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Alternators and Black Soldier Flies July 23, 2008 |
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July 23rd, 2008
I awoke on time this morning and got things around to meet Pastor Gombe to go to Kisumu. He needs a cylinder head checked out and I need to get the alternator repaired , rebuilt or replaced on the van. I got in the van hoping there was enough power in the battery to get it started. There was and I was glad to hear it running. Everyone inside was still asleep so I was thankful I did not have to wake them up to give me a push. Pastor Gombe and his brother David were at the gate of ICIPE as arranged and we proceeded to the ferry landing here in Mbita. Kennedy was supposed to bring another battery for me to carry along in case we needed it but he had not shown up even as the ferry was being boarded. I called him and he answered, sort of. I know he picked it up but all I cold hear was the sounds from his home. I hung up and redialed a bit later. As I dialed I saw his motorcycle coming down the hill. He needed to make a trip to Kisumu as well and I was prepared to give him a ride. He said he wanted to take his motorcycle to Kisumu and he would meet us in town later. He put the motorcycle on the ferry and the boat started across to Lawanda. On the ride over I was approached by a few people wanting to get a ride to Kisumu but I told them the van was already full. While I know it wasn’t technically full, once you open yourself up here the tendency is to take advantage and we would be having about 20 people all cramming into the van. Pastor Gombe later warned me to not commit myself. I told him I already had refused some “offers”. I noticed a friend of mine named Nelson who was a gardener at the old YWAM base. We greeted and talked a bit and I found out he was wanting to purchase a battery to run a breathing machine for his son. Seems Nelsons son and wife have asthma. One of the fellows there pressing me to give him a ride was hanging around so I asked Nelson if he wanted to move to a different part of the deck to see where we were. It was an excuse to get him alone to offer him a ride into Kisumu. He was thankful for the offer. Nelson is such a gentle spirit and a very kind person. I really like him although we are very different personality wise. I am only too glad to be of assistance.
We left the ferry once it docked and made our way to Kisumu. The ride was good and Pastor Gombe and I got the chance to get to know each other better. He really liked what I was sharing about what I feel God has called me to do here and is excited to see what can happen. I told him of the work in Rongo as well as the meetings in Bondo. We talked about African culture and I asked some questions about availability of things. I also asked him if he knew the entomologist at ICIPE as I wanted to see if Black Soldier Fly was here in Kenya. The larvae of this fly are a great feed supplement for fish and chickens. He said he had never heard of it but would get me in touch with the fellow I needed to talk to. We had a very good time and before we knew it we were in Kisumu. I had mentioned a company by the name of Diesel Injector to Pastor Gombe as a place that was recommended by the head mechanic at ICIPE as a place to get the work done on the van but he said he knew of a place where we could get the job done cheaper. I told him cheaper is not necessarily less expensive but against my better judgment I followed along. We parked in front of a parts store while Pastor Gombe and his brother went to check in on the work on the van and get the cylinder head checked out. Nelson departed to take care of his errands and I was left in the van. I purchased a parking permit and waited for Pastor Gombe to return. An ice cream vendor came by and since I had no breakfast I purchased an ice pop for 30 shillings. Just about that time Pastor Gombe came out and directed me to pull the van in front of a juakale’s place. The Swahili word Juakale means “in the sun” which is the equivalent to shade tree mechanic. I am not saying all shade tree types are bad but if you don’t have a desire for excellence you have the formula for disaster from the consumers point of view. I have not had good experiences with these types before as they tear up more than they fix and I asked Pastor Gombe if this guy was reputable. He assured me he was, so I let them get started. They started by trying to figure out just where the alternator was. I told them it was on the bottom of the engine and they would have to get under it to remove it. They began working on it by crawling under and another working from the top. They never bothered to remove the battery cable so I went to my took kit and removed it myself. I know I should have just taken it elsewhere at this point. They started taking the seat off and taking the inside of the van apart to gain access. I could see the alternator parts he needed to get to but he insisted he had to get things removed to gain good access. Off came the seat and on top of the van it went. While they were taking things apart I noticed the guy on top pulled the battery wire that connected to the alternator and it had the stud attached to the ring terminal that was supposed to be a part of the alternator! I asked him about it and he loosened it up and threw the stud in the floorboard along with the rest of the bolts. He did not realize it was not just another bolt. At this point I am getting a bit more concerned. They got the alternator out and proceeded to take it apart. The juakale loosened the bolts on the outside cover and used a hammer to knock loose the end frames. After getting the back half off they discovered a bad brush and I agreed this was the problem. They also tried to convince me the bearing was bad, which it was not. I then asked how they are going to deal with the broken stud from the rectifier. They at first did not understand what I was talking about so I got the stud and showed them where it was supposed to be connected and that they had improperly used their tools when they tried to remove the battery cable. I explained I worked on these things for over 30 years and I knew what I was talking about. They tried to beat the broken piece out of the rectifier assembly but the stator coils was getting in the way. They did not have the proper tools and were using a screwdriver as a punch with a pair of pliers to hammer it with. At this point one of them took my stator assembly somewhere and had the rectifier de-soldered so they could work with the rectifier alone. He came back with the assembly in two pieces, one was the stator coils and the other was the rectifier assembly. I told them the way they were doing it would not work and in the process they broke the air diverter off the rectifier assembly. At this point they took the rectifier assembly somewhere (I am sure to try to press the stud out so they could find a bolt to replace it with). While they were gone David and I talked why we could not simply super glue everything back together (including the stud!!) as he was thinking could be done. Joseph had found us and was talking of how he wanted to be part of the program on Mfangano Is. While he was talking to me an insect landed on his head and just sat there. I thought it looked like a Black Soldier Fly so I took a closer look and sure enough it was!! Way cool, question answered. After Joseph and I talked he needed to go back to Nairobi but had no bus fare. I knew this was coming and asked him how much he needed. I gave him 1000Ksh and he went back to Nairobi. When the fellow came back the rectifier assembly that was in one piece was now in two and he said it was defective because it was broken in two. Duh, Dillroy!! You think? I didn’t say that as I was trying as best I could to keep my cool. They were trying to say it was broken in the first place but I insisted it was not and showed them the fresh breaks where they had broken it. I then asked where they were going to get a new one to replace the one they broke? They did some searching and found one (that also had the air diverter broke off, I wonder how that happened) from a used alternator that has the stator wires clipped off. I told them I was not comfortable with this since I needed the alternator to be reliable and asked them where a new one could be found. They simply said there was no place in Kisumu that had such a thing. I told them I simply could not believe as large a town as this had no alternator and starter rebuild shop. They insisted it was true but I still insisted we must find something. I told them I was told Diesel Injector could handle the repair and that may be a good place to at least ask. We found out they did have the part but the rectifier assembly alone was 10,000Ksh (that’s about $140.00US). Now I am having a hard time keeping my cool but I still am. Lori would be proud of me. I went with Pastor Gombe and David to check the details of the rectifier assembly at Diesel Injector. Pastor Gombe knew the owner as they had been acquaintances for a very long time. The owner is an Indian fellow and his son worked the counter. Pastor Gombe tried to deal with the man about the price but things are inflating around here more than in the states so prices of things have been skyrocketing. He did agree to assemble and test the alternator and give a guarantee if we would bring it down for the 10,000Ksh. Unfortunately by this time it was 1:00PM and they were closing for an hour for lunch. We went back to the van and let the guys know we were taking the alternator to the other shop to get it fixed. They did not seem to have any problem with that. I suggested Pastor Gombe and I get some other errands ran while things were shut down. I gave David some money for lunch as he was going to deliver the alternator as soon as the shop opened. I also gave him 11,000Ksh to cover the cost of the rectifier, a new set of brushes and seals (this alternator has a shaft out the rear to drive the vacuum pump for the brake system). The father of the young man doing the work talked with us and agreed they needed to make good on their mistake. Pastor Gombe and I caught a tuk-tuk (three wheeled motorized taxi) to town to get some errands run. While downtown we had lunch at a local place and had roast chicken (kookoo-chuma) and chips. We then checked on prices of wire, nails and such for the fence and returned to check on the progress of the alternator repair. The technicians were working on it and it was good to see they had the proper test equipment and all. We got the repair done only to find out if I wanted to get a receipt I had to pay an extra 1000Ksh to cover VAT. If no receipt was required you get a discount here. I protested at the counter to no avail as they had agreed on a price and if this is how they are cheating the government how do I have an assurance they are not cheating me? They said they give the option because of the people on the street who do not collect VAT for the government. I told Pastor Gombe the bible says to pay unto Caesar what is Caesar’s so I have no choice but to pay the extra if I am to be honorable. I paid the extra and the bill came to 12,000Ksh (around $170.00US). Ouch!! We took the alternator back to the guys who took it off and they reinstalled it. They got things put back together and we push started the van to get it started. The juakale guy rode with us to make sure it was charging and when we returned we shut off the engine to make sure it would restart. If did and I thought we were free to go. Just as we were pulling away the fellow spoke up and wanted his fee. Pastor Gombe, David and Nelson started talking in Swahili to the fellow and I could tell they were arguing my case. A crowd started forming which consisted of the local boys friends to see what all the commotion was all about. The guy insisted he should get paid 500Ksh for his job. Pastor Gombe told him he had broken the alternator and that it cost too much to fix his mistake to pay him anything. The juakale still insisted and when asked to call his father over to discuss this thing we were told he was far away. I am thinking the father did not want to deal with this thing. Up to now the crowd was only on one side of the vehicle but they began to move around to my side as well. A fellow was trying to engage me in the argument but he was not who I was interested in talking to. I simply cut him off by rolling the window up. Pastor Gombe later said that was a good move for sure. After some heated discussions I finally got the chance to say my piece uninterrupted. I told the young man that he did in fact break the rectifier and he knew it in his heart. I would be happy to pay his bill if he would trade with me the one I had to pay for his mistake. He simply would not budge. The situation was beginning to get dangerous as the whole mob thing was coming into play so I gave him the money while telling the crowd that formed that this was a dishonest man and you should be careful dealing with him. He will get his reward for his deeds. We left there to pick up a part for the toilet at the base in Mbita and left town.
We were too late to catch the ferry so we had to take the long way around which meant a trip through Homa Bay where the fellow who was supposed to take care of my property monuments lived and worked. Maybe we can deal with every ting today. As we were traveling Pastor Gombe was feeling so bad as was I about the whole situation with the alternator and the juakale. It just did not sit well being taken advantage of and the injustice of it all. I told him I think Christ felt a great injustice as the nails were being driven into his hands but he did not make as much of a fuss as we did on such a small thing as this. I was speaking totally of what I know and not in the least what I was feeling. I too was struggling with the whole situation. I told him Jesus’ blood paid for this juakale as well as we and the juakale will have to deal with Jesus. It really spoke to Pastor Gombe as well as to me. I needed to hear the perspective myself.
I then mentioned that it would really top the day off if I could speak to Ben about why the monuments were not put on my property in Mbita. He had been paid but never did the job.
We made it into Homa Bay and found the cyber café that Ben ran. He was not there but when he was called he came and met with us. We talked about the issues with his son’s health as he was having some blood issues and the doctors were thinking a broad spectrum infection of some sort. After a while the conversation shifted to issues concerning my property markers. I told him I was needing to get this thing resolved as this is the second trip I have made here and a year and a half was plenty of time to get the monuments done especially since I paid in advance. I needed to get a fence up and don’t have lot of time to get it done. I told him I was on the property and could not find the wood stakes that I was told the surveyor left and he said there were no stakes. He said there were rocks placed on the corners and he knew where they were. This does make a bit of sense since rocks are commonly used around here to mark properties but I am still skeptical of whether I am getting the truth. Ben said he would come to Mbita tomorrow to show me where these things are. We then prayed for Bens son and left for Mbita. By now there was a nasty storm moving in and it is after nightfall to head out to the roughest part of the trip. Not the combination I was hoping for.
We left Homa Bay in a rainstorm that required the use of the fog lamps and high beams to see the road clearly. I am sure glad we had them. It is 30 kilometers to Mbita but takes at least 2 hours to make the trip. We made it alright with some fancy maneuvering on my part. Nancy called while we were on our way to check our progress and while I was talking to her with the phone in my left hand I was steering the van as it got sideways. It is all part of the situation here and Pastor Gombe was very impressed with the van and my driving skills. He said I should drive the East Africa Safari (a local off and on road rally) and he would co-pilot it. I told him maybe in my younger days but no takers now. We arrived safely in Mbita around 9:30PM glad to be back. Nancy had some food ready for me which was very nice. We talked of the days events and I found out that Allie had made an appointment for me the next day with the people I bought the land from to discuss some things. I am not sure what these things are but I guess they will get handled. I then got a shower and went to bed.
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