Back home

I just got back from a weeks stay in Kenya, what a relief it was to get off the plane in Nairobi and be home!!! oh i loved it so much!!! i just wish Kimberly and Elisha were there with me so we could have stayed. the day after i got there i flew to Eldoret and then had an hour drive to Kitale, funny note, when i got into my taxi at the airport in Eldoret i happened to ask him what tribe he was from and he told me he was a Kikuyu! thats the tribe that is being ethnically cleansed from that region!! yeah so i was just a little bit nervous for the ride. Half of the way to Kitale the sides of the road was lined with large stones that were being used for road blocks before, and telephone poles that had been cut down to block the road as well, and ever so ofter there would be large black burnt spots on the road where they had stacked tires and burned then. at one point there was like 15-20 burned down vehicles, apparently at the weigh station where there is a police post people were parking there cars thinking it was safe, but when the mobs came and the police fired into the air until they used all their ammo they fled and the mob burned all of the vehicles. (my thought steal the cars, dont burn em!!!) There was also multiple burned down houses and shops at all the town centers, they would steal the windows and the doors off of them and then burn them!! crazy!! but once passing the halfway point it was like a whole different world, no burned down houses, no remnants of road blocks, nothing, just plain ol regular Kitale. When we got to Kitale my taxi dropped me off and i met Todd and we went to get some lunch, as soon as we got inside the news on the tv announced that the second member of parliment Kimutai Too was shot outside Eldoret and all heck had broken loose again!! and the road we just came in on was full of road blocks again!!! Thank you Lord!! I spent 5 days in Kitale, preparing the project for the resuming of construction and taking care of bills and salaries for workers and what not, me and Todd even went and played some football one afternoon, very enjoyable!! Monday we got a plane flying from Kitale to Eldoret and then on to Nairobi spent the night and then used the next day getting my work permit. and boy was that an experience!! they have 8 different lines and you have to go through just about every one of them!! ahhhhhhhh!! sure tested my patience. but i got it all taken care of and i have a valid work permit for the next 3 years!! no more being harrassed by immigration. When me and Kimberly return to Kenya the end of this month we will go through the same process and get hers finalized as well. yippee....We booked our tickets today and we leave Texas the 29th of Feb for Kenya, we will spend a few days in Nairobi and then fly over Entebbe, Uganda and spend a few weeks in Kampala at Watoto Childrens Villages. We want to spend more time with them and get to know their model even more and work on policies and procedures and get more tips for construction and teams, the 3 days we had with them in Nairobi in June just wasnt enough. Then after our time there we will head for Kitale, finally!! woohoo we are headed home in just a few weeks!!! more to come

Bud