July 16th, 2008

     Had a hard time getting to sleep last night which was a bummer because I had to get the van to the shop at 8:00AM this morning.  I made it out of bed at 7:00 and took a shower to get woke up and put on some clothes I could get dirty in case I needed to help with the repairs.  Allie was already up and wanting to go with me.  I gave her the option of sleeping in and I would return to the apartment but she said she would rather go with me.  The Oil change, radiator flush and clean-up on the van was supposed to take 1-½ hr. so  we did not have breakfast.  We would have it when we came back.  We were at the service place at 8:00 as agreed the day before.  I call it a service place because there was no shop of any kind, simply a dirt lot where a couple mechanics worked free lance and a car wash and detail shop were operating.  Seems they had a working arrangement that benefited them both.  I suspect the cars getting repaired would need cleaning and the cleaning guys may find repairs that needed to be done.  We were working on Mazungu time which meant if we were to be somewhere at 8:00 we were there at 7:50.  Naphtaly (the mechanic) was there and showed me where to park the van.  I showed him where my parts were and found a seat to “watch the show”.  Apollo (the fellow who recommended this place) called to see where I was at and I told him I was already getting the van serviced.  He was amazed I was already there.  I told him I was on Mazungu time and we had a good laugh.  Pretty soon things got to going and there were legs sticking out from under the van and engine cover.

     They got the oil and filter changed and even checked my brake pads which were ok.  I think they may have been fishing for some more work so I watched over their shoulder to make sure nothing got broken while it was being inspected.  We then moved the van over to the area where they were going to do the radiator flush.  Basically this was a place where there was enough cement to get under the van without really lying in mud during the process.  I kept reminding Naphtaly that I wanted the rusty water drained and clean water ran for a while before the flush was added as the cooling system on the van had not been properly taken care of in a long time.  The water was very rusty to say the least.  They had a unique way of flushing things as they used a pressure washer nozzle in the radiator cap to force water through the radiator as it drained from the petcock in the bottom. 

     They never drained the engine block itself, only the radiator.  Environmentally this whole process was a total disaster as they simply let everything drain into the ditch, not to mention the fact that every once in a while the pressure washer nozzle would slip out of the radiator neck spewing rusty water inside the van.  As all this was going on the fellow in charge of the car wash informed me that the agreement that was struck yesterday concerning the cleaning of the van was no good.  Instead of him charging 150Ksh each for the engine clean and interior clean the price was now to be 200Ksh each for the engine clean, interior wash and exterior because it was a van.  In another words about double what had been agreed.  I told him I would simply take my business elsewhere if he could not honor our agreement (I later made a deal for 500Ksh to have the entire interior washed and vacuumed, the engine cleaned and exterior cleaned).  After running the engine a while I asked them to drain that water to ensure we got as much of the free rust out before attacking any scale.  If I wasn’t there I'm not sure the job would've been done quite as thorough.  They put in the radiator flush and filled the system with water and Apollo , Allie and I went to get a soda at what appeared to be a tavern/ restaurant next door.  We left there and checked out some furniture that was being made next to the “soda shop”.  They had some pencil post beds and coffee tables made and were working on some other projects. It was typical workmanship that looks good from a distance but on closer inspection just doesn’t quite meet the expectation you had from afar.  When we got back the guys were about to drain the flush water (which had to have some sort of caustic solution in it to clean the inside of the block) by simply opening the drain cock in the radiator without loosening the cap.  This resulted in them leaving most of the flush water in the engine to corrode the whole system.  Now I know how the rust got in the engine in the first place if this is common practice.  I informed them I wanted the water to be drained properly and new water put in, the engine ran and drained again to remove the corrosive solution in the engine.  Only then could we put the coolant in and finish filling with water.  They did as directed and we let the detail man finish his job.  After the engine clean was done we could get the belt numbers so I could get replacements.  Naphtaly was a very cheerful person and all in all he did a good job. 

     The leftover oil and filters were mine to keep but I told them I had no use for them.  Apollo said he wanted the used oil and I asked him what for? He uses it for wood preservative.  They paint the stuff on wood when building to preserve the wood.  I bet it is a mess to build a house here for sure.   Apollo backed the van into the street and parked it for me.  I gave him 100 Ksh for his help with the negotiations to buy lunch with and Allie and I went back to the apartment.  The fellow who did the detail watched us as we traveled down the street with a look of pride seeing the job well done.  I could tell by the look on his face that he was thinking “I did that”.   We made it back to the apartment to get ready to go meet the Malware’s in town.  The 1-1/2hr. Job ended up taking 4 hours so things were getting a bit late for me.  I am supposed to be back here to meet a fellow at 4:30 also.  This is going to be tight.
     I left PAC and headed downtown to meet with Henry who was going to help get us around.  Allie and I actually made it down to the city center unassisted which is the first time I have been able to do this.  I’m still a ways from being able to go much of anywhere but there is progress. I called Henry and told him where we were and he came to meet us.  Turns out it was just around the corner from Java House at the UniAfric House.  The fellow I was to meet at PAC got around early and called me to see if we could get together.  He was at PAC and I was still downtown.  He said he would come down there later which worked well for all of us.  I then got my phone topped up (it is a prepaid) and called the Malware’s and Henry gave them directions. 

     Steve and Elizabeth Malware are friends of ours we met in the states when Lori (my wife) saw them in WalMart and knew they were not from around Moncks Corner, SC. They were from Kenya!!  Well we have been friends ever since and Steven has been very helpful to us by tutoring T.J. (who is now in the USMMA) in calculus and physics.  He has been such a blessing to us.  They are in the states on a teaching work visa and he is teaching high school in SC.  They are here on holiday and we got the chance to meet in Nairobi along with their son Ryan and Elizabeth’s brother Sam.  We had a good time visiting.  They had just eaten so Allie and I enjoyed a very nice hamburger each.  Java House is such a blessing!!!  We talked for quite a while and they had to leave as well as we, so we thought. 

     My next meeting was with Peter Johnstone of Pioneers, East Africa.  Peter came to the Java House with a fellow named Neal Turner who is a professor in the agricultural dept. of The University Western Australia.  Peter is wanting to reopen a bible school in southern Sudan and wanting to take a holistic approach to the curriculum.  He’s wanting to teach pastors not only the bible but a whole new lifestyle which includes stewardship of local natural resources.  IT is so refreshing to see the shift in missions work that is taking place to remove peoples dependence on outside donors and place them in a place of receiving Gods best first hand.  I personally believe it is a much more biblical based model and was excited to hear his plans.  We talked at length of possibilities and successes and failures of past ventures, ways to use local resources as well as the challenges of trying to balance training with profitability and doing it in such a way it can be repeated by the locals there.  It was a very good time but I know Allie must have been bored out of her head.  She has heard me talk about this tuff so much she could probably give a lecture herself.  She was so patient though and represented the family well.  Peter even noticed and complimented her on her ability to hang in there while we talked about this stuff at seemingly no end.  He related how his children have to sit and hear the same old stuff over and over from him.  We prayed and then left Java house committing to work on a plan that will make the bible school a model for it’s students as well as the surrounding communities.  It will for sure be interesting to see where this whole thing leads.  Henry came to the Java House and we left to go back to PAC. Allie commented on what a tiring day it has been.  We discussed how these trips are not a holiday as some might think and can mean some very long hours.  It has been a long day and sleep will be a nice easy thing tonight.