Metatu Metatu

Metatu Metatu

I am travelling to Kisii, and then to Asumbi to catch up with the boys and local community. This is my story from Kisumu, to Kisii, a distance of 110 km, in a metatu, known as “Yes we can”, a 14 seater Toyota van.
I catch a boda at 8.30AM to take my 2 parcels of medicines, weighing about 40kg from the 1.5 star DAL International hotel to Metatu central, a seething mass of sellers, passengers, touts, and metatus travelling in all directions from Kisumu. I have done the trip several times before, and consider myself at least a little experienced, but life and travel here is full of surprises, expectation, trepidation, and the unexpected.
After choosing the aptly named “Yes we can” for the journey, Obama being the “All Kenyan partly American hero” we eventually leave town at 10.30AM. I am introduced to the “seat warmer” phenomenon where young lads occupy seats to make the vehicle look “fuller” encouraging passengers to enter the metatu, only to progressively leave as the vehicle fills. This is truly frustrating!
I have travelled on the road 4 days earlier, and know the first part of the trip to Ahero (tr. love) was likely to be interesting given the parlous state of the road with massive frequent and poorly located potholes littering the road. This is the main drag to Nairobi also, and there are high traffic volumes, and steep shoulders just to fuel anxieties.
After leaving the central station we go 300 metres and abruptly turn into the petrol station to inflate 3 of the 4 tyres and for fuel. A macabre sense of roadworthiness ensues and we rattle off. The 35km trip to Ahero is a cat and mouse game with another metatu “City Guy” overtaking buses, trucks, and cars with gay abandon, interspersed with stops at police checkpoints. Seeing a Mzungu (white man) seat-belted in the front is generally sufficient to encourage rapid transit, but many places have been lost in the mobile caravan winding along the route. Undeterred, we re-engage in the chase, much like a hound on the scent of a beleaguered fox. It is marginally relieving that the road repair team has been over the road, in the interim, and now we only rumble and bound over the new bitumen mounds that were previously potholes.
At Ahero, I am not certain whether we won the race for the maiden or not, but we roar through the busy town faster than at any time in the previous 40 minutes, only slowing slightly to tear around the 90° bend and head south to Kisii.
The road is a lot quieter, but in poor condition, with 10-20cm drops onto the shoulders, which must be terrifying for the bicyclists to negotiate as vehicles boom on their horns for them to get off the road. Size is everything on Kenyan roads, but frequent rumble strips near towns reduce speed, and check the status of the springs and shockers.
Although this is classified as an express vehicle, this is only true between stops! We frequently stop to drop off passengers and pick up extras, accelerating to terminal velocity quickly again. We hit 100km/h and are blocked as a shepherd herds his cattle along and across the road, causing the obligatory screaming of brakes and shuddering to a halt, accompanied by vocal driver abuse. This is the cross-roads of Kenyan history meandering along, and the bustling clatter of the 21st century, although it is sometimes difficult to know into which grouping we fit.
Our latest passenger arrives with baggage and chook in hand; the tout grabs the started animal and throws it under the seat and it cackles intermittently as we power along, our destiny almost as uncertain the chooks!
We arrive in Sondhu, location of huge markets most days, with frequent rumble strips and the ever present police checkpoints on either side. This location is rarely traversed without paying a bribe to enable rapid transit, but I am left to ponder the brazen corruption, simply to augment a salary.
The passengers start to become agitated and jibes fly as we stop 4 times in a 2km stretch of road, but business is business, and these guys have skins as thick as rhinos. We are now dueling with another metatu “Tsvangurai” (named after Morgan, the Zimbabwean polly). We abort a daring overtaking move around a blind bend, after reaching their girth, and shortly after are passed by the aptly named “Jolly Smart” metatu charging in the opposite direction. Not to be diverted from the cause, we eventually pass the Zimbabwean express, only to leap frog each other repeatedly as one or other vehicle stops or impatience overwhelms the drivers. We catch up to another metatu named “Disciples” and race past, only to be passed in the opposite direction by the metatus “Vatican Express” closely followed by “Immortality”. I wonder whether going with the disciples or immortality is a safer option? I am welded to the seat, headed in the right direction and so continue relentlessly.
At Oyugis, a town similarly famous as West Wyalong for its winding main street and lawlessness, I see “Tsvanguai” disappear over the horizon ahead; I ponder how any forward progress could be outpaced by Zimbabwe? We come to a halt in the town, and are told that our ride in this metatu had finished and we must change vehicles. I gather my precious belongings, and get into another model “Ohoi”, a discretely elderly and musical individual, noises emanating from the motor, clutch, bearings, and chassis. After a push start, we shudder and lurch into action. Sadly, in a cloud of steam, a strong whiff of hot metal, a string of expletives, the vehicle dies, to the dismay of driver and tout, 20km up the road at Moshoko. Again we disembark, and miraculously, another metatu appears as if the “disciples” had a premonition of the imminent demise of our metatu and had sent help!
The last 30km of the trip had taken 90mins, and my plans for meeting the Asumbi boys in Kisii are in tatters. I gather my bags, and wander through the Kisii throng, having safely arrived. It seems another ritualistic challenge has been negotiated; it is difficult not to be an active passenger, driving would certainly be a nightmare.
Adieu for now!

Bongo Medical Clinic Day

Dear All,
We have had a quiet day after doing a medical clinic with Fred Mito in his homelands in the Bongo district to the west of Kisumu. Approximately 300 people were seen, on the day. This is a region where there is little access to medical care and few opportunities to access medicines usually.
We used some of our funding to purchase medicines and arrange a team of medical, laboratory, and pharmacy assistants for this event. Fred and his wife did a great job packing tablets into appropriate courses on the evening beforehand, and we hired a metatu (14 seater van) to move the team for the trip to Bongo. As usual, any trips on metatus are experiences in culture, creative driving, fear, and ultimately relief.
After arising at 6.50AM we reached our location at about 10.30AM. The church site looked over Lake Victoria, and most pastors would have loved to have the turnout for a Sunday service!
Most patients were dressed in their best clothes, and eagerly sought our help (excluding a few children who thought Mzungus (white people) were from a different planet, and sought to exercise their lungs freely). We had a long line of patients all day, seeing lots of respiratory tract infections, gastroenteritis, malaria, and aches and pains. We had relatively few skin infections, which was good, but sadly quite a few children with nasty malaria. We were able to test for malaria in the lab, and Carol had the dubious honour of taking children into the lab for the finger prick test often resulting in howls and cries.
Unfortunately, we saw a couple of children so sick with malaria, that they couldn’t walk, and had raging fevers that were evident just from the heat radiating from them. Despite treating them, we felt anxious that sending them home was a sub-optimal scenario, and hope and pray that when we return in a fourtnight, they will all walk into see us.
Overall, the day was very successful, and we hope this is repeated on the next 2 weekends.
Cheers from Kenya,
Mark and Carol

Kenya 1

Hi all,
Having moved on from Southern Sudan and relocated in Kisumu, Kenya. We have been confronted with Obama mania. Quite impressive really almost the entire population is obsessed with the new American President. Even Kenyans who can not speak any English will call out Obama when they see you, assuming every white person (Muzumgu) is American.
Anyway, to what we have been doing, given we didn’t really have a plan when we left home.
We have been speaking with several groups based here and after visiting the Temak’s ‘City of Hope’ it was glaringly obvious there was something very wrong with their tank stand. The top section 40 feet off the ground and could barely support the two tanks on top of it and they didn’t even have any water in them. We contracted a group called ATP college for students learning mechanics, mechanical engineering & Catering they have 105 students, it is a Lutheran Church Project. They do steel fabrication and so designed and made a platform to support the tanks. It was installed on Saturday 24th January.
A team of 10 students and their boss (teacher) came and did all the work. Arriving around 8 am, it was very soon apparent there are not strong Occupational, Health and Safety Regulations here. These 10 guys were hanging off the tower structure everywhere – no ropes, harnesses or security at all. Mark could not resist he had to climb up too (using the ladder) I have some great photo’s. They worked until it was finished around 4pm with no break. We had arranged to have a meal brought in – Ugali, Skumiwiki, Meat ? (beef stew), Chapati and a Soda (coke etc). As you can imagine Mark and I were some what reserved in our serve but the boys dug in until it was all gone. We also paid them 200/-(Kenyan shillings) = $4.00 Aussie each, neither the money or the meal were expected but Mark & I thought it was the least we could do. How many of you guys would work all day out side in the sun for that. They went home extremely happy and so were we; they had done a great job. Mark is now supporting a very distinct sunglass tan on his face.
We have also arranged some mobile medical clinics the first of which will be this Saturday 31st Jan. We have been buying the medication that will be required for this. Fred is arranging some local medical assistants and transportation for us all. Apparently the word is out and the community northwest of Kisumu are keenly anticipating our arrival.
We are both looking forward to this, I will let you know how it goes on the next update.
Bye for now, Love Mark & Carol.

First report

We have had a wonderful experience here in Juba with the team headed by Archbishop Jeffery (lovingly now known as the archbishop of the world and neighbouring planets!).He has emphasized the role of nurturing the process of building, strengthening, and expanding relationships between and within our churches. The leadership in the Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS) shows great energy, passion, responsibility, and belief, as it addresses many challenges, both expected and unforeseen. The evolution of a strong and committed modern church, from one of chaplaincy throughout a prolonged guerilla warfare phase, has many difficulties. These include insufficient clergy, often with inadequate training, capturing, enlivening, and uplifting the youth, and determining a relevant social, educational, and political context. There is much development occurring in the Southern Sudan, although a lack of central co-ordination and co-operation is evident which has reduced the effectiveness of some of these initiatives.There is so much need the most basic is access clean water, there is so much water in the white Nile running rapidly right along side the city. The flow puts the Murray to shame.Everything is so expensive in Juba 1 bag of cement is 50-70 us dollars - we have taken to heart a project that the Mothers Union were running but because of the bird flew all the birds were destroyed. The coop was in a state of neglect so Mark and Andrew and some of the youth pilgrimage set to and tidied up and fixed the holes in the wire. We have arranged to get the roof re-thatched and have left enough money to purchase 400 chickens which have to be ordered through Uganda. we have the contact details of Mumma Jesca of MU who is arranging this all and will forward photo's when the birds arrive. This project not only produces eggs for sale, they also hatch and raise more birds to give to families in great need. There are approx 500,000 internally displaced people in and around Juba. bye for now love Mark & Carol

Kenyan Flag

Kenya's flag is composed of three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green; the red band is edged in white; a large warrior's shield covering crossed spears is superimposed at the center

Kenyan Fact
Over the past thirty-five years Kenyans have established themselves as the world's premier distance runners. Since 1968, Kenya has collected 38 (through 2003) Olympic medals at distances between 800 and 10,000 meters, far more than any other country.

View map of Kenya:-
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&q=Kenya+Map&ie=UTF8&z=6&g=Kenya

Itinerary

Adelaide - Bangkok - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
(Time with Adelaide Missionaries working with Street Kids)

Addis Ababa - Juba, Southern Sudan.
(Group visit with Adelaide's Anglican Archbishop to discover ways and means to help)

Juba - Addis Ababa - Nairobi - Kisumu, Kenya.
(Mark & Carol's mission in humanitarian work within Kenya)

Kisumu - Nairobi - Addis Ababa.
(visit the Fistual Hospital)

Addis Ababa - Bangkok - Hong Kong - Adelaide.
(Home)

Rang'i school