The base of the mountain, that Nzaikoni is on, is an area called Machakos. We love being able to go see new places in Kenya, meet new people in these areas, and being exposed to new things. On our drive up Fr. Sebastian pointed to a turn on the road and said, "that's where I dropped them off". (more on that later) When we reached the small village on the road, people started realizing it was Fr. Sebastian who was driving the car, they ran to him, started chatting, and it took us almost 30 minutes to drive about 100 yards. Fr. spent 7 years in this community before he went to Rome to study (where he eventually met Fr. John).
We reached later in the evening there, enjoyed some dinner, and watched Brazil vs. Chile.
The next morning we had mass said in the language of "Kikamba" in a beautiful church. Afterwards we then had a small breakfast and got a tour of the parish center. The scenery of the valleys below was remarkable, the sunrise was so colorful, and the smiles of the community members/children was so welcoming and friendly.
When we left, we stopped at a woman's home who was a "mother like" figure to Fr. Sebastian during his time in Nzaikoni. She treated us to some Kenyan chai (black tea soaked in hot milk) and bananas. We then had a tour of her beautiful home which is surrounded with avocado trees (bearing the largest avocados we've ever seen), her small barns for her cows, and valleys and valleys of beautiful scenery.
It is definitely one of our favorite places in all of Kenya and we hope to visit there again.
DOWNTOWN NZAIKONI!!!
The main (only) road in Nzaikoni
Mama Rosa, Katie, Fr. John, some little dude
Us with a woman from the church who was trying to sell us some hand-woven bags. Mama Rosa was the lucky one to get these beautifully made bags.
Katie with another little dude
Katie, Fr. John, and Mama Rosa with community members and children after mass.
This is a picture of Fr. Sebastian showing us where some burglars were banging on this door, eventually using a sledge hammer to break a hole into the wall next to the door. They eventually then were able to open the door, attack Fr., and take the keys to his vehicle. These guys though unfortuanetly weren't able to drive this car, so they went back into the house, grabbed him, and held a knife to his neck while Fr. drove them down the hill. While driving, the men were asking for Father's forgiveness and to give them a blessing before he dropped them off.
So the place Fr. was pointing us to on the road, on the drive up, is now called Fr. Sebastian's Point. The men hopped out of the vehicle, then ran down another part of the hill.
After this occurrence, Fr. had a security alarm installed. Sometime after the first burglary, the men came again. This time Fr. was able to hear them, he then showed us how he locked himself further away from the men, going through different hall ways in the center. He then showed us how he went out the back of the center, then climbed a fence and jumped down. The fall was literally about 20 feet high. He said his adrenaline was so strong, he was able to sustain a fall that high, survive, then run down the hill to a community members home.
When the alarm went off, the entire community heard the sirens. The calvary (church goers from the community) came to Father's rescue then started attacking the men who were burglarizing. Father then said they caught two of the men, and actually killed them on the spot. People afterwards would go to Father and energetically proclaim "I got them for you Father! I helped keep those men away!"
We were completely shocked to hear this. But Father assures us that since that day, over 10 years ago, there has never been a problem since.
The view from the woman's home where we had chai and bananas.
Fr. John with the small barn in the back
Beautiful members of the community, Nzaikoni
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