When we drove up the western side of Mount Kulal to reach the village of Gatab, our vehicle had to negotiate the steep sides of the mountain. Deep gashes in the dormant volcano’s lava flows created jaw-dropping canyons that made the ascent long and challenging. The descent down the other side of the mountain wasRead More
The Verdant Forest of Mount Kulal
Millions of years ago the African continent tore itself apart, creating a jagged trench from Jordan in the north to Mozambique in the south. Great volcanic mountains erupted on either side of this giant crevice, including Kilimanjaro and Ol Donyo Lengai (Mountain of God) in Tanzania and Longonot, Menengai and Mount Kulal in Kenya. TheRead More
Under Siege
After a night of malarone-infused anxiety dreams, I awoke to the sound of young fruit dropping on my tin roof from the gnarled olive tree above my hut. The winds had arrived. As the dawn broke, the intensity of the wind increased, and by the time I was up and dressed I could barely hearRead More
Zero Percent Failure
In the months prior to this trip to Kenya, I had spent a lot of time reading about the success of healthcare in Africa. While economic interventions, in general, have not been overly successful — incomes across the continent are down or stagnant — there have been successes in the delivery of healthcare due toRead More
The Mechanic and Bodyguard Nannies
One only has to be in a village or in a meeting with mothers to see how beloved babies are in traditional Kenyan culture. At Mentor University, we have two young mothers with babies — Damaris from Mt. Kulal with baby Anon (nine months) and Judy from Kargi with baby Brian (five months). While theRead More
Bringing Down the House
The first sound I heard on Saturday morning was the muzzehin calling the faithful to prayer. It was 4:30 AM. In this village of mostly Catholic parishioners, South Horr is a typical village in northern Kenya, with a diversity of spiritual practices. As light filtered through the cracks of my wooden windows, I heard the soundsRead More
Now We Have a Bond
The annual training program for all of BOMA’s Village Mentors, dubbed Mentor University, was conducted in a conference hall at the Samburu Sports Club — a round building held up by long narrow poles and a cement half-wall. The panels between the poles were covered in nylon sheeting or netting, allowing a breeze to passRead More
From Safari to South Horr
The MAF plane was a large one, with few passengers. The plane had four rows of three seats each. The back center section was open, with no seats, and was intended as an area to strap down loads of supplies. There was also a back row of seats occupied by a MAF pilot, his wifeRead More
The Personal Health Care Advisor of Marsabit
This was one of those “what now?” situations that you need to anticipate and plan for while traveling in northern Kenya. I always have a Plan B and Plan C but had mistakenly not anticipated this turn of events. I tried to call Kura on the satellite phone even though I knew he was almostRead More
Abandoned in Marsabit
We had to be in Korr in time to catch the MAF flight to Marsabit that would take us on to Nairobi. MAF stands for Mission Aviation Fellowship, but I prefer to call it Missionary Air Force. MAF provides a critical means of transport to remote areas for those who work for humanitarian organizations. IRead More