hamjambo habari?

this is Swahili for "hello, how are you?"

my crazy wonderful son is back from Kenya (where Swahili is the official language) and he has had an amazing time.

The main project- building the base for the water tanks and installing the tanks was completed, but not before the teenagers had to do the daily water hike with some of the local ladies. That was a long, tiring day!

But now the village has two water tanks each holding 20,000 litres of water and the local population of approx 2,000 people will have much much less of a struggle to get enough water for their needs.

Jack brought back a traditional Kenyan stool which played a vital part in installing the tanks too! The tanks arrived as complete units, with the taps sticking out the side, which made it impossible to roll the tanks to the bases and set them up, until someone, probably Pastor Tom, had the bright idea of wedging this stool over the taps to protect them while the tank was rolled along. Genius!

Jack also brought back a goat herding stick which he had used to help with herding the sheep and goats. He had a meal of roast goat and goat intestines (a bit like a gamey type of sausage, I'm guessing) which he thoroughly enjoyed and it made a change from the beef stew which was their usual fare. Delicious but a bit monotonous. We are so spoilt in the West, we have access to such a wide variety of foods, and ethnic styles, that it feels odd to have essentially the same meal everyday. But then they met people who never have the pleasure of beef stew, subsisting entirely on ugali, a porridge made from maize. A bit of a chastening moment for the teen volunteers! But, as I said to Jack, it's a good experience for student life where to save money you might well eat the same meal for several days.

He bought us a traditional Kenyan blanket, which is now draped over my sofa, a tremendous reminder of his 3 weeks in Kenya and which I'll enjoy snuggling under during the winter months.