10 May 2017 Flashes of Memory from the last Month

It has been a month since I’ve managed to sit down in front of my computer to write about life and work in Northern Kenya.  A whirlwind of a month.  All parts of my life wrapping up together, spinning me around and flinging me out the other side.  A little worse for wear, but alive and happy having accomplished a few steps forward on many of my current goals, hopes and visions.  As time has a way of getting away from me, I need to take this chance for a moment of reflection on all that has gone on since last I posted.   To write a straight forward step by step narrative of this month would take pages and pages and probably be incredibly boring.  So, as it feels like I’ve gone through the eye of a storm, I’ll write about it in flashes of memory, like lightening bursting into the darkness. 

*Ngurunit Peace:  Easter with family in Ngurunit was lovely.  Nothing more exciting than rambles along the riverbeds with Naiboku and the dogs, cooking lovely meals, reading books, gazing at the mountains and the stars, meeting with friends and generally decompressing.  Turned out to be the calm before the storm of the rest of the month. 

*Traveling, traveling, traveling:  I’ve traveled over 3000 km in the last month.  To Ngurunit and back for Easter.  To Kisumu and back for Rotary District Conference.  Back to Ngurunit via other community visits for Rotary work then down to Nairobi to drop Naiboku to school and then return to Maralal this last Saturday.  Some of this traveling done while very ill (food poisoning in Kisumu) and some with car issues (faulty brakes for 40 km heading into Baragoi on one trip) that meant delays here or there and being stranded in Nairobi for 2 extra days.  My Pajero engine was threatening to fall out so I thought I should get that taken care of.  But as always, I use the troubles, trials and delays to seek out other benefits and advantages.  Visiting friends.  Working on other tasks.  Networking.   Reading books.  Resting and recovering from exhaustion and illness for the next push onwards and upwards. 

*Rotary Activities:  It has been a month for amazing strides forward on Rotary networking and activities.  The Rotary District Conference in Kisumu was an amazing 3 days, despite the struggles with food poisoning given to many at the event by the conference venue folks.  Oh well.  Such is life.  Doesn’t happen only here.  My cousin from USA just told me about her food poisoning experience in Florida last month which made her miss Easter at home in Wisconsin.  Anyway, I am digressing.  Rotary.  I met up with some good friends and made some wonderful new connections at the conference, as did the other four Maralal Rotarians who were with me in Kisumu.  Then the next week, we connected with our Samburu Project partner in Maralal and went for community assessment meetings together in four communities around Samburu County in preparation for the water well project we are working on.  It went so well.  We are going forward on preparing the application.   Another big rotary activity that is exciting me is about school books for primary schools.  Oxford Press donated thousands of books to Rotary to hand out to the schools.  We are doing this with Rotary club of Karen so I picked up 13 boxes of books while I was in Nairobi and have brought them back to Maralal.  We are now going through them to prepare delivery notes and by tomorrow plan to start taking them to the selected schools.  It is great to be a part of that. 

Rain!!!:  Finally, after months of dryness and the pain of seeing animal carcasses everywhere as I travel up and down in the brown parched land, the rains have come.  Though, of course, the rains again bring other issues.  A few hours after leaving Ngurunit on the 30^th April having finished the rotary community assessments and heading to Nairobi with Naiboku through bone dry desert, the heavens opened.  We got out just in time.  The rains came in force and flooded out many places in Samburu County.  People in Ngurunit couldn’t move out for 3 days.  Maralal was inundated with water.  Roads washed out.  Houses flooded.  Animals died from the cold.  By the time I came back to Maralal this last Saturday 6^th May, things had settled down and dried out a bit.  Though still getting some showers every few days. Green has come back to the land as grass comes up to carpet the land and trees leaf out in earnest to take advantage of the moisture.  People are happy again and have hope for their livestock.  It will take more time for complete recovery, but at least there is a start.  I am thinking of what to plant in my garden now.  I have two days to work on it before another trip to Ngurunit.  I am looking forward to seeing the changes there from the advent of the rains arriving after our long wait.  I hear it is beautiful and green!

Baskets:  My two trips to Ngurunit this last month saw me collecting a number of samples and finished order baskets that had been commissioned in March during the basket group visitors trip.  These new baskets are amazing and beautiful!  I took pictures of the samples and sent them off to USA while in Nairobi.  Within two days, we received another order for 600 baskets (200 sets of 3), 450 of them being selected from the new designs and 150 of an older style.  Wow.  I was able to buy the needed beads in Nairobi.  I am headed to Ngurunit to make sure the women get a good start on the order.  It is due in 2 months so a lot of work ahead.   Another new design of baskets that I delivered to the Nairobi based buyer while I was there were very well received.  That line may have a lot of promise for the future.  It is exciting to see where all this might lead us on our path of increased income generation opportunities for the group members.   It is a lot to think about though.  Going forward step by step. 

So, enough of the flashing pictures of my life this last month.  I have a couple more days in Maralal catching up on office work and just gaining strength for the coming adventures.  To Ngurunit this weekend.  Then letting the rest of May work itself out as it comes.  I will try to not be away from my writing so long.  Hopefully see you in a week or so!!  Enjoy!