breakfast at 7am after a good sleep. then took off to the diocesan offices. got shown around the offices, and also the partly constructed church and partly constructed new diocesan offices. in their current state they looked dangerous as they're just a bunch of concrete girders and columns joined together. our health and safety exec would have a fit if they saw them, and just about have a heart attack if they realized people were able to climb around on them (as we did) and have church services in the partly constructed church.
our group split into 2: one group going off to visit various schools, and the other (ours) to see some functioning parts of the economy. our first stop was at an a.c.k. (anglican church of kenya) hospital. its only small, but well used by the community. to use the hospital, you must pay a fee, as it needs to be a sustainable enterprise - though not everyone can pay. those who can't pay are not turned away as the hospital's christian ethic is to treat all as of equal worth.
its got quite an holistic approach to life and death, as they grow much of their own food, have a cow for milk and meat production, and have their own morgue. patients get out and work in the garden, thus contributing the food they eat, but also it helps their recovery - emotionally as much as physically. this is in stark contrast to our uk system, where new hospitals ensue they have all the technology available for patients to access the internet, tv, and radio for their bed. but there is nothing invested in getting the patients to take an interest in things like food production, gardening, helping themselves. one of our group is a nurse in the uk, and she was amazed at how the kenyan attitude to rehab was far better for the whole human person than what we do in the uk.
then we went for lunch, which lasted nearly 2 hours. in kenya, you just have to understand that from the time you order your meal to the time it arrives take about an hour! it was a good time to talk with each other, including our guide for the day, revd benson, and our driver, justus. benson is the rural dean, and knows his deanery well. he spends about 60% of his time visiting families - this seems to be the backbone of effective evangelism in kenya. it's all about relationships.
following lunch, we visited a tea plantation - the kangaita - set on the slopes of mount kenya. it was interesting to see the pickers at work and learn something of the process. from the time the tea is picked until its processed and packed is 24 hours. an incredibly short time when you consider the complex process that the leaf goes through. and the pickers are very skilful. we bought half a kilo of tea each, though justus bought 2 kgs for his wife.
on the way back we visited a coffee co-op, but there nothing to see but the sheds as the season was ended.
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