for allowing me to be your emissary to take this gift to Kenya. We could not do this without your generous support! 

Your donations are far more than what they may seem on the surface. You may have paid for a water filter, many water filters, money to pay for expenses of getting the team to kenya, etc.  The entire population, over 8000 families on these islands, now have clean water to drink and will reap the benefits of that. Waterborne disease will nearly be wiped out. Children will be able to attend school more regularly because they won't be sick as much, and they won't fall behind and be unable to catch up. And education is the one hope these children can have for a positive future. Adults will not miss time from work due to sickness. Scarce money won't be spent on doctor bills. 

These people now know that they are not forgotten and that God loves them. And they know that because of God's love for us, we were called to love them and we're sent to them. 

The effect of clean water spreads out like ripples in a pond. And you have played a significant part in starting those small waves! Thank you again for your part in making this a reality! 

Second day on Mageta Island

Our second day of water filters on Mageta Island was very similar to the first. We were at the dock by 7:30 again and loaded the supply boat with another 700 filter kits, bucket sets and lids. We got off the ferry at the first stop this time, about a mile closer to our starting point. The shoreline was more gradual at this point for transporting the materials inland, but the distribution site was a few hundred yards further from the landing. 

Josh Shaffer (aka: Mr. Balloon Man) kept the kids entertained! And Ashley did a great job filling in for Josh as well. Once again, she couldn't resist the urge to hold the babies! 

The filter distribution went well, with over 600 distributed to family heads. That represents approximately 4000 additional people who will now have the ability to produce their own clean water. 

I wanted to also clarify a statement made yesterday by the chief over one section of the island. He had said that before SWOK started distributing water filters and training people in their use, 100% of the people were sick routinely with cholera, Typhoid and primarily dysentery, but that number has decreased significantly to 40% just in the short time since filter distribution began. A major achievement will be reached when the infant mortality rate is demonstrated to have come down, although statistics won't be available to demonstrate that for several months. 

One instance really struck me today: when we were finished the water filter distribution late in the afternoon, we had cardboard boxes and dividers left over as trash from the packaging of the water filters.  When Bill Coble indicated that we were done and held up a stack of cardboard sheets, the kids clamored for our "junk" and treated it like treasure. It struck me again how much we have and how much we take for granted. It also showed me how much joy the Kenyan children have in little things, and they were mannerly in competing with the other kids.  I saw no pushing or shoving or taking from others, even though they have so little. We also should learn to find joy in little things.  

We had completed the filter distribution earlier than planned, and the ferry doesn't come till later in the afternoon. The winds also build on the vast lake later in the afternoon, so we decided to arrange an earlier ride on one of the large boats they use for fishing (and for transporting all our buckets and supplies).  We all piled in and had a great ride back in the fresh air, rather than crammed inside the sardine can ferry!

Water filter distribution on Mageta Island in Lake Victoria

Hopefully you haven't given up on this blog yet. The Blogger app went dark over the weekend and won't function with pictures. Google apparently bought the site but won't give access except through some other blog services. I've been able to load a different app, keep the same blog address and add pictures. Praise the Lord! 

We started off an early day at 5:15 in order to leave in the vans at 7:00 to drive to the quay where the ferry comes in. We had yesterday prepared 990 bucket kits (1980 buckets and 1980 lids) all ready to fill with the individual items to make a complete kit. We had loaded a hired truck last night just before dark to transport them to the quay to meet us this morning at 7:30. We got there in time to load them and all our peripheral gear into a large hired dory to take them to Mageta Island while we went by ferry. 

We crammed into the ferry with all the other folks that were going to various ports on the island. 

Once on the island, we began the labor-intensive task of transporting our mountain of materials up the cliff and several hundred yards to the sandy field where we would do the training and distribution. It's a sea of blue and white when you get 990 kits spread out in sets of 15 to coordinate groups for training! 

Following prayer with the local chief and other local government officials, they explained how dire the need for clean water is.  Before SWOK made the first water filter distribution on this island a month and a half ago, they were recording on average 25 child deaths per month from waterborne illness complications. In that mere month and a half, they report that number has dropped by 60%!  Their goal is to get it to ZERO with completion of distribution to all families. 

We were then introduced to the large group of assembled people in order to do the group hygiene training and water filter training and distribution. We then broke up into groups at various stations to process paperwork and provide small group training with a translator for each group. 

Because of some logistical problems with completion of records, some filters could not be distributed in the time available (we didn't want to miss the return ferry at 4:00 and spend the night on the island!). As a result, we distributed 686 filters, thus providing access to clean water to over 3100 people. The remaining kits will be distributed on Friday, after we distribute another 1000 tomorrow at a different location on the island. Following the distribution, the team went briefly to primary and secondary schools on the island to distribute needed school supplies. They found that the water filters that were distributed earlier in the day for the schools were already in use!  The girls also were swarmed with little kids there and found babies to hold! Don't they look like it was a sacrifice to do that?

We returned by ferry with a bunch of tired troops! We made a ferry stop on the border with Uganda and headed home to Bondo Pride hotel for dinner, showers and team meeting. A great day!