It's harvest time here in the Tranzio district of Kenya and once again every clapped out dilapidated means of transport that can be pieced together is hauling maize to market. Trucks which date back to colonial times, old tractors oozing oil leaks tethered to home made trailers, pickup trucks so overloaded they seem to drag their bellies along the ground and donkey carts. All patiently wait in long lines, inching their way throughout the day toward the gates of the local maize mill to cash in their cargo. The dry season means billowing clouds of dust follow every passing vehicle, coating everything along the roadside in a terra cotta soot. The stuff gets everywhere, covering roadside plants and pedestrians alike.

There are some strange sights to be seen in this mirage of movement at times. I remember once observing two guys, each astride his bicycle, attempting to carry a telephone pole held aloft on one shoulder while balancing the bike with the other hand. Another time I saw a donkey cart with a young man between the shafts rather than a donkey. What's so funny about that you might question. Well the guy was coming full tilt down hill with his feet peddling thin air since the load had shifted backwards thus lifting him from the ground into a precarious suspension from the shafts. I still remember his expression as he passed by, eyes as big as saucers, heading to his imminent fate. Yesterday as I drove back from west Pokot just before dusk, a boat loomed up on the horizon as I came to the crest of a hill. I'm not kidding. It appeared like a mirage, a monster loaded atop a flat bed truck taking up the entire width of the road as it approached me, forcing mine and every other vehicle off to the side or face impending peril. The driver offered a toothless smile and a 'thank you' wave gesture from his cab perched high on the rig as he passed by.

Boat on road

Water, or the lack thereof, has been a big issue once again in Kitale since I returned. Until three days ago there had been no water service in town for over five weeks. The lack of rain, normal for this time of year, compounds the problem of course. One would think that the upcoming elections would motivate some aspiring politician to tackle such a problem and score a lot of votes but it seems the campaigning strategy is simply to wallpaper your car with posters and drive around town with an entourage of trucks following, all laden with people yelling and waving slogans. Of course the lead vehicle always has the trumpet shaped speakers mounted on its roof which can shake ones teeth lose should it pass by too close. The odd thing is, no ordinary person on the street seems to take much notice. They just head down to the river with a jerry can to fetch more polluted water.

We've been busy at Brittany's House over the past several weeks having had some wonderful friends come to stay with us from Florida, Arkansas, Kansas, Texas, North Carolina, California, Virginia and Germany. Although everyone was aware of the need to conserve water it's only when one has to haul it that it's realized how much water we really use. We have been fortunate enough to have had lots of rain earlier in the year and large tanks to store it in so in anticipation of the arrival of our guests at Brittany's House we made sure we maximized our storage capacity. We almost made it but during the past week I have had to visit a local well to carry water, 1000 liters at a time, in a tank mounted upon my trailer. I estimate we used 200 liters per person per day. According to the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development the daily recommended water use for drinking, cooking, bathing and sanitation should be 50 liters per day for acceptable minimum living standards. Perhaps a fact to ponder next time you brush your teeth and leave the tap running.

Amos and Jimmy help haul water

It seems ironic now that we should have so much water at Runo school in a desert environment and yet a severe shortage in a large town like Kitale. Consequently I'm quickly reminded when I see children drinking and washing or watering cattle at one of the water outlets in Runo of the struggle they must have endured before we connected a pipeline to a mountain stream catchment basin over two years ago. Samuel and I along with a guest from Germany, Klaus, who is a water engineer, took a trip up to the catchment basin recently, high in the Pokot mountains, from whence our supply to Runo originates. Lush mango and banana trees flourish in the area now whereas 10 years ago the region was arid and harsh. I wonder what the future will hold if we don't take care of the precious resourse.

Water catchment

Watering cattle at Runo

The children's home at Runo is almost complete. Finishing touches in the plastering will see it ready for furniture and its first residents in January God willing. Twenty three new pit latrines are almost done and work has begun on the next building also, a clinic which should be ready by spring.

Children's Home almost complete

These past few weeks have seen me busy at Mr Singh's workshop helping to fabricate trusses, windows and doors from steel while construction crews work in Runo plastering and manufacturing bricks. It's an exciting time. The results of these guys tenaciously defying Murphy's Law time after time are coming to fruition and it's been marvelous to watch it happen.

At Mr Singh's

There's a proverb which states 'without a vision, people perish'. Samuel, Runo school's principle has enough vision for a whole community it seems. We have recently discussed the idea of building a secondary school on the boarder of Pokot and Turkana to try to alleviate the clashes between the two tribes which cause so much devastation. Many of the 156 orphans at Runo lost their fathers in such clashes caused by cattle rustling. Weapons illegally smuggled from neighboring countries exacerbate the problem exponentially. Mothers and children are soon left destitute and malaria then takes its toll. Samuel's vision is to let the young men grow up attending school together, offering education as an alternative to aggression. First though plans are underway to construct another primary school some 20 kilometers from Runo in an even more remote area next year. But that's a story for another newsletter. In the U.S. thanksgiving is fast approaching and I can't begin to remember all the things I have to be thankful for, but if I could not least of them would be I have a glass of clean water to drink and that I remain in His grasp. Happy thanksgiving.