Never a Dull Moment...

Back to the preschool this morning and it was wonderful! Such a welcome from the children, the teachers, and the grandmothers! It was so gratifying to hear the children singing and doing their reading, learning to sound out words phonetically, and then clapping enthusiastically for themselves and one another. I had the total fun of teaching them a song from my preschool music teaching days. Mary Martin's two granddaughters (here with their parents since Saturday evening) presented everyone with toothbrushes and toothpaste from their elementary school classes in Boston, gifts from the children there. The level of gratitude never ceases to amaze me, gratitude for even the tiniest things...and then I remind myself that these are children living in Nairobi's biggest slum, children who have nothing, children whose lives are being made immeasurably better by being at the Nyanya Preschool Center, and my heart is filled with hope.

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And now, all you bibliophiles out there, prepare to be green with envy. I was able to get "The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" in paperback at a bookstore in Nairobi yesterday- the UK edition. Began reading it last evening...and it is promising to be as wild a ride as the other two. For those of you not yet hooked, I give this amazing trilogy my highest recommendation. Lisbeth Salandar is one of the most unusual and creative characters I have encountered in a long, long time.

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I have fallen in love with Oliver, the little son of our hosts here at the Wildebeest. He is the most adaptable kid, welcoming one and all to what is essentially his home. Of course, being two, he has his moments...and wails can periodically be heard coming from different parts of the compound. But he keeps himself quite entertained, enjoys the two dogs, Fatty and Barney, and in general, seems to like people of all sorts. What an amazing way to be growing up! Having people from all over the world as your usual milieu...seeing their comings and goings as a way of life...sharing life with people of all ages, speaking many languages, and learning to be comfortable with all of them.

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I'll be out-of-touch for a couple of days as we go to the Masai Mara for a wildlife "safari". I'm hoping to see many, many animals, though how many photos I'll actually take I don't know. I think I'll be too busy just watching. Anyway, we return to the Wildebeest on Friday late afternoon, so check here on Saturday and there should be something. Asante sana for reading this. From Nairobi, Kenya...

Baby Elephant Walk

More time at the baby elephant center...far less crowded on Monday, and so, far more fun. Hearing about the rescues is amazing...these little ones were saved from certain death, since elephant babies stay with Mom for 2 years, and the dedication and obvious affection of the keepers for their charges is a joy to see. "Our" ranger put in a pitch for eschewing all products made from ivory. "If you buy them," he said, "you are as guilty as the ones doing the poaching. Poaching will stop if there is no market." Simple economics...not so simple human motivation.

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Being a total tourist! This is called getting a giraffe kiss... sweet Daisy removing one of her treats from between my lips. This center was also far less crowded on Monday, which made the visit far more enjoyable. A busload of schoolchildren- primary grades- arrived while we were there and they stood in line waiting quietly for their turn up on the platform. There was no jostling, no shoving, no acting up at all...quite a difference from many American school children. The expectation of good behavior and total respect for the teacher is very strong here in Kenya- and I suspect the rest of Africa. And perhaps since school and getting an education is still considered such a privilege here, the entire experience is given much greater value, taken far more seriously. I don't know...I'm only reflecting on what I've seen of students so far.

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Went to a local fruit and vegetable market in the afternoon and got a marvelous fresh fruit salad of mango, banana, and pineapple. Saw some of the local cooking- lots of rice, beans, tomatoes, cabbage...and throughout the market, a mix of the familiar and unfamiliar... both bananas and plantains, casava, red onions, tomatoes (what we would call Romas), potatoes, carrots, and many other unidentifiable veggies. The variety of mango here called apple mangoes, I think because of their rounder shape and partially red coloration, are especially wonderful- amazingly sweet and delicious. Of course, it also helps that these fruits are grown here and can be picked ripe and juicy. I also had a pizza at a little place near our camp and it was amazingly good- fresh tomatoes and a thin, flavorful crust.

The best of all possible worlds...fresh fruit and pizza. Yum!

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And now it is Tuesday- back to the pre-school center in Kibera to see the children and the grandmothers. I'm taking fewer and fewer photos as the days pass, not because there is nothing new to see- indeed, my senses are overloaded with images- but because I would rather be IN the scene, IN the moment, than to stand back and view it through the camera's lens. Weird, perhaps, but that's the way it is. Seeing many more beggars here in Nairobi than in either Mwanza or Kigali- though street children are plentiful everywhere...how is it, I wonder, that as a species, we have such little regard for the world's children? that it is somehow okay that millions of orphans don't know from where their next meal will come? that exploitation by unscrupulous people is common? that these young ones are used and abused and, perhaps worst of all, are robbed of all hope for a future? I am so very happy that the Nyanya Project is changing that for at least a few children and their grandmothers...painting a picture of hope and possibility where before there had been only bleakness. One child at a time...one day at a time...tiny little baby steps, adding up to a giant step forward...and its name is HOPE.

Meet the Wildebeest!

Our home-away-from-home here in Nairobi is the Wildebeest Camp, an amazingly welcoming place run by a wonderful couple from Australia, Fiona and Alan, their 2-year-old son, Oliver, and their great staff. Accomodations here are located within a secure walled compound and include camping on the grounds, garden tents, and dorm beds, something for every budget. There is internet access, a lovely garden, and a gazebo with TV (for watching things like tonight's World Cup final!) Last night, 27 young people from Amsterdam descended, on their way to a service project in Tanzania, and there blossomed a city of tents in the middle of the compound overnight, only to have them break camp early this morning and head out.

There are people here from so many countries: Germany, Canada, Denmark, Australia, England, Spain. In fact, I just had a great conversation with Marc, a young fashion designer and entrepreneur from Barcelona who has a store in Kigali and is now opening one in Nairobi- Mille Collines (check out his website http://www.millecollines.es/) Tonight, we're having a "barby" in honor of the World Cup final, which promises to be great fun. All in all, a truly incredible place to stay- affordable, hospitable, with an international flavor.

Up in the Air...the Road Ahead

The journey- so glad I came...
but what am I going to do
with all this? and where, oh where
will it lead?

Divine One, I open myself
to you- your guiding, your leading,
your intention, your inspiration...
The road ahead is totally and truly
obscure, the future remains a
huge question mark...
          ?
Feels like I'm walking in the darkness
right now- yet I am not afraid, but
am finding the "night" a soothing,
restoring, comforting time.

Grant me daring, O Holy One.
Grant me peace. Fill me with a
willingness to follow wherever
the path leads.
Grant me a courageous heart,
a determined spirit, an open &
creative mind...may my watchwords
continue to be Wisdom, Courage,
Strength.

         LET IT BE SO.

Animal Crackers...

Back in Nairobi...back to the traffic...back to the pollution...back to the over-crowding...back to the never-ending odor of burning garbage. For those of you who complain about traffic, you have absolutely no idea of what traffic really is! No such thing as staying in lane...cars zig and zag in and out of traffic lanes, move out into traffic with no regard for "right-of-way", and signal lights seem to have no meaning whatsoever. Our driver, Julius, is totally calm and collected about it, while I am sometimes gasping and hanging on for dear life, fully expecting a bus or car or truck to end up in my lap. But enough about traffic...

    

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We went to the Baby Elephant rescue center today, which was an absolute delight! Because of ivory poaching, as well as because of the extreme drought here for about 3 years, many babies have been orphaned. When a baby elephant is found alone, or found next to a dead mother, the rangers rescue them and bring them to the center, where they are fed and cared for and kept for a couple of years, at which time they are slowly and gradually acclimated to become part of a herd once again in the Kenya National Park. Most of the elephants at the center right now are females, ranging in age from 4 months to nearly 2 years. The keepers are with them for 24 hours a day for the first year, until they can swallow solid food and during this entire year, they are bottle fed. While we were there, one of the more mischievous in the group overturned a water barrel, creating a muddy mess in which the whole group immediately rolled. What glorious fun they were having! Made me think of human children. And a good time was had by all.

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Then there was the giraffe center...with many, many, MANY people eager to feed them- some of them, I'm sad to say, very "ugly", rude Americans. After being pushed and shoved and jostled, I went down to the ground to enjoy the view from there, which was far more pleasant. I adore giraffes- such beauty and grace...and those long black tongues are just amazing! All in all, a lovely day.

And now it's almost time to head to bed...nearly 9:15 here, though for most of you it's early afternoon. Good night...tomorrow it's to the Masai market and the pre-school center once again.

Farewell to Rwanda

Sitting in the Rwanda airport, waiting for our return flight to Nairobi via Kenya Air, after a full morning with Rev. Deogratias, visiting one of the reconciliation villages outside Kigali. A small community of about 45 families, this is one of the villages where perpetrators of genocide in 1994 and subsequently imprisoned, are now living side-by-side with victims of the genocide. We met and spoke with one of the perpetrators, Matthew, and then spoke with his neighbor and friend (now), Janet, who lost 5 members of her immediate family in 1994.

We learned that  Matthew  now sometimes watches Janet's children, while she does grocery shopping for him. Reconciliation...quite amazing...and yet, I must confess that it raises any number of questions for me, especially since I have been reading a book of interviews with female survivors of the genocide, all of whom were repeatedly raped, many of whom are HIV positive, most of whom live in total poverty since husbands, sons, and fathers were killed in the 1994 massacre.

All of these women question the justice of what has been and is being done in Rwanda, though many of them express a willingness to forgive IF the perpetrators truly express contrition for what they had done. One woman spoke of being sexually attacked repeatedly by a man who had long been her neighbor and when he was released after three years of prison, he came to her, demanding to be forgiven. When she did not respond favorably, he offered her a cow in return for her forgiveness. Her reaction was, "Isn't a human life worth more than a cow? My life has been destroyed- and he offers me a cow!"

Driving out into the countryside, we saw one of the churches where people had gathered, seeking safety. The church was bombed by the Hutu troops when the priest of the church told them about the people hidden there. So much to wrap one's mind around, isn't it? So much which seems so far beyond understanding...so much which wounds the mind and heart. A beautiful and difficult day...as so many have been here in east Africa.

Jina Langu ni Linda (my name is Linda)

Well, my body finally rebelled! All of the activity, sitting three in the back seat of our vehicle, bouncing along dirt roads yesterday, as well as being fraught with so much emotion in this Land of A Thousand Hills caught up with me duing the night and my right sacro-iliac joint is well and truly inflamed. And so, while my traveling companions are driving for 2 hours to one of the Clinton Initiative/Partners in Health sites in eastern Rwanda, I am stretched out in MM's room at her hotel, trying to stretch out enough to restore some balance to my physical self. I am terribly disappointed since the site involves maternal-child health, my nursing speciality for a number of years, but I am trying to hold positive thoughts by spending some time with this blog, reflecting on all that I've seen and heard and experienced over the past three days.

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For you frequent fliers in the U.S., here's some interesting info: the flight from Nairobi, Kenya to Kigali, Rwanda was just a little over an hour. In that short while the staff found time to bring us warm towelettes to wash our hands and then serve us a lovely little meal with beverages, keeping us happy and most comfortable- and all of this done with the greatest courtesy and utmost efficiency. American airline companies, TAKE NOTE!!!!  

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From my journal on 6 July 2010:

In Kigali, Rwanda...a very clean city of about one million people...beautiful new airport...very modern with a great deal of constuction and refurbishing taking place. Eager to see it in daylight, to explore the city's heart...to drink real coffee and blog a bit...to go at a slow, observant pace. I am having trouble grasping the fact that a mere 16 years ago, the worst genocide since the Nazi holocaust took place here during one hundred days of living hell, with people tortured, hacked to death, shot, enduring every imaginable atrocity, the streets flowing with their blood- more than 1 million, I think. It boggles the mind...or perhaps it is only that the mind refuses confrontation with such horror, such recognition of human inhumanity. This afternoon, the Genocide Memorial/Museum... I wonder how that will be...feel...hard to anticipate...

And then the journal entry from 8:20a.m. on 7 July:

How do I even talk about the Genocide Memorial Museum? One of the most emotionlly draining things I have ever experienced...and no time at all to process the experience. What was populating my sleep, I wonder? What images are now implanted so deeply that they will forever be a part of me? I am finding our pace exhausting, not so much physically as mentally, emotionally. It is difficult for me to switch gears so quickly...I simple need to be able to dwell in what I am feeling a bit more...to let it sink in deeply so I can come to a place of clarity- at least about my inner experience. And I realize how much taking pictures pulls me "out there"- good in some ways not so good in others. So, time to leave once again- and I'm hardly ready- SAIDIA!   

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Met Pastor Deogratias today (isn't that a great name? "Thanks to God") He is the head of the Prison Fellowship of Rwanda and works with prisoners, many of whom are still there due to crimes committed during the Rwandan genocide. Quite a remarkable man, with a heart for the work of reconciliation. Four reconciliation villages have been established so far where genocide perpetrators released from prison and their families are living side-by-side with victims and their families. The government donated the land and building has been facilitated by Norwegian Church Aid. We've been invited to visit one of these villages on Friday morning before we return to Nairobi.

         

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Then- now change gears with me- we headed to Gahaya Links where women are taught crafts and Joy, the founder, designs fabric and jewelry items which are then made by the women for sale around the world. They have been helping to train some of the Nyanya grandmothers in paper beadcraft. Joy is a real dynamo- energetic, intelligent, and an excellent businesswoman. We saw about 30 women sitting outdoors on the grass, working on various projects as they develop their skills to enable them to earn a living which will help to support their families and raise their standard of living.

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Okay- one more shift...off to Ngiryi, in the hillsides northwest of Kigali, home of the grandmothers trained by Gahaya in cooperation with Nyanya (our dollars support this project on an on-going basis and these 15 women are "Nyanya Grandmothers"). The drive was beautiful, though the last several miles uphill were over rutted dirt roads. When we arrived at the local Ngiryi community center, a meeting of the area council was taking place on the hillside, a kind of neighborhod court in which disputes were heard and settled. Probably 50-60 people were there and things were still going strong when we left a couple of hours later. The grandmothers were so welcoming, greeting us with hugs and "Bon jours" and smiles as big as all outdoors. As usual, I was captivated by the children and got to know a couple of names- and stories.

The adorable little guy above is Moisies (Moses) with his grandmother, Anastasia, a beautifully regal woman...tall and slender as a model. At 3, Moisies is cheerful, laughing (though at first he feared that we were going to eat him, something his grandmother has warned him might happen if he played in the road!) He sported a clip-on necktie which he wore with a great deal of pride and during the lengthy afternoon displayed the same kind of patience I have seen in all of the African children I have met so far on this trip. Just before I took this photo, he and his grandmother had been singing a little song together, with much hugging and exchange of affection. And- if I may use a very American expression- I could have just "eaten him up"...though I would never tell them that!

And then there was Emmanuel, a wonderfully articulate 14-year-old who attends Primary 6 and speaks remarkably good English. He told me that he loves school and hopes eventually to go to university. "I love learning languges," he said with great enthusiasm, and then revealed that he also loves to sing and dreams of being a reggae singer. With a bit of encouragement, he sang an original song for us about himself, his school, and his life. And then, prompted by some questioning by Bosco, our driver, Emmanuel revelaled that he is an orphan, both parents dead, and he now lives with an older sister. Saying goodbye was not easy and we hugged tightly, as I thought of my grandchildren back in the States who have so, so many advantages of which this little guy can only dream- or perhaps not even imagine. What places one life here and one there? What chance of birth or genetics? And what really IS the responsible of the "haves" toward the "have-nots"?

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And so the day comes to an end. Are you tired yet? I certainly was- which may account for my depleted and "in pain" state this morning. But the rest- and a lovely HOT shower is slowly restoring my equilibrium and bodily homeostasis...the hip pain is beginning to abate, as m body, heart, and mind come more fully into alignment. Basi! basi! much love to mi watoto, mi wajukuu, mi mwenzangu. Kwaherini from Rwanda.

                   

Poetry from the Land and Sky

Precious ones, the past few days have been so incredibly full that I haven't yet had time to process all that I've seen and experienced. And the major internet provider here in East Africa has been down for nearly 3 days, so I've been totally out of touch. Recent photos have not been posted and even my journaling has not been happening with regularity since I've been so exhausted in the evening. And so, tonight, I'm only sharing some poems I wrote on Monday and Tuesday. We return to Nairobi on Friday and will be able to be on-line with some regularity, and so will begin to catch you up on what I have been seeing and doing here in Rwanda. I guess, tonight, I can only say that I hope you will look at every good thing in your life with deep appreciation- your spacious home, your comfortable bed, your bathroom, your refrigerator, your washer and dryer...I could go on and on. Most of all, love and cherish your family, for so many here lost all or most of those they loved in the genocide in 1994. Kwaheri! Lala salama. (Goodbye- sleep well.)

disturbing dreams...

Mind and heart on overload...

Faces permanently etched in memory,

Populating thoughts and dreams...

Women, children of every shape and size

March across the theater of sleep.

Refuse to exit but remain determinedly

Center-stage, reminders of the depth

Of poverty and need in which they are

Immersed...seemingly sinking and yet

Courageously, determinedly refusing

To be drowned, defeated...

       Will I ever sleep undisturbed again?

a flying vision

High above the clouds

High above the earth

Another-worldly sense pervades,

and reality is far, far away.

I step out and walk upon the clouds,

bask in the sunlight, revel in the solitude,

caressed by the perpetual zephyrs,

welcomed by the feathery softness

as I venture daringly toward eternity,

existence undisturbed by human cares...

truly, fully care-free...

                              and then

the seat-belt light flashes...

"We are preparing for landing in Kigali..."

and I am drawn back

to be earthbound once again.

hope-less?

Time zones collide...

currency swims in my head...

     shillings, francs, dollars...

shattering the sense of unity

for which I long,

one-ness a waking dream-

     yet always just beyond my grasp...

One world?

One humanity?

One heart and mind?

Or will our differences always divide-

     and in dividing, conquer?

Yet I hold fast, cling with desperation

and occasionally despair to that

dream,

     even as the realities of

     life assault me day after day.

Wanawake (women) of AFRICA

Many Types of Independence...

Happy Independence Day to those of you back home in the States! Another gorgeous day in Mwanza...more time with the grandmothers, and a nice lunch next to the pool at Mary Martin's hotel. Now, I'm back at the Treehouse for a little "alone-time", something I really need when the world is too much with me. Maddie is swimming, MM is visiting a Hindu temple, and I'm posting this blog in the peace and quiet of our room here, as the breeze blows through the whole house, goats bleat on the hillside, and windchimes sound on the veranda.

So, let me tell you about Devote, one of the Tanzanian grandmothers, or "bibis". One of the first things I noticed about her is the weight she seems to be carrying, though she has only one grandchild in her care and the others have so many more. But in the past couple of days, as we've heard her story, that burden has been more clearly defined- and my heart has broken for her over and over again.

Devote was educated though the tenth grade (second form here), and longed to become a nurse so that she could help the sick and less fortunate, as her greatest joy comes in helping people. "And," she added, "I liked the uniforms." She had to drop out of school to help at home, so further education was not possible. She married and over the course of years, gave birth to 10 children... and here the story of her sorrow begins. Five of those children died in the first couple of days of life and, subsequently, three more died in childhood of high fevers of short duration (most likely malaria). So this lovely, intelligent woman had only 2 children grow to adulthood, a son and a daughter. It was only after she had been widowed that she began her small baking business to support herself and her children.

Then, a couple of years ago, her daughter died at age 18 of AIDS, leaving behind a new baby, Susanna. And now, Devote is caring for that lovely child, taking the business skills training offered by the Tanzania Home Economics Association in cooperation with the Nyanya Project, in the hope of growing her business and increasing her profits, in this way giving Susanna a better life. In fact, her fondest hope is that Susanna will become a nurse. We were graciously invited into her home where she shared the hospitality of her story and her donuts with us, as we all fell in love with Susanna. How can one possibly hear such a story of ongoing and prolonged suffering and not be touched to the very core? I have suffered the death of one child; I simply cannot imagine losing eight! No wonder Devote told us that at times, when all of this was happening, she felt like she was going crazy. And so, all of you dear ones back in the States, I give you just a small taste of why I am coming to love these courageous, determined women, with their incredible patience and endurance.

I also love the sound of the Swahili language! Some of the words and expressions fall so beautifully on my ears: "wanawake"- the word for women;

"umoja nguvu"- unity is strength; "lala salama"- good night; and "Jina wajuku tisa"- I have nine grandchildren. (remember to pronounce every syllable and virtually every letter; A is ah, E is aye, I is ee, O is aw, and U is ooh.) As I prepare to sit outdoors on the veranda for the next hour to read and think and process, I say to you KWAHERINI- good-bye to all of you...from Tanzania with love.

Sunset to Sunset

A mixture of ruminations and impressions this evening...the amazing sunset last night, as we sat

on the patio of the Chinese restaurant...a fitting closing to an extremely full day...

The peace and quiet of the hillside as I ate breakfast on the veranda at the Treehouse B and B, while Maddie slept in a bit longer. (Maddie is a rising senior at Wake Forest U. who has been in East Africa for a month and is, at present, my roommate. And we are having a ball getting to know each other. It's like having another granddaughter.) Bird sounds were incredible and varied, and the wind chimes added their accompaniment to the morning symphony, while the vast variety of vegetation provided a feast for the eyes, as the muesli, homemade yogurt, and mangoes fed my stomach. Pure ambrosia!

The villages where we met with the four Tanzanian bibis (grandmothers) in their homes, receiving the gracious largesse of their hospitality and coming to know their stories a bit better...realizing, in their telling and our hearing, that all of us indeed share a common humanity. A grandmother is a nyanya or a bibi.

(Top row: Rosa and Devota;

second row: Martha and Angela)

The children everywhere and in general, very quiet and well-behaved in the presence of adults, though when in a crowd, they are noisy, laughing, typical kids. One little boy, Petri, kepy wanting to touch my hair, and I later learned that my straight, white hair is very atypical for Africa and the children were very amused that I am white from head to toe.

Litter pretty much everywhere in the villages. Why is no one teaching about sanitation or doing anything about it? Fostering the pride of keeping the community nice? Are we talking about Maslow's hierarchy of needs here, with prople so busy taking care of basic needs that nothing else enters their minds? But wouldn't it be possible to emphazise both? Poverty is grinding in so many ways, damages self-esteem, makes people feel less-than...and it is generally agreed that order outside leads to order inside...I know it doesn't feed or clothe or shelter but wouldn't it give HOPE that things could be better? I just can't help wondering...

Tired...hungry...pizza for supper (it was actually very, very, very late lunch!) and then back to the Treehouse in time to watch the sunset from the veranda...as my "day" was braketed in two glorious settings of the sun in this far-away place.

From Mwanza with Love

So...are you ready to hear about Thursday? The morning was spent at the Raila Odinga Nyanya Pre-school Center in the Kibera slum which has two million people living in two square miles. The children were wonderful and it was hard to stop taking photos as they were all so beautiful, This center has been open less than a year and already several chidren have moved onto regular school because they had learned so much, The teacher, Elizabeth, is quite amazing and the children respond to her so well. In this case, a picture is really worth more than a thousand words, so I've given you are some lovely "words"...

In the afternoon, we went to Kaputiei village outside Nairobi, a planned community begun by Jamii Bora, a microfinance orgaization. The first residents, moved out from Mathare and Kibara slums, have been there for about 9 months, with a projection of 2000 houses to be eventually built there. There is a factory on-site in which the women make the bricks and roof tiles; electricity and hot water are supplied by solar panels; and the comunity will eventually be self-sustaining. I met Beatrice, better known as Shosho, who is the founder of the Kosovo Grandtoto Women's Group and one of the strong guiding liights of this fledgling community experiment. She is a woman of great heart, with the most beautiful smile and totally hospitable manner. Her determination and drive comes because she wants to see her 12 grandchildren educated (9 of her grands are AIDS-orphaned).

And now it's day three..yes, only day three! It began with oversleeping, then rushing to get ready to go to the airport in all of 10 minutes! Fortunately I had packed last night. Our flight to Manza, Tanzania, was smooth and ueventful, but the day has been anything but. First, this is a beautiful city on the shores of Lake Victoria the largest fresh-water lake in Africa. Mwanza is also know as the Rock City, aptly named for the incredible rock formations which are everywhere around the city- breath-taking! (My granddaughter can tell you that I love rocks!) The air here is so fresh compared to Nairobi's pollution, and the day was sunny and absolutely gorgeous.

After our arrival, we met with Asia Kapande and Magdalena of the Tanzania Home Economics Association, which has begun working with grandmothers here in cooperation and concert with the Nyaya Project. Magdalena has been training 4 grandmothers in business skills since May and already they are seeing a considerable increase in their small-business profits. After a lovely lunch on a second-floor patio overlooking the lake, we drove out to the TAHEA headquarters and met these four women: Devota, Rosa, Martha, and Angelina, who told us about what the business training is meaning to them and their families. Between them, they have 12 AIDS-orphaned grandchildren, meaning each of these women has lost at least one of her children to AIDS.

All in all, a very full day...which finished with

supper at a Chinese restaurant on the lake

where we watched a gorgeous sunset from our patio table, and then headed back to our respective hotels (Maddie and I are staying at the Treehouse Bed & Breakfast while MM is staying at Ryans' Bay. And all of us are happy with where we are.) I'll tell you more about our hair-raising taxi ride tomorrow and share some sunset photos But right now, though it is mid-afternoon for most of you, it is nearly 10:30p.m. here and I am really ready for bed. Kwa heri from Mwanza, with much love.

Snapshots of Nairobi

sprawling, crawling city...
oxymoronic juxtaposition of
wealth abutting abject poverty
the modern arm-in-arm with the primitive
the all-pervasive odor and gray-white smoke
    of garbage burning
traffic moving helter-skelter through
    crowded streets, spewing clouds
    of exhaust into the already-pungent air
          or stalled bumper-to-bumper for
          seeming hours
a baker's dozen of mahogany bedsteads
    for sale decorate on street corner
    while on another stands a huge
    indoor shopping center
an endless parade of people walking
    along the roadside
occasionally, women bearing produce
    on their heads
here a small herd of goats grazing on
    sparse grass
there a yellow-vested work crew of
    women & men clearing rocks from
    a median strip
while overhead large hawks and herons
and garbage birds reel and soar beneath
the trail of jets
        this is Nairobi

Getting to Know You...

First full day here (and I mean FULL!) Visited an amazing women's cooperative here in Nairobi called Amani Yaa Juu, where Kenyan women, as well as refugee women from a number of surrounding countries, come to learn a variety of handcrafts which are then sold in the lovely shop. I could have spent many $$$$, but restrained myself and bought only a few items I absolutely loved.

Then we met with three grandmothers: Magdalene, Beatrice, and Margaret. Magdalene works with TNP, a liason between grandmothers and projects; Beatrice is one of the grandmothers working at the pre-school center; and Margaret is the sister of one of our grandmothers who recently died (or as they say here, "passed away". The word in Swahili for "died" is considered rather harsh, meaning that the death was painful and difficult, and is reserved for accidental or unexected death.) The direct cause of Juliana's passing was cholera, which causes severe, unrelenting diarrhea. As she was HIV positive and had been on ARVs (anti-retroviral drugs) for a number of years, her immune system was quite depleted and she was unable to cope with the assault on her body. Cholera...a bit hard to get one's mind around in this day and age, isn't it? Seems to belong in Medieval days...but here it is, in 2010.

Margaret, at age 37, has two children of her own, is caring for four other orphans in her home, and will now be responsible for the four granddaughters of Juliana (with the help of Beatrice, who was Juliana's best friend)- and she is also HIV-positive. It boggles the mind! We were able to give her a small finanacial gift, for which she was most grateful, thanking both us and God profusely. But school uniforms, fees, and supplies come to about $350 per year and at least seven of the children in her care are school-age. All I could think of as I heard her story is how much complaining we in the U.S. have been doing during the ecnomic downturn about our finances...oh, my...I think I will be ashamed to ever complain about money again. And Margaret's story is only one of so, so, so many here in Africa.

Our driver/translator is Julius and what we'd do without him I am not at all sure. Driving here in Nairobi is an absolute fright! Red lights seem to be "suggestions", if anyone notices them at all, as vehicles zig and zag everywhere, cutting in and out of traffic. I am certain that the word "merge" is not part of the driving vocabulary, either...in fact the predominate driving mentality seems to be of the kamikaze sort. Can't begin to say how many times I expected to hear the squeal of brakes and the crunching of fenders but with Julius at the wheel, we got everywhere quite safely, though I wonder if my white hair isn't a bit whiter! or at least standing up on end- though with my spiy hairdo, who could tell?

Maddie, the Wake Forest student who has been interning with Mary Martin throughout this past semester, has been having an amazing experience here, living with several families out in the countryside, and learning about life first-hand. She and I have decided that, based on some of the research she has been doing, we will eschew a couple of the pricier hotels which were tentatively booked, and instead stay at two hostel-type places, one in Mwanza, Tanzania, the other in Kigali, Rwanda. Makes me quite happy to do this, both in terms of saving money and in living nearer the people I hope to get to know a bit better.

Funny thing...though my last trip to this continent was ten years ago, it has felt a bit like coming home for me...odd, isn't it, since my "home" is so very far away...and yet something here draws my heart in a way I cannot yet explain but can only feel. 'Til next time...

UP IN THE AIR

(written on June 29, 8:35 EDT)

High in the air over
who knows where?
Sun & clouds...
blue skies smilin' at me...
and all around people
of all shapes & sizes,
colors & ages, sharing the
space of this gigantic, double-decker
plane we all call "home" for just
 little while in the grand scheme
of things, though our flight of
eight-plus hours seems very
long indeed.

A baby near me cries
and crawls and reaches out
a chubby hand to touch my face.
another sleeps fitfully, cradled
in her mother's arms...
and I am cradled, too, in my
soft, warm red blanket and
the loving prayers and wishes of
those I love- far away in
time & space, but with me
here in heart & mind, as the
huge silver bird wings
ever southward.

An amazing aircraft! Never been on a double-decker before. I figure we are over the northern coast of Africa, though we are at such an altitude that no land is in sight. Christopher Columbus, never in your wildest imaginings could you have thought of this! Not only going over the edge of the world but beyond it, rounding the globe, following its curve, thousands of miles in a matter of hours. And yet we moderns take it all for granted, seemingly unaware of the ongoing miracle of more than five hundred people aloft in a steel contraption with wings. I am in awe!

At home, it is 8a.m....Paul isn't even up for school yet...and here we are, well into the afternoon of another day. A few hours' sleep on the night flight... several nice naps on this one. I actully like the daytime flight better...not sure why. Have had no desire to watch movies- and there is quite a selection available- but with nearly 5 more hours ahead, I may yet resort to that entertainment. Now I must get up and walk a bit, as I think about what lies ahead, about what I'ver left behind...for a little while.