Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Picture Of The Lori aka Truck That Hit Me!

So this isnt a pic of the exact truck obviously but let me describe it. It was the size of the white one, with the style of the blue one, but it was green.

Oh, i also forgot to mention...the locals did get the ID # of the truck but i chose not to report it. I figured i was alright so no harm no fowl i figured. More importantly, i was told the driver probably drove the truck to the owner and said he didnt want to work for him any more; so the cops would arrest the owner most likely and he prolly didnt do anything. Also, the driver probably didnt stop because he didnt know how bad i was injured or if i was dead and depending on that, if he stopped a lynch mob probably would have killed him; or he may not have noticed he hit me.

Oh, and a lady almost got hit by a motorcycle when she was coming to help me!

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Recent Activities...

Hi All,

As many of you may have heard i recently had a little accident on my way back home (aka to site in Oloolaimutia). I have been in Nairobi since September 12, along with my entire training class (minus 1 who decided to Early Terminate aka ET aka return to the U.S.A. due to site difficulty and personal reasons). We came back for In-Service-Training, we learned about a variety of topics we told our supervisors we needed more information on in order to carry out projects at our sites. After completion of IST we were all to return home on friday, i along with some others decided to return Saturday. My plan was to return with my buddy Z to my site, he has been wanting to come visit my site as it is very different than his; he is located near Funyula, which is almost on the Ugandan Border in the Western Province of Kenya.

On Saturday morning, Z, Megan, Brian, and I (Megan, Brian and I all live relatively close to one another in the Lower Rift Valley) boarded the bus and set out for Narok. Upon arriving in Narok, we got off the bus and proceeded to walk down the street to a local eatery for lunch. While walking down the side of the street, because there are no sidewalks, i was in the lead. As i walked along side a car parked on the side of the road a big Lori, or as we would call it a Cargo Truck, came barreling down the road; let me add that the roads here are very narrow, and usually have cars parked on both sides and then just enough room for two lanes of traffic flowing in opposite directions to pass one another. As i was walking i had my backpack on my back and big duffle bag over my right front shoulder. When the Lori approached me, i guess there just wasnt enough room or maybe he wasnt paying enough attention but regardless the bag and my right arm were struck! The momentum sent me spinning into the air and crashing into the parked car, with enough force to leave a noticable dent in the car....or so i was told by my fellow PCV's that were walking behind me; all i can remember is seeing the truck tires about to run over my legs and thinking to pull them up and back just before they were crushed beyond repair.

After the truck passed, and just kept on driving (it never stopped at all), i saw the other three PCV's running towards me along with some Kenyans. by the time they reached me i had gotten to my feet and noted that all my limbs and bodily functions seemed in tact. The people rushing towards me asked if i was alright and some other things i dont remember (i was in shock i think and wasnt really paying attention to anyone and what they were saying). I began picking up my things and started to walk to the eatery where we were headed initially. Once we arrived there my friends asked again if i was okay, recanted the story to me, and told me to call the PC Medical Emergency number and let them know what happened. I called and told them i got hit by a truck and they told me to go to the Narok hospital. I went up there and 3 hrs later i got a half-decent check and two half-decent x-rays. After that i called the PC Medical Office and they said i could get a hotel to sleep in that night, so i didnt have to sleep on a couch that was to short for me or the ground. Z said he would stay with me, becasue they didnt want me to be alone just in case something went wrong. the next morning i was told to return to Nairobi, accompanied by Z, so that i could get checked out there.

Yesterday, i saw a doctor at Nairobi Hospital (an orthopod) who ordered more x-rays and then sent me to get physical therapy. I saw the physio today and i will again thursday and friday and then i am supposed to return to the doctor on monday. Overall, my injuries were not severe nor were they even probably appropriate for what happened to me; they should have been worse, im lucky to be alive and have my legs in tact.

Injuries:
Right Knee - deep bruise, left elbow - scraped, bruised, right elbow - big, deep bruise and large bump, left ass cheek - scraped and bruised, stomach - scraped, deep tissue bruise, very sore, neck - whiplash

So thats, that...i'll be fine and i got a good look at what its like to be a patient here in Kenya, in large and small urban center hospitals. Im ready to go home though, the big city is taking its toll on me! it is expensive, busy, polluted and overwhelming and brings out the consumer in me and i dont like it...im ready to go back to my simple life, very ready.

Hope you enjoyed the story and the picture above.

Pet Elan @ a Lodge Near Me....

These are pics from a new lodge near me. They bought this Elan when its was a baby and raised it on the lodge property, so now it is a resident there. They put a cow bell around its neck so they know where it is.

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Monday, September 27, 2010

Dead Wildabeast...

This is a picture of a dead wildabeast...the community killed a bunch of them a few week sago because they destroyed part of the schools new fence....they smell horrible!

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Pictures from circum ceremony - this is the blood letting, the circum. Boy drank the blood to regain strength. Maasai drink blood as a regular food source; this activity can be arranged for any of my visitors FYI. Tie off the neck, shoot the vien/artery, catch the blood, enjoy!

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Pictures from the circum. - the boy and us walking back from the river. - he is in a dark purple cape up front in the middle

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Pic from the circum. Ceremony - old men making sandals for the boy becoming a man

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Circumsicion Ceremony

Hi All,

I realize its been quite a while since my last post, which was about the snake slaying. this post should have accompanied that one as it is about the circum. ceremony i attended the same day as the slaying. here it is, better late than never... (it may be short bc i may not remember all the details but ill do my best)

so the ceremony occured over a period of two days, the first day started around 2pm (for me) i showed up at the kids house with my counter-part Dennis KoiKai. we arrived to find many men and some boys sitting around the Emanyatta (traditional Maasai homestead) just waiting. the women were in the home cooking mostly, some were nursing their children. After about 30min i asked Dennis what the heck we were waiting for and where was the kid that was getting circum. he said that the boy was out with the cattle in the bush and some other olmurran (warriors) and kids from his age set who had been circum. recently went to retrieve him. about an hour and a half later we saw him coming over the hill, about half a mile away. the men got up and started walking towards him. also, as he walked the group with him got larger as more people saw him and joined in his walk. When he got close i saw that he was completely naked....he had just walked for miles from the bush, through our town center and back to his family home COMPLETELY NAKED! there were probably 100 people there to witness this. I must also add, as he walked and people (men/boys only) joined into the group walking with him they would spit in his face repeatedly; Dennis said it was a blessing to be strong from those who had been circum. before him. Also, amongst those acompanying him were men screaming and yelling, i was told this was to signify their saddness and sympathy for they knew what pain he was about to endure.

Once at the home, the old men who couldnt or didnt want to walk got up and spit on the boy; they immediately then went back to drinking their traditional maasai liqour/beer. two of the old men however didnt sit back down but instead escorted him over next to his mothers home. there they had a cow hide on the ground and they told him to sit on it. they proceeeded to shave his body using only an individual razor blade, dry. after the shaving and only a few nicks they then had him stand on the hide and the two men each measured a foot and made him a sandal. these were to be his sandals until he had completely healed from his circum. after completeing the sandals the men spit mouthfuls of traditional brew onto his feet and with that the days celebration or preparation for the day to come was complete.

The next morning i awoke in the dark, around 4a.m. to go with Dennis to day two of the ceremony. we hurried down over to the boys home but found he had already left for the river so we ran there next. as we arrived, we saw the boy coming out of the river, he was still completely naked; however as we began our walk back to his home he put on a small, dark purple, cloak (it was like a cape). Dennis said that the washing he had just had would be his last as a boy and that he could no longer bath outside until he was completely healed from the operation. As we accompanied the group towards home, the sun began to rise casting a thounsand colors into the sky welcoming the boy home and into adulthood.

Upon arriving at the home we found many people gathered around the cow pen. as we approached they grabbed the boy and pulled him inside the pen. In the pen they dumped a bucket of freezing cold water on the boy (to numb him up i was told) and sat him down on a cowhide in the dirt and dung. all the men, including me, circled around the boy and the man who would do the cutting. We were all to watch the boy and make sure he was brave; the maasai circum. boys near the age of 16 without any pain killers and they are expected to show no pain - if they do, they become a disgrace and will be punished with a beating. Needless to say, or maybe not, the operation lasted only about a minute and the boy was tough as a rock. he made his family and community proud and will recover well hopefully. as for the man who does the cutting, he apparently is very good and completes his task very quickly, i was told, because he goes to the bush and practices on Zebras...i have heard of many botched operations however, though not by this man in particular, one recently almost lead to the boy bleeding to death.

after the operation was finished the boy was carried into his mothers home where he would stay for the next couple days. in order to speed his recovery the men "let blood" from a calf for him. this means they let the cow bleed into a gourd (made into a jug) and then gave the blood to the boy to drink. above is a picture of how they cut the cow, its the one where the man is shooting a an arrow from point blank range into the cows neck. that was very entertaining to see i must say!

after that, i returned home for most of the day becasue the food would not be ready until around 4pm. I returned later that day to find all the guests eating and drinking and dancing. As a thank you for letting me attend i brought the boys mother a kg or sugar and a kg of tea.

so thats that folks, hope you enjoy the pitures and story. sorry for the delay.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Snake Slaying...

So today i woke bright and early for circumsicion part 2. It began yesterday and finished up today but that is not the story i want to tell about today, right now; instead
I have something way more "badass" or "discovery channel" (i suppose) for all of you.

After the circumsicion i came home and took a nap, because i had to get up before the sun came up to go to the circumsicion. After my nap i ate lunch, worked on a drawing, and then sat down with a friend to discuss projects on my "porch." While we were talking i saw the pastor, who lives near me (closer than anyone else by far) and is also my supervisor, running frantically around near his home with a stick and rungu (maasai club). I started laughing and was a bit confused. There were also 2 other guys out walking near where he was running and they started yelling and running around too. The guy i was talking turned around to look and he said "there must be a snake?" His tone of voice was in question form and very unenthusiastic and unworried; which surprised me because there were 3 grown men running around yelling. I need to add that these were Maasai men who kill lions and get circumsized at the age of 16, without any anesthetics at all, in front of a huge crowd who watch for any signs of pain or weakness while the cutting takes place, which will result in a punishment and disgrace.

Anyways, we got up and walked over towards the men; on the way the guy i was talking to picked up 2 big rocks. As we got closer to the men we saw them chucking their rungus and stones at something, though we couldnt see what it was until we got closer. As we approached there its was! It popped up towards me and my friend, standing at least 3 or 4 feet off the ground! We turned and ran away, in opposite directions. As we ran we circled back, at this point i armed myself with a couple rocks, and saw the other men going on the attack! We joined it, though there wasnt much coordination in our effort as we were all scared and ran away after throwing our weapons because the snake would head towards you. After about 5 min of this the snake headed for the tree, which you'll see in the picks. We circled the tree and proceeded with the onslaught. Realizing it was tired and had no where to run, i suppose, the snake headed up! Luckily the tree wasnt to tall and the snake, which we could tell at the time was big but didnt realize just how big until it was dead, was very tall when it wanted to be.

The snake proceeded upwards and sort of disappeared in the branches. The others could still see it, i couldnt at first, because Maasai are excellent watchmen as they graze their livestock in lion and leopard country. So we continued throwing things into the tree at the snake. Soon enough more people showed up (all men and then a few kids) and we eventually maxed out our "lynch mob" around 40 or so. After about 5 min, while i stood and watched because there were enough people with experience there, i saw a white lady headed our way. She walked up and stood next to me as i chucked the rock i had in my hand, then i said hi and asked her who she was. She replied that she was a Ph.D student from NY, U.S.A. who was studying vultures in and around the Maasai Mara; she was passing thru town and her jeep tire got punctured which is why she was out walking around my town...coming to interrupt our fun, even though i was the only one who stopped participating. After saying that she looked a little perplexed (i also decided not to pick up another rock in front of her) and i figured it was because she couldn't figure out just what in the hell all of us were doing out here hurling things at an innocent tree?! Legit question i decided so i told her we had chased a huge snake, which we thought was a Cobra, up that tree we were all throwing shit at. She said "Oh...poor snake!" i felt validated in deciding to stop participating after hearing that, after all American, even western friends, are hard to come by out here where i live and i didnt want to lose a potential entertainment source becasuse i threw a rock at a tree; which is what most of us were doing as we usually missed the snake completely and were actually closer to hitting another person on the other side of the tree. Anyways, she stood and watched with me, occasionally i let out a little snicker because it was funny watching all these men throw shit at a tree! While we stood she talked about how the snake prolly wasnt even poisonous and about "that poor tree!"

Eventually, after about 30min the death blow had finally occurred and the snake slowly fell out of the tree. We approached with caution as it still moved around a bit. When we got close and stretched it out we realized it was about 7ft in length. However, noone could be sure what type of snake it was exactly...some said Cobra, some said a Mamba...i dont know for sure either but when i walked up that very first time and it stood up at me and my friend i swear it was fanned out like a Cobra?! Regardless, they started a small fire, reminded me of a funeral pyre, and put the snake into it.

And thats that! Hope you enjoyed the adventure! I will post pictures and the story of the circumsicion ASAP.


F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Snake Slaying...

This pic is as the snake first reached the tree; you prolly cant see the snake in this one. This pic gives you an idea as to the distance at which we encircled the tree. We couldnt get close bc it could lunge so far and once it was in the tree it could jumpe out. So we, the initial 4, began the onslaught like this. After 5-10min more and more men and children begam to show up and "help out;" i suppose i shouldnt be surprised ppl joined us...im sure 4 men, 3 Maasai and 1 white guy, circling a tree, throwing things at it, and running around like scared little kids (before it got in the tree, it was aggresive and chasing us) would attract attention anywhere, especially when in a place where much else isnt really going on (the circumsicions happened bright and early this morning and the party aka food and drink and dancing didnt start till ~4pm so we had to find something entertaining to do i spose...).

I will post the pics and story of the circumsicion later.

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Snake Slaying...

This pic is of the snake beginning to climb the tree. If you look close or zoom in you may be able to see part of it at the base of the tree. I couldnt get any close because the thing moved really fast and could lunge far because it was so long; these pics were also taken on my phone hence the zoom was insufficient. At this point it was onlt me and 3 other guys.

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Snake Slaying...

This is a pic of a guy, part of the "lynch mob" trying to stretch the snake out...it was still moving at this point.

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Snake Slaying...

This is the pic right after it fell out of the tree...after being macheted, clubbed, and stoned.

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care

Snake Slaying...

This is a pic of the defeated snake. I was tempted to lay on the ground next to it, but there was dung all over and it was still moving, to demonstrate that it was longer than i am tall (im 6ft)...you'll have to take my word for it, sorry. After checking it out we had what could be interpreted as a funeral pyre for it (to despose of it).

F. Porter Nellans Jr. - From Kenya With Care