Jan15-16th Lake Baringo

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Hello-
This is probably my last e-mail. Nike has signed me up to run with the elite runners of the world to train at Iten, about 30 minutes north of Eldoret. The best of the best run here and Nike wants me to be the first male over 50 to win the Boston Marathon. They are paying me 100 Kenyan Shillings daily!!! ($1.25) and providing me with running shoes, 3 power bars a day a cold shower. By this time in April, I will be 10 lbs lighter and will drop my best marathon time from 3:17-2:02.."no worries" as they say in Kenya. With the winnings I will make my tribe in Lower Macungie the richest with many cattle and goats.

Oh, boy was that a good dream.

We did pass by Iten on the way to Lake Baringo which was about 3 hrs away. We stayed on an Island in the middle of the lake. It took about 15 minutes by boat to get to the island. Sara and I shared a tent which overlooked the lake. The drive to this lake was beautiful and very hilly with many winding mountain roads. It was nice a cool at the top, but in the 90s at the lake.






No swimming in the lake due to parasites and crocks (and lions and tigers and bears..oh my!). Most of the group headed for the (hopefully parasite free) pool for a day of R and R.

Freshwater pool overlooking lake. Marc snoring with ipod on far left (not visible)

We had a nice barbecue which didn't start until 8 pm. It became nice and cool and we went off to bed. Unfortunately one of the residents found a poison cobra on her floor so Sara wanted our tent zipped down tightly to thwart off crocks, frogs and lions (and tigers and bears). The lack of breeze resulted in a midnight sauna and we finally opened the flaps. Crickets and birds (many varieties of birds were on the island) woke us at about 5-6 am, just in time for coffee and the sunrise.

The light lit up our tent which had a bathroom and actual hot/cold shower.

The birds enjoyed sharing our coffee, mild, sugar and ginger cookies supplied pre-breakfast...I think these birds are getting obese and diabetic from all the junk they eat.

We drove home at 10 am. The valley by the lake is very, very dry. This last picture does not look like much....

just some lolli-pops and bread. But in the valley we passed through kids didn't have enough to eat or drink because of the conditions. Some of us stopped at a small market and bought food, milk and fruit juice. We stopped at several places and kids came running to the car. They shoved the food in their mouths and wanted seconds and thirds..pushing perhaps their brothers and sisters out of the way who had yet to get anything.  Sara and I could not give the food away fast enough and there was not time for cute pictures, hence the shot above.
I felt empty after leaving these sites knowing that the little we gave can't last long. I assume these images fade for many when they return home. Some of us feel compelled that they don't. The work being done by those I am working with here prove the work of a few can help many.

WHOSOEVER PRESERVES A SINGLE SOUL..., SCRIPTURE ASCRIBES [MERIT] TO HIM/HER AS THOUGH THEY HAD PRESERVED A COMPLETE WORLD."  Talmud, Sanhedrin 37a