BUSIA IN JANUARY

January  , 2013

For our January visit to Busia

we had good meetings on Saturday then it 

was announced that they would clean the church and

the yard looked ragged and needed some trimming.

Soon the men had tools in hand and the 

grass cutting, bush trimming and weed digging began.

Almost immediately there were three young men in this

area swinging their slasher to cut the grass.

Notice the action:

The slasher is lifted over the opposite shoulder 

then swung across the front...

over the grass and then follow-through to the lower side.

This action can be done from either side as the blade

of the slasher is sharp on both edges.

This fine man tried his then had to sharpen it with a 

file. I was too slow to get a picture of that but it looks like

it worked great after the sharpening!!

Can you see that it is curved a little near the end to cut better.

The branch president was even in on the work.

He is digging with a jembe.

This is even used to dig their shambas in preparation for

planting and really does a good job with the muscles attached!

It is easier to dig near the fence that use the slasher.

Whack! Whack! Whack!!

VISITS

Nicodemus and Tumaini 

 After the meetings we visited some members with 

Elder Huskinson and Elder Mbala.
Our first stop was with
 Nicodemus and his wife Tumaini.

There we met the new family member born Dec 26, 2012.
One month old Anna. What a beautiful baby.!!

I wanted my picture also with the baby so here it is,

This cute family had a baby die Dec 24, 2010

and was buried on Christmas Day.

This is Moses and he is about 15 months old.

What a cutie but he didn't want anything to do with us!

They had food for us - chipatti, rice and water.

Their water was kept in the yellow jug and poured into the blue 

container that contains       that cleans the water

that runs into the white jug on the bottom and

is clean to drink.

The family!!

Nicodemus, Anna, Tumaini, Moses.

With Sister Moon outside their home.

This is a mud house and very nicely built.

The walls and floor were very smooth and the roof

firm and shaped perfectly.

Near the front of their home they are still in the 

process of building their kitchen. 

She still prepared our meal in here. 

You can see the mud on the frame of the branches

waiting for the next layer.

The roof is almost ready to be trimmed

(you can see on the left side where it has been started).

Violet and Family

We then went to Violet's home that was fairly close.

Violet has 7 children and her husband lives in 

Tanzania working as a security guard at a bank.

She lives in an area with her in-laws and their

family including her brothers-in-law and their wives

who are her friends as well as family.

Her home was larger than most we have been in but very 

sparsely furnished. One end of the main room.

Part of the other end.

Where the bright light is there is the entry door.

The door with the curtain is the bedroom I guess.

The white corner in the bottom left is the corner of 

the coffee table and there was a small couch to the left of it.

The path to the kitchen.

The bath and toilet in the far corner of the compound.

We took some chairs outside to visit with the children while

Violet and her daughters prepared us something to eat.

These children were sitting on the edge of the house and 

had a fun time posing for pictures.

This is the kitchen. Many families have a separate building

for a kitchen because they cook over a fire and it

keeps the house cooler with no smoke. 

The entry is on the right side.

As we sat and talked with the children we noticed the

evidence of the food being prepared!!

SMOKE coming up right through the roof!

These two sons had turns chewing on and eating a

piece of sugar cane!!

Ummmm! Delicious!

Looking out the back of her compound.

A couple the boys brought a ball and began playing 

football (soccer) and had so much fun the 

Elders joined in also.

Can you see the ball?

That is a ragged ball but so fun.

Watching this brought back many memories 

of our front lawn!!

This is the corner of the room where we were eating.

The arm there is the couch with the Elders. There is 

a coffee table in front of it and I was sitting on the

other side of the table from the couch.

Elder Moon was in a chair to the left.

There were two hens and they both got in the 

corner with the chicks and there was an

altercation between the hens and

one finally went under Elder Moon's chair and 

glared back at the others huddled together.

We were served hot chocolate made with 

water and boiled sweet potatoes.

By the time we were finished with the meal and a 

spiritual message it was rather dark in the house.

They wanted their picture taken and I could not see

anything through the lens of the camera.

The first picture was good but the mother had her

eyes shut so I took another one. I said "Be sure to smile.""

And I guess they did!!

Violet with 5 of her children and us outside her home.

As we made our way to the truck there were many

other children came to see us leave.

These two wanted their picture taken. 

Cute kids!!

The kids gathered together and being silly.
The blotches must be rain drops as it was beginning to rain.