pokot

just got back from pokot. it was a good week. i was an invalid on tuesday cause i was still sick. im not used to being immobilized by sickness, didnt like it much. but wednesday morning i was feeling better and able to resume activities with everybody.

the pokot we visited this past week did not have too much in common with the pokot ben visited 2 years ago. sure it was in the middle of nowhere with by far the most primitive community culture that i had ever been around. but everything which we did, or were showed, was not there for ben's visit.

they have projects growing vegetables near all the bore holes. different groups are responsible for the gardens, and some of the groups have done amazing jobs. they school they have is nothing by american standards, but its a good start there. the classrooms are made from wood frames with mud stuck between the wood to form walls. they have a dorm built for the girls, however no beds. the boys sleep in a building that is currently unused. they just pack in there like sardines. while the progress is great, its crazy to think that these kids will sit for the same test as andrew and jean in high school.

nick planted some tomatoes and onions which will be transplanted next month when he goes back.

we had really good food too. julius, bill, and alex cooked lunch and dinner for us ever day. i knew they church had brought some food to cook, but i didnt realize how much it would be. we brought a lot of water, but after it was done, we still had good water from the bore holes (once treated of course). so this aspect of out trip was also much different than i expected.

and then there was the goat we ate last night. i was given the honor of killing it. i have never intentionally killed an animal before so i wasnt really sure what this would be like. it probably would have went a bit smoother if the blade i was using had been sharp. i knew it was a bad sign when my first swipe didnt break the skin...this may be getting more graphic than you would like. lets just say it wasnt quick.

after they skinned and gutted it, i helped a little with the butchering. before they started cutting and chopping i saw these huge chunks of good looking meat. but once they started cutting i soon realized there would be very few clean pieces of meat. every bone in the goat was hacked with its surrounding meat. this made getting an easy-to-chew piece quite the treasure hunt.

another thing i learned in a late night conversation around the fire with nick was the huge role corruption plays in keeping pokot illiterate and uneducated. the government minister for the pokot area has had the job for 15 years. he knows that nobody pays attention to pokot on a larger scale so he pockets any money that is earmarked for improvements in the area. he tells the people to only send one child to school because they will leave the family if they get educated. the illiterate people keep voting for him because they do not realize how he is holding them back, but anybody who goes to school for a few years does not vote for him.

each night we also had kenyan "coffee". trust me, it needs the quotations. it was a large pot of water, with a fraction of the necessary instant coffee, and lots and lots of sugar. pretty much sweet brown water

i enjoyed the week, but dont think that i got as much out of it as i could have because of being sick.