One of our older boys Ian, was beaten up by the police recently. Three plain clothes police entered his house, accusing him of stealing a cell phone. They had no warrant and refused to identify themselves. They kept calling him Peter, and even though Ian offered to show them his ID they just proceeded beating him. Finally, they dragged him to the station, where a witness came to identify “Peter” only to tell the police that this guy is not Peter, the phone thief.
No apologies, nothing. Well, that ain’t happening on my watch. So we placed a complaint, and during the investigation, the three police became very humble and apologetic, fearing for their jobs and a court appearance. After a month of ‘I’m sorry” meaning sorry they got caught, (there was a witness at the time in the house) they started to express what they were sorry about, admitting haven beat him, not identifying themselves etc. therefor we dropped the charges. The police are rather inpunitive in Kenya, but it helps to be friends with the second highest ranking officer in Kenya.
I told a close friend the other day, when asked how things are, I said, “commonly abnormal” here are a few typically silly/dumb things that happen regularly here.
I had a puncture in a brand new tire, good thing for the one year replacement warranty, to bad I didn’t read the fine print.
After only 7 weeks (2000 km) of use the store concluded my tear tread was worn by 25%. Therefor I had to pay 25% of the replacement tire.
Upon inquiring how many km was the expected life of the tire, I was told 40K or two years. They could not grasp the fact that if my tire had actually lost 25% of the tread in 2000 km, then the life expectancy could only be 8000 km, therefor the tire is either crap, or their evaluation of the thread wear was wrong. That formula demanded too much common sense for them.
We hired a friend to take our cat to the vet to be fixed, on the way he is stopped by the police. He was told it was illegal to transport livestock without a permit. He tried reason with them, but ultimately decided to just the bribe they were after.
A wise teacher once told me, “never argue with a fool, they will bring you down to their level, and beat you up with experience.
Today, as I start this blog I am working off my honey’s desk while she is out doing the hard work, out in the mud and muck.
She has delivered some roofing over to Chipchirchir’s mud hut. Then they were going to look at possibly their new place. Her husband makes like 5 or 10 bucks per month, and with the help of some precious donors in Kelowna, we are attempting to put him, Daniel into carpentry school. Also, set Chipchirchir up with a little kiosk, where she can sell some basic groceries. She did well with the avocados and bananas we gave her, with the typical exception of keeping a portion of the profit to buy stock. This time, we will be working more closely with her.
The kids are all loving school, and the older boy Kevin is one of the top students in his class.
Pictures when Franny gets back.
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Last month, one of our older boys, revealed to us that him and some of the other boys, are still dealing with emotional baggage, from the abuse they received from the hand of Charles, one of the founders of the orphanage we supported. Turns out to be a type of Stockholm/ Helsinki Syndrome, mixed with great anxiety upon the prospect of meeting him again.
The next step is some one on one, and male/female counselling. The children did not know why they were called to our place, but they acknowledged their fears, and were grateful for us hiring a counselor. Poor kids, can you imagine it has been seven years since they were removed from Charles’s oppression, and they are still dealing with it
Last month, Peter and Dickson, both completed their month of driving school. They have been promised driving jobs, once they get their official license.
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This afternoon we had a cholera outbreak in Kipsongo, dozens of primary students rushed to the district hospital today. I was able to help transport children to the hospital. Tomorrow we will visit the kids at the hospital with sacks of oranges and bananas, get those electrolytes up.
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I took my honey for her birthday, to a nearby private sanctuary for a walking safari. It was so hard to find any privacy ;-)))
Thank you everyone for all your love, visits, finances, and prayers.
Larry and Francine
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As for the Hymens, check my next post about sweet Veronica and her life saving medical interventions thanks to generous people back in Canada.
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