Going Out for Home Visits

In several of the previous posts I have talked about the condition of the roads here when I go out for home visits -- particularly in the rural areas. So I thought I would share an example. On a scale of 1-10 with one being worst road I ever traveled in Kenya and ten being the best--this would probably be a 7.

I took the picture on a day when I was out delivering fertilizer for the maize crops of some of our rural OVC families. The fertilizer was donated by the Japanese Embassy. Whenever we go to visit a client’s farm that has already spread the fertilzer (by hand) on their fields, the clients are very proud to show us how much greener and taller their maize is than that of their neighbors. They are quick to tell us that this is very special feritizer. Indeed it is -- it will improve the crops yield so that the families will have maize to eat, money to buy additional food, bedding, pay for school fees and enough seeds left over to plant next season.

It is also rare to see a tractor as big as the one seen in the far background of this photograph. When we rounded the bend past the tractor there were a few workers putting in a new bridge. They told us that the only reason the tractor was there and bridge was being replaced was because the elections were coming up. Obviously there are some things in Kenya that are not so different from things in America.