More on the 'Flipflopi' dhow

(from the Kenyan Daily Nation newspaper)         (and more to come about my trip to Israel ... Galilee next !)

The dhow made entirely from recycled marine plastic, the world’s first, has set sail from Lamu Old Town and is headed to Stone Town, Zanzibar.

Flipflopi Dhow, as it is known on Thursday started its 500-kilometre expedition.

Aboard 16 crew members, all who were involved in the invention of the vessel, will sail south along the coast of Kenya, stopping in Kipini, Malindi, Watamu, Kilifi, Mombasa, Diani and Shimoni before crossing into northern Tanzania with planned stops on Pemba Island and onwards to Stone Town in Zanzibar.

The Flipflopi’s maiden journey is meant to raise awareness about marine plastic pollution.

The dhow will take at least two weeks sailing across the Indian Ocean and is supposed to arrive in Zanzibar on February 7.

It is sailing for approximately 50 to 80 kilometres a day whilst simultaneously broadcasting the #Plasticrevolution message to a global audience.

Speaking in Lamu Thursday morning before setting off for Zanzibar, Flipflopi’s main inventor and builder Ali Skanda said they are looking forward to arriving in Zanzibar safely.

Along the way to Zanzibar, the Flipflopi team will make several stops where they will be visiting schools, communities and government officials as they discuss solutions and changing mind-sets concerning plastic wastes and the importance of maintaining a clean environment free of plastics.

Mr Skanda said he is confident that the Flipflopi will assist in raising awareness on the danger of using plastics and dumping them anyhow along the beaches.

“We are set for our journey to Zanzibar. We will be passing through various towns along the Coast where we will be making some stops to educate the dwellers on how they can maintain clean beaches as well as avoiding plastic disposal on our ocean beaches.

“Through the Flipflopi invention, we hope people around the world are inspired to find their own ways to repurpose already used plastic so as to maintain clean beaches which are free of plastic wastes,” said Mr Skanda.

Mr Shafi Shetai, a Flipflopi crew member, said he believes the dhow will serve to reinforce the need for continued adherence to the already existing Kenyan plastic ban since it demonstrates how the increasing amounts of plastic garbage can affect not only marine life but also the lives of residents and the economy.

Mr Shetai said apart from the existing ban on plastic bags, the government should also ban other plastic materials used daily including straws since they are also posing a challenge to the environment.

The founder of the Flipflopi Project, Mr Ben Morison, said, “The Flipflopi Project has always been about encouraging change in a positive way, making people smile first and then sharing the very simple message that single use plastics really don’t make sense.”

Hemingways Watamu, is set to host the FlipFlopi Expedition crew when they stop over at Watamu Marine Park during which presentations on clean beaches and recycling will be made.

“We are among the champions of clean oceans with our continuous support of beach cleanup exercises along the Watamu coastline. Over the years, we have worked with our fellow community members to clear plastics from our beach and convert them to better use and are actively reducing single use plastics used in our properties throughout Kenya” said Hemingways Collection Operations Director, Mr. Ross Evans.

Mr. Evans applauded the FlipFlopi Initiative, terming it a huge boost to ecotourism, the hospitality industry and in pushing forward the blue economy agenda.

“We greatly support this initiative in partnership with the UN Clean Seas Campaign as it benefits the ocean’s natural habitat, the society and is in line with Blue Economy and Kenya’s Vision 2030 for sustainable development,” he said.

The Flipflopi is a 9 metre sailing dhow made up of over 10 tonnes of collected plastic waste.

The venture is aptly named the Flipflopi Project as the boat was built by traditional dhow makers led by Mr Skanda using thousands of repurposed flip-flops and ocean plastic collected on beach clean-ups along the Kenyan Coast.

Limiting themselves to locally available technology and materials, the builders collected discarded plastics, shredded them into small pieces, then heated them and remoulded them.    They then carved the plastic parts exactly the same way they would do to wood.

The Flipflopi dhow was launched on a day when the world was celebrating World’s Beach Cleanup Day on September 15, 2018.

The dhow now serves to reinforce the need for people to maintain cleanliness on the various ocean beaches in Kenya and the world.

This is excellent news

First recycled-plastic dhow makes Kenya-Zanzibar trip

The world's first dhow made out of recycled plastic and flipflops has set sail for Zanzibar in Tanzania from Kenya's Lamu Island.

People behind the project want to highlight the effect of up to 12 million tonnes of plastic waste being dumped into our oceans every year.

(news from Al Jazeera)

Peter disowns Jesus

This statue says it all really.    Jesus had been arrrested; the high priest was interregating him to try and force a confession of guilt from him, but no need ... Jesus agreed with Caiaphas, that he was indeed the 'Son of Man'.  

One of the disciples, Peter, was waiting in the courtyard to see what would happen, and a servant and others accused him of being one of Jesus's followers, but he denied it, thinking to save himself.   Jesus had predicted that Peter would deny any knowledge of him three times before cock-crow in the morning ... and he did.

This statue at the Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu shows Peter, the servant girl and a soldier ... and the cock crowing.   But close up, look at Peter ...

... what a look of guilt !   "Who, ME ?    No, I don't know him, never heard of him"   I love the look of innocence, the supposed ignorance, the shrug of the shoulders ....  Haven't we all seen that guilty look on our teenage children at times ?!

"... and he broke down and wept."   (Marks gospel, end of chapter 14)  

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, part three .... that LADDER !

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is owned jointly by the Greek Orthodox, the Catholics and the Armenian Orthodox.   In addition, the Syriac, Ethiopian and Coptic orthodox have the right to use certain areas within the church.  (The Ethiopian monks live on the roof, in a sort of African village). 

The Ottoman Turks created a decree in 1757 giving rights of possession which is called 'The Status Quo', and each religious group guards its rights enthusiastically, even down to who sweep certain areas of the floor.  Rows have ensued if one person sweeps one line of paving stones beyond their 'boundary' on the floor !!

So, the ladder !   It has apparently been propped outside the window as in the photograph for so long that it is said no-one knows how it got there !   It appears in an engraving of the church dated 1728, so could have been there for 300 years.  Suggestions are that it was left there accidentally by a stone-mason or window-cleaner, but no-one really knows for sure.  It is mentioned in the 'Status Quo' documents as being in the area of the church 'owned' by the Armenians, so as it is mentioned when the 'Status Quo began in 1757, it must stay there.

HOWEVER, in 1997 the ladder disappeared for some weeks; a Protestant prankster managed to remove it and hid it in the church behind one of the many altars, and when it was later found and replaced, a steel grating was installed on the cornice over the lower part of the stonework under the window above the blocked door .... BUT in 2009 the ladder mysteriously 'jumped' against the left-hand window where it remained for a day, and now it is back in the place it has been for almost three centuries.

One rather nice thing in the 'Status Quo' document is that it confirms a decree of 1246, which states the right of two Muslim families to hold the keys of the church, and the task of locking and unlocking the doors every day.  

*   *   *   *   *  

I love all the Biblical stories and how visiting these places backs up what we read.  Likewise, the way tradition is upheld over hundreds and hundreds of years.   Also the more amusing tales such as the one about Flinders Petrie's head in a hat box !   Thinking of my travels in Africa, and the oral tradition, and the questions raised, such as the mysterious Mountains of Kong that don't exist except in a travellers imagination .... wonderful things to ponder !!

An update on a Kenya posting from last year:-

As a follow-up to this   http://luolaughter.blogspot.com/2018/09/omieri-snake.html   I have written this about  "The Crying Stone of Ilesi " ... (near Kakamega)

The most striking feature of this huge stone is that it resembles a gowned figure, perpetually in tears flowing from ‘head to toe' — an image spiced-up by myth and folkfore.  To scientists, it is a formation consisting of a large boulder balanced on a column of rock with water flowing from a groove in the middle. Indeed, geologists describe it as an acid plutonic rock consisting mainly of quartz, alkali, feldspar and mica. 

The stone is of great cultural and spiritual importance to the Luo and Luhya communities and the Isukha sub-tribe in particular. The Isukha live around the rock's formation. "To visitors, it is just another attraction but to us locals, it affects our lives in many ways just as it affected the lives of our forefathers," says 78-year-old John Shikhomoli.   (So the stone isn't especially a 'Luo' site but some miles to the north of their area.)

Villagers say when the stone cries, it is a good omen, signalling a bumper harvest, for instance. When there is drought, the community carries out rituals here to persuade the gods to bring rain. Other rituals are performed to allay disasters. There is a symbolic meaning when the stone ‘cries' when it has not rained, villagers say.  Shikhomoli says the site is also used for ritual cleansing of victims of incest in families.

The crying stone is also of religious importance as churches such as Legio Maria and Rosary Church make pilgrimages to it, camp there overnight as they fast and kesha (hold night-long prayers). "We receive Legio Maria members from far away areas like South Nyanza who come to worship here in seclusion. They believe they can communicate better with God that way," says Kelvin Juma, a villager. He says some of the religious groups decide to camp at the site while crossing into a new year or celebrating Easter festivities, among other significant holidays.

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Stones that produce water from their top are weird, and maybe someone can tell me how this happens.   You can see the water stains on the rock in the above picture, which is one I took many years ago in Jordan .... this is supposed ( ! ) to be the stone that Moses struck with his staff ... "Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank" ... (and he got into trouble for doing so because he hadn't trusted God to provide !)

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, part two

The church has a very varied history of construction, destruction and rebuilding, by every conqueror.   

The earliest Christians revered this site as the place where Christ died and was buried.  One problem I originally had was that the church is INSIDE the old city walls, whereas the gospels all tell us the crucifixion took place outside the city - which is why I was in favour of what is now the Garden Tomb being THE place.  However, archaeologists have evidence that the site of the church was outside the city, until the middle of the first century A.D., when a new city wall was built, further out, and thus included the site of the church within the city.  

And further archaeological work has proved the tombs in the Garden Tomb site are much older by several centuries than the time of Christs crucifixion.   Having visited Petra about 12 years ago, where I had seen many rock tombs, the Garden Tomb site 'felt' right, but I was wrong !

Tomb 'niches' cut into the pink rock of Petra.

*   *   *   *   * 

The Israel Museum (in Jerusalem) has an enormous model of old Jerusalem as it was in 66 A.D, and it shows the rocky hill of Calvary ... outside the then city walls. 

The first church on the site was begun in 326 A.D. by Emperor Constantine I.  He had the pagan temple put on the site by Emperor Hadrian (of Hadrians Wall fame) pulled down, and Constantines mother, Helen, is said to have discovered the remains of the cross of Christ not far from the hill of Calvary.   The church of Constantine (and his mother) was burned down by Persians in 614 A.D., then rebuilt, then destroyed by Moslems in 1009, and then partly rebuilt.  Earthquakes have also done their part in destruction. Crusaders completed the final rebuilding in 1149, which is mostly the church as it is today.  No wonder it is in a constant state of being repaired !  

The church contains about 30 or more chapels and different worship spaces, some below ground, and some above what is now the ground floor.  It is dim and gloomy, and usually crowded with vistors and pilgrims.  The air is perfumed with incense and the waxy smell of burning candles, and there seem to be processions of various sorts going on all the time.  It is certainly a 'living' church.  

On entering the church, through the left hand door, (the door on the right was blocked by Moslem conquerors in the 12th century .... time moves slowly in Jerusalem), the first thing to be seen is the Stone of Anointing, where it is said, Christ was laid while his body was prepared for burial.   

Now I admit to being sceptical about this !   Visitors were kneeling by it, kissing it, weeping over it, rubbing it with holy books, hankies, crosses and medals ... I suppose to try and soak up traces of Christ that might be remaining on the stone after almost 2,000 years.   

My scepticism was justified, when I later discovered the stone was put there, replacing an older one, in 1810 !   I have great difficulty witnessing other peoples devotion to a 200 year old marble slab like this, but I pondered long and hard on other peoples faith, the like of which is sadly lacking in me.   I think my faith is in my imagination, in my thinking, not in visible ancient stones.

There are two other principle shrines in the church, the Chapel of the Crucifixion and the Tomb of Christ.   Greek Orthodox priests control the massive crowds who are queueing to visit these chapels, and again, I was amazed on both my visits to Jerusalem, at the determination and devotion of people to wait in a queue and slowly shuffle forwards, for one or two hours, in order to be rushed through these dimly lit shrines in pairs, for a sixty second visit.  

This is a piece of the actual rock of Calvary, which it is thought cracked at the moment of Christ's death when the sky went dark in the middle of the day and there was (may have been) an earthquake.   (Apologies; my scepticism again).

*   *   *   *   * 

There was a lot more to see in the church; one needs a whole day, or even two  might not be enough to be able to see everything, and understand and learn from the mosaics, the ancient graffiti, carvings and the various chapels.   I found on both visits that I got far more out of the visit by just standing back and watching and thinking. 

I'll write more about the various Christian groups who 'own' the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ... and that ladder (!) ... in my next post ...

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

Sepulchre = "a small room or monument, cut in rock or built of stone, in which a dead person is laid or buried"

I first visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre six years ago, and have to admit that it left me cold; this is what Christians are supposed to believe is the site of the crucifixion, burial and thus the resurrection of Jesus Christ.   Instead, it appeared to me (then) to be a scruffy, gloomy and noisy, tourist filled, faded building, cashing in on its supposed fame.   

To reach the church, one walks through the souk, accosted by shop owners selling everything:- spices, shoes, religious artifacts, clothes emblazened with suitable (or unsuitable) slogans; jewellery, ceramics, Jewish prayer shawls, fruit, bread ... the nearer one got to the church, the more religious the T-shirt slogans.

                                                                                                                                                                                         

    

The narrow alley-ways, and twists and turns suddenly open out into a small square in front of the Church, which I discovered is best visited soon after dawn, as the thronging crowds later get impossible to squeeze through.

(aerial picture from https://www.seetheholyland.net/church-of-the-holy-sepulchre/)

The square can just be seen in front of the brownish building right of centre, between the smaller dome, and the blackish tree on the lower edge of the photo; you can just make out how small the square actually is, and crushed into the old city.  The two sloping white roofs are structures covering the roof of part of the Church while renovation work continues beneath.

So, on my first visit six years ago, I had been half expecting to see some of the rocks of Calvary, and perhaps a rock tomb, as described variously in the four gospels.  Indeed, on that visit we had been staying in a hotel just outside the city wall, and on looking out of our bedroom window, I could see this slightly skull-like rocky cliff.

Was this the 'place of the skull' that was mentioned by General Gordon as Calvary, especially as there were human bones scattered around, according to ancient writers ?

The next day we actually visited The Garden Tomb, which was behind our hotel in the next street, and it was exactly the place we had seen out of our hotel window !   I felt it was authentic .... 

... yet reading up about it later, it seems unlikely.    I wish I had researched more before that first visit, and had learned more about the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ... and had found this web-site ... https://www.seetheholyland.net/church-of-the-holy-sepulchre/   which I didn't discover until a few weeks ago.    I forsee another visit to Jerusalem .... 

... to be continued.

Naughty, but I just had to post this !!

This headline made me laugh today in a Kenya newspaper !!    

OUCH !!!


"Biting tampons shortage in Kenya"


(Back to Jerusalem in my next posting)

Flinders Petrie in Jerusalem

An interesting man, and one of my heroes.

He was a Victorian archaeologist, working in Egypt.   He developed the system of dating finds and dating the layers they were found in, based on pottery and other ceramic finds.  This is still the way its done these days, and the Monmouth archaeologists, with whom I have worked in the past, use this method.

So I was delighted when I realised he had latterly worked in Jerusalem, and was buried there in 1942 .... or most of him was !!    Curious ?   Read on ...

Flinders had moved to Jerusalem in 1933, and continued to work, mostly in what was then Palestine.  He was a brilliant man .. it was said that he could do calculations normally done (in those days) with a slide rule ... but he 'used' an imaginery slide rule in his brain, and visualised the calculations without the use of the instrument, and was always correct !   

Because he was so clever (and knew it !) he had ordered that on his death his head, and thus his brain, should go to the Royal College of Surgeons in London, for research purposes.  He died during the war, but his wife, Hilda, managed to return to England with his head, in a hat-box on her knee in the plane, and deposited it at the College as he wished !!  Gruesome hand luggage .... can you imagine getting that through security these days ?!

On our trip, we had an optional half day trip to the Dead Sea; I've been there twice before, so opted to stay in Jerusalem for the afternoon, and decided to try and find the grave of Flinders. 

Via Mr Google, I discovered he was buried in the Protestant Cemetery, just a mile south of the hotel we were staying in, (which was next to the Jaffa Gate) .... so after lunch, I walked out of the old city, and tried to find the cemetery.   The roads I had to cross were fairly terrifying (people drive at speed on the 'wrong' side of the road in Israel !) but I eventually found the cemetery .... only to discover it was closed !!    I hadn't realised it had a more famous occupant than Flinders .... 

... I had seen a photo of Flinders grave on the internet, and peering through the railings, I think from the position of the trees, that this grave with the curved top MAY be it .... but I'm not very sure .... 

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After leaving the closed cemetery on Mount Zion, I returned to the old city, through the Zion Gate, wandered around through the Armenian zone, and then found my way to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ...... 

.... which deserves several postings of it own.   Note the ladder under the central window .... more of that next time !

An update on the (HATW) Kisumu carpentry workshop ....

The carpentry workshop gives disadvantaged youngsters, who for a variety of reasons have failed elsewhere, a chance to learn a valuable trade to earn money for themselves and their families. Last year was a particularly difficult year for the Paluoc workshop due to the illness and sad death of Lucy, the wife of Paul, our centre manager and chief instructor. The workshop was sustained by help from friends, helpers, past trainees, and some small financial help from HATW.   The year ended with a Christmas party funded by HATW for the current and some former trainees.

2019 starts optimistically with a new, we hope more proactive, Board of Trustees and with some new trainees. We hope that with their help the workshop will be self-sustaining or largely so by the end of 2020.

     The trustees (not the little girl !)

Two of the new trainees are Kevin and Godfrey. Kevin is very enthusiastic and seems to have a keen interest in finding out how to use new machines, and has a knack for problem solving. An initial problem for him was that he spoke little English or Dholuo, the languages used for instruction. As with many Africans the problem was not insurmountable; you just have to listen and learn a new language!

A young trainee, Samson, was at the workshop before but left unexpectedly. Now he is back but that is only possible because Paul is providing him accommodation at Paluoc . He will live in the storage area next door to where Stephen, another trainee, currently lives. Let’s hope that works out well. When asked what type of music they liked for the workshop most of the lads came up with South African rappers etc, Samson’s preference was for church choirs. 

A couple of the more experienced trainees are allowed to work independently in the upstairs area. Whilst Paul was away they were also able to help the newer trainees a little.

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(More on Israel to come ..... )

People in Israel

Some photos from 2012, and from 2018 ....

Ultra Orthodox Jewish gentlemen in prayer shawls (the tassels hanging down from under their jackets), black hats with a kippur (skull-cap) underneath ... as the child is wearing.  The gentleman in the large fur hat is, I think, a Russian Jew, with the ringlets in front of his ears.  The women walking towards me are Moslem, with their heads covered.  

                                              A street trader selling cold drinks.  

                         An elderly Moslem gentleman, with a very characterful face.

                  Greek Orthodox priest in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

                           Finally, our Bishop NOT being persuaded to buy anything !

The wedding at Cana in Galilee.

I was listening to the service on the radio this morning, and was surprised to hear the reading was about the miraculous changing of water into wine at the wedding in Cana.  (Today is the Epiphany, so I had expected to hear about the coming of the magi, but no matter !)

We visited Cana, and the tourist shops are all advertising 'wedding wine' .... but we were recommended NOT to try it as its usually cheap and very nasty !  

There were many tourists there from the far east .... many of whom were visiting Cana to renew their wedding vows, including this couple from South Korea !  

Apparently, that is what the best dressed bridegroom wears for his wedding there !  Wherever we went, it was lovely to meet Christians from other countries, where Christianity seems to be thriving more than in the UK.

Inside the church at Cana, we saw one of the large water-jars which features in the telling of the miracle in Johns gospel, chapter 2.

Enormous, and carved out of stone.  The gospel says they each held 20 to 30 gallons of water, so the six of them (after the miracle) would contain 180 gallons of wine !  Or about 900 bottles, if my calculations are correct.   Some wedding party !!

You have to be quick ....

.... snapping passing sites from inside a moving coach !

I had read about Montefiore's windmill in the book 'Jerusalem', by Simon Sebag Montefiore, and had promptly forgotten about it .... until I glanced out of the coach window, and there it was.  The memory of having read about it 'clicked' and I managed to lift the camera and got a very quick picture.

According to this book, it was built about 1860, (funded by Moses Montefiore, the great, great uncle of the author) to grind flour so that the Jerusalem Jews could make their own bread.  It is situated just outside the old city, near the Zion Gate.

I have so much to write about Jerusalem itself ... I'd better leave that until another post.

Visiting Hebron

Hebron is about 20 miles south of Jerusalem, and in the West Bank.   Our aim was to visit the tombs of the Patriachs - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (and their wives).   It is considered the second holiest site in Judaism (after the Western Wall in Jerusalem) and is also sacred to the other two Abrahamic faiths, Christianity and Islam.   I hadn't realised that this would involve visiting both a mosque and a synagogue.   

The Hebron mosque (presumably like all mosques,) asks that all women are bare-footed and covered up .... so we borrowed red-riding-hood type capes ... and covered up !

The tomb of Abraham is actually (like all ancient places) now below ground level, but this marks the place ... 

We then walked to visit a synagogue, which was next to the mosque .... note the closed up shops, and the barrier, and the Israeli soldiers ...   

The synagogue seemed much more friendly than the mosque, with lots of families (and soldiers) inside.   The Jewish women told us what was happening and why they were there .... an eight-day old baby boy was about to be circumcised, which we really didn't want to observe.   So several of us decided to leave the synagogue and wait outside.  However, the door was locked !   Soldiers on the inside told us that there was a shooting threat outside, so we were all locked in for our safety ... what a choice, being shot or watching a baby being 'trimmed' !!

However, we were let out quite quickly, and there was no danger.  

*   *   *   *   * 

There was one tourist type shop open whereas all other shops in Hebron seemed to be closed; the guide told us that 'the authorities' kept them shut 'for security reasons'.  Hmmm......    

     Our group buying 'souveneirs.'

Hebron felt very strange; a bit like an abandoned, almost empty town; very few children or young people, all shops barricaded and windows everywhere closed .... where were all the people ?  

A photo from Bethlehem

This is kind .... one of the students we met in Bethlehem at the university, sent this photo to all of our group, and I received it today attached to an email.

Jacob's Well

John's gospel tells us the story of the Samaritan woman drawing water at a well in Samaria.  Jesus was hot and thirsty after a long journey (it was 'the sixth hour' .... i.e. mid-day) and when a woman of Samaria came to the well to draw water, he asked her to give him a drink.  She commented that there wasn't a bucket so he could draw some up for himself, and wasn't sure if she, a Samaritan, should be drawing water for a Jew ?    The story continues in John, chapter 4 ...

The church where the well is situated is the Greek Orthodox Church of St Photina in Nablus, and is found by descending stairs in front of the iconostasis to the crypt.   One of our group said he had visited the well about 40 years ago, when it was still in a field !  The present church on the site was completed in 2007.  Like all ancient sites, the key feature is below present day ground level, whether this is in the UK or the Middle East, so we went down the stairs to see the actual well.  

The winding gear at the top of the well .... the water is reached at about 30 metres, though it is thought in ancient times it was much deeper.   We tried the water which our guide wound up for us; it was cold, crystal clear and possibly with a slight sweet taste, though as I had a heavy cold, I couldn't taste much of anything.

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Nablus and Jacob’s Well has often been a site of contention and violence. In 1979 a Zionist group claimed it as a Jewish holy place and demanded that crosses and icons be removed. A week later the custodian, Archimandrite Philoumenos, was butchered to death in the crypt and the church was desecrated. No one was ever convicted of his murder.   This sad event is recorded in icons and paintings in the church, and around his coffin, which is in the church.

One of our group, the Dean of the Cathedral in Newport, had been a friend of Philoumenos, and so stood to one side and sang a psalm in Greek, which was very moving and other tourists stopped to listen.  The acoustics in modern Greek Orthodox churches are usually very good.