Starting the day with a rainbow!

This morning, as I was eating breakfast with Steve in the dining room, a huge, vibrant rainbow appeared across the sky. Immediately we left our table to head outside to take photos, but also to marvel at it’s brilliance!! I was struck by the coincidence that this happened on the morning of our last full day with our friends in Moheto. Rainbows serve to remind me of God’s presence with me always and on this trip I have truly felt that God was guiding the work we were sent here to do!

On the agenda today was to continue working with folks on how to record their income & expenses each month. Because they have been functionally doing this with no written process to assess their financial status at the end of the month, it was a hard concept to teach. It warmed my heart, though, this morning to see people who understood the concept working with others in the group until finally everyone pretty much understood a process for recording their information…and understood why it was important!!

Our session was delayed in starting today, because heavy rains deterred folks from leaving their homes to walk to the church. Pastor Ken took this opportunity to show me the backpacks they distribute to teen-aged girls containing supplies for their monthly periods. In Africa, if girls do not have a way to manage their monthly menstrual cycle, they can not attend school. Days for Girls International, is the program that Moheto First UMC is working with. This provides for training of both girls & boys in the changes that occur in puberty, as well as providing backpacks with supplies to the girls. To date, the team of trainers at Moheto First UMC has distributed 2500 backpacks to girls in neighboring schools. They have a goal to begin training & distribution in 6 new schools in the next 6 months!! They purchase the backpacks with the supplies in them from a distributor in Kisumu, Kenya. I was so impressed at the outreach & positive response this program has had to date!!

One joy of today was the celebratory cake that Mama Hellen made for all of us. She grows a very healthy variety of sweet potato, & she baked a delicious sweet potato cake to share with all of us!! It was delicious!! …And it was baked over the wood fire using a pot partially filled with sand, then a pot containing water was placed in the pot with the sand, then an empty pan was placed in the pan with water and finally the covered pan with the cake batter was placed in the empty pan to bake. The layers of sand & water help to keep an even temperature while the cake bakes. I was fascinated by the process!!

We spent our afternoon back in groups brainstorming new ideas that folks might try in order to take their businesses to the next level. I was pleased to see so many in the groups offering new ideas to each other. It wasn’t just us Americans giving suggestions. I’m looking forward to following up in the months to come to see what different individuals choose to do to improve their business 😊

Here are a few photos to end the day:

The internet went down at the hotel last night, so I couldn’t publish this post until this morning (Sunday). The daily rain we’ve been having has played havoc with electricity & internet in this city & thus in our hotel 😊