Had a conference near Lake Naivasha this past week. Took a 3 dollar boat ride and got to see some hungry hungry hippos. I’ve heard hippos are really friendly and not at all aggressive so I felt pretty comfortable in the fantasy canoe.
Took what may be one of our last trips out in the interior of West Pokot this past week. We checked on a sand dam in Katumpkale. We also passed out seeds and sweet potato sprouts and demonstrated how to plant them.
Rainy/Rainbow Season
We’ve been working with some communities and doing demonstration gardens near sand dams and with schools and trying to introduce some other crops that might grow in the area like sweet potatoes, peanuts, and beans.
This picture was taken in the Village of Kachawa, West Pokot, Kenya, the main site for my research into social capital and pastoralist communities. Today was my thesis defense. I was congratulated by all the professors. That’s right, I passed on the first try! So if you know anyone looking for a master of community and economic development, I’m your guy.
When I’m feeling it I just have to jump up and down.
So I was in the front of the church and Lussia was in the back. The tradition is you dance and meet each other in the middle of the isle and dance back to the front together. Since I had been waiting at the church for an hour an a half I had the crowd pretty warmed up for some mzungu dancing, when I performed a synchronized dance with the choir. This was just the start of our dance performances for the day. I think for the rest of our time here, people will be coming up to us on the street asking us to show them our moves. They were impressed.
