The van transmission repairs turned out to be more of a challenge than anticipated. Victor and I did survive the shuttle van ride and made it back to Omwabini with transmission and suspension parts in hand. Spare auto parts store as they call them here don't believe in parts catalogues they take your"sample" disappear for about 10 minutes and after some rooting and digging they come back with a part. The transmission assembly process wasn't working, the two halves just wouldn't quite line up and after a number of checks and double checks I discovered that one of the new gears that appeared identical was not. One gear on the new gearset was 60 mm in diameter instead of the 58 mm diameter gear we took out. Problem is now solved and transmission is back in the van.
The two blue pipes you can see in the middle of the picture are actually the legs of the parts clerk looking through his inventory for the suspension parts.
Our outdoor workshop works well until the daily afternoon downpour starts
After replacing a steering control arm and tie rod it was time for a Kenya style wheel alignment. If the string touches the front and back of the rear and front tire at the same time when the wheels were in the straight ahead position all is good.
On Sunday we traveled to Kisumu Airport to pick up James Bunyasi, Mama Mary's son and the project co-ordinator, who was returning from visiting the communities of volunteers in UK and in the USA. On the way to the airport we dropped off some orphan/students who stayed behind to take the applied technology course and were now heading out to stay with relatives until the New Year. We again fueled up and took the school bus because it was the only roadworthy vehicle at the time. The upside of taking the bus was the extra seating gave the orphans who remain at Omwabini full time an opportunity to get out of the Omwabini facilities and see a few different things. They all excitedly lined along the fence at the airport to watch the few planes come and go. Carolyn and I treated the thirty something passengers to supper at a place in Kisumu that Victor recommended because the food was good and at about $1.95 per plate, the price was right.
The restaurant kitchen might not have been given the stamp of approval by our Canadian Provincial health inspectors but the food was delicious, BBQ chicken, kale, cabbage and ugali.
Since most Kenyans eat with their hands there is always a sink close by to wash your hands.
(The bucket below the sink is to catch the water from a minor leak)
This lady taking the tailoring course offered through the community development side of Omwabini and others working with her will be kept busy for the next few weeks making baskets to fill orders from family and friends that responded with orders from Carolyn's facebook post.
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