Imagine

Imagine a balmy afternoon, good food and drink, Maasai dancers singing and jumping, and David Nelson in their midst doing his very best to jump along with them. Imagine Cindy and Natalie the center of attention of these same young warriors, receiving necklaces from them, and being asked to choose a betrothed from among them.

This was not quite what we expected when we drove up to Elisabeth's house (Elisabeth is the Ngateu burser), but it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable evenings of our trip. Elisabeth and her husband, Steven, own and operate a waste disposal service that hauls trash and garbage for many of the big hotels and lodges. During the course of the evening, Steven expressed profound thanks for SAFI's support of computer training for Elisabeth. As with so many SAFI projects, this too had unexpected beneficial consequences. According to Steven, Elizabeth's training has added to the efficiency and capacity of what they are able to do with their business, so much so that they have grown the business and been able to employ more workers.

Their next project will be to build a home and school for orphans on their property. They are generous people.

One more "imagine." Imagine the evening ending with a fabric balloon powered by a large candle floating up into the sky to join a nearly full moon as our hosts joined us in "the long farewell." It was truly a magical evening.

Denny Douglass