Two Great Days

Two more good days. Began yesterday with breakfast and a trip to the orphanage. The orphanage is approximately 30 minutes away. We arrived and said hello to the children. Each trip we make out there, we bring workers along who are either building bricks or doing some sort of work at the orphanage. It has become a busy place, now that the money has arrived. Our visit was brief, and we were once again on the road heading towards the tractor owned by the Passionists. The trip began with a military road block. The block is at a strategic point where the river acts as a natural barrier funneling all the traffic to the lone bridge. They spoke with us briefly and we were off. We passed beautiful flowering trees and small villages. We soon began to climb up into the mountains. The road there is very good, built by the Asians to make their transportation of minerals and what not more efficient. As we climbed our vantage increased and we began to catch views of large rolling hills and distant mountains. The views were incredible. The mountains are large but rolling. Time has taken its toll on what were once giant sky scrapping mountains. We continued up and up until we got to a large village where the health minister was speaking. Lots of PoPo. We passed and as we did the land turned to a giant flat plateau. I have seen some plateaus but none like this. We had climbed well over three thousand feet and then suddenly flat for miles and miles, as far as you could see. The land is not all that changed. I could see in the distance these giant trees towering over all the others near them. I’m not sure what type of tree they were but certainly the biggest I have ever seen. I expressed my interest and those in the car laughed and said they were all babies. I doubt that but I am anxious to see if there are larger. We made it to the village with the tractor and quickly realized that it was a no go. The front end is totally missing. It’s in repair somewhere, but things are so disorganized here and no one ever seems to know what’s going on and that is why we had to come out and check. We also were there to check some land purchased as an investment. There is a plant that grows here called cassava and it can be grown well there. Father’s sister planted some peanuts and we checked to see how many acres were farmable. Took a while. These old men were directing us all over the place as we traveled from parcel to parcel trying to measure out 40 acres. They drove me nuts, as I was the driver. At one point we crossed the road and went to a distant but large parcel. On the way out a four or five year old opened a gate for us and I didn’t think anything of it. We drove out and took more measurements. On this plateau are those huge ant piles that you see in National Geographic. They are as tall as 10 feet. Ill post a photo. Once finished we headed back towards the gate where we were approached by 3 men. One of them was a bit plump which is unusual here. Two of the men were submissive but the fatty was hollering at us in French and I could tell he was mad about something. The two old men hopped out and approached him. After a moment the man said something bad, cause I seen Father Gabriel hop up quick from the back of the vehicle and make his way out the front passenger door. The argument escalated and I thought I was going to have to lay a smack down on this big rude dude. Must not have know he was talking to a priest. The argument continued for about 10 minutes. I watched while leaned against the hood of the truck trying to luck as tough as possible. The man backed off and we left. Father does not take s*** from anyone. If they are rude and out of line he lets them know, no matter how tall or round. I was proud. After that I stalled out at a check point with an armed guard and large crowd. They all laughed. The guard was pretty intimidating caring what looked like an elongated oozier** and less than 20 years old. Father let me drive home with the understanding that he would takeover before the checkpoint. We were surprised by a random checkpoint where a well armed unit approached me and tried to speak to me in French. Wish I took a few years of French. He questioned me and asked for my information. I thought I was busted. But then to my relief father and another passenger started laughing and the guard followed. Joke was on me I guess. We gave him something of a gift and he let us pass. Ended day tired.

Today, we went to the orphanage early the children were on brake from class so they got very excited as they always do when they see the white Land Cruiser coming their way. We visited for a bit and then sent them back to class. Father had to go to the bank so he got an English teacher to help me manage the projects of the day. As I waited for the translator I helped the masons with the unfinished wall in the Henkelman Dining Hall. Everyone here is amazed to see me carry as many bricks as I do in each load. They work hard but pushing themselves is not their style. Translator arrived and we began on the soccer field. Father suggested that we let people till by hand and that is what we did. 10$ American to clear a 10 x 10 meter area of earth. Pretty good deal! Aint many people I know could do that as fast and as effective as I seen them do it today, many were women. We cleared and leveled 1100 of 9200 square meters. Metric system makes a lot of sense. I made a point to make an example of the American work ethic and busted my ass shoveling raking and plowing all that I could. I did not have a square(which was marked by sticks and rope), but rather I wondered from square to square each designated to an individual. James equity. The workers were friendly and quickly impressed by how much I was getting done. I don’t mean to gloat, but my size and strength enable me to do far more than these malnourished people can. Plus Americas reputation was on the line. We worked for hours and made tremendous progress. Towards noon I walked up to this particular plant and decided I would pull it form the ground as I had many other plants. I reached down, and just as my hand wrapped around the plants base I saw it. I immediately jumped back and hollered, scared to death that it was too late. I haven’t been here long and I had never seen one of these in person, but I knew exactly what it was as soon as I layed my eyes upon it. I don’t know how closed I came, couldn’t have been more than an inch, might have touched it, but I had a near fatal encounter with the ultra venomous viper. I have seen this thing on T.V. for years but never thought I would encounter one like this. What were the chances there were 11 people out there, thousands of bushes and the Mudele (white man in Langala) is the one that nearly gets bit. This is a wild place. As soon as they heard my reaction they all came running and had the snake dead moments later. They assumed I had been bit and I wasn’t sure at the time. I freaked a bit but I’m still breathing. I’ll look next time. Ate a great lunch prayed for thanks cause I know damn well if I had survived I would have lost my hand and never been able to canoe again. That be a tragedy. Tried to teach the children football. Not successful, turned into a game of keep away. James and the girls versus the rest of the boys. Got hot sweaty and dirty and decided it was time to take my first dip in the river. It’s more of a creak but they have cleared a nice lagoon like area for swimming. When I got to the swimming whole there were 10 little naked boys (girls use another area). I started throwing the orphanage children in the water as I do my little brother Sam. Then the naked kids wanted to get tossed which was awkward but turned into a lot of fun. I must of thrown 10 different children 40 times. I am beat. We ended the day with a quick check of the field, which looks great. As it grew dark I gathered around with the children and beatboxed with them for about an hour. I am the superior beat boxer now but these kids are far more talented and that will change by the end of my visit. I’ll get some video for you all. I said goodbye in French and they said good bye in English. It’s an awesome place, with unimaginably kind and beautiful people and it is making this one hell of an experience. Thank you to all those who supported me and continue to support with your prayers and thoughts. Ill sleep good tonight father bought me a fan.