Sabbath

08/05/05

...that will be the real Lazarus Effect, watching my community step up and help this community revive itself.

So, I\'ve been in Kenya a full week, and looking back over all my notes I realize that I have accomplished a lot. I\'ve shot seven tapes (on which I\'m sure there is at least five minutes of usable footage!) I\'ve met a lot of people, made friends. I\'ve started to build trust with this community.

There is a huge bee that lives outside my room. I keep wondering if its an African Killer Bee. I suppose someone would have warned me if it was dangerous. I thought about killing it when I first saw it, but I\'m glad to have let it live, we seem to co-exist fine.

Dinner time, its the Sabbath. We sang in the mothertounge, I tried to follow along. They asked me to pray, I did. I think I faked it pretty well, \"Our father in heaven, thank you for something something something, this we pray in Jesus\' name.\" I dont think they even know that I\'m a godless heathen. I couldnt help but flash on that scene in Meet The Parents, \"Oh God... Oh Loving, Gracious God...\" I have been doing a lot of reading and thinking about Christianity however, it does do some very wonderful things in this community. The sunset tonight was out of control, I dont know how its possible, but the it seems so much bigger here. This massive blood red orb, slowly sinking into the African horizon. Its the biggest sun I\'d ever seen.

On the Matatu home today, I sat next to this woman holding her sleeping baby. It didn\'t wake, not from the blaring music, the bumpy road, the shouting and honking. I honestly thought that it might be dead when it finally woke up. And then, not a sound. It didnt cry. Amazing. I think I\'m eating goat right now. At least I hope it\'s goat, because if it\'s not, it may be something worse... and I havent seen any horses around, so cheap meat has got to be either donkey or dog, and donkeys are pretty valuable in these parts, so... lets just hope its goat. An email from my Aunt today said that she is going to donate $1000 to our programs here. It makes me very happy, to have her step up in such a sigficant way. That money will have such a major impact here. Go Ethlie! It will be a joy to document the effects... That will be the real Lazarus Effect, watching my community step up and help this community revive itself. Its all about education. Prevention and education go hand in hand.

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