Nukuru Revisited

Mid-term weekend, June 3 – 5, we returned to Nukuru to visit our friends, Isaac and Margaret Mwangi. Isaac drove us to his church yard to visit the feeding program again. Fifty poor children are fed there each Saturday and they get beans and maize flour on Tuesdays.

The children left their activity of playing in piles of freshly cut grass to try and get into the picture. They seemed to recognize us from our previous visit.

Soon they were served what we thought was hot chocolate. Turns out it was porridge made from millet, thus the color. This is nourishing and filling.

The children enjoyed lounging in the grass with friends to consume their warm treat. The boy on the right with the hat on was new today. Yes, he was there without shoes. Isaac found out that he is so poor that he is not attending school. (The fees are minimal but still more than some can pay.) Isaac is going to look into providing funds for his schooling.

Lunch was already being cooked – yummy looking veggies and rice to which chicken would soon be added (probably the only meat these fifty children get all week). The exciting thing is that in August a missions group from the Savannah area, under Mission on the Move, is coming to Nukuru. They will build a kitchen on the spot where you saw the first children posing for the picture. They will have a propane gas stove and these wonderful ladies won’t have to cook in this back-breaking manner any more!!

From there we went to Lake Nukuru National Park. The pink line that you see in the distance is thousands of flamingos. They are joined at the water’s edge by water buffalo. Issac, Timothy, and Edwin showed us a wonderful time in the park driving all the way around the lake.

Other animals encountered were zebras, Thomson’s gazelles, rhinoceros, and giraffes.

Sunday found us back at their church. It was a service of great music – adult choir, youth choir, and children’s choir! Two hours later, we went near by to lunch at the home of Jonathan and Lilly, Margaret’s cousin.
He is a professor at a local college. They have a wonderful home and farm where they raise chickens and grow all kinds of vegetables. They sell the eggs and produce to the local shops. We thoroughly enjoyed the kind warm African hospitality!

Monday morning after the boys were off to school, Isaac and Margaret wanted to show us some of the Great Rift Valley that we hadn’t seen.

Here they are in front of Thomson’s Falls.

Vic and I had to pose with two of the local attractions – the Maasi Africans and the African chameleons. The Africans could not believe that we would let these things crawl on our arms. It was fun watching their reactions.

One of the things that has amused me here is the donkeys (guess it’s my farm upbringing). Whether they are grazing along the edge of a major highway or pulling a cart loaded five feet high with most anything, I just get a kick out of them. Here’s a picture I caught from the church yard.

Another wonderful weekend provided by the Mwangi’s. We are so blessed to have gotten to know this family so well and look forward to continued friendship via email and Mission on the Move.