Week 12: Thanksgiving, Henry's Back, and Mfangano Island
12.04.2008
Thank you to those who have donated to my immunization debt fundraising! I really appreciate it! I have raised $225, with a goal of $750. If you want to learn more about donating click here. Thank you again!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving family and friends! I was blessed to spend mine with the Kenya YAVs and we had an amazing dinner that our site coordinator made for us! Mac and Cheese, Lots of Meat, and Apple Pie, praise Jesus! It is very interesting how what I am thankful for has changed since I arrived in
Henry’s Back
One of the YAVs Henry is back with us so we are all very excited! Shelvis and I went to the airport Saturday night to pick him up. When he came out where everyone was waiting, Shelvis and I busted into Michael Jackson’s "Man in the Mirror chorus" very loudly and surprised Henry. It was fantastic to see him and an added bonus that our reuniting included 100 Africans (mainly) staring at us as we sang MJ and rubbed each other’s beards from beardvember.
The Journey to the Island
Sunday morning, Cosmas, Bill, and I woke up and left AEE by 6 AM. We hopped on a charter bus in downtown
As I got off the boat and walked up the shore of the island I felt like I was in an episode of LOST, or at least on that island. We walked for 20 minutes and I didn’t see any homes or people, just the path we were following. The island is beautiful and has 2 great hills in the middle which are covered in trees. There is no power on the island which consists of around 30,000-40,000 people. This led to plenty of questions about how everything works. My favorite answer was to recharge their cell phones they take them to a kiosk where they pay 20 Shillings (a quarter) to have their phone recharged. The island is expected to receive power sometime in the next year. The power lines are already up, but there is still a lot of work to be done. The community is made up of mainly fisherpeople and I have found them to be extremely welcoming.
The Island
The Boat Ride to the Island
Monday
Cosmas and I are staying with his pastor, Pastor Felix, and sleeping in a new school that the church has built. Monday morning, I awoke to Pastor Felix telling me that there was warm water ready for me to bathe with. So, I practiced the art of bathing from a basin again. This style is not made for the 6’5 I have determined, but I am getting better at it as time goes on. Cosmas called a motorcycle which took us to the other end of the island so he could show me the shopping center and the other islands. I tried to explain to him how he had grown up on a tropical paradise and he just laughed at me and said, “no, no, no.”
-PLEASE DON'T READ UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE AFRAID OF YOUR TOILET-
I had kept telling everyone that I hadn't seen a snake yet and I thought that was weird. Welp, I found one. So, the most interesting part of my day was when I went to the bathroom and found a snake in the toilet. I thought it might be dead so I spat on it and it moved so I went and got Cosmas. I didn’t tell him what was in there just that he needed to come and see something. When he saw it he jumped back and started screaming. This resulted in them pouring boiling water in the toilet and sending the 6 ft. snake to heaven. Cosmas couldn’t believe that I had taken a picture of it in the toilet, I just said, “I am my father’s child.”
-CONTINUE READING WITHOUT FEAR-
The day ended with a stroll on the beach where there were several people pulling in fishing nets. Cosmas wanted to help out and I wanted to give it a shot too so we jumped in. When we jumped in there were 2 groups of people pulling nets in and the groups were about about 150 ft apart. I kept telling our team to go faster so that we could beat the other team. They laughed at me and we kept pulling. It took about 30 minutes before we actually got to the net and then the net was another 15 minutes. When the end of the net was finally close the 2 groups came together (this is when I learned we were pulling the same net (thanks for telling me…)) and we pulled in about 20 Nile Perch. I clapped with glee and they all laughed at me. They gave us a few smaller fish because we helped and Cosmas bought another very large fish for dinner. This was the first time that I had ever caught (helped caught) anything I was going to eat for dinner. So, Cosmas and I strolled back home with fish hanging from our hands as the sun set behind the hill.
Tuesday
Cosmas and I went fishing again. I spent most of the day reading because Cosmas had errands to run. Once the sun goes down and there is no power I spend my time talking with people and reading Catch-22 or The Brother’s Karamazov with the flashlight on the Nokia 1200. Most amazing phone in the world.
Wednesday
We hiked up the island’s hill which had absolutely breathtaking views. Cosmas’ grandfather lives at the top of the hill and there were many other homes along the path. Here, it is important to stop and say hello to everyone you see. So, we spent a majority of our climb stopping and talking to people. The only problem for me was that it was all in Luo, so I would just stand and study my Swahili book. Cosmas kept saying that they wasted 5 hours a day catching up and talking with each other and I told him that it is very important for community and I wished we did that, but maybe they can cut it down to 2 and a half hours a day. On the hike down I fell on some thorn bushes so I was in a hurry to get back and wash my arm and bandage it. Once we got back though, I konked my head really hard on the door frame. First time I’ve really hit my head here. I was dizzy for a while and spent the rest of the day lying down.
Half Way Up the Hill
Thursday – Rise and Shine and get on the Boatie, Boatie
Cosmas and I are on the mainland today visiting his Uncle again. We will return tonight and be there for a while longer. I am hoping to swing by
RTQ
The End of Baerdvember
