On Repairs
One of the beautiful aspects of living in Kenya is the required dependence on other people. When something breaks down, it’s a human coming to save the day (Amazon and Home Depot are not options). Sometimes I’m the one helping, other times I’m in need of help.
Several weeks ago, I was on the two-hour drive to the passport office in Nakuru when I heard a thump-thump-thump from under my car. I pulled over and looked at the tires, assuming a flat, but the tires were all fine. . .which meant a more serious problem. Thankfully there was a small shopping center a few hundred yards ahead, so I pulled in and looked under the car. I couldn’t see anything wrong with the axles or tie rods/stabilizer bars (causes of past breakdowns).
A man walked up to me, asked what was going on, and told me he was a mechanic. I described the problem, he jumped in the car, listened to the thump-thump-thump, told me he could fix it, and we slowly rolled to his repair shop about a mile away. I put him on the phone with my mechanic in Kijabe, and they agreed on the problem and the repair. He went off on a motorcycle, found the part (the shock mount was completely broken where it attaches to the car chassis), installed it, and I was on my way in less than two hours for $125.
Late Friday night, Easter Weekend, my neighbor knocked on my door. His live-in houseworker was locked in her room after her key broke in the lock. Could I help? I went over with a screwdriver and some W-D 40. . .no luck. The hinges were ancient and on the inside of the room, didn’t seem possible to remove them. We talked about whether she could stay inside overnight and get help in the morning, but the hospital maintenance team would be away for the holiday weekend, Saturday might not be any better. We pried, hammered and jiggled the lock, but it wouldn’t release.
The best option seemed to be to cut the hollow-wood door around the lock. I went to my garage with a flashlight and rummaged through tools. Circular saw? That could work, but the battery was dead, and it would only cut through one side of the hollow door. Reciprocating saw? Same dead battery but could do the job if we waited an hour. Chain saw? Good battery and could easily cut through both sides of the door!
Two minutes and a lot of sawdust later, Sarah was free. The door still hasn’t been repaired, but the hinges allow it to open and close and gives some privacy from the 4 little girls.
Thankfully it was charged up after taking care of some fallen trees the previous week.
Speaking of repairs, Happy Easter! The image below is a cutout of the Hebrew word hesed that will live on our mantle this year. Hesed is often translated as God’s covenantal faithfulness or promise-keeping. Easter is about Jesus’s death and resurrection – the cross and the empty tomb are the key tools our promise-keeping God uses to repair what is broken in the world – and what is broken in us.
