We are only going to be in Marsabit for two more full days. That means Tim has many things to do with his staff and others in the community since he likely won't be back to Marsabit until April or so. While he was busy today, I took a few pictures to show you where I have been staying. The first picture is of the Food for the Hungry guest house. There are several bedrooms, plus a communal kitchen where we can make our own meals, and a bathroom which has a flush toilet and showers - living in the lap of luxury!
My bedroom is that first one you see on the left as you look towards the building. Behind those trees, there is a lovely courtyard area with some flowers, and a table and chairs. Here is a view of the courtyard through the door of my bedroom:
Tim has been coming to Marsabit for 13 years, working in a wide variety of projects. He has come to know many of the people here quite well. We have been in Marsabit close to 3 weeks, and each week there have been more and more people popping by to visit him. Often we sit out there at that table and have conversations about family and friends, about the drought, about the rains, about the horrendous roads - it has been a place where I have certainly learned many things about daily life here in Marsabit. I have also listened to the dreams of several people who long to see an improved quality of life for the people of the Marsabit district. As you look from the guest house towards the road, you will see the rather large generator. Electricity seems to go off often in the Town of Marsabit, and the generator has been MUCH appreciated. Beside it is the little shelter for the guards - there is a guard present all the time. The most they have been called on to do while I have been here is to kill a snake in the bathroom one evening - he just took his stick in and quickly cut off the head - it was very fast. I don't think it was a poisonous snake, but I was glad he was here to deal with it!
When you walk through the gate beside the guard's shelter, you cross the road, walk over a little grassy patch, and you will arrive at the Sauti Moja Office.
Sauti Moja is hoping to buy a vehicle in the next few months - it would be a HUGE help in the work that they do to have their own transportation. At the moment all that they have is this motorcyle - here they call it a "piki" - not sure of that spelling! When I first arrived here Tim said if I was going to be hurt here it would be because I had been hit by a piki. There are many young men who drive their piki's much, much too fast through these narrow little streets. They honk their horns, but don't slow down much, and you are expected to jump out of the way. This piki that is owned by Sauti Moja is driven by Phillip. Phillip is the project manager of the livestock program for Sauti Moja Marsabit. If Martha (the project manager for the Child Mother program) needs to go anywhere, she gets a ride from Phillip on this piki. Martha, like most women here, always wears a long skirt, which means she rides on this side-saddle. That is not bad when it is around town. But if she needs to go somewhere out in the country, on these very bumpy roads, I imagine it would be a very uncomfortable ride. What she really would like to have some day is a scooter type vehicle that she would easily drive herself even while wearing a skirt - it would make her job much easier if she had the freedom to drive herself to wherever it is that she needs to go. One of those scooters would cost about $1600.00. If anyone feels so inclined, donations would always be most gratefully received towards the purchase of a scooter for Martha!
Just outside the gate of our compound, and before you walk across to Sauti Moja, is the road towards town. This is the road we walk down every day on our way through the market to get our lunch. When the rains were here, this road was a mess of mud and was quite slippery. Now that it hasn't rained for a few days, it is quite dry and easy to walk on. Just at the end of that road, you would take a right turn and head towards the business section of Marsabit.
Everywhere we walk in Marsabit, we are kind of obvious - definitely foreigners. Little kids from all directions will call out "How are you? How are you?" It is often the only English phrase that some of these kids know, and they never seem to tire of calling it out to us as we go by. Yesterday Tim and I went for a walk and along the way stopped in to see Phillip (project manager) and his wife Rosemary. They have a lovely little home, and it was very good to sit and visit with them for awhile.
The other picture I took along the way yesterday was of these two girls. The older girl was braiding the younger girl's hair. It was a great image and I couldn't resist taking their picture:
I can't believe my time in Marsabit is almost over. It has been an incredible three weeks - I feel very blessed to be here, and I am glad to give you a little glimpse of the place where I have been staying. Tomorrow we are heading out to another village that I have not yet visited, so I would imagine I will have a few more stories to share!
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