Warming Up - Exercise 14

Out Of Africa

Africa is a continent of stories.  This is a taste of just a few of them.

Karen Blixen’s autobiography, Out of Africa, opens with the line, I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills. Blixen’s story is of her life in Kenya from 1914 until 1931, during which she and her husband operated a coffee plantation until they divorced in 1921.  Blixen returned to Denmark in 1931 and wrote her autobiography which was made into a movie with the same name in 1985.

Whether you consider her attitude towards the Africans as compassionate, patrician, or bordering on patronizing, she was a compelling story teller who conveyed her love of Africa through her stories.

My next tale of Africa is a story about Jewel McKee, a friend I met in Africa. Jewel’s story might begin, “I once had a mountain in Africa.”  After trekking in the Himalayas five times, in the Alps several times, and in mountains around the America, it was no surprise to me that Jewel took her last few days in Africa in 2004 to climb Mt. Kenya before she transferred back to the U.S. from Eritrea.

Jewel identifies three significant rewards from trekking.

• Number One - The challenge of overcoming a sense of limitations, a trait that spills over into other aspects of life—like learning Chinese.
• Number Two - The enrichment of observing different cultures. She takes a sketchbook with her and draws the villagers, porters and other hikers. 
• Number Three - The chance to help. During her treks, she met mountain people who live in poverty and can’t even send their children to school. When she retires, she would like to get involved with a group like Habitat for Humanity or UNESCO to help preserve mountain villages and improve the lives of the people. 

I characterize Jewel’s attitude as the epitome of passion.

My third tale is from Sandra Bagley, another friend I met in Africa. If Sandra Bagley were to write her African story, it might begin with the line, “I once had a clinic in Africa.”  In 2002, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Antananarivo began a supplemental nutrition program for single mothers whose infants were below normal weight. The program gives food to the nursing mothers to maximize the opportunity for their children to thrive. In order to insure that the women get maximum benefit from the food being provided, in 2003 Dr. Bagley began a medical clinic that evaluates and treats the mothers and children for underlying medical conditions, such as failure to thrive, parasites, worms, malaria and pneumonia. While food for the program is provided by U.S. Government grants, the medical equipment used were Dr. Bagley’s personal items.  As she readied for her transfer to Ruwanda, she applied for and received funds from the J. Kirby Simon Trust to purchase medical equipment to leave behind for the clinic.

I consider Sandra Bagley’s African adventures to illustrate her attitude of compassion.

As for my African story, it would begin with “I once had a soccer team in Africa.”

It’s not that I owned a soccer team, or even that I managed a soccer team.  They managed me.  And I certainly wasn’t their coach.  There must be a word that accurately portrays my relationship with the team.

Opportunity in this case came in the shape of a group of 8 Eritrean boys who looked like they were about 6 years old, but turned out to be between 11 and 14.  They were looking for donations to buy uniforms.  They were somewhat convincing – or I was somewhat charmed by them – so I gave them a small amount – enough to buy shorts and shirts for three of them.  In addition to the 300 nakfa (local currency), they left with my telephone number written in ink on the palm of the tallest of them and a promise that they could be trusted to buy uniforms – not candy bars or whatever else was tempting to Eritrean pre-teens – with my donation.  I really expected to see nothing more of them.

The next Saturday, they called and arranged to meet me the next day to show me that they had used my donation to buy uniforms.  Instead of the 8 boys I met the week before, there were 14 on Sunday morning.  And from that day until my departure from Eritrea in June, I spent each Sunday morning watching them play soccer.  Afterwards, they came to my house to have sandwiches, popcorn, chips, and soft drinks and we would often watch a movie.

In addition to all the other wonderful people I met in Africa, including Sandra Bagley and Jewel McKee, my soccer team remains the centerpiece of my exceptional African adventure.