A Day in the Life

At the Shiriki Farm in Maragua, Kenya, the volunteers rise early to engage in physical exercises to prime themselves for the day, before breaking the fast.

After a brief work meeting, they dispatch to various stations of duty. Ras Muiruri, Ras Rukundo and  Ras Innocent will continue working a portion of the land with their hand hoes (jembes) in preparation for the up-coming long rains, which are anticipated any time now. 

The main activity on the land is clearing and digging, as well as spreading manure. So as to lessen reliance on the increasingly unpredictable weather, the youthful volunteers have gone ahead and planted some of the season’s crops and continued irrigating manually. Thus we are ahead of season, which is good.

The long term crops from last season, such as cassava, pumpkin, pigeon peas, sugar cane bananas and yams are doing well. The sweet potatoes are now ready for harvest. A lot of trees have been planted at the farm and are also progressing well. Shorter term crops such as chicken peas and kales are also doing well under irrigation. Eggplants and hibiscus in the nursery await transplanting with the rains. There are also experimental crops of barley, tef, butterbeans and more.

Ital Wandutu, steps up for mess duty (ministry of internal affairs), and will for the rest of the day work out a suitable cuisine for the royal table. This is in additional to other matters of cleanliness around the camp.

Ras Abasa and Ras Githaka set off to one of the local primary level schools to see the authorities about partnering on environment related education and activities. It happens that some of the little youth who have been visiting the camp, building up the tree nurseries together with the volunteers are from this school. The reception from the students is overwhelming. The senior teachers are also welcoming and receptive to our suggestions.  They will be getting back to us officially. The two brethren proceed to town after the school visit to attend to some official transactions.

Back at the camp, Ital Wandutu has prepared a meal worth of the hardworking warriors and they happily indulge. The sun is burning hot.

In the afternoon, Ras Muiruri proceeds to town too, to deliver some orders for some of the artwork the volunteers have been doing. The demand for the art, which includes shoes, bracelets, chains, scarves and other items, has been on the rise. The income has been very helpful with the running of the camp. It is gratifying to see the young of the community willing to learn these skills from the volunteers, as it is obvious that these services are required.

Ras Muiruri on scarf production.

As the hot afternoon wears on, the volunteers busy themselves with chores which do not require much physical exertion. Today is Friday, and as we prepare the Sabbath rest, the brethren finish off the afternoon with laundry and such tasks.

A stir around the camp as Faya Ngash arrives from Nairobi in the late afternoon, to strengthen the force. What a joyful reunion! He brings with him a heavy load of avocado seedlings and sugar cane cuttings for planting. The future is mercifully assured.

 Evening and the volunteers sit around the fireplace under the open skies. Various healing herbs are passed around and there is extended reasoning on life’s responsibilities, spirituality and the running of the works. A healthy, natural meal, consisted of organic ingredients FROM the Shiriki farm nourishes the volunteers to satisfaction. The word sound goes on to the late hours and the brethren enter the Sabbath rest ready for renewal and replenishment.  

 This is the life.