Pix Aid

8 March 2007, London

I’m excited about going back to Africa, a very fascinating continent filled with surprises. Our trip this time has been extended so we can travel to Uganda to do another story, also on water. So I will be gone for a week and get to return to Kampala and the beautiful source of the Nile river!

As London has been a target of terrorism; security is very strict to the level of overkill. Lines are very long. Transferring from terminal two to terminal four you have to pass through yet another security check. Turning the corner in a long hallway, I discover an enormous room filled with travelers. The English have a great sense of humor and the security officer ushering people into lines cries “Welcome to hell and chaos” as we join the mob. But the line goes quicker than I had thought and in 10-15 minutes I popped out the other end and could get to the gate on time.

I try to avoid London because they are very strict on hand-baggage. As a cameraman, I have to carry the camera on board because it is so fragile. Usually, I carry an extra backpack where I keep an extra battery, tapes and things I could use if the baggage gets lost. That way, I can work at least a day until the baggage arrives. It also leaves space in my checked baggage for my personal items, like clothes. So now, I don’t have that extra space and will now be wearing the same clothes for a week!

I meet Julian, the same journalist I worked with in Almeria, at the gate and he handed me a stack of documents to read on the plane, which I did, but only after watching the new James Bond film… I thought the film wasn’t as good as previous James Bond films. The flight was over eight hours, but the plane wasn’t too full so the flight was comfortable.

At Kenyatta International Airport we were met by customs officials who said we couldn’t come in with camera equipment without importation papers. This is normal. For some incomprehensible reason, a single cameraman with equipment falls into the same category as a whole film crew, which can come into a country with truckloads of equipment. Anyway, our coordinator didn’t forward any equipment list so we were stuck.

The worst thing to do in such a situation is get angry or lose patience. We called the people we were to meet and waited patiently. I talked to the customs officials and told them we were just filming for an NGO and told them about the subject. They were very interested and had heard of solar disinfection. I said we may be filming in Kibera, which is the one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, slums in the world. One of the officials used to live the there and we talked about the horrible conditions people have to endure there. After a bit, they said just go ahead and they wished us luck! I think a smile and respect go a long way further than anger and arguing.

9 March 2007, Nairobi, Kenya

We are filming the work of ICROSS, an NGO working with the poorest of the poor in a few countries. They have been using solar disinfection among the Maasai people for over 10 years with success. ICROSS was founded by Michael Meegan, a man filled with passion for life. His story is incredible, having lived with the Maasai in their cow-dung huts for some 16 years and speaking nine different tribal languages!

The water becomes a murky yellow after four hours in the sun.

He gave me his newest book “Surprised by Joy” which he signed for me writing backwards! He said he has always written his notes backwards. You should pick up his book (proceeds go directly to finance his work at ICROSS) and gain from his long years of experience and adventure with the most fascinating people.

This morning we are off to the village of Kaiyiongo in the area of Longausua. The ICROSS team, Saruni (a long-time Maasai friend of Mike’s), Joe, our driver and Ali, an American-Pakistani student doing research with ICROSS, accompanied Julian and me.

Along the way we pass towns with small stores, repair shops and cafés lined up on either side of the Great Northern Road connecting Cairo with Johannesburg. A bad career choice here would be barber or hair dresser because it seems everyone has their head completely shaved, men, women and children. You see people dressed in traditional red clothes draped over their shoulders like Saruni as well as people dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. The Maasai are a handsome people… very tall and lean with soft eyes and although they may look at you at first with a neutral expression, when you smile back, their faces light up showing very nice white teeth!

Nurse Silvia Gaaji prescribes medicine for a Maasai child suffering from Malaria.

Dr. Steve Masenke brings us to the clinic set up by ICROSS in the village. He and nurse Silvia Gaaji work at the Dr. Joe Barnes (co-founder of ICROSS) Dispensary. It is the only medical center for miles and serves 40,000 people in this large region, treating all sorts of water-born diseases, malaria, trachoma, etc. Dr. Masenke confirms that since the introduction of solar disinfection, the rate of disease has greatly decreased and the people have adopted the system after seeing for themselves that their children were healthier.

To illustrate our story, we went with some women to fetch water. It seems this is “women’s work” or even children’s work, because you never see men doing it. But they are probably busy with the cattle or fields. Fetching water is no simple task either. It can be some 10 kilometers by foot carrying heavy plastic jerry cans. Here the water is only two kilometers away and the sun is occasionally blocked by clouds so it doesn’t seem so hot.

Sinchore and her perpetual smile.

Sinchore is eight years old and has a perpetual smile on her face. I don’t know whether it was the excitement of the presence of these white foreigners with a big camera, but she skipped almost the whole way to the water hole! At the hole, she filled her jerry can and carried it all the way back, her smile as big as ever. She wore a faded, ripped dress and worn rubber sandals.

To the right, a Maasai grandmother plays with her laughing grandson. Above, Sinchore and friend gaze at the camera with their youthful eyes full of wonder.

Back in the mantyata, or village, I filmed them pouring the water into clear plastic bottles and putting them on the roofs of their huts. The water is dark brown, filled with sediments. After four hours the sediments fall to the bottom and the water is sort of yellow. Solar disinfection is energy efficient because they don’t have to use wood to create a fire to boil the water. Another point very important to the Maasai, is that it doesn’t change the taste of the water. I’m sure the water wouldn’t be to our taste (I didn’t try it!) but the Maasai like the earthen taste and have been known to add a little dirt to boiled water!

Walking back to the dispensary, a cloud came up and it started to rain. The school next door had just let out and kids were playing football with what looked to be old rags tied together to make a ball. Ali, from ICROSS, had been to the village before and had promised to bring them a ball the next time he came. True to his word he gave them the ball and the children went wild, kicking it between them.

Ali also had the idea to call ahead to a roadside restaurant to order Nyama Choma or charcoal broiled goat. On our way back, we stopped in a dimly lit roadside hut and a man came out with 3 kilos of roasted goat and proceeded to chop it up on our table. It was very tasty with minced and spiced tomatoes and onions! The bill came to 700 shillings, a little over 10 dollars for seven people… Ali’s gracious treat!

So, between the smile of a young Maasai girl skipping along a dusty path for water and the benevolent eyes of a Maasai grandmother watching over her laughing grandson, my day was enchanting.

10 March 2007

After yesterday’s shooting, we think we have our story. But because there were quite a bit of clouds, we thought we would visit another village to see how they use solar disinfection and maybe to get some sunnier pictures. So we are off to the village of Oloomunyi where 20 people live, all from the Olowuas family.

When you enter a Maasai village, the children run up to greet you. In a sign of respect, they bow their heads for you to touch. They are very curious, as most children. The smaller ones are a bit scared of these pale people. I was filming a few kids and when I stopped, one reached out to touch my arm. He stroked it then brought his hand back to smell his fingers. They were oily from the sun lotion I had on for protection.

Naisimoi, 4 years old.

He had never seen or smelt that! His father, who could speak English, said the kids were surprised to see hair on the arm and they thought the lotion smelled good! I stood there with about five kids feeling my arm and smelling the lotion and giggling.

Gladys, at left, and her friend Nalamai pause a moment at the waterhole.

This time we followed Gladys, 28 years old and Nalamai, 22 years old to the water source. They both have two children. The Maasai men can have many wives and I asked Gladys, who surprised me with her English, what she thought about her husband taking another bride. She said she didn’t really like the idea, but that’s the way things were and she couldn’t do anything about it. Rationalizing, she said another women would be able to help with the family chores. I put the same question

later to Saruni who said he has one wife, but is looking for another.

The women and children tied bands of cloth around the jerry cans and hung it on their forehead with the heavy plastic container resting against their back. I tried to do the same, but I must not have neck muscles at all because it actually hurt right away let alone walking for miles that way. They made it look easy... even the young kids did this!

No exaggeration... this hurts!

In the car on the way back to Nairobi, Saruni, still dressed in his red Maasai clothes, began to sing traditional songs for us. The songs are stories mixed with breathing and grunting sounds as he thrusts his chest in and out. The stories are of lion killing and bravery. A young Maasai boy has to kill a lion to become an adult. Today, they still do this, but go as a group. Saruni said it takes a lot to kill a lion with a spear. When the group kills the lion, the boys run up to it to try to be the first to cut off it’s tail and attach it to their spear. Everyone passes the test to manhood, but the boy with the tail receives special honors.

11 March 2007

Last day in Kenya… we interview Mike before he takes off on a long journey to Asia telling people about his experience and ideas on public health. After lunch, we head for the airport to take a plane to Entebbe, Uganda to start the next shoot. This one is about water as well. We will be working with the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), doing a story on the Nile Basin Initiative, trying to inform decision makers about the water situation among the ten countries depending on water from the Nile.

We are greeted at the airport by Bart Hilhorst, water resources specialist at FAO. No problems at customs this time… went right through the green line (nothing to declare) with no hassle.

I think Bart noticed our surprise at seeing the hotel. We had come from working with a small NGO being lodged at their office’s guesthouse, sleeping under mosquito nets to arrive at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel. Actually, I prefer to stay at a guesthouse because you are closer to the people you are working with and I like simpler atmospheres. But the resort hotel was right next to the FAO offices and we got special UN rates of 82 dollars a night for these luxury suites. It is still a lot when you think that the people whose lives FAO is trying to better earn less than a dollar a day. I like a place with some security because of the equipment we work with, but a 5-star hotel is a bit much for me. On the other extreme, I don’t know if I would last long living in a mud hut either!