Farewell to Sheena

Josphat, Meshak's wife & Cindy

It was an early start - up just before 04:00 and out of the house by 04:45 in order to arrive at Eldoret in time for Sheena to check in for her 08:10 flight to Nairobi.  For various reasons we’d all got to bed quite late the night before so it wasn’t easy to rise and shine but we put on a good show. 

Eldoret is a much larger than Kitale and has an airport as opposed to an airstrip so I didn’t attempt to take any photos of her departure as I didn’t want to be arrested!  It was a very sad moment when we waved our final goodbyes as Sheena and I have become pretty close over the last few days.

After breakfast in Eldoret we drove at a more leisurely speed up to Kisumu, stopping off at a couple of schools where Josphat had family or friends and then at Meshak’s house to see his wife.  Meshak is one of the security guards at Aquinoe - a senior citizen of the old brigade. 

Tea!

We also passed by the primary schools Josphat attended and some tea fields.  These are owned by smallish farmers who often work as art of a cooperative, and not the big plantations further south, owned by famous firms such as Brooke Bond. 

Brick "oven" with logs flaming

We also stopped at the side of the road adjacent to a place where bricks are made in a brick “oven” on a cottage industry basis.  This kind of manufacture iss extremely relevant to the school and the charity.  On several applications for funding, we have been able to state that bricks will be bought from parents of pupils, thereby showing a community link and they also have the benefit of being cheaper than ones produced in a factory.  I thought it would be interesting to see such an enterprise in action and also take photographs for future applications.  

When we arrived at Kisumu we went straight to a restaurant beside Lake Victoria for the local delicacy - tilapia, a really tasty fish caught in the lake. It was good to see that the ater hyacinths were less in evidence than on  my previous trip, but unfortunately they are being blown back onshore by the wind. 

Pile of finished bricks

* This was all written last night and almost ready to go - was just uploading the last photograph when I was thrown offline by Safaricom and simply couldn't return!  This SHOULD be for the 4th April.