The Funeral

JUST FOR A WHILE

You walk about hurriedly
You drive by much too fast
Rushing past too serious
You worry too much
Slow down for a while and look around again

Take time to look around
To observe the glory of a blossoming flower
The grace of a playful kitten
Hear again the gurgling of the crystal stream
The musical ring of children’s laughter
Take time and savour the pleasure of a sunny day
Small things you say, for which you have no time

You are too busy accumulating money you will never spend
But do not forget you are only human
You can only sleep on one bed, drive one car
You can only eat much in a day
Ease the pleasure on your ego

Pause for a little while and recount your blessing
Your healthy body and mind
The precious gift of those who love you
The innocence of the children, the beauty of women
Life has been too kind to you
Stop and thank your neglected God

Thus take time off for these things that are so small
Yet so important that life is made of them
To breathe the crisp morning air
To exercise your body, appease your spirit
Stop just for a while
And live anew

Kinuthia Murugu

Everyone at the Africa Regional Office has been so welcoming and accomodating since I got here last month. They have really made me feel like part of the office family. As with any family, they stick together in the bad times as well as the good times. As I mentioned in my last post, Kinuthia Murugu, the old Regional Director here at the Africa Regional Office, died last week, as a result of injuries he sustained during a carjacking last month. The entire office went to the funeral, so naturally I attended as a show of support for these wonderful people who have been so unwaveringly kind to me.

While I was hoping to experience as many cultural events as possible this summer, it never crossed my mind that a funeral might be one of them. When Murugu left the Scout office, it was to pursue a government job, as Permanent Secretary of the Youth and Sports Ministry. Because he was a government employee, it became a state funeral, which was quite an experience.

We all met at a central location in town together to head to the funeral. Everyone was dressed in an official Scout uniform with the token purple ribbon around their necks (while I didnt have the uniform, they did give me a ribbon so that it would be identified that I was with them). We drove through town to Starehe Boy's School, which is one of the best schools in Kenya. While it is an incredibly beautiful, presigous boarding school, I was happy to learn that instead of catering to rich families, it accepts exceptionally bright underprivelaged children. This was to be the site of the the first part of the day: the memorial service.

We took our seats outside, where there were many large white tents, with hundreds of chairs spread across the grass. A few minutes later, 2 of our coworkers (who had been pallbearers much earlier in the morning at the funeral home) came out from the chapel to tell us that there were several pews saved for the office staff inside right near the front of the chapel. We were seated inside by 9am. The service was scheduled to begin at 10, but because the President and Prime Minister were attending (!!!) the service didn't begin until at least 10:30. It wasn't over until almost 3pm! That meant we sat in the hard, wooden pews for 6 straight hours!

The service wasn't really what I was expecting. The reason it was so long was that there were SO many speeches given, from past coworkers, Murugu's son, his best friend, the President, the Prime Minister, etc. Given that a normal Sunday church service can go for 4 hours, I was expecting alot more preaching, instead of the 45 minutes or so that happened yesterday. Also, everyone was very stoic. I don't think I saw anyone cry. His son (who was only 14 or so) choked up at one point during his speech (bringing me very close to tears!) but that was the biggest outward display of emotion I saw all day.

Once the service ended, we all hurried to the van to head to Murugu's land outside of town, where he was to be buried. We had packed the van with food that morning, so since we were all famished, we devoured our food on the way to the site. The girls from the office had ordered packed lunches (a sandwich and an apple), and I brought along bananas and a small bag of mixed nuts for everyone, it was plenty of food to get by. The drive out of town took ages, it was the start of rush hour, and there were SO many people at the funeral that we were heading to the grave site as well.

Somehow, although we left immediately after the service and drove straight there, we were late! This was the part of the day where we were supposed to lay the wreath at the grave. We pulled up on the opposite side of this enormous ravine. This whole area was where they grow world famous tea leaves, and the ground is pure red powdered dirt. We literally RAN down the steep slope of this ravine, charged up the other side, and arrived at the grave panting, at the exact second that they announced "World Scout Bureau". One of the guys from the office dashed up and grabbed the wreath, and layed it right in time. Then there was a short prayer, and everyone was given a rose or a handful of dirt to throw into the grave, and that was the end of the service.

We stood around quietly joking and laughing about our run across the the ravine, and then gathered everyone up for the walk back to the van. This time, since we obviously weren't late for anything, we slowly sauntered around the valley back to the van. The most exciting thing happened! We saw the Presidential caravan drivng up towards us, and I got a picture of the president's car!! Now, you have to understand, this is a huge no-no. You aren't allowed to take pictures at the Statehouse, or of the President's car. I had been begging Amos (who I had lent my camera to in order to take pictures all day, since he knows when its appropriate to take pictures and when it isn't) to take a picture of the President's car, but he wouldn't. When it drove up, he handed me the camera, and I grabbed a quick snap, and then waved at the President! Sometimes, being an "oblivious-to-the-rules" tourist really pays off!!

It was funny being away from the downtown part of the city. I was the only mzungu that I could see at the burial site, and some of the local village children would literally point open-mouthed at me. As Euloge (another co-worker) pointed out, many of them rarely, if ever, see a white person. It also garnered a huge laugh when a whole truckload of soldiers gaped openmouthed at me and then started waving as they drove by; all the guys from my office teased me mercilessly about it, telling everyone I had new soldier boyfriends.

The drive back into town was probably one of the funnest times I've had since I got here. (It seems so horrible to look back on the day of a funeral as one of my best memories here, but it's like at the end of an emotional day like yesterday, everyone needs to just relax and try and allieviate some of the tension and sadness, you know?). While everyone at the office is so nice to me, until yesterday, it had never progressed past "Hi, how are you? Are you enjoying Kenya? How's the weather" kind of small talk. On the drive home yesterday, it finally crossed into friend territory. I learned about people's wives (or lack thereof), I saw pictures of their children, I learned about who went to University, and where, and what they studied. They asked me all sorts of questions about Canada, and University back home, and mortgages, and marriage in Canada, and social customs, and the difference between here and there. It was just to nice to relate to these people that I see every day on a much more personal level. It was definitely reminiscient of elementary school, when the bus ride is the best part of a field trip, and you almost don't want to arrive at your destination because you are having such a good time!

On a different note, things at work are going really well. I have finished my contribution to the "Connecting Africa's Youth for Change" project proposal, and they informed me that they will take my draft, and really get the ball rolling on this project, which is such an accomplishment. I also had my meeting Tuesday afternoon to develop a framework and plan in order to finish the 2005-2008 Triennial Report by the time I go home. I'm so excited to get a start on that, so now that the ball is rolling there too, I can't wait (although embarking on my final project is a little bittersweet, I don't want to think about going home yet!!).

I've also started to experience my first touch of frustration about life in the business world. I am acting as sort of a liason between UFV and the office here in order to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (an informal partnership contract between the two entities). Every time one side is ready to sign, the other side wants revisions. Then when everyone is happy and ready to sign, no one is in the same town at the same time. And then more revisions are requested...and so it continues... However, if a little red tape is the least of my concerns, I certainly can't complain.

Outside of the office, not much is new... The girls are going to Somaliland next week for 8 days as a part of their internship. I'm so glad Graham is here, I can't imagine how lonely I'd be here alone, even for 8 days. I don't know how the past UFV interns handled it, I couldn't imagine being alone here all summer long!

We are trying to plan the rest of out summer. We might make a weekend trip to Hell's Gate National Park to go on a cycling trip through super cool valleys and gorges and stuff. And hopefully, we are going to be able to spend the last week in Mombasa thanks to Heather's parents, and their timeshare. It's right on the Indian Ocean, so it's tropical, gorgeous, and hot!!! Considering that we will be getting home and starting school 5 days later, it would be great to get a little relaxing vacation time in before then!

Oh! Back to office talk... There are so many cute little monkeys that live outside the office, the other day we fed them bananas, there were 7 that came right up to the window. As I speak, I have my camera poised and bananas ready for when they come back (usually around 10am, they are on a pretty tight schedule out there!). Hopefully I'll get some awesome pictures!!!!

Thats all for today, hopefully I find something else exciting to report soon!

-Delaney xo