A Trip to the Farm

Thursday morning, Sutton and I took seven of our older boys on a 4-hour trip to visit the Farm, Agape's Vocational Training Center in Matoso.  As I've mentioned in other posts, Agape sends a few boys every year to the farm to begin training as carpenters, masons, or diesel mechanics.  The boys in the photo below are all around 15 or 16 and have decided to pursue this track for their future careers.  Because they had never seen the Farm, I decided to take them for a quick trip to visit prior to their moving there full-time in January.

The band of travelers prepare for their journey: Sutton, Nicodemus, Simon, Brian, Michael, Alphonce, Zedekiah, Moses, and Chris

So, travelling by car in Kenya is quite an adventure.  The first challenge is finding a route with good roads, because some Kenyan road are in horrible shape . . .  some of the potholes look more like bomb craters!  Next, once you find a good road, you have to be very alert driving, because families and villages like putting speed bumps in the middle of nowhere!  There was one instance where I was driving at a brisk (but safe) pace, when I had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting a speed bump.  There were a few times when I probably hit the speed bump a little harder than necessary!  Needless to say, it's a little stressful!

The Route to Matoso - driving south we come within 20 minutes of Tanzania.

So, outside of Homa Bay (see above), there was a lot of road work, and the road was completely dirt. We got stuck behind a large bus, so I decide to try to pass the bus . . . . unbeknownst to me, there was a huge pothole in the middle of the road (more like one of those bomb craters I mentioned), and we slammed right into the hole . . . . stuck!  I was about to shift into 4WD, but I looked up, and about 10 guys jumped off of the bus and casually lifted the front of my truck out of the hole (with 9 passengers inside)!  After paying a nominal fee for their help, we were on our way again!  The road to Matoso is paved until you reach Migori, but the last hour of the trip, we were on dirt roads.  For you off-road enthusiasts, Kenya is the place to be!  Anyway, we made it safely in about 4 hours . . . not a bad trip!

Now, Matoso is a beautiful fishing village, right on the shores of Lake Victoria.  The boys and I had a great time helping the local villagers pull in their fishing nets.  Please pray for the people of Matoso, though, as close to 80% of the population is HIV positive.

Upon our arrival, our hosts, Steve and Betty Bishop, threw a big party for us and the boys at the Farm . . . cake, candy, games . . . we had a blast!

A view from the Farm.

A local boy playing near the lake.

A local woman washes her clothes in the lake.

Ugingo Island - the site of a turf battle between Uganda and Kenya.

Another view from the Farm.

A beautiful place!

Local birds

Fishermen mending their nets

These birds were huge, standing around 4-feet tall.  Their wingspan was around 7-feet!

Beautiful bird . . . annoying call!

The shamba (garden) at the farm.

Papayas the size of bowling balls!

Our new tilapia pond, which should generate 1,000 mature fish every 3 months!

The masonry class is working on the foundation of the new dining hall!

Simon lends a helping hand.

Nicodemus and Zedekiah monitoring the masonry work.

One of the diesel mechanic students.

Carpentry Class

One of the carpenters shows off his work.

The group hanging out by the lake.

More goofing off!

Some local boys swimming in the lake.

Group Photo!

The staff at the Farm

Sutton helping out with the pinata!

Limbo!

A game of football!

 Tug-O-War!!!

Pinata!