Yeen Lan stayed very busy trying to get a
birth certificate for each child. It was a major task. Many public officials
just didn't care. Or at best, were very lax.
She would get all her paperwork in order, drive a long way over very
rough roads to get to court, get it before a judge, only to face total
incompetency. It just wouldn't be ready. Sometimes, they would complain about
all the work involved, expecting a bribe. She would just stare them down,
saying, "I only want you to do your job." Then repeat it.
Sometimes, she would be told at the very
end, "This requires a parent's signiture."
"So, you're telling me, I just need to
take this orphan out to the cemetery, dig up a parent, and get a
signature?"
Once, a Judge told her he had left the
papers at home. "So let's go get them." The Judge pointed to a long
waiting line. "I'm sure they would all be willing to wait, so this child
can get an identity." So they did. Anything to get this woman off his
back. At home, the Judge couldn't find them. She started through his papers,
and found them.
It was time for our safari. We were to
fly, instead of driving as was normally the case, because people were still
killing each other in the countryside. When we arrived at the dirt runway in
our thirty passenger plane, a man was busy clearing the wild animals off the
runway. We were at the Masai Mara, the Kenyan portion of the Serengeti. When we
stepped out, our guide had a small folding table set up beside his four wheel
drive vehicle. He constantly watched for dangerous animals while we had cookies
and tea.
Our guide, Wesley, drove toward Kichwa
Tembo camp, which would accomodate sixty or so, but only we and fourwomen were
there now. All white people in Kenya now were still UN related or missionaries,
and this group was no exception. Wesley had been one of Kenya's top distance
runners. He told us they all got into distance running because it was the only
chance they would have to come to America. He ran a four minute flat mile in
the finals, but didn't qualify.
We went to our tent to stow our stuff, and
get ready for our first outing. Monkeys were all around us, and warthogs were
everywhere. When we left our tent, I tied the doorway tightly, as instructed,
to keep out baboons. Our first trip went well, for a time. It was a big plain
with sparce trees. Many large animals could be seen scattered throughout the
plain. After we had gotten a good close up look at a lot of animals, and were
miles from camp, a major storm blew up just before dark. Wesley got out rain
gear for us all in that open Jeep, But it did little good in this storm. The
plain was flooded, and we got stuck, again and again, each time finally
managing to get out. After dark, I kept my face covered to try to keep out some
of the rain. I once looked out, just as a big lion jumped out from in front of
the jeep, and stared at us hard. I knew this was the last place on earth that I
wanted to spend the night. We finally got back to our tent, on the edge of the
plain. We were protected from the animals outside by a couple of strands of
electrified wire. We were freezing, but felt safer, and they had placed hot
water bottles in our beds. Two guards wandered about, armed with bows and
arrows."Arrows? against a Lion?" I thought. But These were Masai
warriors, the most experienced people in the world with Lions. I had read that
President Obama had also used Masai warriors for security when he went on
safari.
Early the next morning, I was awakened by
big animals of some description, growling loudly, around our tent. "You've
got to be kidding me," I thought. This just had to be recordings, played
to make our experience more real. Didn't need that. It had been far too real
already, last night. Turned out, a warthog was in heat and a couple of males
were fighting.
Once in the Jeep for our morning outing,
Wesley got a message from another guide, in Swahili, so we didn't get the
drift, But he headed out fast. On the way, he explained, Large animals just see
the Jeep as one big unit. Step out of the Jeep, they see you as a meal. Don't
get out for any reason. He told us of a honeymoon couple a few weeks earlier.
They were filming a lion, and the husband stepped out to get a better picture.
The wife was operating a video, and she filmed her husband's death. CONTINUED
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