Simple Times

The fiercest basketball team you have ever come across.  This is usually how all of our games end up, with more goofing around and laughing than actually playing the game.

There really is nothing like an equatorial rain, so warm and rhythmic and soothing.  You can almost see the trees and vegetables gaining strength as they drink it up, and the dusty brown grass greening before your eyes, after a long, hot dry season.  Being born and raised in the great Pacific Northwest and a Seattleite for the past four years, after a five year hiatus in Southern California, I never thought I would really enjoy the rain, let alone look forward to it.  But, as the saying goes, “When in Africa…”  Wait, is that how it goes?  Anyway, I am in Africa, so I am sharing in the excitement of the rainy season that has arrived right on time this year.  Typically, I am told, the first rains come on March 15^th, which lasts only a few days, giving way to another 2-3 weeks of hot sunny days, followed by more constant rain through August.  As you may remember, the 2009 rainy season really never got going here in Kenya, leading to one of the worst droughts in decades and causing widespread hunger and panic.  2009 was my first trip here, and that nonexistent rainy season is what initiated the entire bore hole project, which is the reason for me being here 2 years later.  While I can’t say that I am completely overjoyed to wake up to gray, overcast skies and put on long pants and a jacket just to go greet the children before school, at least it gives me a good opportunity to explain the weather back home to the people here.  When I tell them that this is how my home is for a good chunk of each year, their eyes light up and they tell me how lucky I am and how much they think they would really like my home.  That sentiment lasts only until I tell them that the average temperature during that time is between 0 and 10 degrees, at which point their faces express concern for my well-being and understanding for why I have hair on my legs and arms.  So they remain happy to be in their home and are now looking forward to planting their crops in the next couple weeks.  I am excited to see the appearance of the landscape change dramatically, as the grass moves from brown and trampled to green and sturdy, the roads from only moderately rough and incredibly dusty to mostly impassable and swampy, and the fields from vast brown emptiness to seemingly vaster green fullness.  Planting season is always exciting, regardless of where you are, but there is another element and another level to that excitement when the entire population has been waiting months and sees those precious drops of water falling from the clouds above as their lifeline.

Sitting with the girls, waiting for the water yield to be announced.  Don't ask me why we decided to make this face; don't ask me why we do anything we do.

I wish there was more to update you all on in the past week, but there really has been a lull in the action.  I can’t say I am too upset about this, as the amount of pressure I have felt since I arrived has been fairly high.  We are still waiting for the team to arrive and install and connect the pump and piping for the bore hole, but at least now I rest assured that they have enough water (the yield of the bore hole was measured at 1.2 cubic liters, meaning they can reliably pump 1,200 liters of water per hour for as long as they need or wish to).  I have also left behind a lot of things from home that had been unhealthy and hindering my adjustment, which has allowed me to settle in a lot better and more completely in recent days.  I even went to town and bought some comfort snacks (peanuts, snap peas, and a dark chocolate bar) and have been consistently doing my yoga routine and very modified CrossFit workouts.  Those of you from the gym would laugh at my attempts at working out in my room, with my only piece of equipment being a blue band, and more so, I’m sure, at my overall physical condition.  Mock all you would like, but I see doing my routines consistently as a victory in itself, and I am feeling better physically as a result.  You see, I have realized during my few trips to different parts of the world, intending to experience and understand what we call “poverty”, that I have only so much room in my life for intensity.  As I mentioned, the beginning of this trip was very emotionally and psychologically intense for me, so I was finding that many times I simply could not get myself to engage in anything that even remotely resembled physical intensity.  The fact that I recently have been able to do just ten to thirty minutes of exercise that makes me sweat and breathe hard each day is a very good sign that I am getting a better handle on all that internal intensity, even letting much of it evaporate.  And if exercise doesn’t work, at least I now have my chocolate.

Emmanuel and Joshua entertained themselves for hours one afternoon by jumping across this stream left over from the drilling.  Their favorite was when I held them upside down by their ankles, with their faces dangling inches from the water.

This is not all to say that I have just been working out and eating chocolate all week, though that sounds like my ideal existence.  Many meetings have been held with the managers of each program so I can get all the information I need to finally complete the business outline and expenses and projections.  This is not a strong suit of mine, and actually wears me out a great deal more than it should, but at least I am very nearly finished with everything on that front.  In the next couple weeks, leading up to my departure for Sudan, I plan to slowly hand everything over to the staff here and make the transition from vision to start-up to operation as smooth as possible.  I can see the excitement on the faces of everyone as we discuss the specifics of each program, and I know they are all capable with the right resources available to them, so I am sharing in their excitement and looking forward to being around to see everything get started, helping where I can, and then just coming back to check in and witness their success.  We are going to run all around the district tomorrow to drop off invitations for the opening ceremony to as many friends and big wigs as possible.  A lot of work still needs to be done on the compound to prepare for this day, but we are slowly getting there and all looking forward very much to that day.  It is continually amazing to me how something seemingly so small can create such a positive buzz in the communities here.  I was really struck by this at the first Watoto Marathon, and I think I have been desensitized gradually since then, but it is just so delightful to be a part of a community that always seems to have, or seeks out something to be smiling about and grateful for.  I think it is such wonderful way to live, and one that I am happily adopting.

Making Chapati with the girls one afternoon.  The iron skillet was way too hot for me and I kept getting distracted and  forgetting to spin my chapati, so I am sure I just made more work for everyone else.

Looking forward from here, I am still very excited about going to Uganda and Sudan in a few weeks.  That excitement has been present and growing since I learned about the prospect of it months ago, and it has begun to feel like one of those things that you talk about so much that it will never actually happen.  But this one will, and the date is now set for April 6^th, so there will only be a few days of preparation between hosting the opening ceremony and setting off on an 18-hour bus ride on rough and now muddy roads.  During those few days we will have to make a quick trip to Nairobi to get our visas for Sudan, which I am told is a much easier process than it sounds like.  We are going to try to get a one-year visa on the basis of being volunteers involved in environmental initiatives, as to not have to go through this process and pay again in a couple months when we head back.  I am also going on a trip down to the valley next week with a member of the staff who has a home there, which he has been inviting me to for years.  I am really excited to finally go see his home and meet his family, and he has even arranged a group of men from his community to accompany us on a hunting trip in the bush.  I have never been hunting in my entire life, and my only experience with a bow and arrow was at a YMCA summer camp in elementary school, and I remember quickly dropping the weapon and racing toward the river as soon as I learned we could get in a canoe and catch salamanders.  So, needless to say, my archery skills are less than polished, especially with the local bow and arrow, which appear to be no more than a small branch off a tree with a frayed string tied to both ends.  Determined to not make a bigger fool of myself than I already do on a daily basis here, and to have at least some moderate success, I have scheduled a practice session with one of the night watchmen on the compound.  He carries a local bow each night with him, so I figure he must know how to use it somewhat decently.  If people have been successfully hunting with this type of weapon for centuries, how hard could it be, right?  All I was told is that we will only be hunting gazelle and antelope and some large birds, since hunting any big game is seen as a curse now by many groups.  I volunteered myself to be part of the chase crew, which apparently hides in the bush and then jumps out to chase the animals to the group of sharp shooters waiting ahead.  They have been joking with me that I should be careful because I could end up being hunted myself when some of the hunters see my white skin and mistake me for an animal.  At least they have assured me that we won’t be using the poison arrows on this trip, which I suppose is encouraging.

I wish there was more to tell you, but it really has been pretty low key here since water erupted from the hole last week.  Again, I am definitely not complaining about that, and even am thankful for it.  I have been continuing my Kiswahili lessons and am told I am almost ready for my first exam.  One thing is for sure – it is really hard to get back into doing homework.  But I better get used to it, as I am starting grad school in a few months.  I heard back from the school I applied to in Boston with good news.  I was accepted and given a pretty decent scholarship offer.  UW still remains in the mix, but I haven’t heard back from either them or the school I applied to in DC.  In order to accept and secure the acceptance offer from the school in Boston, I will need to reply and send a deposit before I leave for Sudan, so I am hoping to hear from all the schools by then and be able to make a final decision.  For now, the time I am spending with the children and the staff here is more than enough to fill my time and make me feel happy and fulfilled.  I will never tire of playing one-on-14 half-court basketball, learning countless other games I am convinced the kids make up on the spot, answering pop quiz questions, being corrected for speaking Kiswahili incorrectly, and just sharing great conversations over chai with the parents and staff here.  I will try to be back after next weekend with a more exciting entry, including hopefully a successful report of my bush hunting trip.  For now, be good to yourself and those around you.