OK...continued..from the first post! boy i am sorry for complaining...you just can't believe how fortunate we are with our communication system at home....just had a message that the blogger connection had failed..may not post that first message..but amazingly it did 0 so \i am lucky this time...!
Back to Sindeni...the bar...a Masai man comes in..we greet him joyfully and he sits down...talking for an hour before we have to get back to the World Vision centre for dinner....he is as fascinated to talk to me about Canada too, with questions, thoughts, ideas as i am with him....he agrees to visit us tomorrow after the workshop...and does, with a friend..there they sat, resplendent in their red and blue checked robes, drapped over them, the Masai stick they carry with them always, tall, slim.. waiting under a tree..we join them and talk, for another three hours, walk down to another drinking spot, dark, long passageway of concrete, old, chickens walking around, people in doorways, old pots, pans....till we are led to a small private room..two chairs, coffee table and a couch, plaster peeling, dim lighting, Safari beers around, deep conversation....they ask about Canada..the snow, how the cows are living there. Masai culture is centred around cows, the more they have the richer they are...these men had 400 and 350 respectively...they paid 15 cows to their future father in law to marry their wife...each had only one wife...six and five children.. they dont consider themselves wealthy, there is another \masai with over 2000 cows...so everytime they asked me how much things cost, \i could answer by the number of cows it would take, each cow costing about 300 US.
We talked of birthing, death...religion, they asked me to find them a 'Masai\ Bible...which turned out to be one written in Swahili...but not published in Nairobi, as they don't trust the authenticity of that one. Of course i will find them one...next week in Moisi if not here in Handeni...we talked about the after life, Christian, they believe in Heaven...i spoke of Buddism, of reincarnation, their eyes grew wide, the idea of coming back as another person, or as an animal, oh that was a new concept! We talked about marriage, divorce...they could not for the life of them imagine divorcing...they have paid 15 cows for her, why would they leave her!...they could marry another. and have two wives, or more..many wives are needed to bear many children as well, if you have many cows..I did hold court for an hour or so talking of Canada and our ways....they were fascinated...would love to visit, but not with the snow and cold...how elegant and resplendant they are in their own land, \i talked of our First Nation people....their history, what the white man has done to them, how they are now, most having lost their culture, how good it is to see how they so deeply keep theirs...on and on....medicines, spirts...
\On Monday they invited us to join them at a huge Masai gathering, a circumcision ceremony where the young men will move into being Warriors responsible for looking after their community...drums, roasting of cows, dancing, etc...of course we will come back...
Have spent a lot of time with the HIV Aids people here, have done a number of interviews and met a lot of people..talking..one woman came in, who is terribly thin, her arms like pipes, the bones of her chest sticking out..she had just been tested and is positive, six children, two still at home, no means to survive, no place to stay, no food....no friends...we hooked her up with the organization here and have been trying to help...but no matter what you give it is never enough..ever, and once you begin it is heart wrenching, so much is needed, where to begin and what to do..i have no answers...it is endless, so you start in a little area and try to make something a bit better there...and go on...but it is endless here. endless....at both workshops we talked alot about prevention, about condoms, education is so needed here....most people in the rural areas where i have been have bits of information but some of which is just wrong....the numbers are so high, many are hidden due to the stigma and discrimination...people believing in witchcraft, the sick being bewitched.....so in need of the basic facts...
ICA and World Vision are working full out here - it is great to see first hand where donations go....up in Sindeni i saw people taking the weight and height of kids who were being sponsored by people in Switzerland, those pictures and letters giving information about families and kids here actually is true...also working on orphans..it cost $60 US to keep one child in secondary school for a year, that includes school fees, uniforms, pencils, etc....if we could just collect enough money for 200 kids it would make such a huge difference..and it is so little for us...let me know if anyone is interested in that project!

Miss you all, coming back bumping along yesterday they were playing Christmas carols on the radio...it was hard to hear them....there is nothing here that reminds me that it is Christmas...except watching the calendar every few days and knowing it is coming soon...
MERRY XMAS...and Best season wishes to you....!!
This is my first xmas ever away....from my wonderful family..and friends....oh how i will miss you so...and dear Sierra, and the babies...there were four women with babies the same age as Finn and Pyper at the workshop, painting and nursing all at the same time..so cute, sitting up, on the concrete floor, with 27 participants painting and drawing around them, a plastic water bottle rolling around as their only toy...
I am leaving \Handeni Tuesday at 5:30 am on a bus to Moishi....to stay with Doris our Tanzania director for a few days, and then taking a safari into the jungles of Tanzania over xmas and new years..then...LINDSEY!! is coming to Arusha in January for a few weeks!!...i am so thrilled she is able to make the journey....there will be theatre people, actors, writers who she can connect with and work with if she likes..planning to go up to the crater at NgoraNgora for a few days at the end of her stay....imagine!
So many more things to say...but anxious to post this one before it disappears!
Again, best holiday wishes to you all...
HUGS....L