New Names...

I understand that Oprah said something recently and I am not sure it is true. Now, mind you I received this second hand so I am not entirely sure of the direct quote...but she was indicating that she could carry heavy objects on her head the way women in Africa do because of her heritage. This sounds strange to me, but it did prompt me to share a couple of photos and a story.

Denise and I decided that we wanted to follow the women down to the 'river' to help them fetch water, knowing that they bring it back while balancing the jugs on their head.

They were most eager to help us do just that, showing us how to wrap a cloth for our heads. This first photo should give you an appreciation of just how steep and rocky the path to the river is. What you can't see is that it is some distance to the river.

We got to the bottom and watched them clean out the pails and then fill the buckets with water gushing through a hole in the ground. As a side note, Denise and I were expecting so much more from this 'stream' the ladies call a river - we had actually consider venturing down to bathe there...

Once the first pail was full one of the ladies plopped the head peice on top of my head and handed me a (half) full pail. I knew right away that I should not try to balance it without my hands, but felt content to carry it the way you see in the photo. However, the first time my sandaled foot stumbled on the rocky ground someone grabbed the pail from me - and we all had a good laugh.

Denise exerted a greater degree of determination than I. Not only did she balance that pail on her head with no hands (sorry, by the time I got the shot the pail had begun to tilt!) but she also carried the pail ALL THE WAY to the top...

I would say that while I thought it a good idea and much fun to try to carry the water up the hill, it was clearly Denise's 'intention' to accomplish that personal goal.

Later we were both rewarded with new names. For the rest of our stay whenever we were asked our names I would say "Nyinga Joanna Achieng nyar Kitere" and Denise would say "Nyinga Denise Atieno nyar Kitere" and we would both add "nyar Joseph Aludo"...we are saying "My name is __________ from Kitere, daughter of Joseph Aludo"...our answer to the question was always met with delighted laughter.