Over the past couple of weeks I've found myself witness to dozens of situations where I think to myself, wow, I've got to mention this when I write an update. Some are amusing like the guy I saw yesterday carrying a telephone pole down the street on his bike,
many are sad, but each bizarre event or activity I find myself involved in soon seems to be surpassed by the next. Like waves washing against a sandy shore, the memory of events soon fades as the next strange and unexpected event unfolds. There is good news to report however for two girls who live at Saint Vincent's, a home for crippled children we've become involved with over the past year. Both have been accepted for surgeries and
I'm busy trying to make arrangements for them to travel the 300 kilometers to Kijabe Crippled Children's Hospital near Nairobi this week where the surgeries will be performed. It's taken six months to get one of the girls, Gladys, to a healthy enough stage so she
can undergo surgery, so frail was her condition when we met her. But, God willing, she will soon be able to give up her wheelchair. The other girl, Carolyn, has both her knees fused and sits in her wheelchair with her lower legs beneath her. She has been in a sitting position for so long that now she needs corrective surgery to release her hips so she can straighten her body and, hopefully, in future learn to walk on her knees. It'll be a long road ahead with lots of hard work for both girls but a life of independence is
at the end of that road.

Carolyn

Meanwhile, back in Runo, west Pokok, the tedious task of gathering gravel to be used in mixing concrete has begun. Women for the most part undertake laborious chores in Pokot culture while the men seem to spend their days in endless meetings under shade bushes. Last week I was working on a steel roof frame, which had been twisted in heavy winds. A bunch of young men were observeing me while seated under shade bushes close by. At one point I needed help to lift a heavy piece of steel in position but couldn't seem to get these guys motivated. I finally gave instructions for the bushes to be cut down with machetes and low and behold, the bushes gone, the
young men came to help. Go figure.

Collecting gravel in West Pokot

Famine persists in the region so the women welcome the work however. The payment they'll receive for each sack of gravel gathered will enable them to buy food for their families at least. Last week I also traveled with my friend Mr. Singh up to Mount
Elgon. Our mission was to locate a small piece of land which he had received from his father's estate and on which we wanted to plant trees. It turned out to be a fascinating experience. We actually had the man with us who sold the land to Singh's father in 1991 and who was to identify the property. When we arrived we found squatters on the land who claimed to be the owners so a dispute therefore ensued. A village elder was summoned who advised us to seek the assistance of the chief for the local area. We drove to
the chief's office a few kilometers down the mountain but found only the assistant chief present. The office building was constructed from sticks and mud with a tin roof and dirt floor. It was dark and damp inside with only a window the size of a shoebox allowing light to enter. A small table with a few wrinkled papers on top of it and a single chair where positioned at one end of the small room. As is customary everyone present, (half of whom I had no idea why they were there), shook hands and greeted each other prior to being
seated on the short wood benches located along three sides of the room.
Although documents were at hand showing the legal owner was Singh's father the assistant chief began to fire questions at the man who had sold the property to him. The squatter became arrogant yet agitated, his confidence apparently boosted by the assistant
chief's actions. I didn't know it at the time but I was witnessing first hand a case of corruption of justice, so prevalent in this country. The assistant chief had been paid off. He ordered the case to a higher court, apparently to begin the endless process which
eventually wears down the legal owner by consuming his time and resources.
I was glad to exit the structure and return to the fresh air outside, my eyes re-adjusting to the bright light. We started off back down the mountain but the story took a twist when the chief whom we had originally wanted to see flagged us down in a small village seeking a lift into Kitale town center. He had obviously no idea of who we were at the time but once in the truck the case was presented to him. The chief happened to be aware of the property at issue and knew of the original sale 15 years earlier. He invited us back this week so he could hear the case for himself.

Locating property boundary Mt.Elgon

I have begun in earnest to plant trees in an effort to create jobs and therefore future income which perhaps will end the cycle of poverty for a few at least. The tree seedlings were grown in a nursery I started at Brittany's House last January. The goal is to
plant 10,000 this year and to prepare the same for next year. It's just one of the ways I'm trying to create industry rather than welfare. Aloe Vera and Temesia plants are other ideas I'm experimenting with. I'd never have dreamt I'd be involved in such ideas even a few months ago. One never knows what's around the corner, only God knows, but it's sure exciting when he reveals his ideas to you. As he does, I want to remain in His grasp.

Your friend Paul.

Paul Holgate Projects,
Medical Support International (M.S.I.)
23322 Madera Road, Suite A,
Mission Viejo, CA 92691