Who Knew Janis Ate Ugali?

I hope everyone back in the US had a great freedom day. I celebrated my first 4th of July outside outside of the country this year (I think). It was a great time. I have a friend here named Hassan who owns a hotel (i.e. just a restaurant . . . something got lost in the translation here) and he decided to throw a 4th bash at his place in town called the Red Hat. Somehow his place is sort of the unofficial hangout of foreigners in the area. Although it wasnt hamburgers and hot dogs it was an incredible spread of good Kenyan food, with some other things mixed in. It was buffet style, so being a good American, I ate myself sick. To top off a great meal Hassan prepared a delicious cake with a big US flag on it, very patriotic.After the feast Steve, Sheila and I went out to a bar called Good Friends, the place where the two met. The bar was great, despite the weird mix of reggae, boys II men, westlife (who are huge here, ive never even heard of them), techno and african music. The bar itself is a dive by US standards, but very African. There is a lot of open air space and the walls are painted with these big jungle scenes in glowing pain. They also love to put black lights in the bars here, so everything is really luminescent, I will definitely be going back.

So during the more freetime I have here, I usually like to help out in the school or on the farm whenever possible. A couple of days ago I helped the cooking staff out with serving lunch to the kids. The menu consisted of sukuma wiki (local greens), ugali (the only real food by Kenyan standards, its basically a tasteless heap of cornmeal bread) and a little beef. This is a pretty typical Kenyan meal, I have partaken in it many a time already. Therefore I thought since the meal is so common the kids would appreciate a little flair with their lunch, so I started serving it to them around the back, and through my legs and even a few BAMS! I think they got a kick out of it.

I also had my second youth group meeting yesterday and I think it went pretty well. About 35 guys showed up, which was a little less than last time, but I heard some more people wanted to come but couldnt for some reason. It was at least encouraging to see some familiar faces. For the meeting I prepared a discussion on alcoholism, which is becoming an increasingly big problem in the area. I typed out an outline for it which included what alcoholism is, the side effects (medical and social) and a short questionnaire test to find out if your alcohol consumption is at a risk level with some other topics included. I tried to involve the group as much as possible and they were really thoughtful and honest in the discussion. I even proposed that if some of the members thought they did have a problem, we could start a smaller, more anonymous group to specifically focus on sobriety.

Although the discussion went really well, one part was really difficult for me. I was talking about idleness and how it is one of the leading causes for youth to start drinking. A few people chimed in and agreed, then one guy raised his hand (who seems very smart, the group actually elected him chairman that meeting). He told me, in a very desperate tone, whenever these guys wake up they wake up to nothing. Nothing to do, nowhere to go, idleness here is not a choice most of the time, its just life. It hadnt really hit me until that point what it would really be like to wake up with nothing before you in the day. Of course for me, and most of us, I cherish days with nothing planned out, but only because I can fill it up with things I would like to do that I dont have time for usually. But for these youth, theres no reading a book, or writing a letter or watching a movie or taking a drive or traveling or surfing the web or picking up a hobby that costs any money, theres really nothing. I thought the timing of the meeting, right next to freedom day was interesting. Back in the states we are celebrating a strong, enforced rule of law, a million things to do and a million obligations, these guys out here really have all the freedom in the world to do what they want, when they want, but in the words of Ms. Joplin, freedom's just another word for nothing left to do.

The group was also really anxious to start having more discussions on practical training and future projects. We decided to hold two meetings a week now (yikes!), which is encouraging though, I just hope Im up to it. I really dont want to let these guys down though, I think funding the projects might become an issue. Well thats good for now, keep letting me know what your up to wherever you are, take er easy.

Me going Behind the back

Sheila and Steve cuttin it up at GF, what a terrible picture

Hassan and the freedom cake

I had to post this one, this was after lunch. I litterally had my harmonica out for 5 seconds and this was the crowd I got which doubled shortly.I had to take it away because kids were trampeling eachother. I swear this thing is gonna make me the most popular guy in the western province.