Observations from Our Mission

By Jim and Betty Addison: The pros and cons of electricity (Jim)

Hot showers are an underrated luxury. In Kenya, we expected only cold water, but the one source of hot water was achieved at our motel by way of electric heater elements located within the shower heads. The small trickle of warm water, no matter how sparse, was always welcome. One day, while showering, just after I had gotten plenty of soap on my hair and body, the lights in the bathroom went out. “Uh Oh,” ran through my mind. “I had better rinse as quickly as I can.” Actually, a trickle of water does not rinse you very quickly. The only thing quick was how quickly it became cold water. Yes, it was cold. Bad news. I understand one other person was also showering when the power went off.

The power stayed off overnight. The motel restaurant somehow was able to prepare food, and we all dined by candlelight, an unexpected luxury in Kenya.

That evening, the night sky was clear with unlimited visibility. The stars were at their brightest with no city lights at all to interfere with sky observations. There was no moonlight, another blessing. We saw the Big Dipper, the Southern Cross, and even the Milky Way, which I hadn’t seen in over 50 years. For most of us, it was the first time for the Southern Cross. For me, this phase of the power outage was a most pleasant and welcome occurrence.

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Kenya lifestyle (Jim)

I was pleasantly surprised to find the Maua, Kenya people to be so upbeat. They all seem happy, friendly, and content in all that they do. Those that are working are continually energetic, smiling, and appear eager to be doing their jobs. They dress neatly, and are always cheerful. Their wealth is measured by their number of sheep or cows or goats or chickens, not by their monetary wealth, which is practically non-existent. For most, they raise their food in home gardens. The volcanic soil is rich and well suited for raising crops.

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Projects (Jim)

One of our work projects was painting the men’s dormitory rooms, hallway and smelly bathroom. We sanded the wall, primed it with a primer paint, and gave it two coats of oil based paint. The painting work went well. However, the paint tended to want to run down the wall, and we had to go back over it a lot with our paint brush to make it look ok. We found that local workers felt compelled to add turpentine to the paint, and that was the source of the problem. One day while Sarah Coffin and I were painting the men’s bathroom, the paint was especially runny. We finally obtained a fresh can of paint to open and to use unthinned. Just as we removed the lid from the new paint can, Paul Wanjohi, another painter, brought the turpentine. We successfully fought him off from thinning the paint, and were able to finish the job.

I was impressed by the skilled work done by Jim Johnson and his wife, Gwen. With hand tools and green lumber, he successfully hand-cut, glued, nailed, and built window screen frames for the hospital and for the men’s dormitory. About 34 screens altogether. Each for windows he had numbered and individually measured. Gwen hand-sanded and painted the frames. The purpose was to keep the mosquitoes and other insects out of the Hospital. A much-needed and worthwhile project.

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“Moses” in the maternity ward (Betty)

There were three new-borns in the maternity ward the day I ventured in, all with different stories. One was held by her young mother who rocked and smiled and nurtured her; one was being cared for by a nurse who told me that the mother had died giving birth, and that her relatives were coming the next day to take the baby home. The third infant had been at the hospital for several weeks. He had been found abandoned, left under a bush, very weak and in need of care. The hospital had taken him in and given him the name of Moses. I was able to hold Moses and we talked. I did the talking and he answered with long and thoughtful looks, and once a smile. He seemed to know he was on his own and almost was resigned to an occasional bit of attention. Two weeks—– in many ways seems long enough, but not near long enough to make a difference for Moses.