Wednesday February 15 - Part 2
The rest of today was not an easy day but I’m glad I did it and I’m glad I saw it.
We had a lovely lunch again today with the cucumber salad, bean salad, stir fry veg and pita-type bread. The things they do with non-meat products are very inspiring but I never seem to do them at home, as well agreed around the lunch table today.
After lunch I had a beading session with two young girls from a village nearby. I say girls, because I believe they are still teenagers, but both were newly married with a baby. Rashida, the camp coordinator here, served as translator for us. I picked the colored beads I wanted and one of the girls went to work making me a double-stranded bracelet. The beads are glass beads from the Czech Republic and very expensive to get here, and they are strung on a strand of a woven plastic sack like we’d get potatoes in at home.
While the two girls were working, I could ask any questions that I wanted, but I felt bad asking things that may be overly personal. The girls are not related but live near each other and consider themselves sisters. They could not believe that it took me 19 hours to get here. They were surprised I have no children. I asked what I thought was safe, mostly around their beading and home life. But they will not be going off to college now or having any more of a future than what they have now, and that was striking.
I asked if they’d like to see photos of my family and they did. They were very excited to see photos but surprised that I still talk about my Dad. Rashida explained that here, when people pass away, the Samburu force themselves to forget about them, to keep them from being sad. I explained to Rashida that we remember them to help bring positive, happy memories back, but she did not translate that for them. I’m not sure they would have understood. Daniel mentioned that the Samburu follow a lot of the Jewish tradition, and I wonder if the approach to death is rooted in that.
After that, it was almost time for tea and the evening game drive. Tonight we had muffins with whipped real cream which were quite good. I’ve been drinking club soda with lime because it’s most refreshing and light so I did so again today.
We did another slow drive out to the village we are visiting, and Daniel stopped when I wanted photos (Grevy’s zebra, more kudu, a few birds that caught my eye).
About 15 minute away from the village, by car, we came upon a little girl toting two large containers of water. One was on a wire so that she could pull it and the other she was just carrying. Daniel stopped to talk to her and it turns out she was going to the village we were visiting, so he asked me if I minded giving her a lift. He hefted her load (30 liters of water!) into the back of our vehicle and she climbed in. At that point I had no idea how far she had left to walk, but after the visit he said it would have taken her 2 hours, which would have been well past dark! I was so shocked. She couldn’t have been more than 7-8 years old and out on her own! I just cannot even fathom what kind of existence it is that someone would send an 8 year old out to walk 2+ hours each way to carry 30 liters of water back on her own so close to dark!
Anyway, we visited the village, which is semi-permanent because the Samburu are nomadic and will pick up and move as soon as either water or grass are no longer available for the herds. So their “houses’ are a circle of sticks with tarps or sheets of cardboard or corrugated metal over them to protect from the elements or the wildlife. Inside (yes, I went in!) are tiny rooms with low ceilings. One room for sitting, barely big enough for two of us. One room for the mother to sleep with the littlest kids and one room for the father to sleep with older kids. They sleep on tarps or animals skins. One teeny room for the fire. Running in and out were chickens and baby chicks and goats. Needless to say this hypochondriac was holding her breath.
There were maybe 12 kids running around among the various houses. All had dirty clothes, bare feet and some had no pants on at all. One very little boy thought I was funny for waving at him from a (safe for me) distance, so he came running over for a hug, which I expertly ducked. It was just so sobering. Too sobering. A tough message for the day. When I left home I was complaining that the water from my new Brio water cooler was tasting funny, and now I see men drinking water straight from a well, kids bathing in it and now this little girl walking 6 hours round trip by herself to bring it back to her family. UGH.
Daniel took me for a sundowner in a dried up riverbed that is nothing but sand now. I don’t know why it struck me so but it was very cool. We returned camp tonight in plenty of time for me not to be the last one back, which was good.
The night game drives I have taken on the way back to camp haven’t proven terribly fruitful. We see the neighboring elephants, giraffe and impala by night but no nocturnal creatures yet, other than what Daniel presumed was a stump but turned out to be a gorgeous owl just sitting by the side of the road. I got the quickest of looks before it took off. Huge eyes!
Back at camp when I got to the common area, I found the older British gentleman (Hugh) there who asked how I made out, and because he made the mistake of asking, I just downloaded on him how heartbroken I was over that little girl. He did a very good job of listening, providing perspective and explaining how the Sarara Foundation here has actually improved the lives of the Samburu immensely. But he also said there is still so much work to be done and that people at home need to know how this water crisis is a very real thing. I thought back to this morning at the Singing Wells where I saw two little boys take buckets of water from the well, strip naked, rinse themselves down, dunk their clothes in the same water and get dressed again. And then that little girl. It is a very harsh reality.
The conversation bled over into dinner and I came away ultimately feeling better about the fact that someone is trying to help and it has been effective. But also that I can definitely help too.
After my second gin and tonic and a glass of wine with dinner, we had a vegetarian stew (lentils, beans, tomato, onion) in lieu of the beef everyone else had, potatoes au gratin, a carrot/green bean/ zucchini stir fry and cheesecake for dessert. I’m well sated now and hopefully fueled for the hike tomorrow morning. Up at 6:00 am for a 6:30 hike!
I sit here now listening to Boris the bull elephant right behind my tent tearing down trees so he can eat the greens. Occasionally he’ll give a very satisfied purr or burp, I’m not sure which. But he seems happy.
No comments:
Post a Comment