And by cooler, I mean 95 degrees as opposed to 105! We are in Namanga, Kenya, which is a town right on the border with Tanzania. Mac Magruder and Pastor Simon Wairerah both work with With Open Eyes and are our hosts.
We are staying in a very picturesque lodge in Namanga. What it lacks in amenities, it makes up for in ambiance. Although, a fan for the room would be nice. And maybe some bug spray. And some screens on the windows. But I digress. At least I was able to finally get a decent picture of a monkey! The monkeys are also a problem here with stealing crops. They also have wild hogs.
We had over 30 Mobile Messenger pastors for training today. We met at Pastor Simon’s church, the Namanga Baptist Church. Some had travelled for hours by motorbike to come to the training. After some more technical issues, we were able to get started. We showed the videos on using the drip irrigation, raised beds, and composting. We had these videos in Swahili and did not have to worry with an interpreter.
We then headed over to Pastor Simon’s house where he had started with the demonstration garden. We explained about how to install the drip system and did one set of lines. Everyone was very impressed when the water started flowing. The guys in the group did another set and then the ladies did one.
We planted some okra, beets, and crowder peas. We then put mulch on top of the beds and ran some more water through the systems. Our students caught on very quickly. We returned to the church to do some more training on some other topics. We will spend some time tomorrow morning reinforcing what we went over today before returning to Nairobi.
We capped the day with a delicious meal at Pastor Simon’s house which was prepared by his wife Agnes and his girls. It was a good time of fellowship. It is now 10:30pm here and my eyelids are getting heavy. It has been a long day since the 5am Muslim call to prayer. Good night all!
EDEN in Africa 