Africa 2008

Archive for August, 2008

• What’s in a Prayer…

  Monday, August 18th, 2008

  As I lay in bed listening to the sound of rain pounding the ground here in Africa, I cannot help but think that God is crying … shedding tears of love on His people here in Africa.

  The other day at church we were listening to the testimony of a very animated young lady. With her face beaming and her speech peppered with countless “praise god”’s, we assumed she was sharing good news. When we heard the translator tell her story, we were shocked. The take she was recounting with such joy was of how her husband and community had rejected her when she became a Christian and forced her to leave when she defied some traditional customs. She now lives in abject poverty in Nairobi, but still emphatically thanks God for his work in her life, for His gifts and for the church community.

  I only know a few words in Swahili, but what I do know allows me to understand most prayers I hear while here in East Africa. They are an almost ceaseless stream of “Asante Baba” (Thank you Father) and “Bwena Safiwe” (Praise God). When I look at my own prayers they seem so much less frequent and full of requests to God rather than thanks or praise. How can I ask for more when i have so much, yet people in Africa cannot seem to stop thanking God for whatever it is they do have? This is in no way intended as a criticism, but unbelief is truly a luxury that only comes an over-abundance of personal possessions. When each day is a gift, each relationship a treasure, each handshake an opportunity to connect and each moment a struggle, this “archaic, outdated, uneducated” notion of a belief in God is truly the only thing worth having.

  This last church service was a women’s service and I quite enjoyed getting the opportunity to hear the message delivered by a woman (which is taboo in my home church). She was not a minister, but spoke from her own personal experience. In fact, the entire congregation was involved throughout the service. As I tried to remember why this was supposed to be so “wrong” I had to smile and say my own little “Asante Baba”. Thanks God, for letting me experience this, for reminding me that Christ was all about living each day, each moment for God and sharing that with others… not about rules or regulations, right or wrong, appropriate or inappropriate. May I never forget how much you have blessed me and may I always be able to take a bit of Africa with me wherever I go.

  

  Speaking of belief, here is a picture of the mosque donated from Libyan President, Col. Muammar Gaddafi to the Muslims of Uganda. We had the opportunity to tour through it this past Sunday after our church service. My mother had to dress up in a longer skirt (hers did not cover her ankles) and a head shroud that reached all the way to her wrists. Considering Uganda is over 80% Christian, this mosque was massive, expensive and overall very impressive. It is also used as a conference centre, teaching facility and library.

  

  The above picture is of a “Church of Uganda” building, one of the oldest churches in Kampala. We stopped in for a quick English praise and worship concert. The original building was from 1903, but bunt down soon thereafter. It was rebuilt in 1910 now seats just over 3,000 people.

• Hiking Mt. Elgon

  Sunday, August 17th, 2008

  

  The Bradt guide provides some introductory trivia about Mount Elgon:

  • The 8th highest peak in Africa raising 4,321 m at Wagagi Peak along the Kenya / Uganda border.
  • An important watershed and the main source of drinking water for over 2 million Ugandans
  • A fertile area, the bread basket of Uganda as well as the producer of “black gold”, the country’s famous Arabic coffee

  My attention, of course was focused on the hiking potential.  We left Canada
  with the minimum gear required for a five day, 80km trek covering over 6,000 metres of elevation change.

  As we started to catch glimpses of the mountain from the matatu (taxi) it was impossible to miss that it was rather shrouded in ominous looking rain clouds. We got soaked in Mbale as we searched for a local matatu to take us to the trail head in Budadiri.

  This became the pattern for the next five days: rain from about 12:30 to 4:30pm. The solution was to get up at 5am, start hiking at sunrise, and reach the next camp at midday… hopefully ahead of the rains. The challenge of sodden, slippery trails remained but fortunately we had both packed our good hiking boots. Thankfully there were also afternoons by the cook’s fire to chase away the dampness. In the end it was a fantastic hike - great scenery, knowledgeable guides, helpful porters, a wonderful cook and fellow travelers who we ended up spending quite a large amount of time with.

• Pictures

  Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

  Well we are finally uploading pictures, sorry its a bit late. We hope everyone is keeping well… feel free to post comments, feedback is always appreciated!

  

  White water rafting on the Nile! We are somewhere inside the front part of that boat (under the huge white wave??)

  

  More rafting photos. We went back a day later to get some shots of other people doing what we had already had the chance to do. This is pretty much what we experienced.

  

  

  Some of the rather interesting signage around the white water rafting rapids.

• Rafting the Source of the Nile

  Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

  The Nile river: lifeblood of Eygypt and many other Africa nations.  Since the time of the Pharohs, a refuge for Moses, calm, severe.  Something out of antiquity…. and apparently an excellent place for adventure sports.
  As we approached the frothing white waterand the thunderous roar that heralded our first rapids of the day, it was easy to see why this area has becom a haven for extreme sports ranging from white water rafting to ATVs to bungee jumping to kayaking to the ubiquitous tourist “booze cruises”.  You really appreciate the power of the rapids as you bob through them.  The first tow sets were adrenaline rushes but the 3rd, Silverback with seven huge surges, did us in. The 4rth wave is the biggest and the one expected to throw us.  We went out with the first.  I hung on to the boat for a bit but the current was too strong.  As suggested, I came up twice but unfortunately the suggestion of air didn’t pan out. Eventually I surfaced for good, coughing up water and trying to keep from being pulled further downstream.  All passed and I got hold onto a kayak that brought me to another raft that tranported me back to mine.

  A quiet stretch gave us the chance to drift along and look around. The Nile continues to be the lifeblood of much of this area.  Men glide by in wooden boats fishing for Nile perch and tapani.  Women draw water and wash clothes, The banks are fertile and are often planted with maize. Others cut wood for heating and cooking.  Deforestration has been accelerated through the cutting of large tracts of indigenous trees to make way for softwood plantations.  With the change has come the loss of hippos, crocodiles and many other animals.

  It was good to get moving again after the break and the group was buoyed by a couple of successful runs.  We even got to agreeing to “50 - 50″ routes. But Neil wanted more.  For the last rapids he shifted to a boat that was going for 100%.  He got his wish.  The raft first bent in half, upended and buckled  before going full over.  They all had a great bob through the remaining white water to the offlaoding point.  We didn’t capsize but had an exciting run none-the-less.  A day well spent.

• Sakina’s Story

  Friday, August 1st, 2008

  Yesterday’s papers had the latest HIV/AIDS statistics for Kenya. They’ve risen from just under 6% to 7.8% for those between 15 - 64 years. In Western Kenya the rate stands at 15%.

  Achego Home is in a fertile sugar cane growing region of Western Kenya. While there we visited Sakina Otieno. She’s been widowed for 6 years and now lives with her 4 children aged 11, 8, 6 and 1 years in a 2 room mud hut on her mother-in-laws farm (shamba). The family survives on the support she receives from the Triple F program and the bit of maize she plants.

  Life was not always like this for Sakina. Her husband was a bookkeeper and she was a self employed seamstress in an urban centre, They rented a house and had a car. He husband died just as her son was born. Both he and Sakina were diagnosed as HIV+. As her health declined so did her ability to work. She lost most of her possessions and was forced to move to the shamba.

  She and her six year old are now on ARVs and her youngest was born HIV positive. Her goal is to stay alive and provide for her children. She removed the dust cover from her sewing machine and tells of her interest in growing some sugar cane so she can get some capital to buy fabric to make into clothes to sell. But she tells us, she is weak because of her illness so what she really needs is Ks 5,000 so that she can hire a tractor to plow an acre in which to plant cane. She’s not alone; there are many women who are too old or too weak to plow their fields. And so their children and grandchildren often go hungry.

• Born to Consume

  Friday, August 1st, 2008

  A wise African minister recently told me that “God did not create anyone to be poor”. It stands to reason that God did not create anyone to be rich either. In fact, I would go so far as to say that God did not create anyone to HAVE anything at all … God rather created us to BE something.

  Why then are we so driven by our desire to possess, so defined by our possessions?

  He who dies with the most toys wins!

  Money cannot buy happiness, but it sure can come close!

  I was not aware consuming THAT product or driving THAT car would make so happy, popular and successful… or even that those particular words needed to be defined in such a way. How glad I am to be so well educated so ironically self-labeled as “independent and free”