Endangered Beauty

“I Scarce Can Take It In,” the line from that beautiful old hymn, “How Great Thou Art,” keeps running through my head. As soon as one leaves the bustling streets of Nairobi, there is almost an inescapable connection to nature in this country. There’s the beautiful slopes of Mt. Kenya, the rolling foothills that have a range of their own (which is where I live), pastoral deserts in the northeast, the 2nd largest freshwater lake in the world in the west, a breathtaking coastline in the east, and the vegetation is usually lush and green wherever you go: tea plantations, rice fields, banana trees, flowers everywhere. One is surrounded.

I was especially overcome by it when I went on a field trip with my students to Hell’s Gate and Mt Kenya National Parks. Hell’s Gate, so named for its geothermal hot springs and volcanic rock formations, provided us with a terrific hike. Through rocky streams, narrow crevices, and slippery foot holdings, we made our way to the springs (where you can boil an egg in the water) and the obsidian caves. We couldn’t imagine this being anyone’s hell when we made our final ascent and took in the gorgeous view.

At the foot of Mt. Kenya was an educational center called the William Holden Wildlife Reserve. I was proud that this effort is in partnership with a center in the states founded by the above named man who was a documentary film-maker who couldn’t take in the beauty of the wildlife without also doing something to preserve it. It serves as a wildlife refuge for rare species, among these: the white rhino, the water bongo (a type of gazelle with a unique coat that poacher’s like), and the albino zebras. We spotted all of these on our game drive. Possibly more impressive was the center itself. It stood as an example of sustainability- as in, nothing used there went to waste. They had solar panels for electricity, bio-fuel for gas, an organic garden for food, composting everywhere… In fact our human waste didn’t even go to waste, as it was converted to make fertilizer for the flower garden! The kids also learned how to set up similar projects in their own schools. I’m excited that we’re putting what we learned into practice this week by starting a charcoal making project using all organic materials.

All the beauty, but I can’t help but feel a tension in Kenya currently: between development and tradition, consumerism and conservation. As Kenya is “coming up” as they say, there is question over whether its culture and environment will be preserved, or whether the propensity towards materialism will reign. The education, then, at the center, was for the children to take stock and appreciate what they have so as to do their part to protect it. Unfortunately, we don’t usually appreciate what we have until its gone. It’ll be up to these kids to have a voice.

Our guide throughout the center talked about interconnection, a new English word for most of the students: that our actions in one place inevitably affect another. I wish our country would talk more about that concept, and admit our sins of making countries suffer around the world due to our consumption. And I hope and pray that the generally sustainable ways of life here (like growing your own food in organic gardens, walking most places) will remain and not be tempted towards our example. Nature is a powerful force that has the ability to truly unify us. We can all experience it. Hear God talking…if we will only listen…

I’m definitely feeling a clock winding down to the end of my time here. So much is special and different, that I’m doing my best to stay rooted. Taking walks during sunrise and sunset has definitely helped. Simply “Be-ing” as this YAV program continually reinforces is a tremendous gift when it’s in such awe-inspiring beauty.

A Communal Kenyan Wedding

Myself and new bf. Wish he had brought a ring for me.

Kageni getting carried into her vehicle by female fam members.

The bride having a pre-wedding cup of tea.

I had such a wonderful time this past weekend in my first Kenyan wedding experience. Mostly, I felt honored to be in the wedding as a bride’s maid and got to really soak up the experience from beginning to end. I was reminded over and over again that it’s not about the parents, the big cake, the dresses, the suits, the presents, or even the married couple to-be, but it was about…the community. Since we don’t really have this sense when it comes to weddings (or many other things), I was very curious how they were going to pull it off. But I am now a believer in this alternative approach to the big event…

The process, for many of us involved, started about four months prior to the wedding. This time when I was whisked away without knowing where I was going, I was taken to a local pub where “the elders” had gathered. The tradition stems from “the old times” when the tribal elders would gather around the fire and either approve or disprove of a marriage proposal (as in, the wannabe husband would propose to the tribal elders eons before proposing to the woman he wanted to marry- in fact after the father agreed as well, she didn’t have much say in it at all, but I’ll leave that for now…). Instead of cain licquor, Tusker beers were passed around in plenty, and the overall tone was one of mutual.merriment. At some point, Njugi and Kageni got around to the “official” announcement of their engagement and desire to start planning the wedding. Cheers were passed around, and then things became a bit serious when the elders started to offer their advice to the young couple. My Kiswahili is still shamefully minimal, but even if it was up to par, I would have no hope of following their mother tongue of Kikuyu. My friend that translated parts told me generally that they had wished them well, that marriage was blessed but not an easy road, but that if they needed any support, the community would offer it to them in any way they could…

From there, it was down to business. Kageni and Njugi gathered up about 20 of their peers to form their “wedding committee.” Every Sunday afternoon for those few months we became their wedding planners and financiers. The tasks of nailing down the photographer, decorater, caterer, etc was all delegated, and everyone had pledged a certain amount to cover the cost. A daunting task became light amongst all of us. After a few meetings, all that was left was to brace ourselves for the big day. Here, they have very open invitation weddings. As in, you are allowed to invite friends of friends even if they don’t know the couple. The event is also announced to the whole church. There is no RSVP involved, so one never knows how many people will show up. They prepare for the whole village.

The week before the big day, about every big reservation was changed at the last minute due to factors beyond anyone’s control. Miraculously, it all got sorted out in time. The morning of the wedding was something I thoroughly enjoyed- about 60 women crammed into Kageni’s mother’s home all dressing and prepping. It was delightfully chaotic with one bathroom and one mirror. Having spent a good five hours on her hair the previous night, Kageni was mostly set. While the groom’s family was negotiating the final dowry details with the bride’s father, we kept the bride’s nerves at bay by dancing, singing and taking pictures. Our singing was soon echoed by all of the women outside, signaling that the negotiations were through. We all lined up, escorting our bride out of Kageni’s house. Our heels kept sinking into the wet ground from the rains the night before and I was horrified how Kageni was going to get into her vehicle with that long white dress… My fears were quelled when I looked behind and realized she was being carried by about 20 of the singing and dancing women.

After a slow ride around town in the flowered vehicles with plenty of honking and whistling, we pulled into the church about noon, two hours after the ceremony was supposed to begin. Of course, no part of the ceremony went as planned. It was hilarious how random people from the congregation kept passing the pastors notes to indicate that they wanted to make a speech or sing a song. Somehow, the pastors were able to keep up. The tear-jerking things that are the same everywhere held emotional weight here as well. The groom fumbled his vows in an endearing way. The bride had at least one big tear, and I’m sure I had a few of my own. After the two hour ceremony, we continued to the reception. We sang and danced to the food line, sang and danced to receive the gifts, to pass out the cake… I didn’t even notice time passing and before I knew it, all the guests were clearing out around 5 pm. We had a bit of time to relax, change clothes, and all the young people sorted themselves out for the big after party, which more or less resembles the reception that you find in the music (even the appropriately cheesy kind), drinks, the fun…

It was a great day all around, and I really did feel like it brought everyone, not just the bride and groom, together.