Church offers homeless refuge - Bathurst Notebook Day 3

Financial transaction here easy

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Despite having a small Kenyan population which is expected to grow exponentially from young Kenyans chasing quality higher education, there are minimal drawbacks of financial transactions unlike other parts of the world.

In Sydney, Forex bureaus are so liberal that they accept and convert the Kenya shilling to any other currency. One Australian Dollar is equivalent to Sh87.

Neither is life cheap. I bought a telephone charger adapter for Sh1,600 which costs Sh150 on Tom Mboya Street. A friend suggested buying clothes in Nairobi for my “bae” but wrapped in an Australian supermarket bag to trick her of a “quality import” because the same quality available here can be bought in a Tom Mboya Street exhibition shop.

Church offers homeless refuge

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In case you are stranded or homeless in Australia, you will not be turned away or go hungry. The Bathurst Uniting Church is the place where you might seek refuge. They don't turn away refugees or asylum seekers, but offer them shelter, warm food and clothing.

This can also be a survival tactic if you run out of cash and are yearning a free meal. But don't get me wrong. And the church is not afraid to advertise its spiritual calling on giant billboards.

But you will not find people lining up here, as the over 18,000 people granted asylum last year have been comfortably assimilated into society.

Despite all this, meeting black people in rural Australia is rare.

Chef turns to Kenyan delicacies

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Hotel manager Kim Bradbury finally delivered on her promise to “Kenyanise” the menu here.

The chef cooked mukimo and prepared kachumbari for lunch, outdoing himself with githeri for supper. The chapatis were yummy! She also opened the fridge for milk lovers to indulge, and even invited everybody to carry to their rooms as much food as they wished. This was a return to normal life that Team Kenya is used to.

Water is free here and jam too.  She also cautioned those who are prone to gluten to go for “gluten-free bread”, something alien to everybody, myself included.

Bread is bread as far as we are concerned! Friday is party time with the eagerly awaited ugali to be washed down with sweet Australian milk!