January 12th

We set out from the Compañero at about 8am for Makeni. We
arrived in Makeni at just after 10 and while Tom and Karen
went meet with Reverend Usman at the Wesleyan office I went
off to explore Makeni for a little bit until just after 11. We went
out to lunch at the Wusum hotel at 12 and returned to the
office for the Healthcare Board Meeting at 2. Since I was again
not involved I went with Steven to go change some money. I
was only changing $1000 dollars but I had $2600 on hand so I
felt pretty uncomfortable. That’s the most money I’ve ever held
in my hands at once. Before that it was $2000. We got it
changed successfully and I sent Steven back to the office with
all the money while I wandered around the area. There are so
many little shops with all kinds of books, shoes, music, etc…
Some places there are so many little shops set up you can’t get
through. I wasn’t looking for anything, I just wanted to look
around since I’d never had the chance. I figured that it wouldn’t
be as bad in Makeni because the number of non-nationals
around is much higher there than here in Kamakwie, but not
really. They still hounded me relentlessly, asking what I needed,
what I wanted. I spent around three hours wandering around,
it’s a big place, and I still hadn’t been all over and that’s just
one part of the town. Granted that is the largest market district
as far as I know. I got back to the office a little after 5 hoping
that they would be done. No such luck. Since I was standing
around bored I decided to go walk over to the nearby water
pump and make friends with some of the people there. It
worked. It’s pretty easy when it comes to making friends here.
Just about everyone wants to be your friend. I talked a lot to
this guy who goes by Jah Prist, his real name is Alhassan. He
showed me his house which has 9 rooms and none less than
three people sleep in. It look like a big house but when you
have more 30 people in it you can fill up space pretty fast. As I
was leaving I saw Steven waving me over, they were finally
done. We got into the car to head back to Kamakwie and that’s
when I really realized that I was getting ill. I had been feeling a
bit stuffy but I had put that to being out in the dry heat, sadly
not so. The ride back to Kamakwie was quite miserable, it’s not
a fun road and being sick does not improve the experience no
matter how I wish it otherwise. Anyway, I’m exhausted and
ready for bed, so I wish you all well.

Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks