An unlearned lesson

The gate keeper just left for dinner and with him went all the electricity, so it is here that I type this entry by candle light. Power outages are not uncommon here in Rwanda; I typically move from day to day knowing that there is a high possibility I may be without current for periods of time. You prepare for it, but not plan because these acts are random. In Saint Vincent, they would schedule the power outages and post them in the news paper, making it easy for me to plan my week around. They may do that here but I can’t read their language, so these acts remain random.

I only point this out, because a constant source of electricity is yet another thing we take for granted in America. Because it’s a common occurrence for me I am prepared, making sure I have plenty of gas to cook with and candles to burn. In America it would be considered a nuisance, leaving you to miss your favorite television shows and causing many to stand up in protest at the thought of not being artificially cooled….except for those living in Texas; that last statement does not apply. For many living in developing countries, however, lack of electricity means an opportunity to becoming involved. Act such as these provide an opportunity for you to step out of your often, self imposed bubble and become involved once more in your surroundings. This is missing in America, we need more power outages, we need more opportunities for people to take a break from their Iphones and laptops and become involved once more in life.

My theory is that the lack of casual conversation or interest in that which surrounds you is something that is unique to western culture and while I haven’t traveled through enough countries to draw a definitive conclusion it seems that those that are poor in money are rich in spirit. In Rwanda as it was in Saint Vincent what people lack in tangible items they make up for in the experiences they share as a family and more so as a community. A child may be born into a family, yet it is the property of the community and the responsibility of both family and community to see that each child is instilled with the moral upbringing that will mold them into successful adults and thus foster a stronger community. I feel that this idea of responsibility to the community is lost among Itunes and emails, something that many of the rural poor have little knowledge, Instead they sit and talk. Talking about everything from when the rains will come to what everyone will wear to their child’s wedding next week.

If I am right and those that are poor in money are rich in spirit, then those that are rich with money should posses less community spirit? In that case poverty becomes a relative word, Africa is the poster child for poverty but are they really that poor? Yes many Africa nations have food shortages and governments that are less than honest, but the people stand strong sharing what little they have, surviving often times on the belief that tomorrow will be better than today…it has to.

The point here is, as you move through your day move as if you’re prepared for the lights to go out. Appreciate what you got, for there are those that have much less, but treat each day as if it’s a wet rag, squeezing every ounce of opportunity from life as it unfolds , savoring every drop as if it were the last, a lesson that too often goes unlearned.

A plug

I should say that I am my more critical of my work than you guys. You love it, but to me its never good enough, I guess in that way I am my own best critic. My blog has gotten a lot of attention as of late, to the point where I have been contacted by http://thisisdiversity.com for permission to publish some of my writing.

This website is a global community of citizen journalists. Their goal is to facilitate awareness and understanding by bringing together diverse viewpoints on important issues

• They provide a place for people of all backgrounds to gather and be heard.
• They make it easy to access diverse perspectives on the latest news and events.
• They believe that everyone has a story to tell.

This should give me further reason to refine my craft as well as provide a creative outlet where I can share my talent with a wider audience. If you get a chance, take a look at the website and in the mean time I will work on some pieces that have been sitting idle for a while.

The Shadow of the Sun

Currently I am reading a book entitled The Shadow of the Sun, by Ryszard Kapuscinski. Kapuscinski arrived in Africa in 1957 to witness the beginning of the end of colonial rule as the first African correspondent for the Polish State Newspaper. This book is a collection of his experience throughout the continent over the span of 50 years. Kapuscinski goes beyond telling stories, rather through his writings he tries to understand and make sense of his surroundings and its people. Whether it’s trying to understand the communal nature of African villages or why his apartment keeps getting robbed, he paints a picture of Africa and its people in such a way that my experience and the things that I am seeing begin to make sense and in turn add color and substance.

Rafting the Nile.

I am not big on sequels, they rarely live up to its predecessors, I’ll try to meet your expectations but remember I am the artist and I have a license

There are many rafting companies that compete for business along the Nile, we chose a company by the name of Adrift, mainly because they advertised both Bungee Jumping and either a mild or wild river trip, along with free lodging for the night. I should note that Bungee jumping holds no appeal for me. Tying myself to a rubber band and jumping off a ledge a mile above the water only to be popped back up before touching the water, seems like a tease. I don’t see the appeal, I am looking for action. Arriving at river base, it soon became apparent that Mike and I were not the only ones tempted by the Nile, as we would come to find out that this place was somewhat of a mecca for 20 something’s from across the globe. I met people from Asia, Australia and even Austin Texas, yes a longhorn. I even met a girl from England who was afraid to go rafting but could not wait to go bungee jumping. Again, you will tie yourself to a rubber band, jump off a ledge, throwing yourself at the river, but you will not go float in it? The logic seemed flawed to me, but whatever floats your boat… or not.

This trip was advertised as 30 kilometer trip (19 miles) down the river where we would experience some of the meanest rapids the Nile had to offer. You were given the choice of either mild or wild, mild being a half day excursion where you only experience some of the smaller rapids and wild being the full day trip allowing you to experience rapids that should only be attempted by advanced swimmers and life guards, we chose the wild trip. The way it worked is that the rafting company organizes you into teams of 10, including your guide and then piles you into rafts that will comfortably fit 6 people. In my estimation, putting you into a small raft adds credence to the thought that this should only be attempted by the young and foolish and that you are going to get wet. As a matter of fact that’s the first thing they told as when you arrive at river base, you will get wet, don’t wear your shoes, don’t bring your camera and secure your bathing suit with a master lock.

In my raft I was surrounded by 9, 20 something’s from all over the world, including a fella from England who had never been rafting before, needless to say we had a lot in common. I must hand it to the English; even there most colorful language is dignified. The rest of my raft consisted of two other American a few Brazilian and that longhorn from Austin; she got to man the back of the raft and subsequently spent a lot of time in the water. I have a knack for surrounding myself by great leadership, our guide was no exception. It turns out that this trip is composed of members and former members of the Ugandan Kayaking team and the person guiding our boat was the team captain. This meant that our raft was the first to experience any rapid and that we would get swim breaks while other boats had to paddle on by.

Having never been rafting before I had no concept of a class 3, 4 or 5 rapid. A class 3 is something you might find on a great day tubing the Guadalupe River. A class 4 definitely should not be attempted in a rubber tire but still manageable by boat. A class 5 should not be attempted in a rubber raft, however I was in a rubber raft so I really had no say in the matter. Our guide would always let us know when we were about to hit a class 5 by saying in his Ugandan accent “Enjoy the Nile”, because that’s where we were about to end up, in the Nile.

We spent the day very wet, with each rapid leaving us to wonder whether our boat would stay up right, there are two worth mentioning. First is the rapid with the 15 foot waterfall, you had two options you could either veer left and go down a class 3 missing the waterfall all together or you could make a hard right and send your small rubber boat plunging into the Nile, we chose the wild trip, we were going down the waterfall right after we finished being stuck on a rock for about 5 minutes. As you can tell I don’t have a concept about a lot of thing and it was no different for a 15 foot waterfall, I wish I would have known what that was like before I did it, being in the front of the boat I got to experience it first, it happened fast and the Englishmen’s language was colorful, that’s about as much as I remember.

The second rapid, was the last of the day, they call it 50/50, because half of the time your boat flips and the other time it stays upright. Before you do it they make you paddle to shore and look at it. In my mind they are not going to make you look at a rapid that they plan on sending you down, I was fooled yet again. This rapid was ferocious, it looked like one of those you would see on that television program worlds dangerous situations. I watch that program and always with the same statement, who is that fool and how on earth was he dumb to end up floating in that mess. I was that fool and I signed a waiver stating that the rafting company receives royalties from any publicity that may result from me ending up in that mess, or at least that’s probably what it said. For those of you wondering, my raft did not stay upright and the amount of water I inhaled makes me wonder how I ever survived.

Rafting was not the only thing we enjoyed while on the Nile. It should be said that the Nile is a way of life for many people; it provides them with food for dinner and water for bathing, among other things. When were not rafting, we got to enjoy the scenery or watch life happen rather. It seemed to me that, to many of those who live along the banks of the Nile, I would like to believe that a big part of their day was spent anticipating when the muzungoo would come in their boats and flip upside down, it was not uncommon for us to see many onlookers as we threw ourselves at the river.

The end of the day was met with much relief, we had conquered the Nile and we lived to tell about it, if I completed nothing else during my time in Africa I can leave with this merit badge. After my trip down the Nile All I wanted to see was a cooler of free beer, a warm shower and a bed. When I arrived at the bus I was met with a cooler of free beer and barbeque. This rafting company employs psychics, I will recommend their business to all of my friends.