Story and photos by Jessica Lee

While traversing the countryside of Kenya by bus, a traveler gets a lesson in the country’s peculiar acronym-laden buffet of Christianity.

Haman Peter gripped his tattered green bible in his hand.

“You know Jessica,” he said eying up my cigarette, “addiction is wrong.”

He brought the bible down with a slap onto the metal bar in front of my seat.

“You must (slap). Give this smoking up (slap) Jessica. The Lord does not want you to smoke (slap). I Haman Peter know this is true (slap). That is Haman Peter me. Not the one in the bible (slap).”

I nodded as I lurched to the left, smacking my head against the window frame as the bus pitched over a particularly large muddy pothole.

“Haman is a man in the old testament book of Esther,” he told me. “Haman he was hung by Queen Esther. But Jessica (slap), I am not that Haman. I am me (slap).”

He balanced remarkably straight as he loomed over my seat and thumped his chest for emphasis.

“I am P.C.A.” He announced, “Pentecostal Church of Africa.”

And as the bus juddered and shook, and the pile of boxes and luggage in the aisle shifted dubiously into a position ready to avalanche on top of me, Haman Peter raised his eyebrows and thrust the dog-eared bible towards me.

Haman Peter’s sudden confession of Christian devotion didn’t surprise me. In Kenya, I’d already found out, religion was a serious business. My first morning in Nairobi I had picked my way along the pitted pavement of River Road; past the ragtag touts hollering their sales pitch over pirate CDs and cardboard boxes of cast-off clothing. The city smelled of fried chicken and exhaust fumes, and sounded like the bounding bass of Benga but the capital’s backbone still seemed strangely straight-laced.

I’d sprawled on the saggy bed of my cheap hostel and flicked through the local newspaper. Under the hole-studded mosquito net, I skimmed the entertainment section and the daily radio schedule stopped me in my tracks. Nation FM’s Early Morning segment promised “inspirational soul food” to start my day. In the evening Radio Waimini gave its listeners a double helping of Vatican Radio while Family FM headed up the major competition with a line up that included Family Prayer Circle, Through the Bible and the ominously titled “Music You CAN Believe in.” It all sounded rather depressingly staid though the cinema schedule cheered me up somewhat.

Down on Jogoo Road, Eastlands Cinema was running a six-movies-for-one-ticket promotion on both of their screens. Screen Two’s billing was a heavy going thwack over the head with a bible featuring Jesus Christ Movie, The Ten Commandments and Samson and Delilah but curiously on Screen One the schedule was advertised as “Strickly [sic] Adults Only.” A flesh-marathon with enigmatic names such as Touch of Love, Honey Moons and Hot Dreams.

I wondered what happened when someone accidentally walked into the wrong screen at the movies. Think of the shock of sitting down with your popcorn, expecting a robed-up Charlton Heston on Mt Sinai, and finding yourself facing some up-front action with Hot Dreams instead. Or making the opposite mistake—probably just as traumatizing for the would-be voyeur. Did anyone ever move between screens on purpose for a dose of porn and prayer? Watching a bit of ‘Touch of Love’ and then jumping over to Screen Two for some old prophet action in The Ten Commandments would be sort of like an instant confession. Bless me father for I have sinned. It’s been five minutes since my last masturbation.

Kenya’s rather conservative outlook was obviously a lot more complicated than I first thought.

Are you A.I.C. or P.C.E.A.?

I traveled north to Nyahururu simply because I liked the way the syllables sounded when I said them. It was a scrappy mountain town of low-rise concrete slab buildings where the two paved roads were busier with bicycles than cars. Just down the road, among the wooden shacks of the tourist bazaar beside Thompson Falls, I met Peggy at her stall, surrounded by a Lilliput zoo of miniature wooden giraffes and elephants. As soon as I sat down, she announced that she was A.I.C, the Africa Inland Church.

“Jess what religion are you?” Peggy asked and I answered that I didn’t really have one and don’t go to church.

She looked at me and frowned.

“Lots of people in New Zealand don’t go to church.” I tried to explain.

“No churches in New Zealand?”

“No, lots of churches just not a lot of people go to them.”

“People in New Zealand no go church but still good people?” Peggy asked.

“Well, some good and some bad.”

Peggy sighed and smiled. “Kenyan people all go to church but still do bad things.”

She showed me photos of her children, both still toddlers and born to different fathers.

“No husband. Only boyfriend,” she said as she tucked the photos back in the drawer. “Only boyfriend to make baby and then boyfriend run.”

Continue to Page 2 – Kenya

It’s not often that I’m able to make a direct connection between Zambia and the small Texas town of Bastrop.

Thanks to this year’s Passports with Purpose – the annual travel bloggers’ fundraiser – I can support both education in Africa and a town near me that is recovering from terrible wildfires.

We’re working to raise US$80,000 through PwP to build two libraries in southern and eastern Zambia.  Wow. That’s the building construction, all the books and educational materials, teacher training and support for three years.

Last year we raised enough money (mostly in US$10 increments) to build an entire village in southern India in partnership with Friends of LAFTI.  This year, PwP is partnering with Room to Read for the libraries.

It works rather like a raffle – in addition to the goodie we’re showcasing below, you can browse through this full list of travel-related prizes and bid for chances to win whichever ones appeal to you.  At the end of the fundraiser – it runs through December 16, 2011 – one winner of each prize will be randomly selected from all of those who have bid for it.  A $10 donation per bid is suggested, but if you don’t want to make a donation, mail one self addressed stamped envelope to: Passports with Purpose, P.O. Box 16102, Seattle WA 98116.  Include the name of the prize you are entering to win.

A huge thank you to Hyatt Hotels, who sponsored the prize featured here on the Perceptive Travel Blog:  a two-night stay at the lovely Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa in Bastrop (near Austin.)

This prize is special to me because I enjoyed a stay at the resort with my family awhile back;  the room was nice and comfy, food was very good, the staff was helpful and friendly and the water park/pool area (complete with a Lazy River) was a huge hit.

We didn’t get around to some of the other recreational offerings on the Colorado River running through the property, or in the adjacent 1,100-acre McKinney Roughs Nature Park, but that simply means we’ll have to return!

More importantly, the unique Lost Pines area where the Resort is located suffered absolutely devastating wildfires this past September. Record high temperatures, particularly severe drought and high winds contributed to the destruction of most of the distinctive loblolly pines, two people were killed and 1600+ homes burned.

It was the most destructive single wildfire in Texas history, and I could smell and see the smoke from it in my front yard more than 30 miles north.

Consequently, even though the quaint Main Street town of Bastrop (a National Trust Distinctive Destination) and the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort are just fine and are open for business, tourism has suffered and the downtown Bastrop businesses are struggling to convince visitors that the whole town didn’t burn down.

Offering this prize is one small way to both support Passports with Purpose and highlight the recovery of a special place.

For a chance to win this prize or one of many others, go here to the PwP Prize List/Donate page and follow the directions.

(Note: our Hyatt Lost Pines prize is for a two-night stay 1/1/2012 – 12/30/2012. It’s good for nights Sunday through Thursday – based on availability – and is not valid during holiday periods or Spring Break.)

Thanks for your support of Passports with Purpose, and I look forward to showing off some photos of the libraries in Zambia in the next year or so.

If you like this post, please consider subscribing to the blog via RSS feed or by email – the email signup link is at the top of the right sidebar near the Search box. Thanks!)

Perhaps you’ve been saddened by reports coming out of the Horn of Africa.

The eastern part of Africa is going through the worst drought the area has faced in decades. In Somalia, this difficult situation is made worse by political unrest, so that people are leaving the country for safety as well as to seek food and work. Kenya, Ethiopia, and other neighboring countries face their own problems with the drought and are now also dealing with refugees from Somalia streaming in.

There are many thoughts about what could have, might have, and should have been done to prevent this situation. PBS Newshour offers a balanced story on this.

Whatever you may decide about causes and solutions, at this time, people need food to live. What if there were a way for you help provide for that need, learn something in the process, and it would not cost you anything?

You might even have fun in the process. The UN World Food Program has a site called Free Rice, which has two purposes: to provide education for all, and to help those in need by providing food. What happens is, visitors to the site can choose to play educational games. You can build your vocabulary skills in English, French, and several other languages, try your hand at math equations and chemistry problems, see how much you know abut world literature, identify countries on the map or see if you know flags of the world, for example. You can switch among topics as you like, as well, and there is no sign in required. For each answer you get right, you’ll see a little graphic indicating that ten grains of rice have gone to the program. You can also read further at the site to see what this means and how sponsors pay for this.

This site has been up and running for some time, and it’ll be around after the crisis in east Africa has faded from the headlines. It offers a continuing way to help the world’s hungry, and to learn new things about the world while doing so.

other ways you can help the situation in the Horn of Africa

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“There are so many cultures. There are so many people like us, who adhere strictly to their heritage yet mix constantly. People are in contact with the world, but they are very proud of their ancestors and culture.” So says musician Zolani Mahola, explaining the vibe and focus of the band Freshlyground, in which she is singer and lyricist. The seven member band is from South Africa.

Guitar, flute, violin, percussion, mbira, voice, classical training and Americana influences, and tribal roots from Xhosa to Zulu and beyond: Freshyground do indeed bring a mix of backgrounds to creating their music, which they usually do together, working out jams and lines in twos and threes and then coming together to finish the songs, which often hold the groove of sunny Afro pop and spin of Cape Town jam along with lyrics that are equally likely to speak of love or politics. Guitarist Julio Sigauque heard his grandmother sing Moto, a song from civil war times in Mozambique, and the band took the idea to groove that is open and new, and distinctly African. Mahola uses call nd response form, an integral part of many sorts of African music which also finds a home in North American gospel, for her song Waliphalala’lgazi, written in the Xhosa language.

Kyla Rose Smith adds violin to the mix, drawing on background in Americana, bluegrass, and Zulu music. She uses traditional Zulu double stops and intervals in her playing. “The violin parts sound similar to the Zulu maskanda guitar style,” Smith says. “The sound is almost Irish, but the harmonies are uniquely South African.” Smith’s playing is well showcased on the piece Baba.

Even for multicultural South Africa, the seven musicians of Freshyround seem slightly unlikely pop stars. In a few years, thought, they have grown from having a small grassroots following to hitting the charts in their home country and singing with Shakira on the 2010 FIFA World Cup theme Waka Waka This Time for Africa. They have engaged audiences in Japan and Latvia, and on foot of their new album Radio Africa, they are making their first appearances in North America this summer. Freshylyground will play a series of dates beginning at the famed Iron Horse Music Hall in Massachusetts and finishing on the stages of the Vancouver Folk Festival in British Columbia.

photograph by Mischa Taylor

Pytheas was a Greek who lived almost four hundred years before the Christian era. Perhaps it was in part his interest the mathematics of navigation which led him to sail from his home in on the Mediterranean coast of what is now France, to leave behind the limits of the known world as he passed Cape Saint Vincent in what is now Portugal, and to sail on, looking for a sea route for the tin trade. He passed Caithness, in Scotland, and sailed on to Unst, in the Shetlands, which was then the most northerly place where people lived in those islands. He saw the northern lights.

In the first part of the fourteenth century AD, Ibn Battuta set out from his home in Morocco. Set out many times, in fact, in journeys that took him as far east as China, and south as far Mogadishu and Mombassa in Africa. He went west as far as Tangier, and traveled to the Caspian Sea, India, and Timbuktu, a scholar and a judge in search of knowledge, and a man of faith who made the pilgrimage to Mecca seven separate times.

Sebastian Cabot lived in the fifteenth century, setting out from his home in England to sail around Scandinavia seeking a northeast passage to Asia, exploring the Rio de la Plata in South America, seeking spice and gold, and heading out on a voyage to North America where he explored what is now Newfoundland. Henry Hudson sought that northeast passage too, also exploring the river in New York and the bay in Canada which bear his name. Vitus Bering left his name on maps as well, as he sought a land bridge between Russia and North America. Charles Darwin and Alexander von Humbodldt were as interested in science as they were geography. Francis Xavier and David Livingstone (yes, that one, of ‘Livingstone I presume’) were missionaries taking their faith to foreign lands. Columbus, Magellan, Cook, Sir Francis Drake, Vasco Da Gama, Freya Stark, Thor Heyerdahl, John Franklin, Jacques Cousteau, Neil Armstrong –dozens of people, whose stories are told in the book Explorers: Tales of Endurance and Exploration, a joint project of The Smithsonian Institution and the Royal Geographic Society, with Ellen Namey as project coordinator.

It is a thoughtful book, with stories told — and well told — as much through map and image and graphic as through narrative. A narrative of people reaching for the limits of what they know, and reaching beyond them, set in context and in time, reaching from the story of the ancient Egyptian Harkhuf who journeyed along the Nile to expand the knowledge of the then known world to the story of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who ventured into space to do the same. Then there is Norwegian polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen, who said “The difficult is what takes a little time. The impossible is what takes a little longer.”

At first glance, you could think that this is a coffee table book, meant to flipped through casually. It’s not. It is a work meant to be explored and savored.

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