Hello All,

Here’s the last of the three installments. When at last peace came again to Kenya and the lives of all who had suffered so much in its absence.

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3/1/08 - Gilbert to me

PEACE AT LAST
Hi David, It is my due hope that all is well with you, We are all doing fine and everybody is happy after the mediation team lead by His excellency honourable Kofii Annan came up with a solution on power sharing and our leaders have agreed to work together hence gring back Kenya where it was before the 27 December general election .I have been having a problem with our neighbours donkey whereby it comes to the property during the night hence running up and down. I talked to the guy and gave him last warning because i have been talking to him politely to make sure the ass is enclossed in his compound but it seems he has not been keen on that so next time i wake up and find the donkey in the property i hope he wont blame me. On thursday evening there were three guys walking round the property [outside the perimeter] and i had to move closer to see what their intention was only to realise that they were sand harvesters and so i had to disperse them with the help of the dogs. WORK DETAILS :Monday and Tuesday had Julius, Bonface, Chris and Noah weeding the two acre piece and on Wednesday Julius and Bonface finishing the remaining part . Expenditure; Guys 2500, Joyce 300, Lunch 330 ,Phone charge 500 and my salary 3500. Total is 7130. There’s little water in the dam .It is so hot here and hope we need need rain soon .Bye sir and not to forget greetings from everybody especially our workers ,Mildred and our best cook Joyce and her family. Say Hi to Monte.

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Note:

Sand harvesters are guys who dig sand, usually at night, wherever they find it: roadways, private property, river beds, etc., and leave it in piles. Then a truck comes along and picks the sand and they sell it to people doing construction. This harvesting is often very destructive and leaves huge holes everywhere.

Not the offender himself, but one just like him.

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3/4/08 - me to Gilbert

Hi Gilbert!

Greetings to you and Mildred and all our friends there. Thank you for being so diligent in guarding the property and our interest there. Sand harvesters and unruly donkeys!! What next? In all of it, God gives you the wisdom to deal with the situations that arise.

I will be getting my return ticket in the next few days and will be back in Kenya before March is over. I look forward to seeing you and everyone very much. You are always in my thoughts and prayers.

God bless you, Gilbert.

David

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3/9/08 - Gilbert to me

Hi Sir,
We are all doing fine.Best regards from our workers, Joyce, Mildred ,Mbini and Easther hoping that all is well with you.Mildred is here on leave and says Hi .Pastor Joel was here on wednesday evening and met Mildred as i had left for The Gateway.David [our neighbor] is in police custody for what the police described as the Most wanted criminal associated with a series of criminal offences. Am happy as our neighbour took action and sold the ill_mannered donkey.WORK DETAILS: The guys did’nt work the whole of last week.The sand bags are getting worn out each and everyday as we replace and i thought it will be better if we get strong sand -bags so that the sun doesn’t affect them.Bye sir and say Hi to The Blues fun {Monte] guessing that you are for Man U and i say sorry for 1-0 defeat by Portsmouth.Love David.

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3/10/08 - me to Gilbert

Hello Gilbert,

Great to hear from you as usual. I now have a reservation and I will be returning on March 27!! I am very excited to be coming back to seeyou and Mildred and all of our dear friends in Kenya. Can you let the people at the Getaway know the date of my return. That way they can be prepared for my arrival.

I am very much looking forward to reuniting with you and everyone there.

Monte sends his best greetings.

God bless, Gilbert,

David

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3/15/08 - Gilbert to me

Hi Sir,
Thanks for the e-mail and hope you are fine . Everybody is fine here and happy to hear that you will be back in less than two weeks time. No rain hence dry here.I have used all the water in the dam on the grass hence left with mud .WORK DETAILS; Bought water for the perimeter tubing as the trees were not showing a good picture due to alot of sunlight .Expenditure ; Tuesday and friday water 4000 .Monday , Tuesday and Saturday Bonface helped in Digging out unwanted trees growing in the property, working on the drip -line and distributing water in other tanks respectively and paid him 750 . Lunch 150 of which we just cooked .Took 2500 as part of my advance. Total 7400.

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Note:

The “bad showing” of the tree means they have lost most of their leaves. This happens when there is no water. The acacia trees we have planted are indigenous to this area and very hardy and drought resistant. They just go dormant if need be. Now we have a good drip system in place so that we can provide water for them all year round.

The “unwanted trees” are the “bad acacia” that Wilson and Gabe gave life and limb to eliminate. It is a small scrub variety that they cleared all eight acres of. It’s very tough stuff.

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3/20/08 - me to Gilbert

Hi Gilbert,

My return to Kenya has been delayed one week. I will be back on April 2 rather than March 26. I look forward to seeing you then. Please send my regards to Mildred and all the guys.

God bless,

David

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3/22/08 - Gilbert to me

Hi David ,
Hope all is well with you.Joyce, The Guys,Mbini and I are o.k apart from Mildred who has been unwell for the last three days but hope she will be well soon. God gave us Easter present on Thursday night whereby it rained hard and for the first time water flew down the stream and we had reasonable amount of water collected in the dam and i was happy about it. The water is almost half the dam and 2.75 feet deep . Though we had some destructions caused.Work details : Tuesday bought water 2000 . Wednesday Bonface helped in transporting water to the other tanks.Friday; Bonface and Julius helped in replacing the sand bags that had been washed away by rain, Lunch 110 ,Joyce 100. Total 2960. I took 2500 as part of my advance last week as i thought it won’t rain so as to buy water for the trees but i thank God as the trees are enjoying the good moisture after we had had rain. Bye Sir and pass my regards to your family and Monte.I am almost out cash.Love David.

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The dam with just a little water in it. Gilbert used this to water the perimeter trees.

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The dam after the big Easter rain.

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The water we will drip irrigate our three acres with.

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3/23/08 - me to Gilbert

Hi Gilbert and Happy Easter,

Tell all the guys and Mildred I wish them a Blessed Easter. I will return April 3 and look forward to getting back to work. I’m glad to hear about the rain and the water in the dam. I hope we will get some more soon. Please tell Mildred I hope she feels well soon. I’m hoping the money will hold out until I return.
God bless and see you soon, Gilbert.

David

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3/30/08 - Gilbert to me

Hi David,
Hi there , We are all fine and hope so you are. We already have water in the dam after we had had rain for the last two weeks though the dam is letting out some water near the spill-way[from the first gabion box]. Mildred is not that bad only that she is with the doctor who is monitoring her. The doctor says she has foetal problems and so she will be in hospital for sometime. Julius and Bonface have been helping me with some tasks { like working on the leaking part on the dam and weeding} for the last three days but i didn’t pay them as the money i had could only afford lunch . Bye Sir and say Hi to Monte and your family. God bless. Joyce says Hi.

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3/31/08 - me to Gilbert

Hi Gilbert,

I must have missed the fact that Mildred is pregnant in your emails, because it is only now when I hear of the foetal problems that I am aware. Let me say I am so happy for both of you and sad that she is having dificulties. I will be back very soon now, just a few days and we will deal with her situation.

God bless you and I will see you Thursday next.

David

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We’ll have to say good-bye to Gilbert’s words for a while. I’m as sad as you are. Here’s to all of us who have il-mannered asses for neighbors.

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See you on down the road,

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David

Posted on April 29th, 2008 by david
Filed under: David's Journal