Mama Jimmy - A great mother with huge patience.
The family group
The following day I awoke in the wooden “shack” (4m x 3m) I was sharing with Elliott and Mwangi, we went to the kitchen (A wooden hut separate from the main house).
A view if the shamba - the hut on the extreme left is the kitchen the blue door is the main house made of branches and mud but painted so it looks like rendered stone.
Chai was being prepared on a 3 stone stove.
Later hot water for washing in a bowl in the courtyard. More chatting and a
walk around the town before lunch. Then it was time to leave. Elliott and I
said our goodbyes and were escorted by a procession of the family to the main
matatu stage. There we waited with others for one with spare seats. One after
another passed jammed with people. After over an hour we were still there
sweltering in the mid afternoon sun. It was then we were informed that a large technical college
further down the road had closed that day and parents and family of each
student had turned up to escort them home. /it was likely that there would not
be a free matatu for the rest of the day. The decision was made to stay and
extra night and travel in the morning. It is a 4-5 hour journey back to Kandara
and to leave it any later this day would mean ill-advisedly travelling through
challenging isolated areas at night.
This meant we had more time with the family which was great.
Boys everywhere will play soldiers. Who need Toys r Us when you have maize plant stalks for your gun!!
Loving the water
The boys showed me where they swim in the river and then we went to the man
square which earlier had been covered with maize drying in the sun on huge
tarpaulins. Now they had been bagged up. Each bag weighed 90kg and was carried
to the lorry by a group of men. Each would hoist a bag onto his shoulders and
almost run with it to the truck then return for another. Typically they will
carry 50 bags watch in an afternoon (that is a total of 4.5 tonnes in a couple
of hours – a hell of a work out!!). The family I was with knew a couple of the
chaps and it was suggested I have a go!! 90Kg!! They helped lift the bag onto
one shoulder and then left me. I staggered to balance the weight and then tried
a few steps.
90 Kg easily lifted by a local
A mzungu tries
And fails!! Ooops
My legs made five steps before beginning to complain and then my
balance went and it was me or the bag!! The bag hit the floor and 90kg of maize
burst over the floor!! Raucous laughter erupted from the professionals, the kids
and a breathless Mzungu.
Back home for another lesson in Chapati cooking. Each time I
learn a new twist and regional variation. Hopefully, soon, I will be able to
make them as good as the locals?
"Helping" make chapati :)
With a full stomach and a long tiring day we retired once
more to the shack.
Early in the morning (Saturday) we headed back to Kandara.
Back in Kandara in the afternoon I quickly packed as I was a
day behind and was due to travel to Nairobi that night and leave for England
after the weekend with friends in the Capital. The most challenging bit of this
is not the packing but saying goodbye to the staff and kids at the Orphanage.
For some reason leaving before Christmas is always the hardest to do. I moved
quickly round and managed to keep my composure (just – soft lad really!!). 2013
I will spend Christmas and New Year in Kandara.
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