The Gift

Today one of the young men from the school invited me to his small room, just off campus. He proudly showed me pictures of his family and told me about how in his tribe, milk cows are the staple of the society, in fact they are traded as currency. He has already begun to raise some cows himself to use in the future as a dowry. After a brief chat he gave me a small gourd that was hand painted and decorated with beads by his mother. He explained that these are used to carry milk and as a container for drinking. In December, while he was home, he told his mother that our group was coming to visit, and she gave him this gourd to share with someone from the group. I have to tell you I got a little choked up as my friend shared a piece of his life with me. We have a little less than a week left to spend with our friends and my experience today was one very small example of the kinds of relationships that are developing between these two groups of students. 

We have a few more work days on the water tank, and I can't lie, today was a hot one. We have begun to mix concrete for the rim, and dig the ditch that will carry water from the Ukarimu House to the tank. We had to take a few extra breaks this afternoon. I'm afraid our fair skin, gallons of sun screen included, is no match for the hot, dry, baking qualities of the equatorial African sun. We are about 50 miles south of the equator here, and the sun rises and sets at about 6:15 - am & pm each day.

We are also sharing some American culture with our friends. Tonight we shared a good old fashioned "Movie Night." The school provided a projector, and together we had pop and popcorn and we watched the classic movie "The Princess Bride." We had a great time laughing, and teaching our friends to say... "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die." Tomorrow night we are planning to teach them how to make S'Mores around a campfire. 

Deo Fisus Labora, Jeff

Sorry about no pictures tonight - technical difficulties - jb