Travel Day

The Masai Mara

Travel Day

Today is a travel day - six hours south on rough roads to the Masai Mara.  On the border with Tanzania, this home to the highest number and most variety of animals in Kenya.  One of the natural wonders of the world is the great migration that happens twice a year - six million animals move from the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Masai Mara each July, and then return each October.  This is what I imagined Africa would look like: great, wide open grasslands interrupted only occasionally by Acacia trees and looming rocks.  A dark rainstorm in the distance, a warm breeze blowing across the savanna, the big, boastful sky overhead.  This environment is magical.

Flat tire in the middle of the African Tundra

We travelled in a convoy of seven vans, single-file down the punishing trail.  At one point, driving over an area with sharp rocks, we realized one of the rear tires was flat.  We were the last van in the convoy, and the others were all far ahead.  It was hot, dusty, and deserted; there was no cell signal.  We unloaded the luggage and pulled out the spare tire.  The jack was old and stripped, so we had to improvise a tool to get the van jacked up.  A man in an ancient Toyota pickup stopped to help, but realized immediately that he too had a flat tire.  What a hot mess.  We felt like Walt and Jesse trickle charging the battery in the New Mexico desert.  

Shortly after we caught up to the convoy, the driver of Van 2, carrying Dutch and Pat, and three excitable, energetic gals - Beth, Elise, Christina, decided to deviate from the road and head out into the mud.  That decision had dire consequences.  Within 30 seconds, they were stuck fast.  Luckily we pulled up in time to watch the trio, barefoot and ankle-deep in the sticky mud, pushing the van from the clutches of the earth.  They pushed and pushed, while everyone else in the group laughingly cheered them on and watched from the dry road.  Chivalry apparently is truly dead.  

The girls now bear a deep grudge, particularly against Rob and Rick.  Apparently forgiveness is dead too.

What started the feud

We arrived at the sprawling Fig Tree Camp in the early evening.  We are staying in tents along a muddy river populated by hippos and crocodiles.  Dad, Rob and I decided to go for a quick swim in the pool before dinner.  We were sitting there at the pool, with a few members of our group, having our daily Tusker, when the usual mzungu chatter suddenly went very quiet.  A massive mamma baboon had sauntered into the pool area.  I don’t like baboons; I’m not sure why God created them - they are ugly, poorly behaved, vile mammals with no sense of class.  Not an animal you want to run into when you’re weaponless and bare-chested.  We all watched, dead quiet, as she trotted past round the pool and away down the path.  There was a moment’s pause, while we pulled our jaws closed, then relieved, strained, ‘I wasn't afraid’ laughter.

Kipringwe, Ringa, and Table Banking

Workers harvesting tea near Kericho

Agriculturalist

This morning, Rick, Rob and Joseph interviewed a candidate for a new position with A Better World.  Joseph, who is a board member of ABW, holds a PhD in Agriculture from U of A, and was born and raised in Kenya, is an soft-spoken, intelligent man who contributes greatly to ABW and it’s projects.  The new position that they were interviewing for would essentially be an agricultural consultant on the ground in Kenya.  He would be responsible for establishing and overseeing gardens at all ABW’s projects.  This is something that is difficult to manage from Canada, and requires a specialized skill-set.  Up to this point, the gardens that are established have had varied results because of a lack of direct oversight here in Kenya.  The goal is to first provide one meal a day to all school children in each facility, and then, in addition to the food program, move towards commercial viability (selling the crops to return profit to the school).  Joseph and Rob were optimistic about the candidate (Richard) so I think an exciting future awaits for food production on-site of every school.

Kipringwe

The view from Kipringwe school

We headed up a steep, ridiculously bad road into another ABW school this morning: Kipringwe.  This school was built about five years ago by Carpet Colour Centre and HJ Cody High School in Sylvan Lake.  It located in probably the most beautiful area I’ve seen yet in Kenya.  It is perched high on a ridge overlooking rural pasture and forest.  The soil is deep red, there are stands of banana trees and fields of maize, and makeshift barbwire fences, picturesque in their own way, haphazardly cut across the landscape.  There is an abundance of life here, the cattle is fat and healthy, the land is green and lush. As we moved slowly up the unforgiving road, people on their way home from church stopped to stare, obviously unaccustomed to visitors.

Rick inspecting some new metal roofing at Kipringwe

The school is in sore need of renovations: the metal roofing was badly rusted, much of the paint was severely faded, and the walls were covered in mud from years of use.  There are currently six hundred students attending Kipringwe and only nine teachers!  Five additional teachers, who were supposed to be paid by the community, have walked off the job.  The parents have not come through on the payment in three months.  Rick made arrangements to have the roof replaced and we are in the process of specifying paint for the walls.

One thing Kipringwe has going for it - a huge plot of land for gardening.  The land is so fertile, crops should flourish here and produce regular harvests for the school.  We are hoping too (no one more so than driver Charles) that the road will be improved in the next year as promised.

Some kids at Kipringwe

Ringa

Another grand opening took place today at Ringa school in the countryside about an hour southeast of Kericho.  This is a long-established project for ABW, but they’ve just opened another set of classrooms.  The funds were provided by Julie from ABW and Don and Glenna, a great couple who had decided to forgo gifts at their wedding to have guests give money to the building of the classrooms.  Again, there were lots of speeches (Kenyans love long speeches), singing, dancing, poetry, recitations, and even a bit of drama.  It was Sunday and raining, but there was probably close to a thousand people to there to welcome us and thank us for the new school.  The parents of the students pushed the Canadian’s collective comfort level a little by getting everyone up to dance as they bestowed gifts upon us.  Eric, decked out in a leso (a kind of scarf), a hat, and carrying a cow hair fly swatter, bore a striking resemblance to Mahatma Ghandi.  He danced just like I imagine Ghandi would have danced.  

Kipringwe

Politics

One of the interesting developments since the last elections here in Kenya, is that two of A Better World’s project managers here were elected into parliament.  It is a great platform to base a campaign on because these guys travel all over their district, and have regular contact with many people who later become voters and constituents.  They have also shown a grassroots commitment to the community through the good work that ABW does.  One of the new MPs, Joseph Limo, was at Ringa to dedicate the new classrooms.  He now has some influence in Kenyan politics, which can only mean good things for A Better World’s efforts to raise the level of education in the remote regions of Kenya.  Already, through his influence, the government has adopted nationally a ABW initiative called Table Banking.

Table Banking

We ended the day by meeting with Joseph’s wife, Beatrice Limo, about Table Banking.  This is an innovative approach to microloan financing to help kickstart business in rural Kenya.  Without going into too much detail, the system allows people who would otherwise not qualify for a bank loan due to unaffordable interest rates or lack of collateral to join other like-minded business people to self-fund ventures.  In simple terms, the process uses seed money, and money raised through contributions from members of the table, to build a insured pool to draw from for business loans.  One of the best attributes of this system is the built-in accountability to the community.  I was very excited to learn of the program, because there is such massive potential here.  The contributions made, while enabling small business and agriculture - two proven wealth generators, are not aid; the contributions are an investment into Kenya and a vote of confidence in the ability of Kenyans to build successful businesses.  The proverbial hand-up in place of the hand-out.

Two Orphanages

St Ann’s

Tilesetter working on the
washrooms at St Ann's

Today we visited St. Ann’s orphanage in Nakuru.  A Better World has been helping at this orphanage ever since the post-election troubles in 2007.  At that time, Eric was here.  Nakuru was engulfed in the violence and, as a result, there were many orphaned or abandoned kids.  He was trying to relocate these children to safe places, and subsequently met Irene, who ran a small orphanage in Nakuru.  Despite the good it was doing keeping a number of kids off the street and caring for babies, the orphanage was facing eviction.  They had some land outside of town, but no funds to build.  At that time, an organisation called With My Own Two Hands (http://www.withmyown2hands.org) raised the funds needed to build a facility on the land.  It looks great - a clean, airy building with lots of room.  However, the work is not complete: there is still work to be done here - plumbing fixtures, tiles, a kitchen.  ABW has recently completed the construction of a school on the premises - two early childhood development classrooms and some washrooms.

It was a real joy to listen to the children perform some rehearsed songs for us.  Some of the gals in our group sang and danced with the kids for a good part of the afternoon.  We toured the new school, where some guys were setting tiles in the bathrooms.  The work they were doing needed improvement - the walls and floors weren’t levelled, they were leaving voids under the tile, and the tiles were butted without grout joints.  I spent some time talking to the guys, showing them photos of tile work on my phone, and describing the steps.  Hopefully these guys will take some advice and modify their process.  Really, it will be a lot easier for them, and they’ll provide a much better end product.

 

       

Next, we accompanied the children from the school back to the main residence, where we gave them some toys - dolls, books, soccer balls and footballs, and we watched for a while that jubilant chaos that is only produced by happy children.  Soon, we said goodbye to the kids and headed into town for the night.

A note about these kids: it is hard to visit an orphanage and keep your heart in the same state as when you arrived.  The kids here are each so precious and loving and in need of love.  They have each been through a cataclysm of some sort, whether they remember it or not, and that is always in the back of your head as you interact with them.  And yet, these kids are alive: the amount of joy and contentedness and connection they express to their world would see or raise any kid from anywhere.

2007 Election Troubles

Eric shared with us another story about the horrible period immediately following the 2007 election.  As I’ve said, he was in Nakuru when the violence broke out.  Many people, fleeing their homes, ended up in the stadium here.  Eric had only been planning on staying for a week or so, but when the political situation here went sideways, he decided to stay to help.  He and another ABW partner, Ray, went down to to the stadium to find thousands of people, most of them with nothing, camped out.  They were concerned, in particular, for the many pregnant women, some of them about to give birth.  Over the next few days, driver Charles ran a baby delivery service - transporting women in labour from the stadium to the hospital.  Because Eric had only planned on staying a week, he didn’t have the funds to help with the tragedy here.  The numbers of people taking refuge in the stadium kept growing, and they were in great need of provisions.  Out of desperation, Eric walked into a mattress store, owned by an Indian family.  He told them that he needed mattresses and other provisions, but that he had no money.  So, he asked them point blank for $10,000 in credit.  They agreed without hesitation.  I can’t imagine having someone from another country walking into my store in Red Deer and boldly asking for a float of $10,000.

A pair of BWCs stare menacingly at the boatload of mzungus

B.W.C.’s

On the way to St Ann’s, Eric surprised us with a stop at Lake Naivasha, a known hippopotamus hangout.  We were ushered into small boats and we pushed off into the murky waters.  It was a little intimidating at first, because the lake had risen and flooded the forest, and the surface of the water was hidden by a choking layer of intrusive weeds.  Somewhere down there lurked bloated water cows who have been responsible for more deaths in Africa than lions.  I didn’t want to be killed by a bloated water cow.  Not one bit.

Thankfully, I wasn’t.  

Lake Navaisha

EAMO

The East Africa Mission Orphanage is the most developed, functional facility in ABW’s Kenyan project roster.  It is beautiful here.  The property is a large, well-treed compound with flowers and gardens and large, well-constructed buildings.  After many of the other schools, this place is luxurious.

The boys dorm

There are two hundred orphans housed here.  Ralph and his wife, the Australian couple who started this place, came to Kenya with their children 16 years ago with a humanitarian purpose.  They had been in Kenya for a year or so, and had tried to start a feeding program for street children.  It largely failed - if kids are cared for on the street, then they’ll go to the street.  They decided to foster a child, and ended up with two.  From there, it grew and grew.  Soon, this family had 55 foster children living with them in their house!  Ralph began to look for a larger property.  He found a large house and property for sale that was built by a local politician.  He went to the man with an offer - Ralph proposed that he move in immediately, pay rent for a year, and at the end of the year, he would have the funds to pay for the house.  The politician agreed, and the big group moved onto the new property.  After a year, Ralph didn’t have the money, but the politician was understanding and granted him a six month extension.  After that, Ralph still didn’t have enough money; this time, when the seller came back, he was less understanding - he brought another buyer.  Ralph laid it all on the line: he told the man that he could come back in a week, that God would provide the money, and if He didn’t, then the whole crew would move out and the politician would have the house back.  Amazingly enough, that week a number of donors came through, and $260,000 - the price of the property - was raised.

Eric and Rick survey the work on the new
Kenyan Collicutt Centre

The facility to accommodate 200 orphans and 30 staff is understandably huge.  There is a large, open-air dining hall donated by the Collicutt family.  This is Kenya’s very own Collicutt Centre!!  There is a modern boy’s dorm building built by the Loxdale family that also serves as the chapel.  There is a large garden, school rooms, a nursery, latrines, a playground, and many outbuildings.  The compound is sprawling, but well organised.  The kids were in class when we arrived, and we had a few minutes to explore.  Then we went to church.  It was Saturday, and this is a Seventh Day Adventist orphanage, so we participated in a wonderful service with the kids.  Let me tell you, these kids can sing!  The African call-and-response style, coupled with the extraordinary projection from some little bodies made it an emotional experience.  Singing Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art together with all these children was a highlight of the trip for me.

Some of the boys
at EAMO

Classes in session at EAMO

Afterwards, I hung out with a few of the boys - we toured the grounds, jammed on guitar, and ate lunch together.  These boys are well-behaved, articulate, and they look out for one another.  They ask questions, and engage in conversation.  At one point I had a large crowd around as I showed videos on my phone of my kids skiing; that was a big hit.  All in all, I was sincerely impressed by the children - they were healthy, bright, joyful, and engaged.  I came away feeling hopeful.

Tea Country

As we continued northwest and kept climbing to higher elevations, the air grew cooler, and the landscape changed.  Our stop for the next two nights is the town of Kericho, right in the heart of tea country.  There are tea fields all around us, watered regularly by the plentiful rain, and there are pine forests on the hills.  The land is lush and productive.  In some ways, it reminds me of Vancouver Island.  What a contrast from Lodwar, a few hundred kilometres north.  Over the course of this 300 kilometre stretch of highway, A Better World has built a school every 50 kilometres; each school has been paid for and is being supervised and supported on an ongoing basis by a Central Alberta individual or organisation.  

The tea farms are huge here - mainly owned by multinational corporations like unilever and lipton.  Much of the world’s tea supply comes from these this area.  Unfortunately, the field workers are paid very poorly - about $150 a month, which is not sufficient for much more than the bare basics.  Most of these workers are not educated, and the big corps hope to keep it that way.  An uneducated workforce is an inexpensive workforce.  

Turkana Education Centre Grand Opening

Grand Opening Ceremony

Last night it dropped to a cool 28 degrees Celsius here in Lodwar.  It was probably an additional 5 degrees warmer in our room.  Every surface is hot - the bed, the floor, the toilet.  To make matters worse, the mosquito net managed to block most of the airflow from the ceiling fan!  Yowza!  This born-and-bred Canadian was warm!  Today it is 39 degrees in the shade.  The forecast is the same: 39 degrees day-in and day-out.  I asked our driver what the temperature during different seasons.  He said, “39 degrees”.  Oh well, it could be worse.  It could be snowing.  HA!

There is a contingent of the US Army staying here at the Diocese.  They are here helping with animal care and distributing medicine and food.  We chatted with a couple of the soldiers for a few minutes, and I was really impressed by the work that they do.

We stocked up the kitchen storage for school lunches

Today we go to the Turkana Education Centre for it’s grand opening.  As stated in an earlier post, this school was built by A Better World, Carpet Colour Centre, and the Rotary Club of Lacombe.  As I understand it, there are classrooms, teacher dorms, and a kitchen/cafeteria.  The heat makes it too difficult for the children to travel home for a meal, so the school feeds them here.  Julie from ABW is heading in to town this morning to buy beans and rice, with money donated by her neighbours, to stock up the kitchens.  

We loaded into 5 or 6 cars and headed out through town to the new school.  We arrived to a real hoopla - the kids were all arranged in the shade of the kitchen and cafeteria veranda, there were many members of the community assembled on chairs under a canvas shelter, there was even a crazy DJ laying down the beats as we got out of the cars to greet the teachers and pastors of the community.  What a welcoming committee!  

The classrooms were bright and cool

We were immediately whisked off on a quick tour of the buildings, and I have to say these are the nicest classrooms I’ve seen so far.  Well constructed, painted with bright colours, and ventilated to take advantage of cooling breezes, this school is wonderfully built.  Patrick the contractor, who lead the tour, did an absolutely fantastic job.  His commitment to the project (travelling a long distance each week to work in the heat of Lodwar) was outstanding.  He really should get a medal.  There are offices, a storeroom, a staff room, and two classrooms in the first building.  There are a cafeteria and storeroom in the second building.  I was extremely proud to have my name and Carpet Colour Centre’s name on the side of the building.  It was an emotional experience seeing it for the first time.

Traditional Turkana dancers

We had some time to play with the children, and I gave away some finger-puppets that my kids had sent.  Then, we were assembled on the school veranda for the grand opening ceremony.  The Kenyans first sang their national anthem to us, and then we returned the gesture.  We were treated to a traditional Turkana song and dance by some of the local women, all dressed in their colourful fabrics and beads.  The crazy DJ even decided to add some beats to their singing.  (I’ll let you wonder whether or not it improved the music).  The kids sang a few well-rehearsed songs of greetings for us, and then the speeches began.  We heard from Bishop Kubundo, who has been our partner on the ground in this endeavour since the very beginning, the head teacher, some community pastors, and some people from the education department.  A common theme was thankfulness to God, and a emphasis that the people of Lodwar and Turkana must make education a priority and support the school to give their kids a better chance.  My Dad, Eric, and Tim, who is heading up the Rotary Club team, also spoke, and thanked community and each of the sponsors for their contribution.

At this point I've got to point out what an inspiring man Eric Rajah is.  His work to enable Central Albertans to make a difference in the lives of people around the globe just amazes me.  Eric is the icebreaker, the explorer.  I don't think many of us would have the gumption to travel to a developing country cold turkey, just to meet people and locate areas of need.  He does exactly that, and he has been in some pretty scary situations as a result.  He ventures out into the word to find hurting people and pave the way for help to arrive.  He then turns around and invites Central Albertans to follow suit.  When we do, he gives us all the credit.  As I said, inspiring.

Kubundo, my Dad, and I

I also want to say how proud I am of my old man.  My Dad has taken up this cause with complete abandon, just like he does with all the aspects of his life.  To see what effect he’s had in just a few short years, on the ground, in some pretty rough areas, makes my heart swell with pride.  People here remember him.  He makes them laugh, and puts them at ease around him.  He challenges those who need to be challenged, and he encourages everybody.  It’s like he was born for this kind of work.  It really is awe-inspiring to see him in action.  I am so glad I could come on this trip and get to know him a little better in this way.

Staff at Carpet Colour Centre should be
absolutely proud of the work they've
contributed to here

Between the speeches, the crazy DJ would play short clips of music to keep the presentations flowing.  During one such break, an old grandpa, complete with cane, jumps up from the crowd and, in front of everybody, starts to groove to the music like only Africans can.  It was hilarious, and it took a few minutes to calm down the crowd before the speeches could resume.

Once the speeches were done, we had an opportunity to plant trees around the perimeter of the property.  Believe me, Lodwar can use more trees.  The sun is unrelenting and ruthless.  The kids carried seedlings out to the grounds and we each joined one of them to plant the trees.  It was a really cool experience, and I hope to return someday to some tall shade trees.

The school represents some hope for a very poor region of the world.  A Better World provided the facility, and our hope is that the community will provide the wages for the teachers.  The government of Kenya does not pay for Early Childhood Development - that’s the responsibility of the communities.  Prior to construction, Rick had received a commitment from the community leaders to provide the funds for the teachers’ wages, but so far that hasn’t happened.  The teachers thus far this year have not been paid.  It’s a sacrifice for these parents to provide that funding, but it is a core belief of ABW that the community must have skin in the game.  They must be an active stakeholder, so that they have 100% buy-in, and the project will ultimately be successful.  Aid has largely failed because of a lack of participation from the communities receiving the aid; hand-outs don’t work, they simply create a dependency and lack of innovation.  Let’s hope and pray that that buy-in will happen in Lodwar.

Hut Village

A woman making a reed broom

In the afternoon, we spent some time visiting the people in a hut village in the scrubland outside of Lodwar.  These people have very, very few possessions - a machete, a knife, some clothes, and maybe a couple goats or chickens.  They spend their days gathering firewood to sell in town, bringing water from the river, making brooms from reeds.  They are provided with some medicine and water purification tablets to prevent waterborne disease, but it is a tough life.  We watched a little guy, perhaps five years old, sitting in the dust, pulling a two-inch thorn from his foot.  No tears, no complaints.  With a similar injury, a Canadian kid would be in emergency, and both he and his mother would be distraught, to say the least.  The girls are married off and bear children very early, and the kids play in the dirt until they can walk and run.  This is where the Turkana Education Centre students come from.  Most of them will be the very first generation to attend any schooling whatsoever.  Illiteracy here is at 80% and most of those who can read and write are outsiders who have moved here.  This is the reason that the school is so important.  Lodwar is not a pleasant place to visit; there are no exotic animals or safari camps; it is remote, hot, and intimidating.  It has largely been abandoned or forgotten by the rest of the world.  But there are people here too who deserve the essentials of life just like the rest of us.  We need to keep coming to help that happen.

On the Run from the Law

A funny experience on the road today: we were pulled over by some police officers, who accused our driver of speeding.  Interestingly enough, there was no radar; these guys apparently had an uncanny ability to judge a vehicle’s speed by eye.  Also interesting, the speed limit, which was 80 km/h was matched exactly by the governed top speed of the van - it physically can't drive faster than 80 km/h.  Even more interesting, the tickets were to be paid in cash to the officer directly.  Gee, I wonder if this is a scam.  Driver Charles again used his mad, mad Kenyan mind tricks to confuse the officers with bad jokes.  He managed to get his papers back and we took off as fast as we could.  We fought the law and we won!

How to freak out a bunch of mzungus: have a couple of wrecked jet engines at the end of the air strip.  Lodwar.

Great Rift Valley - Civilization's Ground Zero

Driving west from Nairobi this morning, we came to the Great Rift Valley, 1000 feet deep and absolutely beautiful.  This is where two tectonic plates are pulling away from each other, leaving a void that dramatically cuts across east Africa.  The Euphrates and Tigris rivers lie at the base of this valley.  Ancient, dead volcanoes and craters pockmark its floor.  This is where most anthropologists believe civilization began.  

The Great Rift Valley - where it all began

Herd / Bling Culture

Herd / Bling Culture

Another powerful example of parallelism between African and Western cultures manifests itself in the perceptions and attitudes surrounding status and wealth.  One of the deeply ingrained cultural patterns in tribal society here in Kenya is the representation of wealth through cattle ownership.  Simply stated, rich guys have loads of cows, sheep, and goats.  At first blush, that doesn't seem like a problem, or really all that unusual.  We could easily say the same of segments of Canadian economy - the bigger the cattle operation, the more money it brings in.  However, in Kenya, the cattle herds are not really a commercial venture.  These shepherds will accumulate the herds primarily for the purposes of demonstrating status.  They rarely butcher them for meat, and these varieties of cows and goats are not good milk producers.  They need to watched constantly and moved to new grazing areas regularly.  These people almost never sell an animal.  In a way, the herd is like a bank account, into which deposits are made, but out of which withdrawals almost never happen.  The cows are a way to show everybody else how wealthy and put-together the owner is.

At first, I thought this was absolutely crazy.  Not only are the cows a good food source, but they could be managed and sold to generate a stable income, just like any cattle farm in Canada.  In addition, this practice means that the lion’s share of the land is pasture, reserved for the exclusive use of the privileged animals.  What an inefficient use of land that could be used for crops or orchards with a much higher rate of return! Why would these guys spend their days grazing cattle, with no apparent purpose other than to impress their buddies?

That’s when I began to reflect on our own culture in Canada, and the ways in which we gauge each other.  Are we any less silly when it comes to status?  I thought of all the ways we impress one another, like diamond adornments (shiny rocks), or massive houses for two occupants, or big RVs we take out twice a year, or closets full of shoes, or car collections, or five thousand dollar handbags.  The list goes on.  Really, the drive to accumulate stuff just manifests itself differently in a different culture.

That doesn't mean it’s okay.  It isn't okay.  It’s materialism.  And look at the massive trouble that has gotten us into in the west.  We've created an economy entirely dependent on people’s ever-increasing appetite for stuff.  If people stop buying, we feel the pain.

All this makes me realize that the superiority I might feel at bearing witness to this herd culture is unfounded and wrong.  But it does, yet again, reinforce the idea that education is the key to coming to terms with the problem, and pursuing a solution.  I believe and hope that the next generation, having learned so much more about the world than their parents, will not be content to follow around a bunch of cows in order to prove its worth.  And ultimately, I hope that the next generation will not make the same mistakes in the pursuit of status over common sense.

On the way to Lodwar

We made the four-hour drive back to Nairobi this morning, to greet the group, recently arrived from Canada.  What a sight - two dozen jet-lagged mzungas on the tarmac, boarding a little Canadian-made turboprop plane.  Despite the lack of sleep, everyone is in high spirits, and a few Tusker beers were consumed at the little bar in the airport.  

Mmmmm, Tusker.

In the airport during the wait for the much-delayed plane, I had a chance to chat with Bev, who actually lived in East Africa for many years back in the sixties, working for the Canadian Economic Development Agency.  He was here during and immediately after the British pull-out, and he had some amazing stories about life in Kenya and Tanzania in the sixties.  I was flabbergasted to learn that, during that time, the population of Kenya was only about 3 million people.  Today it is 40 million.  In 50 years, the number of people in this country, about the size of Alberta, has increased by 12 or 13 times!  No wonder there are infrastructure issues.  I would hazard a guess that if Alberta saw that kind of population explosion, even with our heritage fund, we would be struggling to keep up.  I mean, look at Fort MacMurray: a little increase from 40,000 to 100,000 in ten years has caused immense pressure on the infrastructure.  Another amazing observation from Bev: when he was here in the sixties, Nairobi was a quiet little town, with very few cars and lots of trees and flowers.  Crime was virtually non-existent, and residents complained sometimes that it was too quiet.  What a difference 50 years brings!

Farmers Market

Lodwar

There are no lights on the runway in Lodwar, so planes cannot land here past sundown.  It was a race against time to arrive in time to land.  The plane touched down in the twilight, which made for a surreal experience disembarking and loading into the nine cars that waited to take us to St Theresa’s Diocese.  A small crowd gathered to watch the spectacle as we sorted people and luggage into cars.  Then, in a macabre imitation of a funeral procession, the cars proceeded to drive single-file slowly through town with hazards blinking.  

And what a town it is.  As we drove through the dusty streets, the scenes that unfolded out the windows were other-worldly.  There are no street lights, but there are some lights from the businesses and homes along the road.  The buildings are mostly timber and tin shacks, occasionally brick.  There were people everywhere we looked - gathered on the corners, or in little cafes, playing cards, weaving through traffic and around burning garbage on boda-boda’s.  And almost everyone turned to stare as we passed, keenly interested in the strange mzunga “funeral procession”.  I suppose it wasn't just a strange sight to us.  

I have experienced a strange phenomenon here as I have acclimatized to my surroundings.  Upon first arriving and travelling through the streets of Nairobi, the ‘poverty’ I saw around me was shocking.  However, as I got used to the surroundings and the lifestyle, I realized I really wasn't looking at poverty at all.  I was looking at a different culture and lifestyle than the one I came from.  Poverty is the inability to look after the basics - healthy food, clean water, shelter, protection, education.  Really, that’s a hard thing to judge from the windows of a car.  (It’s also a hard thing to judge through a TV screen or a magazine page).  The longer I am here, the more accustomed to the scenes outside the window I become.  What at first looked like abject poverty, now looks like Kenyan business as usual.  My comfort-level with my surroundings has steadily increased, along with my perspective.  There are poor people here, just like there are poor people everywhere.  The key is not painting everybody with the same brush.

That said, Lodwar is most definitely the poorest place we've visited so far.  “Lodwar?  Why would you go there?” is a comment I have received two or three times from Kenyans.  It’s a bit of a backwater.  I would guess that has a lot to do with the environment.  Looking out the windows of the plane as we flew in revealed miles and miles of dry, barren landscape, relieved here and there by the snaking green of a river bed.  There are so few resources.  However, Eric tells me that the Chinese have recently found oil here, so for better or worse, we’ll see how much that changes things over the next few years.