So, I was down sick this week, again. I think this is the third illness that has caused me to miss work since I have been here. My co-workers are all very understanding and tell me I need to be home resting, but I have a hard time, sometimes listening to what my body needs. Thankfully, I am able to do some work at home on my computer since I am involved in a lot of data gathering and management. I had a cold that started about 10 days ago. Able to work the first couple of days, rested over the weekend, went to work Monday (a mistake) home Tuesday and Wednesday, back Thursday (sent home by my co-workers) and stayed home Friday. My energy is finally picking up today, Saturday. I guess it is just a whole new germ pool that I need to get used to and build up some immunity to. Mentally it is a challenge for me to be ill. A true test in patience and grace.
There were some good things that came out of the week. I was able to read most of two books. Shake Hands with the Devil, about the Rwandan genocide and failed international/UN attempt at stopping it. Not light reading, but an eye opener. Then I am almost finished with Unbowed, the autobiography of Wangari Maathai the late 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner who started the Green Belt Movement in Kenya. She has lots of perspective and insight into the Africa of today and what has contributed to it's state in today's world. I had known of her briefly for her environmental work, but she is an all around inspiration of peace and justice in the world. In seemingly simple grassroots ways, she connects all the important pieces of the puzzle to the complex world we live in today. As one of the first African women to receive a Phd, she used her opportunities for the betterment of her country and the world and stood up nonviolently to some pretty powerful people and institutions along the way. What a loss to this world her premature death was. I highly recommend this easy read. Fun fact for those of you from Kansas City, Wangari went to undergrad at Mt. St. Scolastica in Atchinson, KS in the 60s and worked at the lab in St. Joseph's hospital in Kansas City during the summers.
I also was home one day when Bridget, a woman from the village of Lupata stopped by selling her beautiful hand made baskets. The quality was excellent. I couldn't believe when she told me the price of just under $3 US. These baskets would have sold for $60 or $80 in the States. She understood enough English to tell me where she got the grasses/reeds (from two different neigboring towns) and to tell me that it takes her two days to make each one. Once my Tonga is better I hope to visit her at home and learn more about basket making. I paid more than the asking price for the basket I bought.
I also have been cared for by my neighbor Jaeron who has been bringing me food here and there and just checking in on me.Which is very sweet of her considering she has to listen to my coughing all night ( she and her husband share a duplex and a bedroom wall with me). One day, she hollered through my window "Lisa do you want to go on an adventure?" She had a big butcher knife in her hand and led me to the banana grove in our backyard. She had spotted a bunch of bananas that the birds were getting to so she had me do the honors of cutting down the whole plant to get to the bunch. They have ripened beautifully and I am sharing them with friends.
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