Kenya: October 2008 Mambo?

Poa! that is the Swahili equivalent of "Wassup? Everythin' cool!" I am in Lamu. Got here thursday but Lamu's narcotic effect knocked me out. We had a terrific two weeks at N'Donyo Wasin. We got lots done and every day presented a new problem and a rewarding answer. We had to make a film for a school in Brooklyn that raised $30,000 to build two new class rooms. They had provided us with a camcorder but not the cassettes. Luckily I had my new video camera (it is also more advanced...memory card etc.) and so I became a cinematographer/director on a very steep learning curve. Jane was the scriptwriter/producer and characteristic of all great film makers we had several disagreements o how to shoot some things.

Samuel is very poised

Maxmillian... fearless

Fab Five Fabelly... his name says it all

It was fun and challenging to get shy Samburu children to act as video hosts. I realized that they were only children speaking a foreign language whereas Jane was a bit Tom Brown's School Days. But, we got some good footage and I can't wait to go home and learn how to edit it on my new imac!!! I will be excited to screen the final version as 3 of my favourite students are in the film: Samuel, Maxmillian and Fabelly. As usual their ages have changed... two of them got one year older and Max one year younger.  Age is very flexible in Africa.

Warrior with ochre in his hair

Besides doing work at the school we got involved in everyday Samburu life. One day were asked to drive to a nearby village to pickup a man who had been beaten badly the night before by warriors.
The request had arrived by "bush telegraph" ... two runners.  It only took an hour but it was into very wild bush and Jane's driving skills were once again awesome. When we got there the man was able to walk but his face was swollen. Turns out he had chased after one of the warriors' girlfriends... a definite no-no. His wife was very non-plussed by the whole thing. The school nurse kept him at the dispensary for a few days and then he trotted home.

Lepiesele with his lovely wife and baby Julius

On our way back to NDW from the randy man's village we stopped off at Nessesei to see Lepiesele's wife and newborn. His wife is gorgeous and spicy, not usual in a Samburu maiden. His baby's name is Julius and Lepiesele seems very proud of his little family. He says that he loves his wife and does not want to marry another. I hope so, but who knows, when he is old he might change his mind. Jane and I boycotted a wedding earlier in the week of a 70 year old man (I call them Goats) marrying a 14 year old girl. If that had been in Sereolipi,  Chief George would have stopped it. But the chief in NDW is horrible and avaricious. Greedy eyes in a starched uniform and a swagger stick.

I'm so happy that I'm not a village chief. They get so many problems from every quarter. When we saw Chief George in his Sereolipi office he looked quite thin and wrung out. Turns out he had malaria but he still had to go and vaccinate 350 goats and listen to all the villagers lined up outside his door with various petitions. He is an extraordinary man and you will get a chance to meet him when he comes over in June with 7 warriors in tow.

At the end our trip we took 6 students to Nairobi to get them checked out by various experts. The great news is that Loimorodo, the deaf blue eyed boy (everyone in his family has blue eyes and is deaf) saw a hearing specialist who said he may be able to give him some hearing. Apparently the blue eyes/deafness is a genetic condition and a researcher in the States would be very interested in his studying his family.

I was very impressed with all the doctors that we saw; they were informative, caring and very gentle with the children. Imagine these childrens' experience. They've never seen a tarmac road let alone a modern, busy African city!!! They've never been in a two story house so imagine what they thought of elevators, escalators, air conditoning and traffic lights. Their favourite thing was ice cream but they did not like cold water.

Cleaned up (sort of) boots

In Nairobi it was cold and rainy quite a contrast from the searing heat up north. We went to the Maasai market despite the rain, but no one was there except for the Maasai Mamas and they were packing up their things.  But Jane insisted on checking out their goods... she certainly has drive. We ended up standing in the middle of a field of mud, haggling with the Mamas whilst rain pelted down on us. It was a great deal of fun and we laughed ll the way home; the Land Cruiser smelling of mud, soaked clothes and the milk/smoke odor of the jewelry we'd just bought. When I saw my mud encased boots the next day they reminded me of some ancient artifact.

Fittingly enough my departure for Lamu was dramatic. We'd got stuck in a traffic jam and called Air Kenya to delay the flight (it's a very small plane, small airport etc.) and they said they'd delay it no more than 10 minutes. Anyway, I told Jane it would be fine to fly the next day..hakuna matata... but she would not give up (that drive again). We got out of the tangled knot of cars, trucks, and matatus and she drove like the clappers to Wilson Airport. At the toll she flung the shillings at the booth keeper and swerved around the barrier and screeched up to the Air Kenya counter. The plane had already been boarded, the engines and propellers started but she simply insisted that they take me. I rac across the tarmac, up the stairs and plunked into my seat. It was all very Indiana Jones and I had the boots to match!!!

Every time I return to Lamu I am struck by the sea, the architecture, and the island's Arabian Nights quality. The faces of Lamu are fantastic; you see arabic, indian, european, and sometimes chinese features. I'd love to photograph them for a book. Everywhere you look it is a photo op. I've just looked up and seen dhows gliding along like swans.

Whiling away on the rooftop of Makubwa House

I had a great many plans for my stay in Lamu but characteristically they have all been derailed by... Lamu.  It's just to languid here.  I've been staying on the roof of Makubwa House most days. In fact, I am sleeping in a up here. It's right in front of a breezy window that gives me a view of the sunrise every morning.  At 5:15 the sky turns red and then on the dot at 6 the sun rises above the horizon. It is hot from 8:30 a.m. on. The day is spent reading, drinking Ali's chai, snacks, reading, lunch, nap, yoga, reading, nap and then dinner. Lots of cold showers in between as the heat is quite unbelievable. Sometimes I walk down the two flights of steps to the plunge pool but then their is the climb back up. Life is hard.

I have, however, applied myself to improving my Swahili and I have improved. Ali's favourite English word this trip is ...Corruption! He uses it at least a dozen times by noon.  It covers everything from the stock market mess (try explaining that to him) to why the doctor did not show up yesterday to give him an "injection".

Audacity of Hope

I get the Daily Nation every day at 4 p.m. from the Big Shop on the town... it comes on the bus from Mombassa... and I eagerly read the two pages devoted to the US election. Of course everyone here is for Barack. Not just because he is 1/2 Kenyan but because McCain/Palin seem to belong to another time and place. Barack is heavily featured on the back of the matatus in Nairobi and once on the NDW track a truck (it comes once a month) crawled by with "Audacity of Hope" scrawled in white paint on it's side. Oh speaking of tracks and trucks... the Chinese have arrived. They are building the road from Isiolo to Moyale (Ethiopian border). We estimate it will cut down a 10 hour drive to 3 hours. Strange to see the Chinese engineers in their blue work clothes and coolie hats and wonderful to see all Kenyan work crews. We speculate on the impact on the Samburus' intact culture but embrace the fact that sick person will be able to get to Wamba Hospital quicker and without being jostled to death.

O.K. that's it. This has been the most active I've ben in a few days and so "I go to rest now"Ali's most used expression. I have a big day tomorrow. I am sailing on Angalia and Kris arrives on her way to Kiwayu. Busy, busy.
nakupenda wewe,
Linda







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Samburu Warriors breeze into camp

Samburu Land, N.W. Territory, KENYA, March 2007

"Supa?" That's Samburu for "how are you?" You reply "oh yeay"... "I'm fine". Am back in Lamu now after an adventurous, stimulating, humbling and transformative trip up to Samburu land. Adventurous because we had our first breakdown in four years of renting vehicles of dubious provenance. We were approx. 20 kms. north of Archer's Post (or Archer's Roast as we call it due to it's hellish climate) when we noticed steam coming from the hood (bonnet). We surmised that it was a problem with the radiator, a steady leak. It was around 1 p.m. the hottest time of the day, and we though we were on the main route to Ethiopia (road implies tarmac, passable etc.) there is little traffic.

We remained calm but not calm enough to take a photo of the absolutely stunning moran (warrior) that emerged from the bush. He was a recent iniate and was in the stage that the Samburu call "the time of the birds". He has to wear black bark cloth, brass earrings and shave his head. Around the back of his head was a sling of birds that he had shot with his bow and arrow. Their feathers were brilliant hues and added to his beauty. He did not speak English or Swahili so he just stood and watched us as we analyzed what to do. He was completely unfazed when a plume of steam erupted from the radiator sending Kris and I leaping back. Eventually he got bored with us and ambled away.

We managed to drive the car back to Isiolo stopping every 10 kms to fill the radiator whose leak was now getting more severe.

Jane's brand new Land Cruiser

Our misfortune turned into great fortune as Jane Newman, or St. Jane as I call her now, upon hearing from us arranged for us to stay at the exclusive Lewa Conservancy (a favourite of Prince William) just outside Isiolo. She insisted that we take here brand new Toyota Land Cruiser for the rest of our trip. We scratched going up to Loyongalani... she wasn't that nuts to let us take it up there! So there we were with the object of our past longings: a classic Land Cruiser, green, canvas cover, winch, ventilator, two gas tanks and clearance! Clearance that I would lust after when we were in our Suzuki Samurai. It was brutal in it's macho-ness and we were terrified of it for the first 50 kms. Now we can settle for nothing less.

We camped one night in Sereolipi and headed to Ol Donyo Wasin, our base camp. We set up the mosquito net tents so that as we lay falling asleep we could watch the stars slide across the sky. We were looked after by Headmaster George and 7 moran who were making the transition to young elders. They were still dressed in their jewelry etc. but they had shaved off their long ochered dreadlocks.

Side Mirror: Lesiit's bracelets

Though they were moving into a more sedate stage of life (marriage, families, responsibilities) they were all still very glamorous and macho. Our favourite was Lesiit, though not the best looking he was the bravest. He had on tons of jewelry including 8 brass bracelets, one for each of the six men he had killed and two for the lions he'd dispatched.  Headmaster said "he's not a murderer, he was defending the village and it's cows against Somalis with guns. is reputation is so great that young girls all over Samburu Land sing songs praising his feats" Talk about Beowulf!!

We noticed immediately that there have been many positive changes in the village and that the money that was raised this past year has been put to good use. Most important was the ore hole. Though not the most photogenic improvement it is one of the most vital. They have surrounded it with fencing and prickly brush to safeguard the solar panels from elephants. They expect to start pumping in the next couple of months.

We also saw the camels. They are very beautiful and very lady-like. They are no longer virgins and the village is waiting to see which ones are pregnant as that is when the milk will flow.

The camel milk is an important part of the improved nutrition for the school children as it is more nutritious than cow's milk and camels endure droughts much better than cows.

The cows that survived the drought last year were also fat and healthy. 

There were some light rains in January so the land was greener than last year. How could it not be?! Last year it looked like someone had put a match to it. But there has been a great loss of livestock. One man we met had 200 cows and now he only has 6. Everyone looked long and lean but no one was starving. We happened to be there when the USAID food aid arrived. Sacks of corn meal and cans of cooking oil. Everything was distributed democratically and in a very orderly way, the complete opposite of the usual melees portrayed by the media. It was handled entirely by Samburu elders. I noticed that every sack and every can bore the following text "Not for sale or barter. A gift from the American people." I liked that "the People" not the "the government".

After the distribution in Ol Donyo Wasin we set off for more remote manyattas with their allotment of food aid. Most of the very small children in these manyattas have never seen a white person so there were a lot of tears at the sight of our skin, blue eyes and blonde hair.

We only saw Chief George at the end of our trip as he had been in Maralal to see the DC (District Commissioner). He presented us with bracelets. Mine said Linda and Kris's said "Christ". I am still giggling as I write this.

Makubwa House, Lamu

Now I am lazing in Lamu. Makubwa House is beautiful and airy and Bo is the perfect host.

Magic Hour from Makubwa's roof

I'm still floored by the magic hour here: I'm  on the roof veranda as the sea turns saphire, the sky rosy pink, swallows swoop, dhows glide by as muezzin call people to evening prayer and Mr. Ali's cooking wafts up mixing with the oud (incense) that he is burning  my bedroom. Catching up on local gossip and intrigues. Sailing on Angalia. 

Ali... getting supper ready

I trail behind Mr. Ali as he makes his social rounds (he has disguised it as "shopping") and try to figure out what he is actually saying to me. Every morning he awakens me with a huge thermos of chai and the proclamation "today somebody die".

So I am having internet problems here (what's new) and don't know when I will be able to write again (hence the long message). I wish you all "lala salama" as you are all in slumberland as I write this except perhaps Mr. Barratt who  is in Bangkok (I hope your show at F Stop is successful and say "sawadee kaaaaaaaah" to the B'kok Krew)

love,

Linda

What is this all about.....

So after many years of everyone saying I should do a blog I've finally done it!  My main aim is to collect all the emails that I send from far flung places along with some photos and post them in one spot. It's not about my Hat Shop and my life in New York but what the Hat Lady does when she is off on her travels. In the past my emails have intrigued, excited and entertained so I hope that will be the case moving forward.