A Better World?

My penchant is for sleeping, not humanitarianism. My resume as a seasoned snoozer overwhelms my credentials as helper of fellow man.

So why travel halfway ’round the world to the deep corners of tropical Africa, overcome by fatigue and jet lag, into malaria-infested jungle on a fourteen day journey to help the poor and underprivileged?

God only knows. But here we were, fresh off two 9 hour overnight flights (with a short stop off in London, England) in Kenya, ten time zones from Red Deer.

The first morning began as a proper tourist trip should: a glorious sunrise safari along the shores of Lake Nakuru National Park. Precocious baboons greeted us at the park gate, scrambling through open van windows in search of food, oblivious to our hysterical concerns.

Our guide hustled the audacious primates out the door and a slow bumpy ramble along the lakeshore began.

Thousands of flamingos and pelicans gave the water’s edge a pink hue. The flocks scattered in a burst of magenta as dangerous cape buffalo trampled shoreward through thick mud, seeking a morning bath. Timid Thompson gazelles and tiny dik-dik antelope, wary of leopards, darted from our vehicle’s advance. On the horizon an endangered white rhinoceros and her calf trotted past a solitary acacia tree.

Africa!

After the safari, breakfast. At 9:30 a.m. we were bumping our way toward a remote Kenyan orphanage founded by an Australian couple. Ralph and May Spinks adopted their first African child fourteen years ago.

The East African Mission Orphanage (EAMO) now houses over two hundred children ranging in age from two to twenty. Many of the children were orphaned by AIDS. Some are HIV positive. We shared a box lunch with these enthusiastic, happy kids. Delighted boys strummed my ever-present ukelele.

A realization struck: watching these lads make awkward music was as entertaining as the sight of a herd of zebras grazing the savannah.

We were in Kenya with “A Better World”. Our exuberant leader Eric Rajah is the organization’s co-founder. The goals were to visit existing projects (schoolrooms, dorms, water wells), conduct medical clinics, consider the wisdom of starting new endeavours and, not least importantly, enjoy the splendour of Africa.

Fifty-three Canadians from various walks of life made the journey. One group boasted a medical background: doctors, a dentist, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists. This contingent was tireless and invested much of their two week African “holiday” attending to the needs of the desperately poor and sick. The rest of us assisted where we could – fancy law degrees pretty much useless – taking on more mundane tasks like “crowd control”.

Eric’s approach is unique and impressive: no middlemen, no bureaucracy. If a community seeks help A Better World goes straight to the village and offers assistance. A plan is formed and a mutual commitment agreed upon.

We didn’t bring our hammers. Locals attend to construction. They are capable and need the work. Funds are advanced as the project progresses. Happily, many of these undertakings are located near world-class Safari destinations. We could visit communities in need and view animals in native habitat the same day.

After two days with our young EAMO friends we left Nakuru and headed west over, around and through roads that could be labeled horrific – but that would be flattering. In a few hours we reached the community of Sitwoet for the ribbon-cutting of new school-rooms – funded by two of our fellow travellers.

Bouncing our way into the village we were greeted by the laughing faces of children dressed in bright school uniform – one of the few positive remnants of British colonialism. The youngsters sat politely in the equatorial sun while dignitaries waxed philisophical. After a formal offering of Fanta soft drinks we jolted our way off to the Kenyan Highlands.

The Tea Hotel is situate in Kericho, a town hugging the highlands overlooking the Great Rift Valley of western Kenya. As its name suggests the hotel was originally part of a tea plantation, built in the 1950’s by the giant international Brooke Bond Company.

Today the hotel is a faded remnant of its former self. Staff politely serve tea in the grand reception room while wallpaper quietly peels in the humid African afternoon.

Quaintly, hotel showers rely on electricity to heat water. An aging chord hangs overhead, tentatively attached to the shower head. When the tap is turned, tepid water and a blue shorting flicker spit downward. Unwilling to suffer the indignity of electrocution while standing naked in an African bathtub, I took to wearing Crocs while showering.

Gerry