Every day at Omwabini seems to present new challenges and
surprises, not all pleasant. Yesterday
Kenya’s version of the traveling Department of Transport police from another area
decided to set up a vehicle inspection sting operation in Kimilili. Omwabini’s tractor and trailer
were confiscated because of a number of infractions ranging from bald tires to
no registration plate and on the trailer. I guess trailers pulled by people,
donkeys or oxen don’t need a registration plate but one pulled by a tractor
does.
The end result of this sting operation for Omwabini was a hefty $250. fine and yet another expense Omwabini could ill afford and were unable to pay. It it does seem a real shame to spend that much money to solve this "crisis" when there is so much need.
After we paid the fine we were able to get their tractor and trailer back. The next challenge is to come up with a plan that will make them road and field worthy in preparation for the upcoming planting season.
The cost of tires for the tractor rear tires is 70,000 ks each (approx $925.CDN) the front tires $250 and 4 good used trailer tires are $530.00 or about $2,880 for both the tractor and trailer,
By Carolyn: I got to join members
of the household to sort the bad maize kernels from the good ones in this
beautiful Kenyan climate. I didn’t include this on my bucket list, but had I
known about it, it would have been sure to make it. Who would have thought that
I could be sitting among millions of maize kernels out on open tarps to dry in
the sharp sun, listening to workers singing, laughing, talking, birds chirping,
a beautiful purple jacaranda tree forever blooming overhead. I could have been
sitting alone in my home back in Canada, but I was blessed beyond measure to be
here instead. The harvesting conditions
were wet when the maize had been put into the storage crib, so now the rot is
being battled.
They empty the 100 lb bags of kernels each
day to dry in the sun, then sort, then shovel back into the bags before the
afternoon rain.It takes about 5 drying days for the kernels to be dry enough for long term storage.We will soon shell the next batch. The bad kernels must be taken out or they will cause the cooked
maize to be bitter, even poisonous, causing serious digestion problems. Please
pray that there will be enough food for the children throughout the year till next
year’s harvest.
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