The Island Part 2

We go to the village after a breakfast of peanut butter and banana sandwiches, which we also had last night for dinner. We put up mosquito nets with the Chairman’s help. Jeff went with Moses and Kelley and I went with Juliet. We first give nets to pregnant woman and then families with small children (malaria can cause birth defects.) We put up over 50.

Then we walk about five miles to the East side of the Island to meet Erin and Nuru (who have been meeting with people Volset gave small loans – to see how their investments are doing. Most of these people are HIV+)

We eat lunch. Beans with Chapti (kind of like flat bread they use in rolexes) cut up in the bowl. We welcome the variation.

The fishing villages, particularly, have drinking problems. They make their own brew. Four men, sitting around a jerry can full of their own alcohol with drinking straws, invite me to drink as I walk by. Thank you but no thank you.

The nets have chemicals in them to kill mosquitoes and now my face is on fire. Even after I take a shower (in the bushes by the house) my eyelids burn.

There is a little girl in the village who has cut her finger with a razor blade. She must have been playing with it. I think her mom might use it for her work. I use my first-aid kit for the first time. I am very careful to not get any blood on me. The girl didn’t know what was going on or what was on her finger (a Band-Aid) but she seemed content with the whole situation.

One of the kids in the village waits for me outside each house we put up nets in, so he can hold my hand as we walk to the next. Most of the kids, after they get over the shock and fear of seeing a muzungo, come and hold my hand and fingers and stroke the hair on my arm. One time a kid looked up at me and said, after further inspection, “the same.”

We finish giving out the 100 nets. All in one day - a new Volset record.

Fields of grass – the sun setting. Dinner is ready (when it’s still light out!)

Africa is beautiful right now.