Yellow billed storks

Yesterday, I was sitting on the balcony, when I looked up, and saw about 200 large birds flying overhead, from the lake, which is to the west of where I was, and they were flying roughly east. I wonder where to ?   Maybe one of the Rift Valley lakes, or perhaps north towards Lake Turkana (L. Rudolph in the old days !)

Of course, I grabbed my binoculars and forgot the camera, but I am almost certain they were yellow billed storks, sometimes called wood ibis (which they aren't).   Google is a great help, in the absence of a bird book !

This is one of my late father-in-laws photographs from the 1960's, which just happened to be on a memory stick I have with me !   I think that's an Egyptian goose in the background.

Toothpaste !

Day 12 ..... 13th March, 2017

Because of the high temperatures here, it only took me one teeth cleaning session to realise that normally fairly thick toothpaste that needs a squeeze to get it out of the tube in the U.K., doesn't apply in Kisumu !   Instead, here, I have to unscrew the cap with the tube upright, and then tilt it over the toothbrush, where the toothpaste flows out, like thin cream !   

There, you wanted to know that, didn't you ?!

My favourite tipple - REAL mango juice, thick enough to stand the straw up in !

And someone asked me how I get my laundry dry .... answer .... peg it up on the louvres and it dries in half an hour !

Trying to get something simple, like a quote for the cost of ear defenders, etc., is NOT as easy as you might think.    I need to know costs, so I can get the purchase (and the money) authorised by the HATW in UK.    Its taken me since about last Thursday to finally get a figure, and 20 minutes on email to get the purchase O.K'd from Wales !   

It reminds me of something one of our office staff told me about emailing her particular charity in Wamba to ask the cost of mattresses (presumably for the school she supports).   The answer came back "It is very hot here and we have no rain".    I love my African friends dearly, but sometimes ...... 

A disturbed night

Day 11 .... 12th March 2017

You don't want to hear about my frequent trips to the loo during the night, but suffice to say, I'm taking Dioralyte powders and Imodium !    They seem to be working, but consequently I've done nothing much at all today except sit and read several copies of 'The Tablet' (not a journal for pharmacists) which had many interesting articles about politics, book reviews, obits ... one on Rabbi Lionel Blue whom I used to listen to regularly on the BBC 'Thought for the Day' and another on Una Kroll, whom I knew when she lived in Monmouth.

So, just one or two photos ... geckos are almost impossible to photograph as they only appear after dark, and never stay still.   They mostly hide behind my curtains, but of course they aren't there when I actually look for one !

                     Rachel off to visit friends ...

                                              ... and one gecko that stopped moving for two seconds

Being domesticated.

Day 10,  Sat. 11th March

I had nothing planned for today, and nowhere I needed to go, so I swept my room thoroughly, changed the sheets, cleaned the en suite and generally tidied up.   Now I can't find anything .....

After my brief session as a domestic goddess, I spent a couple of hours helping Fr. Hans sorting and labelling his books, some of which he is sending to a college in Nairobi, and some he is taking back to Holland.   

Then we sat and had a long conversation about all sorts of things, mostly about the history and origins of the Luo.   I lent him the book I bought the other day about the links between the Dholuo language and Egypt.   

He's an intelligent man with whom one can sit and discuss ideas; like my friends Kim and James used to be.   RIP both of them.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~  

A few photo's  ... 

                                        ... makes a change from watching the Cremastogaster ants !!

A local fat tailed sheep grazing by the main road.

Garden flowers

Lunch at The Flies !!

Day 9 .... continued.       Friday 10th March.

Lunch with Paul and Melchezideck:-   'The Flies' are what is known locally as a set of very rough and ready eateries.   That area of Kisumu by the lake was once the slaughter-house area, hence flies !   The 'cafes' (for want of a better word) are corrugated iron and rough wood buildings along the lake shore, mostly with earth floors and open fires for cooking.    As we approached in a tuk-tuk, girls rushed out of each one, waving frantically and trying to draw us in with their charms (dread to think what goes on there at night !).   Paul chose one, and we went in, and were shown the fish available .... big tilapia (ngege in Dholuo) which were to be roasted on mesh grills over the open fires.   They were about 12-14 inches long, and we ordered three with vegetables and kuon (maize meal cooked into a solid white lump).   

Because of this .... 

.... there was no lake visible, just acres and acres of semi-dead water hyacinth ...

So when the cooked fish arrived, I could feel my stomach gasp.   We had our hands washed, and then ate with our hands.   I managed a quarter of my fish, and a small quantity of kuon .... Paul and Melchi finished up mine !    About £3.50 each (which included fizzy drinks).

Chairs

Day 9 .... 10th March, 2016

The workshop boys, or at least one or two of the more experienced ones, have been making chairs .... 

Not yet finished, but I thought quite nice, with the open work design on the backs.

My parcel !

Day 8:    9th March, 2017

Yesterday, I was stopped at the gate as I was going out, by Raph, the gate-keeper.   He had a large parcel for me.   Before I left UK, I had arranged with the publisher, to get some back copies of 'Old Africa' magazine sent to me here, as it would be MUCH cheaper to buy them in Kenya, than have them sent home by post, and they arrived via a courier.   

So now I have a mass of interesting stories and history about Kenya to read, and they will use a little of the room taken up with the baby clothes and ladies bra's that were in my luggage coming out.   

I was watching a glossy blue starling this afternoon.  One of the house staff had left a floor mop (the old-fashioned sort, with a stringy head) hanging under the water-tank (which is on a high platform) to dry, and the starling was perched on it pulling out the strands of the mop, and flying off with them.   Baby starlings will be raised among the smell of floor soap and disinfectant !  

Today I have had several ladies of the staff in my room, stripping off and trying on bra's amidst lots of giggling and shrieks !   I've given them two each, the rest will go to Pandipieri to be distributed for a few bob each to needy ladies; then the money raised is used to buy drugs for the medical centre there.   

At the workshop, I had another session with Paul and Melchi about budgets and keeping records.  I had also decided I ought to give the trainees a bit of a blasting about their general scruffiness and the fact that they weren't keeping the workshop tidy, both of which are giving a bad impression to potential customers.   My Dholuo was totally inadequate for this, so I had Melchi to translate for me, while Paul was out getting cold drinks for the whole group.   Whether it will be taken notice of, I have no idea, but I thought coming from an ancient memsahib who had actually built, with her own fair hands, some of the workshop, might have an effect !     We'll see ..........

I've been here a week

Day 7 - 8th March, 2017

Walked into town to find somewhere to print photos ... I had taken photo's of various people at Nyalenda while we were played schoelbak on Sunday, so I thought they might like photos of themselves !    I took them there at lunch-time when I went with Hans to the weekly Bible group.

Had a wander round the back streets and their market stalls, and found this, a perfect example of bad taste in home decor ... gaudy cushions and string lamp shades; and tall vases in black, lime green, orange and giraffe patterned !   (Now which ones shall I choose to take home to my family ... ?)

I almost caused a man to collapse off a ladder today; he was perched up uncoiling razor wire and attaching it to the existing wire around the Banki kuu ya Kenya (Kenya Central Bank).   I stopped for a chat, and he agreed it was nasty stuff.   I then asked him if there was extra wire needed so the President could keep his money safely inside ?    He laughed so much the ladder wobbled !   Africans do wonderful full body laughs, clapping their hands and shaking with amusement !

I also went to the University of Maseno book-store again ........ 

                                                                       .... only four books this time ... 

One looks particularly interesting, (top left) linking the Luo language with ancient Egypt.   It backs up what I've thought for decades, that the Luo people didn't suddenly materialise in the Sudan and Uganda five hundred years ago from nowhere, and then into western Kenya .... but that they must have been the 'black people with frizzy hair' mentioned in Heroditus and Josephus as being present in Egypt at the time of the Pharoahs.   Now this author has found many links with the Luo language and Egyptian words .... I look forward to reading it !   

And some more flowers ....

The first meeting about the workshop.

Day 6 - Tuesday 7th March.

I had arranged for Paul and Melchezideck to come here at 10 for a meeting so we could discuss how we can move the workshop project forward into self-sustainability.   They were prompt -  a good start in Africa !   I hadn't seen Melchi since I think 2013, at Maua, when I went to the school with Wendy and Jonathan.

Because of Melchi's experience with management and finance, David (head of HATW) back in Wales had asked him to help Paul over these matters, and he visits from Nairobi every four months or so. 

It was a good meeting, if a bit long.   We discussed individual trainee's, how to budget, ways to attract more trainees and more outside work.  We are going to meet again at the workshop on Thursday,and probably Friday; Melchi has to return to Nairobi on Saturday.    I 'entertained' Paul and Melchi here for lunch, which they enjoyed.  Nile Perch, matoki, spinach, beans and ugali.

(Because of confidentiality, I am saying no more !!)

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

Had my now usual 40 winks after lunch; something stung or bit my ankle and it itches like mad.  I've got anti-itch stuff, but these creams never seem to work.   

More and more flowers are appearing in the garden here after the rain, and I think these above are what we can buy in English florists as gerbera, but here they are called Barberton daisies.   We used to grow these when we lived 25 miles away at Maseno, and I seem to remember different colours.

This Euphorbia millii   or the Crown of Thorns plant is viciously spiny; its a native of Madagascar and grows very well in drier areas of Kenya, where it is used as a low growing hedging.   

Snippets, and odd thoughts that I have just thunk.

DAY 5 continued:-

In previous years, I have noticed, photographed and commented on with amusement all the little posters advertising weird things and services, stuck onto posts and trees .... there are NONE at the moment that I have found.   Perhaps they have been banned ?

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I avidly read the Daily Nation everyday, mainly for the political cartoon, of which this is today's example:-  

Corruption is rife, even to the extent of students gaining an E grade degree ... just pass the professor some shillingi under the table !

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

With the rains here in Kisumu, have come flowers.   This beautiful climber grows around my balcony; last year I kept getting dried papery flowers blown into my room, and had no idea what they were.   But this year there are purple flowers, with two types of flowers on each raceme.   Its the outer 'flower' that dries to buff coloured; the inner darker purple flower just drops off and shrivels ... 

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

As well as flowers, and ants (!) I'm interested in birds, and one of the first I hear in the morning is the white browed coucal.   Its call is like a full bottle of water being poured out; a bubbling 'blerb, blerb, blerb, blerb' of falling notes.   Very difficult to see, but it is often heard before and during the rainy season.    I've also twice now heard a nightingale in the middle of the night, which surely must be about to migrate back to eastern Europe and Scandanavia (the British nightingales over-winter in W. Africa).  

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

And finally for now, another one of these:-

The things you see when you haven't got a camera handy (And some when you have).

DAY 5:    Monday 6th March

To the workshop for the first time this trip.    Got a tuk-tuk from the gate and when we were going round the roundabout near Nakumatt, we were passed by a piki-piki (motor bike 'taxi') with the driver, a woman and a baby AND two large cane chairs tied on the back !   

The new Chinese dual carriageway road is working well and carrying masses of traffic.   I stopped the tuk-tuk at the usual place, opposite the Coptic church, and walked along the lane through to the workshop.   Bonaventure, Kennedy, Stephen and two other boys I didn't know were there, doing various tasks making some cupboards.  And of course, Paul, who had dropped into the house yesterday just as I was going out with Hans to Nyalenda, to play sjoelbak (a Dutch shove-ha'penny sort of game).

I took Paul to have a cold drink at a road side kiosk, and we chatted about his family, the boys at the workshop, and heard that he thinks things are going OK.   I was pleased to hear he has taken some of the boys to local primary schools to offer repairs for free, which has been gladly accepted.   

On my way back to the guest house, I stopped off at my usual cold drink place, Java Coffee House, where they know me, for mango juice, and then had a wander round the mall .... the things you see !  

Window of mens hairdressers ... 

... and a silver dress dummy, looking for all the world as if he had stepped out of a Star Wars movie !

I found a shop which did copying and printing, and as I hadn't got what I needed for tomorrows meeting, I had to walk back again after lunch with the memory stick.   Phew, it was hot, doing the town walk three times in a couple of hours, but I got my printing done,with a free envelope to keep it in.    

Tomorrow Paul and Melchizedeck are coming here for us to discuss the future of the workshop, and to have lunch here.  

Quick post

DAY 4 - Sunday 5th March.

I'm about to have a shower and go to bed (10.40 p.m.) but have only just got connected back to the net as we had a power cut all day from before dawn, and that includes no internet as well.

I'll catch up tomorrow.

Just a photo from my morning walk .... hadn't seen this blue sign before !

I seem to be catching up and acclimatising ...

Day 3:  Saturday 4th March 2017

Another 'taking it easy' day - and why not.    I seem to have spent the time since about December never catching up with what I have to do, or want to do (which isn't the same at all !) so having a few days here just doing nothing much is very pleasant; I've been having afternoon siesta's too, and am beginning to feel I've caught up on missed sleep.

So today, I walked to town again straight after breakfast, to find the shoe repair man - my Safari boots needed some gluing and stitching.   I found his 'pitch' under a tree near the university bookshop, but he hadn't arrived, so I wandered around in the town.  I tried to find the fabric market I had been to two years back, but the same stalls are now all secondhand clothes.  

I did find a park with about 20 boys playing football, and there was shade and benches, so I sat for a while and watched the world go by again .... this seems to be quite an OAP thing I do a lot of lately !   But several people stopped to chat, and I managed to make a baby scream (a white face = baby tears) and found a lovely but very emaciated ginger kitten cowering under a bush.   Doting on cats and kittens is a very British thing; Africa and much of Europe treat them almost as disposable vermin catchers, so if a kitten is obviously abandoned, its just left to take its chances.  

I sat for an hour, then went back to the shoe repair man, and he had arrived.  'Fundi George' - he repaired another pair of boots for me a couple of years back and remembered me !!   He can't get many, if any, white customers.   Another half hour of watching the world pass by .... sitting under a tree on a rock, in my sock feet, as he glued and stitched ... and then he charged me 150 shillings !   Which is approx £1.15p. !     Such repairs in the UK would have been as much as the boots cost me originally.   

A bit more essential shopping .... 

... followed by a gentle walk back for lunch.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

After lunch, 90 minutes sleep with the breeze blowing in my open door, and then some time watching the balcony ants.   I got some tea and fed the ants with some biscuit crumbs.   They don't like them dry, I observed, so I chewed up a little corner of biscuit and offered them that ... MUCH nicer !    Probably only twenty or so ants were interested in the dry crumbs, but the pre-chewed and spat out biscuit attracted a few hundred ants.    (I know, I'm peculiar watching ants, but they are most interesting little creatures, and stay in their place,i.e. along the balcony and not in my room).

Tea for one relaxing lady on her balcony !

A gentle (gentile ?) walk in the sun.

Day 2: 3rd March, 2017

Apparently a friend spotted my typo in a Skype message when I said I'd been for a gentile walk !    I like to cause amusement !

I overslept this morning, so completely missed joining the fathers in the chapel, and very nearly overshot breakfast too, but Rachel had saved me some.   

Walking into town was pleasant; I'm determined to take life easy whilst here this time.   I was interested to see the new development in/over the intown Nakumatt supermarket; this is where last year they had removed the garden (and big elephant) from the centre of the complex, and turned it into a building site; by this year its now this ...

... the big building swathed in green netting.     I went inside on the ground floor and was very aware of the signs saying 'NO PHOTO'S' so when I spotted the elephant outside the supermarket main entrance, I chatted up a security man and asked if I could take its photo !

I got talking to two of the sales assistants inside and asked them what they thought of Mr Trump ... they seemed to think he was a Good Thing .... I suspect the newspapers and radio and TV here are biased.   They wanted to know about England and I told them that many people were disappointed at the referendum result, because now its obvious the people had been lied to about what would happen after we had 'Brexited'.   They couldn't believe the UK government, bankers, etc could ever be involved in corruption .... they know now !

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

After lunch I sat on my balcony and once again watched the world go by; somehow I fell asleep, and woke up to find I had wet feet ... it had rained briefly while I slept !    Later this evening we had a thunderstorm and heavy rain.   

I've arrived after a more eventful journey than previously

Day 1:- 2nd March 2017

Friends kindly drove me to Chepstow to get the bus to London yesterday, which was fine .... until it broke down just short of Heathrow !   Fortunately, the driver was able to contact another bus and they rescued us, so only about 15 minutes delay.

Once into the airport, I checked in my two suitcases as soon as possible, and then went to security ....  everything out of my rucksack and pockets and purse.  That lot passed muster, and I walked through the body checker, where my watch made it bleep .... at that point, all hell broke out; I was given a full body pat down, including parts of me I prefer not to mention.  (When I went to Jordan this was done in a private cubicle, by a ??woman in a full burqa, watched by another woman with a kalashnikov).

The lady 'patter-downer' discovered my body belt purse where I keep my dollars and Kenya shillings, with the belt tucked inside my knicks ... I had to stand there and take it off so the security lady could check it was what I said.   She did offer to take me to a private room ... but I had nothing to hide; besides, all my other possessions were still in trays after being x-rayed.   Then in a state of semi-undress, I had a full body scan inside a machine rather like a sort of reverse revolving door; I stood still, it whizzed around me.   Enough ?   Oh no, I then had to put one foot (in my best Safari boots !) at a time on a box and they were rubbed over with a cloth which the lady put into a machine - presumably to test for noxious chemicals in my boots ?    And finally, me and my possessions (now in the trays on the floor) were sniffed over by a beautiful spaniel ... the dog was the nicest bit of the whole procedure.

I ask myself, do wrinkley old dears like me, wearing a Ty Mawr cross, (which patter-downer had discovered hanging inside my jumper, and she made me take it off)  really pose a threat to planes ?    Maybe they have new rules now, that every 25th person has to get the full works.

The flight to Nairobi was as hot and uncomfortable as always; the selection of films was ancient ... but I managed to find a delightful, extremely well made film about elephants, which I watched with the sound off, just to enjoy the elephants with no silly comments or music sound-track.

We arrived in Nairobi at 04.15 local time ....well before the dawn.  Immigration was fine ... most passengers who needed a visa (like me) had eye scanner and finger prints done, but not me --- the immigration officer said I was 'on their files' (bit worrying !)  I needed to get a new SIM card for my phone, and put 'pay-as-I-go' money on it, but the Safaricom shop was closed, so I parked myself in an open cafe at the airport, and watched the bats flying around the airport lights, while I drank tea.   

Come 06.30, with the dawn, Safaricom opened, I got my SIM card and 300/- put on the phone, and pushed my trolley over to the other terminus for the Kisumu flight (baggage has to be collected at the main terminus, and re-deposited .... but only on the way OUT of Nairobi; on the incoming flights from Kisumu, luggage is automatically transferred).   

The area around Nairobi and down into the Rift Valley is dry, dry, dry .... no rain for 12 months.   

This is the extinct volcano Longonot; I don't remember it being so visible from the plane before.   We had flown between Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro, but at such a distance that I couldn't get decent photos .... and the plane windows were pretty filthy on the outside.

Coming into land, the pilot informed people that the runway at Kisumu had recently been dug up for repairs, and was now a bit short for landings, so we must be prepared for the brakes to screech a bit and for the landing to be rather fiercer than he would like !   All the passengers I could see slammed their foots onto the floor as we touched down, car driving emergency stop style !

But we arrived .... 

Father Alois met me, and I was greeted with massive smiles and bone crushing hugs by all the African staff.   Its a real home-coming'.    I'll write more about Father Hans later.

After shower, unpacking and lunch I had a sleep in the afternoon, and then spent time trying to get the laptop/Skype/internet/this blog, to work, but it all seems OK now.

Finally, I've got to add a Lake Victoria sunset !

Tomorrow is the day !

Flight KQ101 to Nairobi; then another plane to Kisumu.

I'm all packed, and starting to get a little bit excited.   I've arranged not to have any meetings or visits until after the weekend; I think I'll need to just sit and 'chill' for a couple of days to get over the travelling and to get acclimatised to the change of temperature and humidity.

I see that gold has been discovered in Western Kenya, but from the skimpy report I read (below) it seems to be somewhere in the Kakamega area .... which I mentioned last year, when I quoted this:-    http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/58694419

Report from this week:-   https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001230925/uk-firm-discovers-gold-worth-sh171-billion-in-kakamega  

I also checked the weather that I might expect; it looks like Kisumu is getting some rain at last !   And not too hot.

Packing

I've started packing 'stuff' to take with me for the mother and baby centre at Pandipieri .... I spend the year collecting baby and toddler clothes, and bra's for the mothers.   I've got some of those vacuum packing bags, which you fill, seal up and then suck out the air with a vacuum cleaner !   They have revolutionised my packing; loose soft stuff gets hugely compressed, yet of course, the weight stays the same, so I can get more in my cases. 

The packets of compressed clothing feels hard, like cardboard, but when packed around with my own clothes, don't take too much space.   

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

I hear that there is a severe drought in Kenya, particularly in the drier northern areas.   Turkana, Samburu and other cattle owning nomadic tribal groups, who normally roam the semi-desert areas, are having to move their cattle into game reserves, and onto privately owned farms, where there is often violence.    More information here ....    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/video/kenya-animals-killed-ranches-razed-in-herders-invasion/vi-AAn7KrD     (Sorry, you'll have to cut and paste .... clicking the link doesn't seem to work).

I heard from one of the Mill Hill fathers that in Kisumu there hasn't been any rain this spring, and there is no grass, and leaves have gone from the trees.   What a contrast from last year, when I wrote:     The night before I left Mill Hill House there was a TREMENDOUS thunder storm which lasted for about three hours, and (according to Fr. Gerry who has a rain gauge) there was almost 4 inches of rain.  Unbelieveable .... but true !   And I later heard once I was home that the rains were good last spring.   

Things change ..... Fr. Gerry has now 'retired' to live in a Mill Hill community in Holland, and only Fr. Alois and Fr. Hans are still at Mill Hill House.   It'll be good to catch up with them, and the African staff who work there - Patrick, Geraldine, Rachel and others.

I also see that last year on my blog I decided I ought to buy a small electric fan to use in my room, to aid sleep.   I'm using Malarone again, as it works well against malaria, but last year using it when combined with the high humidity, meant I couldn't sleep.   The only other possible anti-malarial was doxycycline, which I used one year, but it caused nausea and itching !   Maybe this year, with a fan, I hope to sleep better.   

There I go again ..........

I'm returning to Kisumu on St Davids Day, for three weeks.   It was a bit of a hassle to book flights that didn't leave me sitting tired and bored out of my mind in Nairobi airport, waiting twelve hours for the connecting flight to Kisumu.   Kenya Airways seem to have less flights up country nowadays - maybe business men in Kisumu fly up to the capital early in the morning, and then back at night, or vice versa.  But I managed by jiggling my dates, to find flights where I only have four hours to wait in Nairobi on the way there.   Returning home was trickier .... but again, by flying KLM instead of KA, I have to do a three-flight journey, but with reasonably short waits in between flights.  Its the sitting around in airports that is so very tiring.   And I get to spend a whole 50 minutes in Amsterdam Schiphol !    Never been there, but I might see some of the city from the air.

Two more 'Old Africa' magazines have come since I last blogged.    I'm hoping to be able to buy a few back numbers when I'm in Kisumu; get them sent from Nairobi to my Kenya address.   

I heard from an 'old Africa' friend this morning; he sent me the link to these articles which I'm finding very interesting.     http://abeingo.com/HTML_files/news_culture.html    The first article (and indeed most of them) are about an area just north of Kisumu, and an area I know quite well.    Have a look at the article(s); there are some wonderful photos.   

ADDED IN 2023:_        DON'T click the above link .... its got a virus in it !

Books !

I've been sorting out my books, dusting shelves, and generally spring cleaning a little !   Its interesting to read snippets of many of them as I dust and sort.   Many of my Africa collection I have picked up for next to nothing in charity shops and from the 'books for sale' shelf in the library.    I'm intrigued by several of them, and list here some of the curious things I have found while dusting ....

There's a book called 'A Tear for Somalia' by Douglas Collins; inside is a stamp with previous owners name ... "M.D.Barker, Grinlinton Farm, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly".    I must have bought this book at an island jumble sale when camping on St Agnes with my children more than 25 years ago.   But why was someone on an isolated island reading about Somalia ?   So I googled to try and find out more .... and up came an obituary for Maurice Barker, who was a Derbyshire man, who went to Scilly in his 20's, married a local girl, and farmed there until he died aged 83 in 2009.    You can read about him here .... http://www.cornwalllive.com/proud-family-man-maurice-dies-aged-83/story-11425651-detail/story.html      And here is a picture of his farmhouse, which I now realise is where we used to stop for a cream tea or an ice cream !   http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/822089  
What a small world !

Another book I have is 'East African Explorers' which is a selection of the writings of Burton, Speke, Livingstone, etc. etc.   I expect it was a Monmouth charity shop purchase .... but inside is the stamp of the original book-shop where it was sold:-  'The London Book Co., Rawalpindi'.    Once more I googled .... Rawalpindi I see is in the Pakistani part of the Punjab.   How on earth did a book about Africa come from Pakistan to Monmouth ??    Who in Rawalpindi was reading about African explorers ?   If only books could speak .... 

Finally, I am curious about 'My African Journey' by W.S. Churchill .... I found this in a local charity shop where I paid 20 pence for it; but on the fly-leaf I see it once belonged to my dear departed friend, Kim.   There is his signature, the date he bought it - August 1983 - and he has written  "Monmouth Market - at last !! "   What did he mean by that ?   Had he been looking for a copy of this for a long time?   It's too late to ask him .... and now I realise that one day (I hope in the far distant future) people will be curious about the things I jot down in books, and the odd newspaper cuttings, obituaries, receipts and so on I tuck into the pages.   

Where would I be without books !!

Congratulations, well deserved !

Dr. David Steiner, the charity's founder and executive officer of Hands Around the World, has been awarded an OBE in the 2017 New Year's Honours List for humanitarian services to disadvantaged children abroad.

David continues to lead the charity in its relentless pursuit of helping children much in need.

Nativity in a gourd !

This is a Kenyan nativity scene, with wire and banana fibre figures all enclosed in a gourd.  Very ingenious.    We have put it in our HATW office as part of our Christmas display, where it has attracted a lot of interest.       

"Consider Africa"

I recently found in the Oxfam book shop, a volume called "Consider Africa" by Basil Mathews, published 1935.    Some paragraphs have made me raise my eye-brows a little !!

Sometime ago I wrote about the Kakamega gold-field ... and in this book, read this:-

"A sensational turn has been given to the situation in Kenya by the discovery of a rich goldfield.  Some six thousand square miles are now thrown open to prospectors.  The land is that of the Kavirondo people, a fine, vigorous, agricultural Bantu folk [BANTU ??   No ! .... they are Nilotic !] ... with an advanced social organisation and a large population.  Now, right inside the native reserve [!!] at a place called Kakamega, a European mining camp and then a planned town have sprung up, with hotels, stores, garages."

Later, it goes on to predict "a struggle for political power which would precipitate catastrophe upon the white settler and the African alike".

I love these old books which often show a lack of understanding of local people, and assert the 'superior' power of the white man .... which 30 years after the publication of this book was no more.   


(Did I previously post this link from Old Africa magazine :-      http://oldafricamagazine.com/the-kakamega-goldfields/   )