An African adventure

[Udonite]

Great pictures, a green on the way.

[Happyman]

Bloody hell!
That took me back a few years !
You have captured the atmosphere, aura and presence of the people.

I spent about 20 years ( on and off) drilling water wells etc on contract to the UN and WHO in places like that , in Tanzania , Burundi, Rawanda, CAR and Sudan interspersed with spells in refugee camps in Etheopia.

Its sad to see that there is still places with bad water though!

I hope your vids are in the latest "smellyvision" format That would be the icing on the cake

Thanks!

[bkkmadness]

Great pics, and thread. Must be quite an emotional trip, seeing these people in absolute poverty. Still smiling though.

[hillbilly]

I had a great time reading this travel report. Amazing!

[natalie8]

I thikn this is the best tarvel thread I've read anywhere. Very moving stuff and your pics really capture the emotion. The Irish priest is quite an extraordinary man.

[flash]

thanks again for the comments.

on to the camels.......


These camels were funded by a company in Limerick, they were walked 1600 k/m from the Somalian border. Camels unlike cattle and goats can still produce milk in times of drought so are an excellent sustainable food source, females produce about 4 liters of milk a day which is enough to feed a family, when the camels breed the camelettes(technical term) can be sold for money which offsets medical and education costs.

This is the camel herders place








kids just seem to appear from nowhere

[flash]

I hope your vids are in the latest "smellyvision" format That would be the icing on the cake

There is a certain aroma and it wasn't old spice

The Irish priest is quite an extraordinary man.

Father David is honestly as close to a saint as i will ever meet, he was only meant to stay there for 2 years but he refused to go home as he thought he could do much more there, he is known as "the White Pokot" he has pretty much given his life up for the Pokot. when he spoke about things it was always "we" not they, he gets a visit home every year but he says he just can't settle even for a couple of weeks. He is a man who carries the weight of the world around on his shoulders. I really enjoyed his company and i think it was a little bit of a release when we were there, we sat up late most nights playing music and singing, the local beer "tusker" got a bit of a touch too.

I can see why he would miss it, the view he has every morning is breath taking, i tried to upload it but the file is too big(4 pictures stitched together)

[flash]

Welcome To Barpello High school!

Barpello High School is the brainchild of Father David, There were no High Schools within a 50 mile radius and none in Pokot territory so there wasn't very many options for the kids past a primary school level of education, So david decided to build one, I think you will be amazed at this cause i was.




Let me give you an idea of what it took to build this School,

As the area is so remote, building materials were difficult to transport, that added with the cost limited options.

The land was cleared by hand, the foundations were dug by hand(a full one metre) the bricks were hand cut to size, the aggregate for the concrete was hand picked from the bush, the guttering hand made wich collected water in an underground tank(hand dug)


there is a main school building, 2 dorms, a kitchen and a canteen.

There was an initial intake of 43 students which doubled in February.
This is the science block


very modern by local standards(no electric though), education is very important to these kids, let me take you through their day....

They get up at 7 and study for an hour, they then have 1/2 an hour personal hygene, have breakfast and start school at 9, they have their normal school day which finishes at 3:30, they have an hours playtime, have dinner and then study untill in gets dark. 6 days a week. they see education as a privilege and are very keen to learn. very well mannered kids too.

Of course they had lined up some more entertainment for us, off to the canteen...........










The kids loved seeing their pictures










This is the man who is responsible for all this

David.



I will be sending him a link to this thread, Give him a "top of the morning" if you have a chance.

[MeMock]

Top of the morning David. Fantastic work, well done.

Flash, perhaps there is some type of fundraiser that can be organised in Thailand to help this wonderfull work?

[Marmite the Dog]

They did a great job with the school and it's great to see the kids genuinely appreciating it. And again, some really good photos.

[flash]

Flash, perhaps there is some type of fundraiser that can be organised in Thailand to help this wonderfull work?

By all means, if anyone feels they want to help PM me.

[mali miner]

sorry to piss on your chips mate but them thar kids aint sick neither is anyone in their family.
faces are painted white for the knife (male female genital mutilation) guess the priest figured to leave that bit of info out.
and its not speculation its fact worked in the kenya tanzania border area for three years, now if you were to take photos of everyday people see how many smiling faces you come up with.

[Bung]

Great to read about that kneck of the woods again. I spent a year backpacking through Africa in 1988 with 4 months in Kenya. I just couldn't leave! The most life changing experience I've ever had and hardly a day passes without thinking about it. The people are just amazing and they taught a young fellow who had everything in life a thing or two.

Thanks for taking the time and effort to help these people, It has made a huge difference to there lives getting an education. I am sure they will never forget the Mazungu Flash.

Now if only 50% of the people in the 1st world took a couple of months out of their lives ,a few dollars, some effort and went and did something like this......

[dirtydog]

sorry to piss on your chips mate but them thar kids aint sick neither is anyone in their family.

What percentage of Kenyan women end up with infections etc after genital multilation? 90%? odds are they were sick then.

[flash]

I must finish this thread off, I'm away for a few days now so i'll do it when I get back