Africa - Day#10 (A Number Of Things-6-12-17)

Monday, June 12^th, 2017

            In the middle of the night, under the bright light of the moon, our roosters crowed.  It was so bright you could see distinct shadows, so I understood their confusion.  Still, it’s not something you typically want to hear at full volume when you’re trying to sleep.  The roosters weren’t the only ones confused; however, as even the native birds would occasionally call out.

            When the sun did start to rise, the critters were uncharacteristically quiet; until zebras and hyenas sounded off somewhere to the south, near the basin at the front of the Black Hill.  When I rose, these are the things I did:

1.        I ran 6.2 miles to the tarmac and back.  It was another good run to start the day.  I saw an impala and three dik diks.  The dik diks are such a small little antelope.  When I looked at their prints in the soft sand, the cloven hoof was anywhere from a ½ to ¾ of an inch long.

2.        I ate a bowl of oatmeal and took a splash bath.  As a Team we listened and talked about Kristin’s devotion over Psalm 23.  We focused on the idea of Christ being a shepherd with His guidance; something easy to relate to in an area of Kenya where so many of the people have herds of goats or cattle.  David, who wrote the Psalm, had been a shepherd boy who lived in an arid region much like where we were now; imagine the “green pastures” he talked about in such a land as this.

3.        I prepared and butchered two more roosters as the Team descended upon the (STEM) housing structure like the flies that surround us might land on the food we have out at meal time.  Members of the Team were hooking up equipment, ripping the sixteen foot 2x6 boards into 1x3’s with a circular saw, holding “cripple boards” or parts of the interior wall in place as they were nailed or screwed down.  It was truly a sight to behold. 

Krisitn And Patty Scholz

            From my end, with Todd’s help, the butchering went much smoother than last week.  As I skinned them and cleaned them out, the quartered sections went into a pot of water to keep the flies at bay.  Brian and Gabe came over to watch the process and learn the intricacies involved to secure meat we would need for a meal.  Brian wanted to see the process firsthand to understand what would need to happen when they had chickens of their own at Kijani Farm in the future.

            It also gave Todd a chance to talk to Brian about some of what we learned during last night’s devotion on God’s ultimate power.  How does His power relate to Kijani, or the living conditions we have seen, or our purpose as a Team?  How do we relate to both what we are experiencing and that same power? 

            After butchering, we went and washed off the sections of the meat.  Everything was used and nothing from the carcass was wasted.  We put them in another pot and set them on the fire.  It would be a day of boiling the chicken to both cook the meat, and soften it, while strengthening the broth.

4.        Following a quick lunch, some more lumber was delivered.  I joined in with the Team and helped set some of the header boards.  Following that I measured boards while Patty Scholz cut, so that we could build the framing for the windows that were also delivered.  The windows were delivered when Jeff Ingersoll was dropped off and joined us (The last member of Team Tumaini to arrive on Kijani Farm).  John Fay, Todd, and I did take one break to pull chicken meat that was cooking from the bones.  We threw the now tender meat back in the broth with veggies that Kristin Scholz and Paul Fay had cut up and put it back on the fire.  The bones we put back in another pot of water to leech any further nutrients from them.  This we would use to make rice from.

Lumber Being Delivered

I Apparently Come By This Naturally-Helping Dad With The Barn-1974

5.        When work on the STEM House was all but complete for the day, Todd asked if I would cut his hair.  The generator was still running as some of the Team finished up, so I grabbed my electric trimmers and went at it.  There really isn’t anything quite like a buzz headed boy in the summer; perhaps that’s why I also went ahead and cut Jake Rogers’ hair and did mine afterwards.  The Maasai men who were around camp at the time also liked the idea, and asked if I would cut their hair too.  The first one up was Raphael and then came John.  I even trimmed the hair on their chins, but joked that I couldn’t use the big trimmers like I had with me to do the mustaches under their noses.  I told them I may just have to come set up a barber shop in the bush here at Kijani someday and charge them some shillings.  They thought that was pretty funny, but enjoyed having it done for free.

Long Hair And The Eye Is Getting Better

Todd's Buzzed Noggin, Kristin, And Me Cutting Raphael's Hair

Nice T-Shirt Raphael!  :  )

John

6.        Today was very productive on all accounts.  We ate, and then we cleaned up.  All twelve of us now, a complete “Team Tumaini,” sat around the fire as the sun set.  This was a good thing, for when it dips below the mountain range on the horizon, darkness falls quickly.  By 6:30 you need to walk around camp with a head lamp on.  We shared our highs and lows for the day as we talked; something that we have done quite regularly since we’ve been here in Africa.  It helps to put things in perspective and bind our team together in both commonality and understanding.  It was indeed a full day from morning to night here on the flip side.

            See you along The Way…