The shores of Lake Victoria

We just got back from a wonderful four days in the Kisumu area, on the shores of Lake Victoria. We went with Michael and Risper Okonji to the homes where they grew up—remote rural places strewn with huge, rounded granite boulders. (Here’s an example of how some boulders got utilized by a local cell phone company.) We stayed at the compound of Michael’s father and mother, about half an hour off the pavement along a dirt road that really could have used four wheel drive. All the sons in the family have, by Luo tradition, built houses of their own on the compound, so you really have a little village. It’s a quiet, peaceful place with lots of trees and farm animals, and a constant stream of neighbors and relatives coming by to say hello.

Just getting out of the plane in Kisumu we felt we had entered a different world—with soft tropical air, and a decidedly slower pace. We had wanted for many years to meet Michael’s parents, because we had heard so much about them. They didn’t disappoint. Michael’s father has a face like Nelson Mandela’s, and a manner that is the essence of gentle kindness. He likes to laugh, and he and Michael constantly tease each other. Michael’s father is eighty now and limps badly. He spent most of his working life as a lab tech for medical research for all kinds of tropical diseases. Though he had little schooling, he became sought after by researchers from all over the planet because of his skill in reading slides. We thoroughly enjoyed him. This picture is of Michael and his father (and me) in front of the church they recently built on land they donated next to their compound. Michael’s father can no longer walk very far, so he got permission to start a new church next door. He’s very involved—a person who was “saved” in 1950 through the East Africa Revival and never got over it.

Michael’s mother, too, was a delight. She doesn’t speak English or Swahili but we got a good dose of her personality. She is an extremely short, positive, energetic, non-stop worker with a smiling, elfin face. We loved seeing the delight that Michael and Risper so obviously feel in relating to both parents! Here’s Michael’s mother (on the left) with some other ladies, doing kitchen work and talking together.

And here is the preschool the church just started in a little tin building next to the sanctuary. They have 30 adorable kids coming from the neighborhood. They acted so pleased to demonstrate that they had learned their alphabet and numbers. We would like to see whether we can start some kind of partnership with this school. They have no tables, chairs, books or toys. But they are not complaining! A preschool like this can make a huge difference in the lives of children, giving them a boost toward education.

One day we drove over to Risper’s home, to meet her mom. Here she is with Popie and Risper. She had prepared an incredible feast, and invited quite a host of neighbors and relatives, including Risper’s “other mother.” Risper’s father died a few years ago and is greatly missed—a lovely man, by all accounts. He had two wives, as remains fairly common among the Luo. These large families can have fairly complicated dynamics, to say the least.

One unexpected highlight was a trip to Kogelo, the village where Barack Obama’s father grew up, and where Barack himself has spent considerable time visiting. Popie urged us to take the trip—I was skeptical, I admit. We didn’t know what we would find, or how we would be welcomed, since we had heard that tourists were besieging the place. But it really turned out to be fun. Obama’s grandmother Sara—Mama Sara, as she is known—came out to sit with us under the mango trees, and we had a long and animated chat. Well, I shouldn’t really say “we” because it was all in Luo, but we got the interpretation later on. Mama Sara is very animated and enjoyable company. She immediately placed Michael and Risper and remembered dancing with Risper’s grandfather, whom she greatly admired. Mama Sara is on the left.