Sunday, April 19, 2009


WTF????


I have an awesome Board of Directors, their talents to numerous to enumerate here. We are in the process of getting ready for Harambee, our annual fundraiser. Tonight I'm hanging with one of them and he's even brave enough to join me in May as we enter hostile territory.

Ok, I've written a lot about that topic, and I was joking with B about some of the things that have befallen me during my various excursions. I've been hounding him to get his shots ( hey what's the rush?We leave in 4 weeks and you can't get back into the U.S without your yellow fever certificate. He could be like Charlie on the MTA).

Hostile can mean anything from bugs to dysentery to armed gunmen. However on the last trip it was nothing more that Kibeki's revenge on the way home. That was before Somalia and I guess the uprising in Western. So B and I are hanging and I go to the Nation as I do most days. And there in front of me is this article about the police alert in Busia. WTF? The road I travel every time I go to Nambale is riddled with heightened security? Truly can't they just stay contained on the Indian Ocean while I TCB?

So if you're reading this here's what you can do. 1. Buy a ticket to Harambee so that we can feed the children. 2. Pray like hell

Mambo Mazuri (all good things in Swahili)
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AND NOW FROM TODAY'S PAPER"THE NATION" (KENYA'S NEWSPAPER)


Police in Nyanza and Western provinces were on high alert on Saturday following reports that youths in the two regions were planning to block trucks carrying goods destined to and from Uganda over the Migingo island dispute.


In the morning, police dispersed youths who had attempted to block the Kisumu-Busia road to stop trucks heading to Uganda.

“Our security personnel are monitoring any attempts to disrupt the smooth flow of cargo between Kenya and Uganda,” Nyanza police boss Anthony Kibuchi said.

The row over the ownership of the tiny Migingo island in Lake Victoria intensified as the Law Society of Kenya and a section of church leaders criticised the stand taken by the government in resolving the issue.

Speaking separately, LSK vice-chairman James Mwamu and the National Council of Churches of Kenya Nyanza branch officials opposed government plans to use Sh140 million to survey the one-acre isle, calling for military intervention.

The officials asked the government use the money to buy food for the hungry.

Mr Mwamu described Uganda’s stance on the controversial island as aggression and called on President Kibaki to deploy troops there.

Saturday, April 11, 2009


The Pastor and the Python

It is hard today to miss the signs of Easter today. Lily plants abound, bakeries are making egg shaped cuppy cakes. And if you are Christian as I am, you are also thinking about it. I believe that is why today's article in the Nation is particularly delicious. Where else could you get a story about a minister traveling with a python? I couldn't have made up a better Easter Story.
This is definitely one of the reasons I truly get a bang out of going to Kenya. While others might either be frightened, offended, or disgusted, I find it tickles me. Where else do pastors carry snakes in their bag? (Well, maybe parts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana). However, I doubt they get on a crowded bus with their python. Evidently the locals were a bit pissed,I think more because it indicated witchcraft rather than the fact that she was carrying the poisonous snake. However, I just couldn't keep the article from you.
So without further ado, today's article in the Nation.

Keep the faith y'all

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Provincial

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By TOM MATOKE Posted Friday, April 10 2009 at 18:48

A cleric on Friday escaped lynching in Kapsabet after a snake slithered from a bag containing her Bible and other religious literature. The African Divine Church pastor is said to have been travelling to Nakuru for an Easter crusade.

Gave chase

However, when changing vehicles in Kapsabet and as touts jostled for her bag, a huge python slithered out.

Realising the danger she was in, the pastor, who is about 50 years old, took to her heels with the crowd in hot pursuit. And as the angry mob gave chase, others killed the snake. They then set her bag, uniforms, religious books and the Bible on fire.

Businesspeople at the bus park closed their premises and joined the mob in searching for the pastor but she had vanished.

The morning incident created pandemonium as travellers, drivers and touts demanded that luggage belonging to other travellers be searched. Transport services resumed hours later but the travellers complained about the unexpected delay.

A shocked traveller, Mr John Arumasi said he was now scared of sitting next to people with huge bags in a bus. He said it was weird for a pastor to carry a snake in her bag, adding that witches were now hiding in churches. “People should not preach water and drink wine in the name of God,” Mr Arumasi said.

Area head of police James Mugera said the incident had not been reported to the station but the matter would be investigated.

Bad shape

“No one has reported such an incident but we will investigate,” he said

Mr Mugera has appealed to drivers to avoid speeding. His call came as drivers plying the Kapsabet-Eldoret road urged the government to improve the road, saying it was in bad shape.

They complained that the government had promised to start work on the road in February but nothing had been done so far.