DAILY VILLAGE LIFE (Day 7)

We are staying at the house of Christopher and Gladys Kayando, and it is probably one of the nicest equipped houses in the community:

• 3 bedrooms with a family room, dining area and kitchen (probably under 1,000 sq ft in total)
• Diesel generator that they use sparingly to light the house (my guess is they have used it more since we have been here)
• Three types of stoves: a gas powered stove that sits on top of a propane gas cylinder, a charcoal “jiko” stove, a traditional outdoor 3-rock stove
• Large 5,000 liter tanks to catch rain water, reducing the daily grind of going to the water bore hole
• Two hole latrine with bathing stall (we had our own “guest” hole)

We definitely lived the “easy life” while we were in Kager, as Carolyne (David’s wife) and Gladys (Christopher’s wife) cooked all of our meals, made sure we had warm water to wash ourselves each morning and took great care of us.

Living in the rural African village is hard – without the modern conveniences of running water, electricity and refrigeration, much of the day is spent each day doing the very same routine:

• Getting water from a borehole well, a pond or from any rainwater captured the night before (some have to walk up to 3 kilometers many times a day as there are only two wells in the community)
• Gathering firewood or buying charcoal at the local market (or from a neighborhood that makes and sells charcoal for income)
• Boiling water (although a large percentage of the people do not practice this as it is so fuel and time intensive)
• Getting corn ground at a local posho mill to make the day’s “ugali” (a cornmeal mush eaten at every meal)
• Walking to the market (the nearest one is about 4 kilometers) to buy fresh vegetables, meat and other goods (very little food is stored due to lack of refrigeration and lots of rodents and bugs)
• Ironing the day’s clothes with a coal-powered iron (the Kenyan people take great pride in their appearance)
• Milking the goats or a cow (most own goats, few own cows) for the day's milk
• Taking livestock to get water and graze (often at the same pond where they got the day’s water)
• Tending and watering crops, which is usually done early in the morning or in late afternoon



By the end of just four short days in the village, I had gained an unbelievable appreciation for a few of my favorite modern conveniences:

• Instantaneous hot water
• Ice cubes and a cold drink
• A toilet to sit on
• Internet connection (I didn’t miss TV at all)
• Smooth asphalt roads
• A big thick quilted mattress

Having said all of this, though, it is clear that we were sheltered from the life that many people live every day in Kager: hungry, sick from malaria and typhoid, orphaned and widowed from the HIV/AIDS scourge. As we made our home visits, we encountered these situations and they were heartbreaking – but they confirmed why God has called us to the village of Kager.