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Up close and personal, the Masai Dance
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The four young men who are currently being sponsored by GAD Kenya were joined by five of their friends and after a long travel and coming to a foreign place where once they were at war the young men greet us and thank us for the hope and then break out into a traditional dance that "knocked the roof off" Yes we do have video and at some point will have that to share. The heads you see in the foreground are those of the Kisii youth who are equally thrilled as we are.
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Welcome the stranger
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Our understanding is that we are our brothers keeper, we do have a responsibility to break our traditions of separation and reach out a hand. We do not believe in aide but we do practice support, encouragement and breaking down of walls of separation.
The first day the Masai were the BIG news, where once these two peoples were enemies (this fact was even shared during the greetings brought by the young men) they find more in the potential to work together and so they go forth. Our young people and the women with us were treated to a very special experience, one none of us has had before. Notice the young village boys are eager to get into the action as well.
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Healing comes in many forms
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am reading a book by Wangari Maathai who was the 2004 Nobel peace Prize winner and is a Kenya Native. In her book The Challenge for Africa she states; " Well-considered, carefully planned initiatives . . . . .that bring communities together, foster dialogue and achieve long term reconciliation could allow Africans to rise above competitive, and often petty, politics . . ." I must admit, this is not well planned it happened because two young men, friends, even though they came from different places talked openly of need and help and a Spirit of bond and working together took root to begin a new era of relationship between these peoples. I would, in my selfishness like to take credit for bringing a situation that allows for this to happen. The real truth is that the Spirit of the living creator amongst us was at work in the most amazing way, while we sat and prepared for our trip. Chris Rohio, our cameraman, more than a camera man, but a friend and fellow sojourner on this journey, was more sensitive than us westerners to the real depth of the issues involved. He sat there and repeated, this is amazing. We were all aware that something very special was happening and that we had very little to do with it. |
