still alive here

OK just in case anyone still checks this thing and has concern about my well being, worry not. All is well. I just haven't been feeling the motivation to keep up with this blogging madness. Though I'm feeling a little juice again I can't promise I'm going to all of a sudden post any more regularly than I did in my first year. Regardless of frequency, I might as well write to the world while I still have something interesting to write about. Even though I have a solid ten months remaining it truly does feel like I've entered the downswing of service.

Looking back at my old posts I think I've done a decent job of telling the story of what I go through over here. My trials, my tribulations, my victories, my failures; all the emotions evoked in the process. However I noticed I really have neglected one of the major characters in this whole experience, which is tragic for reasons beyond poor story telling. There's an actor that shapes literally every single day's events, yet I mention her in passing as a part of some specific story. Shameful. And the aggrieved one is Kenya, of course. I've provided bits and pieces on landscapes and a general sense of what the people are like, but nothing trying to explain what Africa is in reality. Part of the reason I've largely left this alone is that so much here is so different from life in America that there is no point of reference I can offer to make understanding any easier. Despite the fact that a lot of the things about Africa just wont make sense to the American perspective, I still think it's worth trying to explain. First of all this place really is fascinating for a ton of reasons. You have these many different traditional African cultures surrounding the bastion of modernity of Nairobi, with each trying to maintain some of the uniqueness of their own identities all while coalescing around modern principles of education, opportunity and equality. To me nothing represents that better than the tiny old man with a bow and arrows who got on the same bus as me a few weeks back. Now that man is what you might call old school. He probably travels armed because as a young man he was a clan warrior who had the responsibility of protecting cattle from raiders, now just hasn't come to grips to this world of speeding metal boxes. And it's a safe bet that his grandson lives in Nairobi hustling to make money however he can so that he has enough to send back to his wife in the country side to pay for their kids' school fees. When you step back and look at this world with that progression in mind you start to appreciate how far many areas have come and understand why certain things don't happen faster. The other big reason I want to talk about Africa itself is to show that there is more to it than AIDS, dictators, abject poverty and genocide. Unfortunately recent and current history has provided enough of those tragic happenings that these widely held Western perceptions aren't completely misplaced. Still, it is not accurate for the vast majority of this continent's inhabitants and even when the perception might be accurate it is grossly misunderstood. While I certainly can't speak on behalf of all of Africa, I can speak with some authority on the tiny sliver that I've been immersed in for over a year now, which is probably fairly representative of a number of other parts where people are struggling to simply lead happy and fruitful lives, with the hopes that their efforts will make things at least a little better for future generations.

Before I go I absolutely need to mention that the library is officially and completely finished! I don't think me extending one more thank you to all those that supported this effort will really be doing much of anything, so instead I will share the short thank you note a student wrote to Ade Otenaike and Wings of the Dawn. Tobias Isika is exactly the type of student I have in mind when I say something like "this library can change lives!" It will be a very nice thing to many many people, but to someone like Tobias who's very curious, very ambitious and works hard, a library just might be the outlet he needs to develop and reach his potential in life. He's already finished a few of the Harry Potter books and every week his name is all over the library log. This note was addressed to Ade, but the message certainly goes out to everyone who contributed:

I would like to thank you on behalf of all the library going addicts in Nduluku Secondary. Warning this to you means I am the most addicted due to your generosity for equping our libary. Words alone could not express how grateful I am for the opportunity you have given us (especially me). It has boosted my creativity and increased my knowledge at an alarming rate. It has also enabled me to see the world in a whole new perspective. May the Almight God bless you. Amen.

Tobias Isika