On the way to town

I've been hibernating a bit today. It's nice to have a break from
being constantly over stimulated. Cody found the sweet spot on the
shower, so I am feeling refreshed after my first 3 minute shower where
I was neither scalded nor freezing. We all have been relaxing in our
yard this morning, as we would do on any summer Saturday in Courtenay;
Terry reading in the shade and Cody and I playing Yatzee and cards on
a blanket in the sun. Some things I notice which remind me that I'm
far from home are:

• Our favourite caretaker carefully sweeping our patio with a branch
or cutting our grass with a machete
• The five or more little lizards you can see at any given time
wiggling their way up the walls (inside or outside) of our house
• The constant tweeting, whistling and squawking of birds, large and small
• Overlooking the hillside watching men, women and children hand
plowing their fields
• The iron rails over all of our windows and surrounding our patio
• The huge tank where our water for the house is stored
• The tin shack serving as a cover for our guards at the front of our house
• The barbed wire fence around our property

Soon I will walk out the gates of Kefinco (the compound or subdivision
where our house is) any chance of pretending I am home will vanish.
It's o.k. though. I expect that paved roads, street lights, cars, and
pristine buildings, sidewalks and the absence of cows, goats, chickens
and pigs in the streets will seem strange to me when I get home.

I've been reflecting on the people we are meeting. After the Rotaract
meeting on Wednesday night, we had a chance to talk with a few of the
members after the meeting. The theme of this years Rotaract group is
"Make Dreams Real." I spoke briefly to the group about Life Coaching
and working with my clients on achieving goals, balance in their life
and the importance of self care to the greater good of the community.
One young woman asked me after the meeting how she could get a job
like this in Canada. She is studying Education and Social Work in
University. I had no answers for her and felt sad and not surprised
that the first thought is how to get out.

On the walk home, one young man, Martin, was very excited about
coaching and leadership. He asked for my website and I told him that
I do have a website, but I am just one person, not a big organization.
Always in need of a little coaching myself, he excitedly reminded me
that you never know what an impact you are making. He told me of a
time that he visited a struggling family and offered some counselling
to a young boy. He was not trained in counselling and felt he had no
great answers. When he saw this boy some time later, the boy thanked
him and told him that that day had changed his life. Martin still
doesn't know what he said or did that made the difference, but knows
he helped.

We had another discussion about leadership in Kenya. I told them that
I had read that there was a problem of bright Kenyans being educated
here and then leaving to the US or Europe. Martin agreed that this
was a problem and that Kenya needs leadership, here on the ground.
The other young man walking with us planned on going to the US to gain
experience and maybe further education and then return. This started
a rather heated debate between the two, Martin saying that he wouldn't
come back and if he did that the experience he gained there would be
irrelevant. I won't pretend to have an understanding of what is
needed here or best for these young men or the community, but it was
exciting to be in the middle of the debate and it is clear that this
Rotaract club is full of potential. I'm looking forward to meeting
with them again.

Oh, last night was movie and pizza night at Shey Wey. Marie, one of
the Canadian volunteers in Kakamega, taught the chef how to make
pizza. Last week there was no pizza because they forgot to turn the
oven on, but last night was yummy – mushroom and cheese  After many
technical difficulties, we got the movie, Michael Clayton, going on
the small tv with lousy sound. Soon the sound was being drowned out
by another crazy thunder/lightening/rain storm and then was all
together gone with the power outage. After about 20 minutes, the rain
subsided and we made a run for it home to Kefinco. The three of us
walked home (it's only a block or so) in the dark. Cody said I looked
like a nerd with my headlamp, but it served it's purpose in providing
me with some sense of security. Terry has been on our street a few
times at night and has seen families, teens, men and women… nothing
untoward.

Tomorrow we are going with Matano to visit some of the benefiting
families of the KASFOOC Self Help Group. O.K., off we go to town for
our market and cyber cafe routine. Who knows what will happen along
the way.


On the way to town, we passed:

• two young boys leading their three native cows down our street
• many women and children carrying baskets and bundles off all shapes
and sizes on their heads
• the lost boys with plastic bottles of glue hanging in their mouths
• no less than thirty boys of all ages playing football (soccer), many
with no shoes on; shirts against skins
• dozens of overloaded matatus
• the sounds of Saturday market day – everyday is market day, but
Saturdays and Wednesdays are particularly bussling
• and so much more…