I love Komaza

Another video for Africa!

Travis dear has finished editing a promo for Komaza, the agri-business we worked with in Kenya.

Its main purpose is to introduce someone to Kilifi and Komaza very simply (and prettily) but it doesn't relay tons of facts or information.

Those videos are still coming, and we still need to interview Komaza's founder Tevis (hopefully we will in the fall!) since he's been here in the US, not in Kenya.

Fingers crossed!

Komaza Teaser from travispitcher on Vimeo.

Pretty, isn't it?

And our very, very VERY talented friend Micah is a composer and he wrote the music for the next video. (Not the one you just watched)

This was up right after we got home, but now it has music, so it is much better.

Towards Africa (with music!) from travispitcher on Vimeo.

28 days in Africa

A picture for every day?

And maybe a story for each one.

Oh, blast. You know I've just realized that I have at least one CF Card at home with morepictures on it. Things like giant anthills, and Freddy the Boda-Boda driver, our cook Edith, and pregnant Aberforth, and Travis trying to eat sugar cane and feed Nutella to the goats (which they didn't like at all.)

So here are 25 pictures for now, and nope, they are no longer in order:

aaaand, I still can't crop. So if they look like they ought to be horizontal then click for the full picture.

It would seem wrong to start this photo flood with a picture of someone besides Osito. Unfortunately, you can't see him unless you click on the picture.

So Osito was one of our drivers. He told us he was 26, but he also said he thought he was born in 1987. So we don't know how old he is.

Osito has, as he mournfully told me the first time we met, "never even touched an aeroplane," yet his greatest ambition is to be a famous singer in America. If he becomes a famous singer in America then he will send his giant fortune to a Kilifi orphanage.

This is a picture he asked me to take to go on the cover of his Demo Cd.

If you are wondering, Osito's "band" is really a small gospel choir.

He is not the main singer, but intends to be the only one photographed for their cover.

Oh Osito, I love you. But you also drove me nearly crazy.
This is Squeegee, our favorite wiggly skinny little puppy. He did have fleas, but we still let him in our room and I carried him around quite a bit.

I couldn't help it. Have you ever seen such a cute little guy? He is also the puppy that I mentioned being harassed by monkeys in Kilifi. I'm glad to say that he is still alive and well.
This is my cute husband filming a burning pile of trash.

First, imagine the worst smell you have ever smelled.

Now set it on fire.

There isn't a garbage system in Kenya (or most of Africa, I think.) So people throw their garbage in the woods, or if that's too big of a pain, they burn it.
This is Kilifi! Doesn't it look just perfect?

Yes, the picture below is also Kilifi, combine them into a rural and gorgeous town and you got Kilifi.

This picture was taken from the BoatYard, a little tourist restaurant that served absurdly delicious crab samosas, while you sat with your feet in perfect white sand, shaded by palm trees, and looked out at the sun setting over the Indian Ocean.

Can we talk about ideal? This was our special treat for our last day in Kenya.

We went with our friends Leah and Rajiv, our personal Kenyan tour guides, they introduced us to our favorite parts of Kilifi, like the people, and the alleyway market, and --of course-- crab samosas.
This is Osito again, in front of his Tuk Tuk. It's basically a motorized rig-shaw. He would drive us around town in it for super cheap.

I said to him, "Osito, can I take your picture in the Tuk Tuk so my family can see what it looks like?"

"Of course, of course!" he said

So I took a picture of him sitting in the Tuk Tuk seat.

"One more," he said, and he got out and crouched down next to the front.

"Another?" he asked, posing in the above position.

"Would it trouble you to take just one more?" he asked.

A dozen photos later and I am confident that I have pictures of both Osito and the Tuk Tuk from nearly every angle.

We had a bonfire on the beach one night and it was a blast. Luckily Rajiv and Travis were both boy scouts or we never would have gotten the fire started it was so windy! We ended up all crouched and huddled around it, holding a blanket over our heads to block the wind. When the papers and sticks finally caught fire my eyebrows (and everyone else's) were nearly burned off.

Lots of teeny tiny crabs (think nickel-sized) would venture near to see the fire, but become frightened and try to scurry away.

But the boys kept herding the scuttling little guys into the fire where they would scream, start to bubble, and then die.

Then the boys would pull the crab out and eat it! they said it was pretty good, but I was too squeamish to have a bite.

I think this monkey is in the Nairobi airport, although I assure you they were everywhere.

The guards in the airport absolutely hated them, but they kept sneaking in somehow.

This is Osito's band. Can you see him back there?

We have his cd if you would like a copy, and if you are feeling generous I think Osito would love to get a few US dollars in the mail.

He might even donate it to a near-by orphanage.

This picture was taken in Uganda at one of HELP Internationals Eye Camps. HELP pays for doctors and nurses who come to very rural places and give out free eye glasses and perform dozens of cataract surgeries.

Travis made good friends with the man above and followed him through the whole procedure.

He spoke very good English for living somewhere so rural.

This is us at the NILE river. We were right near the head of it, visiting some pretty little falls.

I have never been anywhere that is mentioned in the Bible, and I know it was silly, and we were very far from Egypt, but it was a very neat experience to see the Nile.

I just kept thinking about Moses, and after I thought of that (of course) I felt the need to take off my shoes.

And then I finally understood (I think) how sweet it was for Christ to wash the apostles feet. Since every day we came home and our feet were dirty and sweaty and aching, but mostly dirty, and I would have to sit down in our disgusting cold shower and try to rub my feet semi-clean.

And sitting there at the Nile with water washing over my feet just felt so heavenly.
This man is at another Eye Camp.

Travis took this picture.

Isn't it gorgeous?

This is me.

This is our driver Peter, who, if you've read other posts in Africa you will know was a very good friend.

When we were in Uganda he actually called us and once I was on the phone said "Becky, please. I miss you so much. Please, please return to Kenya."

"I would like to," I said.

"Then please come back. Come back now if you can."

It's nice to have friends who want you to visit.
Remember when we broke down in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere in the middle of Kenya.

We took some pretty long-exposure shots.

You seriously wouldn't believe the stars you can see in Africa.
Remember when the Kenyan women couldn't stop laughing at me? They helped me tie my skirt and then babbled on in Swahili and then laughed until they cried?

These are a few from the group. The girl in the black and green is the one who finally helped me.
This is a photo from when Rajiv and Leah and Travis and I had dinner with Kadzo and Bahati and they gave me my Kenyan name and then showed us their farm --which we would have destroyed if they let us keep working on it.

These are the mud huts they live in and you can see their make-shift tables and communal plates.

It was perfect. I want to do it again.

Today.
This is Elvis, Bahati's baby. All of the babies (and I even saw children who were at least three r four) are carried around like this. The fabric used is the same fabric they use as skirts (Kangas) and often the woman will wear a skirt that matches her baby-carrier.

This is Kadzo and Bahati laughing at someone (I think Leah) trying to hoe.

Don't be fooled though, they laughed much harder when I tried to hoe.

Repeatedly they took the hoe away from me and tried to reshow me how it's done.

And repeatedly I failed.

This is just a little baby tree.

And little baby me.

Some Children

I have separated photos out into several categories the first category is African Children, aka the cutest human beings on the planet.

You know those ads of crying skinny little Africans with big dark watery eyes?

They've all got big eyes, and unlike American kids they often look solemnly at the camera rather than grinning.

And if you happen to catch one of them falling down, or stubbing their toes then BAM! a sad watery eyed face that you can use in your ad about donating money. (Other than shots and one time when Monica fell down, I never saw a single child cry [Monica is the last photo, isn't she sweet?])

Anyway, I love these little guys.

Here are some of my favorite children/pictures:

hmmm, I'm having a hard time cropping things, so some of these are very goofy. But you get the gist.

Kuzungu

literally means "Little mzungu"

I think they gave Travis his name as a joke.

Kadzo, who gave me her name has a husband named Kuzungu. So she named Travis after him.
It is usually given to men who work with mzungus.
Like a taunting nick name, I think. Kuzungu! Little White Man.

I love it.

Especially since I would never describe Trav as little.

Uganda!

Can you believe it?
It's our last day in Kenya. I still can't totally take it in, but we've been here two weeks already.
Tomorrow we'll get on a plane for Uganda, where we'll stay for 8 days, and then off to England for 2 days (Oxford, hurrah!)
And then home, where I'll be thrust into the second week of summer school and work.

And suddenly I realized that we took dozens of hours of video footage and like... 6 pictures.
So today I'm trying to fill my camera.

Maybe I'll put on different shirts every few hours so it doesn't look like we were only in Kenya one day.

And friends at home... STOP.
Do not get married without me. Do not get engaged without me. Do not up and leave forever to New York without me.
Too many things are happening there that I don't want to miss.

I keep waking up very distressed by my dreams.
A dream where Suzie says they're leaving before we get back and we'll never see them again.
A dream where both the Haggen girls get married, but a terrifying Gollum-type creature tries to sabotage them and kill their new husbands.
A dream where a friend at home gets engaged and decides to get married while we're still in Africa.

I do not approve of all this. Just pause all activities at home until I can come back and be a part of them.
Deal?

Then I don't have to make Travis come snuggle me since I wake up suddenly and find that I'm crying.
I miss you all.
And I will try to write as soon as I can, but who knows what the internet in Uganda is like?

love
becky

We're still alive!

But our internet is rarely alive.

We have to come in to the office to use the internet (which sometimes doesn't work) because the internet at our house is out, perhaps eternally.
And it's hard for us to come in to the office since most days we get up early and go out filming in towns an hour or two away.

Two nights ago (Tuesday night) we drove out to Ganze (remember the town with the bumpy road to it?) and we spent the night at a farmer's house. They didn't have running water, electricity, much food, and they didn't speak English.
But it all turned out okay.
It was very beautiful nonetheless. Look at Trav's blog for photos.
They're swweeeet!
It'll blow your mind.

Love you,
Kadzo

Click on this, and all the pictures on Trav's blog.

Kadzo

Monday was a good day.

Sadly, most of the Komaza people hang out in their own houses and offices or sometimes go to the farms, but otherwise see little of the Kenyan people.
Two of our friends here, called Rajiv and Leah spend a lot of time with the Kenyans that live across the street from one of the Komaza houses. In a semi-circle of mud huts is a group of women and children (and sometimes –rarely—men) usually just sitting, cooking and talking.
When we walk by the children wave and yell Picha! Picha! (Swahili for Photograph). Among them are the kids I posted pictures of earlier. They love the camera and Travis and I would take turns taking their picture and then showing it to them. After Travis showed them he could record video they went CRAZY.
They were running, cartwheeling, jumping, dancing, singing and then running back to see what we’d filmed. They would laugh until they cried.
We brought some dinner over to the huts today and ate with Leah (who they call Leann) and Raj (who they call Safari) and two of the women from the huts.
We had lentils and stewed greens and this cream-of-wheat like corn mush.

It was actually quite good.
They speak as much English as I speak Swahili and our friends only spoke broken Swahili, so it was quite the experience.
Afterwards they asked us to their Shamba (a small personal farm) and a large group of Kenyans gathered to laugh and watch as the Mzungus tried to weed with the hoe they gave us.
We worked with them for about an hour, but we weren’t really “working” the whole time. We played with the kids (who often spoke bett
I learned all of the kids names, but have forgotten a few already (I’m sure I spelled them wrong):
Safari
Mapensee
Monika
Amani
Elvis
Riziki
Calvin
Sangalee
Sareef
Hamasi
Salema
Zambo

I don’t remember the rest.

They tried to learn our names and I constantly asked, Do you remember who I am?

They would all think very hard for a minute and then one would yell PICK! Someone else would say Picky! Then they would say Pick, Pick, Picky!
Beeecky, I would say.
Baaaach? They would repeat confused.
Ndyo!
Bick? Pick! Picky!

They can say and remember Travis, but when I pass they yell Jambo Pick!

I said to Calvin (he is 11 and has the best English) Do you call me Mzungu?
He said, oh no! we call you your name, Pick. Jambo Pick!
Everyone laughed and they yelled Jambo, Jambo Pick!

The women cannot say Becky either, or Rebeccah. So they gave me a Swahili name, it is Kadzo, the name of one of the women there.

They say they will give Travis his Swahili name tomorrow, too. They haven’t decided on one yet.

My name means Beauty, but they also told me that sometimes people just have names like Beauty, but they are not Beautiful.
I wonder if they were trying to tell me it is only a name, and it doesn’t mean they think I am beautiful. Haha, I don’t know.

Being Mormon

I forget what it’s like to be a Mormon.
I forget that we’re different, peculiar even, anywhere outside of Utah.
In Provo I’m just another leaf on the tree, and believing in Christ doesn’t set me apart, it helps me blend in.

But I am different.
Here I feel it.
All our friends go out and have a glass of wine at dinner, and we don’t. They ask us why.
Travis says he lived in Argentina for two years on a mission trip and they ask why.
They say, get used to a lot of handshakes in Kenya and we say, we’re very good at handshaking because of our own culture. Why?
We say, Oh, we’re mormons.

I forget that it comes up every single day outside of Utah. And that saying “We’re mormons” isn’t enough because then they want to know:

Do you eat any barley or is it just beer you don’t drink? Do you drink caffeine? Are you against birth control? What exactly makes you different from other Christian religions? Do they just send you out on missions with a Bible and a good luck?
Our Muslim friend asked about our schedule and beliefs concerning prayer.
An agnostic friend wanted to discuss the nature of God and the spirit of the law, versus the letter of the law.
And after I was feeling a little guilty, like maybe they’re all sick of hearing about our beliefs or they feel like we’re judging them for drinking one girl said “I’m glad that you came, even for just two weeks. Before you came God was just a running joke. I didn’t feel like I could keep my religion here. ”

And a line of scripture came to me. Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.
And I thought, I cannot stop being a mormon, or toning down my mormon-ness to make people feel more comfortable. I need to remind them, even if just through my own belief that God is real, that someone out there cares about them.
It's weird to think that maybe me being more makes people feel less uncomfortable.

I guess that’s what I miss most in Utah. I miss feeling like God can use me for something.
If he needs a tool in Provo to work a miracle or save a soul or just say a kindly word, he has hundreds of people to do it. People more qualified than me.
But in Kilfi, if he wants someone to feel like maybe it’s okay to be a Christian, or be reminded that there is a greater power than them in the world, or just discuss and ponder God…
he can use me.

My bishop isn’t here, my good roommates aren’t here, my entire University isn’t here.

Only I am.

And I like when it’s only me. Or, you know, me and Travis. Because that’s when I remember that we aren’t like other people and we don’t want to be.

We want to be like Christ.

Mormon.org

Update on Africa

Remember how we're going to KENYA this summer to film a documentary?

Well NOW we're also going to UGANDA! We'll be filming two documentaries there as well for Help International. Travis did a doc for them last week for Tipping Bucket. (Check it out, and think about adding a drop to the bucket -- just a dollar donation is all they're asking for!)

Two of my friends will also be in Uganda with Help International this summer, Paige and Nicole and I'm excited to think I might get to see them working to change the world, and bring sight to the sightless. Check out the Help International Website, or just watch this three minute film and learn all 'bout what we be doing this summer.
YAY!


And if you've forgotten what we're doing in Kenya, then check out Komaza's website and learn a little bit more about micro farming. We'll be making a doc about them first!

Questions about Africa

Yesterday a travel warning was issued by the US for Kenya. (Read the info here.)
We aren't really worried, since the warning is for the opposite side of the country, along the Somalian and Ethiopian borders, and because it warns especially against big cities, riots, etc and we will be in a tiny town far from cities, but it has given us food for thought.
And I suspect it will worry our mothers and grandmothers.

SO. Here is a proposition. No matter how many times you call and say, "Where will you be sleeping?" I forget to ask.
But we're have a skype call with Komaza (the organization) soon and we're going to write down all of our questions for them ahead of time.
If you have any questions to add to the list, PLEASE leave them in the comments.
Don't just call and tell me, I'll forget.
I assure you, I will forget.

Also, you may leave questions, comments, or concerns even if you are not my mother or grandmother.

Guess Who's Going to KENYA!

Becky and Travis are going to Kenya!

We each got grants of 2500$ to go and film a short documentary in Kenya from the PEERY Foundation.
Whatwhatwhat! I am so pumped. (Travis is so pumped that he is excitedly writing on his blog about it and ignoring his hot wife.)

So we'll probably be going sometime around endofMay and beginningofJune.
We'll be there for two weeksish and we'll be making a short doc on KOMAZA, a social entrepreneurship that helps down and out farmers afford drought-resistant fast-growing trees that can be sold for lumber.
They be changing the world, and we be making a movie bout it. YO!

p.s. Dad, before I forget: Will you bring the 50mm lens down when you guys come? For ma b-day? Thanks much. I will use it in Kenya to take beautiful pictures.
Hopefully not unlike THESE by photographer Amelia Lyon. She just went to Haiti. Are her photos not stunning?

That's all.
Except did I mention that WE ARE GOING TO AFRICA THIS SUMMER AND SOMEONE IS PAYING THE BILL FOR BOTH OF US?

Because that is the case. We are officially a "team." We applied as a team. We be going as team.
The great Becky and Travis Pitcher: highly respected writers, photographers, and please don't forget... Film makers.

BooYAH!