New Year’s Wishes – from Kenya!

Traditionally we have ushered in the New Year with friends, sharing our joys and sorrows of the past year and our hopes and prayers for the year to come.  This year we will be missing this time of fellowship  – instead, our New Year’s Eve will be celebrated on the banks of the Talek River, overlooking the Mara plains in the Masai Mara.

No doubt at this year’s gathering of friends, there will be a game of trivia about the newsworthy (and otherwise) events of 2012.  While we won’t be there to participate, we thought we would share some of our own trivia – things that we have found interesting and fascinating during the past three and one-half months spent in Kenya.  We hope you will enjoy them.

What is this?

Clue: Do not sit on this even if you are very tired

Answer: An Ant Hill

What is this?

Answer: M-Pesa (M for mobile, pesa is Swahili for money) is a mobile-phone based money transfer service. Currently the most developed mobile payment system in the developing world, M-Pesa allows users to deposit, withdraw, and transfer money easily with a mobile device. The service allows users to deposit money into an account stored on their cell phones, to send balances to other users (including sellers of goods and services), and to redeem deposits for regular money. M-Pesa has spread quickly, and has become the most successful mobile phone based financial service in the developing world.

Really? Why is this sign posted?

Answer: Some Kenyans have a tendency to build a home on any empty land they find. This sign is to help to discourage this indiscriminate nesting.

What is this? Why photograph this?

Answer: The railway, using ‘narrow gauge track’, was started by the British at the end of the nineteenth century utilizing material and workers from India. As of 2006 much of the overall railway system has been under-utilized for unknown reasons. In the areas where we work, many sections are rusted, missing and overgrown with vegetation. Nevertheless the main line from Mombasa to Nairobi (550 km) is operative though at reduced speed. The fourteen hour overnight trip runs three times a week either eastbound or westbound on the single track that parallels the Mombasa to Nairobi highway.

What is happening here?

Answer: “This is a road under construction. The wet tarmac is protected from traffic by placing these stones on the road as a ‘barrier’.

Why is this called a TukTuk?  How can you get in and how many people does it fit?

Answer: The name TukTuk comes from the original engine sound of the TukTuk; ”…..tsjoek..tsjoek..tsjoek….” Back in the days all the TukTuk’s had a 2-stroke engine which made this loud sound. But because the 2-stroke engines caused a lot of pollution, now all the TukTuk’s have been converted to 4-stroke engines.A TukTuk is a motorized version of the traditional pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw.  It is a three-wheeled taxi that is very popular for transporting passengers, particularly in the coastal region where there are not as many hills. We have seen eager children jump in through the open back window but there are doors.  Ideally it holds a driver and two back seat passengers. However, subject to price, the driver is receptive to carrying additional people or goods!

What is Julius, our driver, fishing for?

Answer:Julius is testing the depth of this rut to see if we can safely proceed.

Would you feel confident to receive care at the hospital near this sign?

What are these, hanging in the tree?

Answer: Beehives

Why is this called a BodaBoda? Is four the maximum number of riders?

Answer:The boda-boda taxis are part of the Kenyan culture; they started in the 1960s and 1970s and are still spreading from their origin on the Kenyan – Ugandan border to other regions. Our maximum sighting was 6 –one was an older baby tied on to Mom’s back. The other was as yet unborn –but soon will be! The name originated from a need to transport people across the “no-mans-land” between the border posts without the paperwork involved with using motor vehicles crossing the international border. Although originally bicycles were used, motorbikes have now replaced them. Since r’s are a bit tough to pronounce for many Kenyans “border to border” has evolved to boda-boda. You may be interested in know that as of Dec. 1st the driver and passenger (singular) are to wear helmets and reflective jackets. We have not as yet seen this happening!

As we enter 2013, this is our prayer for you …

May God make your year a happy one!
Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain,
But by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes;
Not by making your path easy,
But by making you sturdy to travel any path;
Not by taking hardships from you,
But by taking fear from your heart;
Not by granting you unbroken sunshine,
But by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows;
Not by making your life always pleasant,
But by showing you when people and their causes need you most,
and by making you anxious to be there to help.
God’s love, peace, hope and joy to you for year ahead.
– author unknown