For the second time in twelve months I find myself in the northern part of Kenya, in the area generally known as the Horn of Africa.

My wife Jackie and I arrived here last week to a flurry of texts from family members in the UK advising us that bombs had been detonated in Nairobi that day and to be careful. The airport in Nairobi seemed quiet and then the TV monitors announced another bombing and more deaths and injuries.

We made ourselves comfortable in our Nairobi lodgings on that first evening and assessed the situation by chatting to some locals that we knew. Our decision was to stay. In the meantime, some other guests at the Aero Club of East Africa had decided enough was enough and this surely could be the start of a war, so they hurriedly phoned around to their contacts trying to find the safest way to the nearest Marine Base. Doing their best not to incite panic, yet telling everybody what they were doing and talking in very loud voices on their cell phones; it almost became comical.

Thankfully, we had a few meetings in Nairobi the next day where there was no sign of panic, mayhem or concern and then we rented our vehicle to drive to the north. The purpose of this article is to share how the other few billion people live on the planet as we all discuss the divide between the rich and the poor at the moment which appears to be the topic of choice currently.
 

Photo: Contributed

Jackie exiting a Samburu home.

We were once again hosted by the Samburu people who we are helping with our charity, Rally4Life. They are the most gracious hosts, they smile through adversity, they are ever hopeful of a better existence and they deal with their circumstances the best they can.

Their circumstances are pretty dire, it must be said. They suffer with drought continually, this year, so badly that they have lost most of their livestock. For them, the livestock are their currency. They are nomadic herders and spend the year grazing their cattle, goats and camels to make money... life gets a lot tougher when your bank account empties despite your best efforts.
 

This year we were able to get to know some of these nomadic people very well indeed and were privileged to look inside their homes. The average Samburu home is about 5 feet tall and 60 square feet with no power, running water or heating/cooling. It is usually a multi generational home, the one we visited being occupied by Mum, Dad, Grandad and two children, oh and a chicken and two goats.
 

Photo: Contributed

Mark in a Samburu kitchen.

As you enter, the first thing you notice is that there actually is a floor plan. The interior has walls, dividing the entrance from the kitchen which leads to the bedroom. The kitchen and entrance way are approximately the same size, 5’ x 3’. Once you open the door to the home, it renders the entrance way useless in fact. The stool in the home, that the cook sits on is about 6” high and there are no windows, because that would allow the rains in, there are a few small cracks to allow the smoke to escape, although looking at the bronchial infections everyone had, that likely was not too effective.

The bedroom, that slept all five people in this instance was no larger than 5’ x 8’, too small for your average North American bed although they managed to find a way to add in a couple of chests for clothes, and clearly the chicken in the kitchen enjoyed laying eggs there...

We can be confused into thinking that we have a difficult life, and I don’t mean to belittle anyone’s personal challenges, but it is not hard to feel like we live a life of abundance when you meet people like this in a developing country.

The good news is that a lot in the Samburu costs roughly $2,000. That is easily affordable for us, but when you repeatedly lose your livestock, it becomes very challenging. Did I tell you they are dying because of unsafe water?

I think we are doing OK despite the economy.