clay cameras

A camera! Two weeks ago when I was in Awere I came across these young boys creating small objects out of clay.

The clay object that is centrally located in the photo is meant to be a traditional camera with a lens and all. They even placed a small piece of glass inside the "lens". The other creations include a mortar and pestle.

malaria and e.coli

Ray flew to Geneva last week for meetings with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and I got sick with malaria and e. coli. Now if that's not a nasty combination I don't know what is. After three restless nights in the hospital with endless bags of fluid, antibiotics, and anti-malarial drugs via IV, I was rehydrated and cleared of my various uncomfortable (to say the least) symptoms. Thankfully I have a network of friends that spent the nights with me (helping me to move my IV line in and out of my mosquito net on my trips to the toilet), brought me boiled potatoes (when I couldn't stomach the thought of anything else, particularly not the smoked fish in some brown sauce that the hospital served), and managed other logistics. I have been home since last Thursday and am regaining my strength. Just three weeks left before we head to Jerusalem. Lots of research and some more fun to be had before we are off!

why no power?

Several brutal storms have passed through this week. The combination of wind, rain, hail, lightning and thunder made for quite the show but left a path of destruction in its wake. Electric poles cracked in half, fences and walls were smashed under the weight of trees or blown over in the wind, metal roofs flew off or were damaged... On my walk into work I had to step over several electric lines and duck under other low hanging ones (there is no electricity running through them). Any guesses as to when we will have light again?

An intense clap of thunder last night startled me from deep sleep and had me sitting straight up in bed. Ahmed said he saw its accompanying bolt of lightning strike our wall.

An electric pole cracked in half.

Just enough room for a car to fit under.

A leaning electric pole.

Damaged roof and trees down.

The big pile of mud is the roots of a tree that fell over in the storm.  The other side of the street (in the background of the photo) used to be lined with large, old trees. Almost everyone of them fell. 

All that is left of the fence around this building is its green gate and (at center of photo). The padlock is also still in place.

This downed power line crosses the main road into town.

muddy foot

power is out

The electricity went out sometime Thursday night, and after some 60 hours managed to make a brief appearance Sunday afternoon. The power was on long enough to cool down the fridge and for me to turn on the hot water boiler for a hot shower. The moon has disappeared again, making the night very dark. We manage to cook, play card games, and get around the house by the light of a headlamp and two lanterns (one battery run and the other kerosene). I'm pretty sure last night Ahmed resorted to his red bike light as his source of light.

We spent Friday evening at a cafe in town that runs a generator, taking advantage of their grilled cheese sandwiches and electricity outlets. Luckily my office has a generator, so we can all continue to work and power up our laptops, phones, batteries. I made odi again on Saturday with Lucy, meaning we roasted, skinned and cleaned 3 kilos of ground nuts and 1 kilo of sesame seeds. But it still needs to be ground into paste. So I'm waiting for another window of light to take my bucket of g-nuts and sesame to the grinder. :)

not tonight, honey

Some honey maker somewhere has a sense of humor :)

the statue

At the center of the roundabout at the intersection of Kampala road and Market street is a statue with two young kids and a pile of books.