Friends and Family,
i'm drafting this letter at 3am on the 14th from a
hostel in South Africa where i'm laying over before
hopping a plane to kenya in about 6 hours. i've
already been travelling for almost 2 days and am
entirely lagged and logged and twisted in the head,
but fervent with anticipation, too, which is why i had
to get out of bed an hour ago, bagging the whole sleep
idea for attempts to put thought-images to words on
the page. (Besides which, there are 2 rugby teams
loudly occupying the bar and jacuzzi down the hall.)
coming home, much like going to kenya, was a
complicated experience- a rejoicing, horrific tumult
of a showing with comedic relief sprinkled throughout,
and i didn't know quite what to think at any given
time. i think i cried that first week in Maine when
it rained every day and i awoke each morning, opening
the cabin door to a wet world reeking of life and
greenness and all the products of a well-balanced and
diverse wonderland. And i nearly cried, but rather
shook in terror as i traversed I-90 on my way to Ohio
in all its concrete homogeny, travel plazas with
Burger Kings, Cinnabons, and super-sized everything
you culd possibly not want but nevertheless cries out
to supplant your every need. i added on even more
poundage as i fell for every stimulus proffered those
first couple of weeks, guilt-ridden and hating myself
for my weaknesses made glaring in the fluorescent
lights over the proverbial mirror. But i danced in
familial webbing, grateful for its strength,
endurance, and flexibility:my parents' willingness to
take me with a grain of salt and to kiss the bruises
without judgment, my brothers' openness to
conversation and continued growth together across
disinct planes, my extended family's acceptance of my
Quirkiness- all enfolded and affirmed.
And i got to
go out into the woods, by myself, with good friends,
but not once with an AK-47 poisd to protect someone's
liability. I ate lobster and raw fresh veggies whose
greens were deeper than i'd remembered they could be,
and i enjoyed my anonymity as well as deeply personal
companionship with a few individuals. oh, and i
listened to a ton of classic rock.
Mostly, though, i think i refocused in a way i badly
needed to. seeing the gardens of america that were so
lush and green and chock full of microorganisms
reminded me why i'm doing what i'm doing in kenya, and
convinced me of the necessity of gardens like these
there, not only economically more sound, but
environmentally worthwhile, as it is more apparent in
kenya than in the states that soil can and will die
with malreatment, bringing with it the people who
depend on it, beginning with the poorest of the earth,
but with diffusion bringing it to all corners.
kenyans already are discovering this, so it is
exciting to me to be a part of their struggles to
preserve their land, their lifeline.
While coffee-growing consumes much of their fertile
land, it is difficult to find kenyan coffee sold in
kenya- most restaurants sell Nestle's Nescafe instant
coffee as it is cheaper than the processed kenyan
beans, though kenyan growers receive only a couple of
cents per kilo for their labor over the raw bean. yet
while i was home, i found kenyan coffee in nearly
every coffeeshop and bookstore, usually paying a
dollar or more for 1 cup. in the US, our ability to
consume more than the rest of the world relies on this
disparity between raw and processed goods, as well as
our ignorance of it. most of the facts i knew before
setting foot in kenya, but there are stories about
people here i would not write down for you that make
the advertisements i heard in the US physically
nauseating as they were shot at me in every direction,
creating in me desires for things that would only
serve to empty my soul and overflow my belly.
and so i've returned, happy to escape the corporate
barrage (though i did watch the Olympic Parade earlier
this evening), nervously excited to pick up the jembe
(heavy-duty hoe), and already missing you all.
Those
of you i was blessed to see, thank you for your time,
your ears, your encouragement, and those of you i
didn't, you are ever with me all the same.
salaam,
catherine
This except is from her email after arrival in Kenya.
it's so good to be here. warm welcome? i
came walking up to the gate from the center of mangu
on sunday and all of a sudden i was tackled by a mob
of boys, all arms and legs and fury and tears- i
nearly cried. and then mama and muthoni and ruth and
charles (he wants to know if you've sold any fly-fish
thingies) and oh, everybody. and yeah, it's rainng
daily here. beautiful. mama's been harvesting lots
of stuff from my plot but i've got a lot of work to do
on it. looking forward to it.
Expanding Opportunities is a non
profit organization in the USA and a registered NGO in Kenya.
For more information about the
organization or to view the newsletter later:
Visit http://www.exop.org/
or contact
Expanding
Opportunities
84 Payson Road
Brooks, Me
04921
1-888-760-7943; 1-207-722-3708
1-207-722-3809 (fax)
PO Box
12184
Nakuru, Kenya
0721-275791
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