nearing the end of my African visit

Just a few passing thoughts as this trip winds to a close; we are off to Nairobi, capital of Kenya, on Sunday and then I fly home on Tuesday.

A rooster with an ego problem woke me up around 4 yesterday morning, crowing incessantly. Once awake, as anyone my age knows, our bladders cannot pass up the opportunity to visit the latrine! On my way back from the latrine there is a noise of someone hammering metal in the distance and another one chopping wood...not unusual for this industrious and polychronic society. What was a total surprize tho was a voice, saying hello behind me, in the dark. Turning, I met a person I had only been told about: the nightwatchman for Common Ground. He was wearing in a trenchcoat, and I am not kidding, carrying a bow and arrows! Joshua says he is from the Masai tribe which caters to security work, and that everyone knows the arrows are tipped with poison, so intruders are rare! Could this be an answer to the gun control dilemma in America?

We have met with another group that is coincidentally working on waterfilters of the same type for another village in Kenya about 2 hours away. They have a challenging situation in that there is no reliable electricity for their factory, adn the host village is not opposing the factory, but they are not jumping at the idea of taking it over either. So we are discussing the idea of merging our projects, using their equipment and kiln knowhow with our site, infrastructure and eager hosts in Kiminini. If this idea comes to fruition we could be making ceramic water filters in a few weeks instead of months away!

It will be hard to leave Kenya, Kiminini, and Joshua and his family, and the friends I have made here. Kenyans are very gregarious and affectionate, laugh a lot and almost always put relationships ahead of time and to do lists! This is in stark contrast to our compulsion to achieve and finish projects on time. It is particularly helpful in a country with poverty and Aids orphans on every corner. This extended village family provides an amazing care fabric for almost all its members.

I promise in a few weeks to have some pictures here to go wtih the narrative. And never again will I take for granted teh luxury of high speed internet connections!
best to all,
Bill