Tuesday dawned bright and early and our presence on the
construction site was requested earlier than we had planned.
Mary Njenga, a nurse, has long been wanting
to open a clinic and dispensary there in Eburru.
However, money and resources have been scarce
until the present.
They had just
received enough cement and blocks to begin the construction of a permanent
facility, for which they were most pleased.
Five Kenyans and a team of green Americans set out to work together to
pour the footings of this 20 by 40 foot building.
Naturally everything was done by hand: the footings had been
previously dug, the rocks hauled in, the cement carried over and water (which
was to come) was all to be combined.
The
process was not at all explained to us and random shouts in Kikuyu were all we
had to go on.
However, we learned the
immediate need for water and Brandon and I were quickly assigned to the water
detail.
We were responsible for hauling
the water 200 yards from the tank to the site.
This was a continual process throughout the entirety of the
morning.
Once the water arrived, they
begin mixing all the contents: rocks, cement, sand and water, directly on the
ground, shoveling them into wheelbarrows for transport to the footings.
This process continued over and over until we neared
completion near lunch time.
Lunch
promised to be especially exciting as it had arrived on a bicycle the day
before.
The work went on without a hitch
and finished with excitement on the part of both Kenyans and Americans.
We all posed for one of those “look what we
just did together” type photos just inside the newly poured footing and
gathered our tools for lunch at the main mud hall.
The previous night, just before sundown, a man came riding
up to camp with a sheep on the back of his bicycle.
People there can haul all manner of things on
their bicycles and this sheep was certainly no exception.
The rider dismounted the sheep from the back,
tied a rope around the sheep’s leg and tied the other end to a tree.
Everyone looked at each other a bit
strangely, but in my mind I already knew: a meal had just arrived.
The morning of the construction, just prior
to the work’s beginning, the sheep was untied and led to the back of the
camp.
Curiosity fueled the presence of some while sheer grotesque
horror drew the others.
I suppose many
had never seen an animal slaughtered before and the process came swift and
effectively.
Our friend and resident
handy man had slaughtered over a thousand prior to this one, by his own
confession, so he worked with precision and speed.
The sheep was slaughtered, cut up and put in
a stew before we knew it and by lunch time it was to be ready.
Once lunch came around, several had made the
claim that they would eat no lunch as they had seen it walking around the day
before.
I have to admit the sheep was good.
Perhaps I shall even go so far as to say that
I liked it better on the plate than standing around making all kinds of
guttural noises during the night.
Either
way he was met with mixed reactions.
Brandon named the sheep
and wrote a song about him while others avoided the creature all together.
We had one team member who has not only sworn
off of sheep but eating meat in general.
I suppose a hungry enough appetite will cure any previous vows of
vegetarian behavior.
After lunch we were given a brief reprieve before surprised
with a spontaneous open air service.
Instead
of much rest, I found myself summoned by some workers in the field who were
cutting the tall weeds with machete-like contraptions.
I began helping them as fast as my arms could
slash the field until I saw the rat’s nests nestled in the fallen stalks of old
corn.
Adequately distracted, I began
digging up their nests and hunting for the voracious ‘spoilers of crops’ as the
residents called them.
Wielding a
shovel, I marched through the hacked up weeds hunting for rats and killed
several as the afternoon progressed on.
I like to think that word had already reached that far of our rat
exploits here in the slums but that may be hopeful thinking.
Once the rat hunting had reached an end it was time for the
open air service.
Not more than ten
minutes down the road was a small convening area where many villagers came to
trade and buy goods.
Although the number
was significantly less that afternoon than is usually there, we sang, acted and
preached the Gospel in as many ways as possible.
The night fell on us quickly and we had to
leave earlier than we thought, but all in all, many were blessed even though conversions
were not counted very high.
