HINDU DINNER, TEMPLE and OLD TOWN MOMBASA 8th of 27 EMAILS

Hi again from the
“Dark Continent,”

We had a very nice Hindu dinner last night at a great Hindu restaurant here in Mombasa. Our host was Sachell, our Indian printer who had produced all the measles banners, t-shirts, caps, etc for the measles program. Sachell is a 25 year old enterprising young Kenyan who has developed a very successful business and risen economically above the average African. He went to India for education, as did his sister in computer technology.

Generally speaking, the Indian people here in Africa over the years started out and became the best business people, many times utilizing the less educated and progressive African people as their poorly paid laborers. You see them as the ones many times driving the cars and living in the nicer homes. The women are beautifully dressed in brightly colored silk finery and jewelry and they walk with an elegant, beautiful dignity and pride.

Sachell is engaged, but said his marriage will not be the traditional one where his parents choose his bride and visa versa...like Joy and Simi's marriage in India, the couple whom Shelly and Doran taught and baptised in Kuwait. The meal wasn't as highly curried as we thought it would be, primarily because Sachell chose the dishes from the menu for us and I asked for as little spicy curriness as possible. It was exotic...I can't even describe the different dishes. It was very interesting that it was called “Bollywood” and there were large posters on the walls of Indian actors and actresses. I recognized several, especially the kids from “Slum Dog Millionaire.” Afterwards, we went for ice cream and while we were there Sachell smoked from a pipe along with other Indian men. It wasn't the usual pipe. Rather, it was a beautiful silver engraved pot contraption about 3 feet long sitting on the floor with silver tubes extending upward from it and a mouthpiece at the end that Sachell smoked from. Smoke was blowing everywhere and, similar to cigar smoke, smelled better than cigarette smoke. We see little smoking generally in Africa. The government outlaws it for children and few adults can afford it. A great blessing to them, compared to America!

Sachell's business is down a narrow street crowded with the usual small businesses of every kind. You would think of it as a very small poor building in an old broken down dirty building. But, here it is one of the more successful and fine.

He took us later one day to his Rotary Club meeting, which is the top business club in the city and elsewhere in the world. It was at the ancient old Mombasa Club, filled with history and tradition. It reminded me of the club in “”Out of Africa” that at first excluded Karen Blixen, but then saluted her when she finally left after conquering it. You could just visualize the stuffy, rich Brits in their finery inside smoking their pipes and lording it over everyone else, especially the local black Africans that they employed in their plantations and hunting lodges and later shipped to the West Indies and America as slaves.

Maybe this was the place or maybe it's in Nairobi where we go at the end of our trip. But, if it wasn't here, this was even more ancient, because Mombasa was the original port city and beginning of it all for the Europeans, Asians, Portuguese, etc...long before Nairobi. Even today, we saw few blacks in the club, except for the waiters. It's, of course, on the shore in the middle of the “Old City” with all it's old culture and history.

Later, we had a fascinating day touring ancient Old Town Mombasa, Fort Jesus, and a Hindu Temple. Joseph, the young African Returned Missionary who has become our good friend, was our tour guide. He was great, but it was interesting that, even though he is an African, he had never been to many of the places we saw. It was again an example of how poor local people in Africa never get to experience the nicer things of life. They simply cannot afford it, whether it be education, nice homes, good food, recreation, or, whatever. It was fun to watch his expressions and feelings as he saw things and learned more about his own country throughout the day. And, besides enjoying his great enthusiasm and sweet spirit, we benefited by feeling much safer with him leading the way.

Old Town Mombasa reminded me of Old Town Jerusalem in many ways...but, Mombasa is much older! Old Town Mombasa is one of the most conservative religious place in Africa and tourists have to be careful not to offend the locals there. Women have been stoned or driven out by local Muslim religious leaders just for wearing shorts or short sleeve shirts. Similar to elsewhere we've gone, calls to pray to Mecca were sounded out 5 times daily here by loudspeakers in the mosques and rams' horns blowing throughout the city. It's Ramadan time here when they fast for 40 days, eating only one meal a day.

As the prayer calls come, you see the Muslims turning to face faraway Mecca and to say their prayers. Similar to Catholics, they have beads they hold and use in their symbolic worship and prayers. Though we feared coming to Africa, especially to Mombasa, which has the highest concentration of Muslim Africans on earth, we have found the Muslim people, to the contrary, to be friendly, nice people. That's been especially true of the Muslims we have worked with on the measles campaign. There is also, to our surprise, a large population of African Christians, many the result of the many missionaries from Christian religions who have tried to bring the gospel of Christ to Africa, as well as to help prevent poverty and disease here.

On the other hand, there are dangers in the area, of course. For example, just 1/2 mile from the resort we stayed in for a week on the Indian Ocean, is the Israeli resort which was bombed in 2002 by Muslim terrorists who killed around 20 people, including Americans. The American gov't. recommended not visiting here for awhile after that and tourism fell way off for about 5 years. I't a little spooky walking down the beach towards that resort and remembering what happened there. More recently, news reports talk about the Somalian pirates striking all the way down the coast along the Kenya side clear down to the Seychelles. And, of Kenya boys being kidnapped for armies and gold mines. And, genocide and wars still going on in other African countries, like in Uganda just next door.

No wonder, we see armed guards along the highway regularly, at the banks and ATM's, and even outside grocery stores! And, this is in Kenya, which is relatively safer than other African countries.

Africa is called the "Cradle of Civilization" by the world, because this is where the world believes life began. Ancient buildings, forts, and all kind of antiquities are everywhere. We walked through very narrow, rough stone streets, about the width of a car length, and lined with old buildings and shops with balconied, wrought iron windows and doors. The balconies above on the ancient Muslim side of the street had their wrought iron openings covered up, so people could not look up and see the ankles of the Muslim women below their long black coverings. Whereas, on the Portuguese side of the street, you could see into the balcony.

Mombasa has an ancient fascinating history dating back to the beginning of time. The Portuguese sea explorers were the first Europeans to settle there in 1500 and built Ft Jesus, a huge fort overlooking the bay and built of limestone in the shape of a cross. Then, the Arabs conquered the Portuguese and took over the fort and city. Then, over centuries it was conquered again by the Portuguese, then Spain, then by inland Africans, Arabs again, then the British who were invited by the Africans to help drive out the Arabs! The Indians became great business people in Africa. The Brits were the colonizers, the big game hunters, and the missionaries. The Arabs were the slavers, along with starting the ivory trade. All of the outsiders took great advantage of the mostly gentle, peaceful African tribes, with their limited education, technology, etc. Finally, around 1960, after the Mau Mau Revolution against the Brits, Kenya was finally given it's independence by England and Joseph Kenyatta was made the first President. He had fought against the Brits in the revolution and was imprisoned for 7 years before that.

I've seen lots of castles and forts around the world, many much more beautiful and ornate than Ft. Jesus, but it was especially fascinating because of it's history and crude and very inventive limestone construction. Coming up from the sea underneath is a hidden, long, and partially underground tunnel where the Arabs would drive the African slaves upward into the fort after dumping them off from a ship in the bay.

They would then store them in the fort's dungeons and then drive them back down the tunnel to load them into ships for slavery elsewhere or, at other times, sell them on the slave blocks near the docks or ship them off from there. About 50 large cannons face outward to the bay and inward to the land. Besides the usual warfare, the British sometimes used those cannons to bombard and sink ships in the bay who didn't pay their taxes. So, the bay contains many sunken ships and is great for diving.

We toured a great museum containing antiquities from century to century clear back to the beginning of time. Historical places abound in and around Mombasa. For example, the first RR (single gauge, of course), in Africa began here It's the one that crosses Kenya to Uganda. It's also the one where we saw many miles up the line at Maneater's Lodge and walked along the track where the maneating lions of Tsavo killed 143 railroad workers, as depicted in the movie, "Ghost and the Darkness." It was a bit disconcerting visiting the old station here in Mombasa and imagining the workers from India coming off the ships in the harbor and mixing with African workers to build the tracks out to the place where many were killed by the lions.

We also visited a beautiful Hindu Temple in Old Town which contained many beautiful paintings and ornate decorations, many in gold. It was fascinating to learn about the religion, especially some of the similarities with Christianity and other religions. For example, they have 11, not 10, basic Commandments, like "Thou Shalt not Kill, Commit Adultery," etc. And, another commandment to respect other religious beliefs, similar to our Article of Faith. Other things were quite different, like 4-armed and snake-headed good Gods. Elaborate, large paintings lined the walls depicting good and evil and the consequences of each. The pictures about their bad Gods and Hell were terrible and gruesome, as they showed the suffering they feel sinners will suffer. If you were a Hindu, you'd probably think twice about sinning! We could not visit the inner chambers, but we did learn that marriages, washings, and anointing occur there.

We are so blessed to see and learn firsthand about fascinating places like these. It's just not the same reading about it in a book. And, being able to smell it, feel it, touch it, and mingle with the people makes it very real and enjoyable. We've been all over the world, but have found Africa to be the most memorable and fascinating of all. That has, of course, been much due to our measles work where we have helped the people and the country and felt their heartfelt gratitude. There is such a huge need here. It sometimes seems a little hopeless, almost like a bottomless pit of poverty and disease. But, if we can help just one, that is one of God's children, and one of our brothers or sisters, who has been helped.

Well, better close for now. It's around 6 AM and time to get dressed and going on the measles work.

We love you all. Have a great day...and, goodbye again from the "Cradle of Civilization,"

Dick and Lawana in Africa

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HALLER PARK IN MOMBASA 9th of 27 Emails

“Jumbo!” Again from Africa!

We had a great time today visiting an outstanding reclamation project here in Mombasa. It's called Haller Park and is a huge game reserve covering miles of square miles that was done by the major cement company in the area to help reclaim the pits they dug for cement dirt on one little part of the park area.

A great example of cooperation between business and government to reclaim land and provide one of the best natural tourist attractions in Africa. Amazingly, once you are inside the gate, the venues to see the animals are so natural you could hardly tell it from the wild bush at times.

Yet, it was much safer than the wild. Even so, you never had any feeling that it was like a zoo. America could take some lessons from here on how to develop it's zoos.

Everywhere there were huge full clam shells, some as big as ½ a Volkswagen beetle. They are all fossilized along with big trunks of trees.

This place was once part of the sea as it is along the coast. Baboons and monkeys were running everywhere around and we walked through gazelles, giant turtles, elephants, etc.

The giraffes we fed were behind fences and the hippos were below us in the water, unfenced, but with a pretty steep slope which they would have had to climb to get at us.

A fascinating true story known worldwide is of the giant tortoise, Mzee, which we fed and scratched his long neck and head, and Owen, the baby hippo, that became her baby when the little hippo was orphaned. At first Mzee didn't accept the 600 pound baby turtle trying to nuzzle into her and sleep with her. But, over time she adopted him. The pictures of them together doing those times are fascinating.

Now, of course, the 2000 pound Owen lives elsewhere here, but it's a wonderful example of animal love and adaptation that people could learn a real lesson from.

The national game parks and reserves, of course, are the prime places for seeing animals, especially the big cats...lions, leopards, cheetahs, etc.

But, it's been very interesting to us to see many elephants, giraffes, zebras, and especially monkeys, baboons, exotic birds, etc many places we go in the countryside. And, it's common to hear real life stories from village people about their encounters with those animals...some of them ending in loss of life...and, especially them losing gardens and water and sometimes their little huts to the animals.

It is easy to see why the average African often doesn't like the animals.

Many of them have never been to a game park or stayed in a luxurious tent in the bush. And, as the population grows into the bush, it makes their homes closer to the animals and possible death.

So, there's little benefit to the villagers and bush people, except when they can occasionally kill an animal for food and even that is outlawed most places. Some government and non-profit programs have been set up so the people benefit from the park tourist economy, which helps the people be more accepting of the white tourists flocking here, but sometimes leaving little in return to the people themselves.

Tourism has become Africa's biggest asset, so it's very critical that the people somehow support it. And, it seems to be working better here than other countries we've visited around the world, because we generally feel a much more genuine friendliness and less resentment from them than we've felt in most other continents and places we've seen around the world.

I think that's also because of the deep, genuine kindness and friendliness of the African people.

We think of you each day and our prayers are said for you. We hope all is well at home and are grateful we can communicate at least by e-mail. There's little regular mail here. What there is takes weeks and weeks. It continues amazing how, even in the 2^nd largest city where conditions are better than anywhere else, the simplest little things we take for granted back home are often not available. So, we count our blessings much more now.

Love to you all,

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CHANGANGAMWE BRANCH SABBATH 10th of 27 Emails

Happy Sabbath Day from Kenya!

We had a delightful Sunday in Church meetings at the Changamwe Branch here in Mombasa. This branch in the city is the most modern and advanced we've attended so far...microphone, little child-like piano, and cement block building...but, still no electricity or running water in the sinks and we didn't dare use the toilet. This time there were two other cars there besides ours. One belonged to the Branch President and another to another American couple like us. The other 100 or so people walked, some from very long distances away.

Everyone, as usual, was dressed in their very best and it was obvious they placed a very high value on attending Church and taking the sacrament.

As usual, the spirit among the Saints was so very strong and true to the faith and their testimonies of Jesus Christ. Most of the men were in white shirts and ties and even the young men who blessed and passed the sacrament. We attended Primary and admired the local woman who tried so hard to teach the children about the iron rod, though she spoke little English herself. Again, we were proud and amazed at the very attentive attitudes, respect paid, and Gospel knowledge of the children at such a young age. The iron rod story was told with the classic technique of blindfolds and a string of yarn to find the tree of life.

A highlight was the baptism of another convert today. This time it was an older gentleman who was baptised after Church in the font in the front of Church right along the street. He had a beautiful, big smile on his face throughout the service and baptism and later when he bore his testimony afterwards. He began his testimony with a loud “Praise the Lord” It was good to see a man baptised because of the great need for Priesthood leadership everywhere here.

There are few older couple missionaries in Kenya and none here in Kenya except Corwin & Peggy, but those who are here and elsewhere in the vast country try to provide “shadow leadership” wherever possible in order to help the locals learn how to fill their callings and serve. It is harder, of course, like it is everywhere in the Church around the world, because we have no paid ministry anywhere.

Yet, like everywhere, the people quickly receive inspiration from the Lord and grow into their callings, fulfilling the adage, “Whom the Lord calls, He qualifies.”

And, amazingly, it works as a chapel is dedicated every day around the world as each individual member devotes much of his time, finances, and life to service in the Church...and, the Church continues among the fastest growing in the world. Along the whole process, each individual member grows in leadership skills and gospel knowledge and testimony much more than if a paid ministry was involved.

It was nice to come back to the apartment today and finally relax a little. It's really about the first time in over two weeks we've done that. This is a pretty hard-working mission for Corwin and Peggy as they go from dawn to dusk and then do lots of work till bedtime around 10 PM. Many of theirs and our e-mails home to you are done around 5 AM in the morning so the regular day can begin at 6:30 AM with showers and breakfast and out on the road by 8 AM. We're trying to see some sights while we are here in this great country, but also trying hard not to keep them from their great work. We've given more than 3/4's of our time so far to helping the measles work, which we have enjoyed very much and feel very good about, even though we're missing out on some sights along the way.

Well, it's time for bed. It was a nice relaxing day, but the work begins again tomorrow with meetings in the Chyulu hills.

Much love to you all,

Dick and Lawana

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EVERYDAY LIFE IN KENYA 11th of 27 Emails

Greetings from Africa!

Hi to our children, sweet grandchildren, and great friends back home! We hope things are going well for all of you. It's probably beautiful Fall weather back there now. It's just moving into Spring here and everyone is hoping for some very needed Spring rains. But, it hasn't happened for almost 3 years now. It's hard to imagine that by the time we finally get home from Africa and a week in France along the way that it will be almost winter in Boise!

Our strange experiences continue here all the time. Like wondering if the old washing machine and dryer in our missionary apartment here is going to finally give out. But, then just finding out that the other 8 tenants in this apartment complex do their washing in a tub on the roof and hang their clothes up there, too! That's rather ironic considering our apartment is one of the nicer ones in town and the tenants include people with cars and relatively wealthy people like a fishing boat captain, an Indian family, etc. We pile our trash with the others in small grocery store bags by the front fence and hope it get picked up weekly, which sometimes it doesn't It's also very nice that the guards wash our car every day or so!

There is a resident cost here and then there is a foreigner cost to people like us, which is about 5 times as high. The local businesses really see the whites coming and try pretty hard to make you pay top dollar and much more unless you are smart enough to bargain.

Whoops! Emergency phone call from the Red Cross...got to run!

Love you,

Dick and Lawana

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MEASLES RESULTS AND CELEBRATION PARTY 12th of 27 Email from Africa‏

Hello from Nairobi!

Initial reports from the measles campaign are rolling in and the results are wonderful!
Kenya's country-wide goal was 85% vaccination of all children 9 months to 5 years. So far, it looks like around 75% has been achieved in the country...and, 93% in the areas that Corwin & Peggy are responsible for! It's been so great to work so closely with them and we are not surprised their results are so much better, because of their great dedication. Their mission here is a special 3 months mission and we've been privileged to have been part of around half of that.
A celebration party was held in the Chyulu Hills area where black laundry bags were used to block the glass-less windows, so the slide presentation that Lawana made could be shown Red hats and shirts were everywhere as the volunteers rejoiced together over their great work. They loved to see their pictures in the presentation. Our white shirts and ties were given to a young man headed on a mission soon to Kompala.

Everywhere we go now, people see the measles sign on the truck and give a thumbs up or other greeting. That has especially happened whenever we wear the red shirts/hats. It's been a benefit in an unexpected way, too, as we do everyday things that are sometimes difficult because of the language and those infrequent times we aren't treated nicely because we are whites. And, we think it's perhaps kept us even a little more safe, too. That's because when the people see our red shirts or hats, many of them have had their children given the “jabs” or heard about the measles shots. You can see the nice feelings for us in their eyes even when they don't speak...it's a wonderful feeling for us and really makes it all worth it. Big articles have run in the newspapers and the radio jingles have been running regularly, so the people seem to know a lot about it and are quite appreciative. Health is such a huge issue here, because of the poverty and the high cost of trying to prevent the spread of disease.

We love you all. Thanks for listening.
May Heavenly Father continue to watch over you while we are gone.

Dick & Lawana (Dad & Mom; Grandpa & Grandma; and, your friends in Africa)

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NYZO CHAPEL, BORE HOLES, & NATIVE TRIBES 13th of 27 Emails ‏

JAMBO! From Africa!

We drove again back into the country to deliver some money to a Branch President for his volunteers working on the measles program. We met him at the little Nzyo chapel, which looked like a little, abandoned plaster industrial building in the middle of the desert. But, on the outside was the words, “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” which they were so very proud of and made me feel pretty strange when thinking about our comparatively luxurious chapels back home. But, when I thought about how much of our tithing and fast offering monies are going exactly for things like this, it gave me a much deeper understanding of the good of the Church.

His sweet wife and mother had a little “shop” a little ways away selling a few bananas and oranges. By “shop”, I mean a few tree branches holding up an old cardboard-like roof. We gave them some candy for their little baby and them, too, and their faces lighted up like light-bulbs.

Nearby was a “bore hole” (well) where a woman was buying water for 5 shillings and told us the village people were so blessed to have it because it was a huge step up compared to walking for miles for water and carrying it back home in heavy yellow jugs...or, finding some dirty, diseased stream somehow, somewhere. The finding and drilling for wells here is a huge need. Church service couples help with this effort, along with other non-profit organizations. Clean water is a giant step towards combating diseases.

We visit little Red Cross places as we travel and have great admiration for them. Some even have glass windows and one even had electricity! Of course, they have that in the large cities, but, even there you would not call them very modern. That's also true of the hospitals, where few babies go to be born. Mid-wives are the way in the country and bush...and, medicine men are usually trusted there much more than doctors.

Meeting African natives from the various villages and tribes has been a fascinating experience for us. There are many countries besides Kenya in Africa, of course, and 15 different tribes in Kenya alone. Many of them are in the back bush country, some high in the isolated mountains or out in the bush where there are few roads. In many places, we can only get there by our 4 wheel drive over rough, rocky roads that a passenger car could not even begin to climb. And, in those places we seldom, if ever, saw another car. I wondered sometimes if we would ever find our way back! And, alive?! But, usually we were greeted along the way by friendly, smiling faces and various curious looks. Children would be especially that way and willingly wave and sometimes run after us on their little legs as far as they could in the thick red dirt of the roads. As we became more familiar with the land and people, we gradually felt safer, partly, I think, because Kenya is a safer country than many African countries, especially safer than those where war, genocide, and terrorism is happening. Still, we worry about our safety, especially at night or in crowded, out of the way places in the bush or the cities.
Each tribe is quite different from the others in many ways...like, different in their dress, their food, their culture, marriage customs, their way of surviving, their homes, etc. Except for those people in the cities, most tribes have lived their ways since time began and with little changes. And, for those living way back in the wild back country, it's likely they may live that way forever! But, to us, the amazing and wonderful thing about them all is that they all seem quite friendly, loving, and happy, even those living in poor, destitute conditions. I'm sure, though, that even though we are getting to know them much more than the average person just visiting as a tourist here, that we probably don't know for sure exactly how they feel about life. One thing we have not been surprised to learn for sure is that those who have joined the Church are quick to strongly express how much happier and fulfilled they feel and how much better their life has become, especially spiritually. That makes us feel very good, of course. And, further, we feel so good when they express their sincere thanks for the good that our measles work is doing for their children and the country.

Some of the tribes are fishermen, some farmers, some run cattle and goats, and some are gatherers, carvers, or a combination of ways to survive in this sometimes harsh land. Regardless, they are all very ingenious in how they utilize the land, forest, jungle, ocean, rivers, and lakes to survive. Nothing is wasted and they sometimes use things and materials we would never dream of using in America. Additionally, they have learned to survive on very little, compared to so-called "civilized" peoples, like us. Our necessities many times would be their luxuries, most absolutely unattainable or even known or dreamed about for them, as their standard of living is so low compared to ours. Yet, life goes on for them just like us. Sometimes I wonder, "Who is the happiest...them or us?"

We visited people who mostly live in huts, with each tribe being a different design. Round, square, two "floors," mostly just one room, etc. Yet, all very, very small, of course (about the size of a small bedroom for the entire family), Dirt floor, a fire pit either inside or outside, walls made of branches, earth, or dried cow dung; roofs of branches or straw. Do I need to even tell you that, of course, there is no running water, electricity, glass windows, etc? Or, that many would not even know what a microwave, TV, refrigerator, or a computer, is? Many sleep on the dirt floor on nothing but straw or palm leaves. Goats and chicken sometimes live inside with them and are a prime source of food for those who are fortunate to have them. When we return home where it is now Fall and begin to rake leaves again, I will never again complain about such tasks. Why, because I have learned there are no leaves here in the areas where rain has not fallen for three years now and people and animals are starving. Here, they would call our green falling leaves a blessing from heaven and would use them as stuffing for some kind of makeshift pillow or mattress...or, in fact, eat the leaves as a precious food from God. Sometimes I wish Africa could mix up the weather and terrain to make good living conditions for all. Water is the great equalizer here, but it is not spread equally around this vast country. Where it has not fallen for 3 years, there is dryness, little greenery, and starvation. Where it falls, like on the coast and in the mountains and jungles, it is lush and green and provides food to survive.

Their resourcefulness and skills are amazing. Where we would not last long in the bush or jungle, they have learned to survive and be happy there. The hunting tribes are highly skilled with spears, snares, traps of all kinds, and bow and arrow. One tribe hunts crocodiles and another the hippo, both very dangerous to humans. A two ton hippo will feed a tribe for a week, but they have to have the courage and ingenuity to kill it. The hunting and fishing tribes smoke and dry their meat and fish, then boil it to soften for eating later. They told us it would last for 10 years that way...amazing!

A farming tribe showed us how they traded for metals from the Arabs and molded it in fire with bellows made from animal skins, like a blacksmith, to make their digging tools....and, also make spear and arrow points to trade to a hunting tribe for meat. The farming tribes showed us the stone bowls and crushers they used to crush and grind corn to make maize porridge, a staple food for much of Africa. We met a member of the Loi Tribe, who are farmers and fishermen in the Lake Victoria area by Mt. Kilimanjaro. It is the tribe where President Obama's ancestry is from and they are very proud of that!

The marriage customs are fascinating. In one tribe, the woman chooses her husband! But in most, the man does the choosing. Several tribes are polygamists, like the Maasai, who have up to ten wives! To get a wife, the man must provide 18 cows and 26 goats to the girl's parents. Sounded like a pretty good deal for the girl's parents, especially if they had lots of daughters! But, a man from another tribe said to us, "I only want one wife because that's headaches enough for me," In most tribes, the husband sleeps in the very crowded hut with his wife and children. In another, he sleeps in the "attic" upstairs and in another must sleep outside. In one polygamous tribe, there are separate small huts for each wife. So, when he wants some "lovin," he just visits the hut of his choice for the night!

We continue fascinated by one of the most famous tribes, the Massai. Besides the Zulus, they are known as the warriors. and have maintained their culture and customs more than any other tribe in Africa. They are a tall, straight, beautiful, noble-looking and very proud people who are very easy to recognize anywhere in Africa because of their bright, colorful dress and tall, noble and proud posture and bearing. You can tell other Africans admire and respect them for fervently maintaining their culture and customs and their bravery in the bush. But, they are also pretty savvy marketers, as we saw them in many places capitalizing on their reputation and culture by selling carvings, beautiful bead work, and bright blankets in their famous Maasai colors. They are cattlemen who prize their herds greatly and even think all the cattle in the world inherently belong to them. Their food is mostly meat, milk, and blood. They bleed the blood from a spear wound to the cow's throat and then mix it with milk to drink. As we drove many places, especially the plains and savannas, we saw their round huts and villages and them herding and guarding their herds everywhere. They surround their village with a tall "fence" made of tree branches to try to keep out the lions, especially at those villages close to the game preserves and wild bush country. In fact, some Massai even live in the game preserves, where the most wild animals are! The bright colors of their dress stood out like a beacon against the tans and browns of the land. They are nomadic and move their herds every 3-4 months to find new grazing ground. They leave their huts and villages, then, for other Maasai or for their return when the grasses grow again there.

They are also polygamists and the more cattle a man has, the more wives he can get! They are brave, skilled, and fearless hunters. In the not too distant past, a young man had to kill a lion to prove his manhood. That has since been outlawed by the government, but some Maasai still practice the custom in secret, especially in the bush. At one of their dances, we met a young man who had a big healed dent and wound on his forehead where he had been injured by a water buffalo while stalking a lion. Their particular dance is a strange high-jumping dance while they are jumping in a line chanting together and with drums pounding in the background.

We met a fascinating young Maasai warrior at the dance and bought two of his beautiful oil paintings, which we treasure. One shows the classic scene of Massai warriors on the march in a long line. The other was of a Maasai wedding. We were surprised to hear from him that he was a Christian and even had a desire to go to a Christian seminary and become a Pentecostal minister! This was highly unusual, so we asked him how his tribe and parents felt about that. He said there were some who were opposed, but are tolerating it. We were impressed by his intelligence and sincerity and later saw during the evening that he was respected among the other Massai people there. He proudly told us his Christian name was "Peter." He also said, "No, I will not be a polygamist, because it is against God's law". It was an unusual and amazing experience to talk to him about his unique mix of old Maasai culture and traditions now being blended with more modern day Christianity.

I greatly admired these proud people. But, I also felt sorrow for them as later I saw them huddled together in the rain outside the resort gates where we had seen them dance and sell their wares on the old grass tennis court of the resort. It looked like they were just trying to stay out of the rain before walking to their homes somewhere. It saddened me to see these proud, strong warriors like that, having to earn money selling their goods to the curious white man, like us. I wish I had not seen that. I would have rather remembered them as warriors out in the wild bush.
Another never to be forgotten experience was meeting a tribal medicine man and learning about his life and work. He came from a long line of medicine men in his ancestry. And, as a 50 year old, he was now teaching and training his 12 year old grandson to take over his highly respected position of medicine man after he dies. It is passed down from grandfather to first born grandson, thereby skipping the father's generation in between. And, when he dies, his skull will be buried under the dirt floor in his hut along with the skulls of his predecessors from long ago. His hut will be given to his grandson who will become the next medicine man for the tribe. Can you visualize how many old skulls are buried under there?

He was quite short (about 5' 5", very black-skinned, and quite fierce-looking. But, as we talked, he somehow seemed to become more gentle and wise. His face was painted with strange designs and he had a strange, proud mannerism about him. He was very sombre and serious as the interpreter helped us ask questions and talk with him. I wondered what experiences he must have had and how he handled the big responsibility of taking care of his people in the wild bush. Medicine Men also act as spiritual leaders.

We so-called civilized people would perhaps label them "Witch Doctors," but I learned long ago to believe that kind of criticism to be a misnomer, because I really believe that God helps all those who turn to Him, in faith, regardless of their beliefs or particular religion. Most of the tribes deep in the bush do not speak English. But, toward the end of our meeting him, he warmed up and even occasionally smiled as he seemed to tell we were sincere and genuinely interested in him and his work. He told of utilizing all kinds of herbs and plants to brew his medicines to heal the wounds and fight the sicknesses and diseases of his people. He seemed to have a treatment for everything...from stomach aches to colds to malaria, yellow fever, and typhoid fever. Most natives in the bush refuse to go to the white man's doctor or hospital, but only trust their medicine man.
We told him about our having two son-in-laws who are doctors in the US. This seemed to perk his interest and, as his confidence in our sincerity seemed to grow, he asked us questions about our family and our dreams in life. When we told him we had 15 grandchildren and would like to have more, he smiled as if he knew how we felt. Then, to our delight and amazement, he began a vision-like ritual where he closed his eyes and, while humming a low song and prayer, maneuvered two small wooden necklace pieces he had carved while we were there, Up and down along a string they magically moved in the smoke of the fire in front of him. As the pieces moved up and down, he sang and gave a blessing to them. Then, they amazingly stayed in place after he asked if we would like to have another grandchild. He said the answer was, "yes," which made us happy, of course! (But, we'll leave that up to our kids!) He then put the wooden necklace pieces on strings and gave them to us to give to our two doctor son-in-laws, Jared and Kevin! (Later, we talked about how much fun it will be telling them this story and giving them the necklaces!) What an amazing experience this was!

Better close for now...on we go on bumpy, dusty red roads...oh, my poor old back!
We love you all,
Dick & Lawana, somewhere in Africa

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