The road to Rongo

The road to Rongo
Its Thursday morning and we are taking the medical team plus VCT and the word of God to Rongo
Here in Kenya a journey is not measured in time or distance but in “shillings”,,,,,,,it is the cost of the journey in peoples minds and nothing else.
The plan is to leave by 7;00am and we get away at 8;00am,,,,,,,there are 7 people and we take 2cars,,,,,this is our first road trip and we are excited.just like kids
Rongo is on the the way to Tanzania a reasonable small town set in the “hill country” and took us 21/2 hours to get there or many shillings if you prefer,,,,,,
The outward journey is without event although the whole route was lush with banana trees and pineapple trees and beautifull views.
We get to Rongo and we stop for the inevitable soda,,,,,,before we move on to the real venue which is a few miles outside of Rongo a little village called Winyo,,,,,,,,
Winyo is a pretty little village and cleanest village we seen so far,,,,,,just about the whole population apart from a few children are with HIV.
We had great plans for our time at Winyo and as soon as we arrived what ever we thought we knew wasn’t going to happen.
Winyo is a farming community and had no rain for a month,,,,,,that is until the night before our arrival,,,,,,,everyone was in the fields taking care of business and so we had little to do without people to minister to
Eventually we get going with our talk on HIV and the need to avoid continuous re infection and then we incorporate Gods word into their everyday life the theme being TEMPTATION,,,,,,ARV’s ( the medication for HIV),,,,,,,apparently the women report that the drugs stimulate their desire for sex and this is a real struggle for them whether it is real or not.,,,,,as if they didn’t already have enough to deal with.
Only 2 men attended and this is the other problem,,,,,,,,,,One of the men was an elder and the the other man walked out.,,,,,,,men are either not interested or into denial or both.
The difference between men and women in the villages are very pronounced and the women are nothing more than chattels .The men call themselves Christians but don’t want to hear the word of God and don’t go to church,,,,,,they use sex as a tool to govern women , where wives can never say no and where the majority of men are having sex with the widows who also cannot say no for fear of a curse being placed upon them .
This information came from one enlightened man and all of the women who attended,,,,the man who we will call Charles,,,,,,because this is his name,,, started the support group in the village and here is his story,,,,,,,,
Charles was once the man that we have just described,,,,,,,he was married and having sex with other women married and widowed never asking what the husband may have died of ,,,,he thought he might have HIV but didn’t get tested,,,,,then his wife died and he chose not to know what she may have died of,,,,,he later remarried and passed on HIV to this wife his second,,,,,then one day after his wife had told him that she now had HIV,,,,,,he became convicted by what he always knew he had done ,,,,,,,he had killed his first wife and was killing his second.
He was telling me this ,,his story as we were walking from one small holding to another trying to gather men together to talk about HIV and GOD,,,,,,Charles is now passionate about men and their issues and recognizes what he is up against,
We came upon an older man and and I asked him in my best Lua,,,,their mother tongue to come and hear the word of God and get tested,,,,,,,he just burst out laughing at my attempt which is always a good way to start a difficult conversation,,,,,,He said that he was gathering feed for his goats and couldn’t come,,,I said to him all the goats that I have seen could feed themselves,,,,,to which he burst out laughing again,,,,,,,I suggested to him that as an older man he was a role model for the younger and by getting tested he would be a big man in the eyes of God,,,,,,,,,to no avail but who knows for the future,
We spoke to other men who promised they would come but didn’t
Connie spoke to the women and told how the bible described them as the last thing created (Genesis),,,,,,meaning they were the crown of creation and as such they should hold themselves in high esteem and receiving their assurance from God and not man. It is good to see connie in action,,,,,,she has a winning way about herself which she does’t necessarily recognize in herself,,,,,,,,Helen and Leah and the other women that Connie works with just love her.
Thomas said that these words were of great encouragement to the women of Winyo.,,,,,,,who inspite of everything were in good spirits.
We had a small medical unit with us that treats a variety of things mainly malaria and other chilhood things . There was one little toddler who had a severe scalding burn on her bottom fro,m hot porridge and then there was a boy called Kennedy who had cerebral palsy,,,,,he was ten but extremely small for his age,,,,,,we said a little prayer .over him and we discovered he was very ticklish,
Just as we were packing up to leave we were told that food had been prepared for us ,we were supposed to leave at 3pm and it was now 5pm,,,,,,even if we left immediately we wouldn’t get back before dark and everyone said that the myzunga( white people) had no business driving after dark
We had also said that we would go by Millicent house before we left Rongo,,,,,,,she had assured us that it was just 10 mins away,,,,,,,we should have known better,,,,,,,we started driving down these dirt tracks,,,,,going deeper into the country when Millicent(a nurse) pipes up that we are on the wrong road,,,,,,,we are thinking,,,,,,,Great,,,,,,,we will never get home,,,,,,we turn back and eventually we find her home ,,,,,,we asked if she didn’t get home much,,,,,not finding her way home ,,,,,,we get to her place and all the kids in the neighborhood turn out and her mother wants to feed us and its now gone 6pm and it looks like rain,,,,,,
We manage to escape without upsetting her Mum too much,,,,, and now the rain and we are on dirt roads,,,,,,but God is good it doesn’t come down in torrents until we are on a hard surface ,,,,,never mind the holes
We drive for another 2000 shillings and get home safely with much talk and laughter with the girls in the back, oh I forgot to mention Mildred,,,,, she’s a counselor, she’s riding with us they are so much fun,,,,,,THANK YOU GOD FOR A GREAT DAY