Thanks to all that supported and prayed for Pastor Mike and I during this trip!!!

We were both so blessed with no sickness or accidents. Michael and Frank battled bad roads and some minor breakdowns. And they had to put up with my corny jokes...serves them right as they really had a laugh when I had the 21A room incident!!!!!!!!!
My biggest battle was a taxi driver who is a Kenyan and tells time like one :)

Pastor Moses, Joseph and Andrew did a great job picking up all that I was able to teach them about signage.
I had to think "old school" on making signs, as the cutter that Moses has is a crafting machine. Also, many of the materials that I wanted to use were either not available or only had a possibility of being purchased in Nairobi.
 We did buy sign vinyl, tape and banner material in Nairobi before heading to Matete.

I am praying we can buy a larger machine for Moses to do his signs and T-shirts and let Frank have the smaller craft machine to do T-shirts. (Oh yeah, Frank liked that idea!) Moses had already pre sold and designed 4 banners that we made. Remember, anyone who can decipher what the computer screen shot and letters on the floor photos say gets a gift from Kenya! (see previous post for photos)


Frank can buy material for both him and Moses as he knows where all the sign supply shops are in Nairobi and lives there. Moses has to ride in a matatu van many hours to buy materials, so Frank buying them and shipping them back on a matatu will be a big blessing to him.

Thanks to everyone of you again, I hope you enjoy all the photos!

There are roadside vendor selling live chickens (yes this is true )  The chicken are tied at the feet and are carried three or four together upside down as he is approach cars to sell them. My story: One chicken says to another, "Are you going to hang with me tomorrow?" The other says "I hope so...."

Stan A.K.A. Crazy Muzungu (Gringo loco)

We left Narock Saturday and climbed out of the Rift valley to Nairobi which is on a plateau.

Overlooking the Rift valley where Narock is.

Trying on a sheepskin hat, great for driving a piki piki taxi bike :)

Another laundry spot close to Nairobi

Frank the API diver and his family. Baby Riki was asleep.

These photos are taken outside the park as we head back to Narock.

Girls washing clothes

Cactus!! The park is plains, but the outside approach looks a lot like S.Arizona, dirt roads and all.

Boy herding cattle

Elderly herdsman

I arrived back in the states yesterday evening. Jet lag city today. I have been editing photos with bouts of napping. I am going to post all the better photos that I took at the Massai Mara game park. They were all taken out of the window or from the roof. The camera is a Samsung point and shoot not a

Bargains galore :)  They swamped the vehicle on both sides.

Cheetah and baby. (she had 5 aces, so I knew she was a cheatah)

This was the closest Giraffe that we saw and it is a baby. We saw many very large ones off a distance.

Taking turns rubbing against the tree.

Black Rhino, first one Michael had seen at the park. He has been there 7 or 8 times before.

Sausage tree. The sponges are great for washing with in the shower.

Simon, the most excellent guide!

Maasai ladies resting as we left the park.

big camera.Some will have a little blur as they were taken out of the window while in motion.

Last Few Days

This is the start of a sign using spray paint techniques florescent paint)  The projector is used to make signs but is being use in Sunday school and to show Veggie Tales DVD I brought for them.

 These pics were taken while I was waiting for the a.m. taxi. It shows a guy cleaning the awning on a weird ladder, which turns out to be a square tubing fence section.

This food is the traditional foods here. Ugali is a dish of maize flour, millet flour, or Sorghum flour cooked with water to a porridge- or dough-like consistency. It is the most common staple starch. "Sukuma wiki" is a Swahili phrase meaning, depending on how you translate it, "week-pusher," "push the week," or "stretch the week." 

 Wednesday night was dead at the hotel so I gave rummy lessons to the wait staff.

Thursday I wrapped up the sign shop lessons and had dinner with Moses and his family. Judith made homemade tortillas! It was sad saying goodbye to this wonderful family. Frank had arrived back in Matete and came to take me to the hotel to deliver the mystery banner.

Frank and I left the hotel at 9 to go to Nivasha where he had left Pastor Mike. On the way we stopped so he could buy green sweet bananas and squash.

More Pictures

Watching a young lady go by the hotel with firewood.













This young boy on his way to the springs, stopped to stare as I was waiting for my morning taxi.

This is Lucy, the hotel manager after she served me breakfast.













Landscaper's son is the cutest munchkin that I have seen the whole trip!







 3 boys who were tearing up the countryside rolling the bicycle tire

and More...

So here's the promised continuation of the pictures Stan sent..

On the second Sunday Stan was again at Pastor Moses' church and was a featured speaker. He said he made everybody happy because he kept it short and sweet. Of course there is no picture of him preaching. So after church Stan cooks Mexican dinner for Moses' family. Even texted me for Leticia's Mexican rice recipe.





Moses preaching and his wife, Judith translating into Swahili

Sunday School Class

Youth group singing, includes Brian and Andrew. Maryann who made my shirts has the mic and wearing the two tone dress.




Add caption

Judith and I in her kitchen making tortillas. Carne Asada, rice, beans and tortillas on the menu for dinner. Yum!!!



 

Stay tuned more to come. ;-)

 

You do what you need to do!

As you are aware Stan's internet connection has not been optimal and so he decides maybe it would be belter if he tried accessing it at a time when they not be such a high demand. So the man gets up at 2:30AM his time an spends 2 hours sending me pictures and comments for you. The man is truly the Crazy Muzungu (white guy). Hope you enjoy......Mary

Sign training continues.

Navalayo black banner one of the first jobs, pre-sold

3 color decal has registration dots cut out before applying

This is a screenshot and the cut decals on floor. This is what we needed to do to make a 3' x 6' ft. banner due to small cutter constraints. I'm not posting the final photo, as I will offer anyone a prize, from Kenya, to whoever can decipher what the banner says. :}Post your guess in the comments.



Ready to go. What does it say?

Brian  Stan  Andrew

The officials are a bunch of boys who had to check out what was happening each day. They have a ball of plastic bags on a string that was entertaining them. Brian and Andrew sing with the youth group. They are also going to do artwork for Moses. Andrew is learning all other aspects of the training also. Ol' Spot is the neighbors cow tied up about 20 feet from there front door.

The supervisors



Ol' Spot

There's more to come. Will post later tonight or in the morning. I actually have to go to my regular job. I can't be the ghost blogger all day. Mike and Stan have started their journey home. Tomorrow they will be visiting the game farm. They fly out of Nairobi on Monday. Keep them in your prayers.
Thanks-Mary