v2#10

Still in Canada. Leaving for Thailand this week. I've been home actually for almost two months, and I must admit it's been nice. Had some down time, had a chance to do some of the fun things I like to do here, and spent a lot of time reading. Reading mostly about plants of Northern Thailand as well as other work related topics. Don't get me wrong, I still get this adrenaline rush when those big turbine engines kick in and the plane lurches forward, pulling off what always seems impossible to me, which is launching that huge chunk of metal, and 300 people, and all their luggage (do you see what some of these people take?) into the air. I find my adrenaline levels tend to stay elevated for the duration of the trip--whether it's one week or one month, or longer, I find I'm constantly having to adapt and adjust and react to the unfamiliar or the surprising. You should see me when the plane touches down at Toronto airport (on this particular trip, late November). I'm always a basket case for at least a couple days.

Bob

Photo is shot from my balcony. Note the new condo construction now blocks view of CN tower.

v2#9

I suppose that maybe, it's sort of an interesting coincidence that Africa's tallest mountain, and Africa's biggest lake are so close together (note to hydrology geeks: they are not in the same watershed). If you could charter a plane from one to the other, you could probably make the entire trip in a couple of hours. There are however, significant contrasts between the two. For one, Kilimanjaro is tall and pointy, Lake Victoria is flat and not so pointy--except in the afternoons, when the wind tends to whip up the shallow waters. Both are under severe enviromental pressures, although not for the same reasons. There are so many tourist hiking up and down Kilimanjaro that the porters are now having to pack the poo off the mountain (that's right, you heard me!). Lake Victoria also suffers from an influx of various pollutants, but since there are no porters around, green algae is performing more or less the same function and the water is a cloudy pallid green for as far as the eye can see. Please don't get me wrong, in spite of man's worst efforts, both mountain and lake have somehow managed to hang on to their dignity. In fact both are stunningly beautiful.

Lake Victoria in the evening

A lesson in giving

People sometimes ask me about the challenges of travelling and working in developing countries. I would say that one of the most difficult things is dealing with poverty up close and personal. Everywhere you go, it's with you. Years ago, long before I joined Floresta, I learned a tough lesson about that.

I had lived in Jamaica for a year, doing similar work to what I am doing now, and my term there was almost up. It had been a frustrating year largely because of trying to cope with the poverty. Just days before I was to leave the country, I was walking out of the local grocery store, perhaps feeling that frustration in the back of my mind, when I saw one of the local street kids approaching. This was not a major town by any means, but still managed to have it share of street kids who, by whatever means possible, managed to eek out a living. This kid was a regular around the store, and would often try and beg a dollar or two from customers coming out of the store. I have always found those kinds of situations awkward, and in this case it was made even more awkward by the fact that I was carrying a grocery bag full of more stuff than this boy had probably seen in months. By now I knew the pattern, I knew he was about to ask me for money, so before he could get the words out, I somehow thought it would be clever to turn the tables, and I said,"I beg you one dollar!" This poor kid, without even the proverbial shirt on his back, maybe 7 or 8 years old, had a stunned, even bewildered look on his face. He looked down at his feet, somewhat painfully I thought, and then slowly reached into the pocket of his filthy shorts and pulled out this tattered bill and pushed it towards me.

Such a simple gesture, and yet nothing short of heroic in my eyes. My request for money, I'm sure, was unexpected to him, but his response was even more unexpected to me, perhaps to both of us. I doubt if that boy knows what a profound influence he has had on me.

Few, I think could match the generosity of that boy (see Mark 12:41-44). Yet those of you who support Floresta are, like him, having a profound influence on others. I am humbled when I think of all of those who are making this work possible. Thank you.