Shortly after Amelia left for the UK (now already 7 weeks
ago!) I flew the regular South Maasai medical outreach, but this time it was a
little bit different. First of all I did what we are starting to call the
Maasai-Link, the idea with this is that we will like our two Maasai areas
(Malambo (north) and south) every third month. In the north there is a well
establish Maasai Evangelism School and MAF has been supporting them for many
years by taking evangelists from Malambo to different villages in the mountains
and around Lake Natron. What we now aim to do is exchange on Malambo safari
every third month and instead fly teacher from Malambo to the south. A recent
generous donation from friends in Canada allowed the village of Katahe in the
south to nearly complete a building at the runway which has a fuel store, pilot
accommodation, accommodation for teachers and a classroom. This building will
serve as the centre for the Maasai-Link.
My ‘great reminder’ during this trip came in the form of
another motorbike (pikipiki) ride deep into the Maasai bush to explore three
different locations where there are Maasai bomas without any medical services.
The previous time we did a trip like this was in December 2013 when Amelia and
I spent more than 10 hours in the saddle of a little Honda 125 in 24 hours to
cover 200 kilometres. It was not easy, it was back breaking following mostly
single or no track and sandy dry river beds. I’ve made my mind up about
marrying Amelia long before this trip, as a matter of fact we were already
engaged and wedding plans were well under way. But just in case I wasn’t sure,
I received this text message from my Maasai friend after we arrived back home: ‘Amelia
is very fit for bush pilot you must take her for your wif I warn u.’ On this
last trip I realised just how ‘fit’ she is when I also rode on the back. It is
much more tiring to be the passenger than the driver (maybe a bit more when
your normal ride yourself), especially on the little 125 with a very uncomfortable
flat seat.
She didn’t have to do it in the first place, she did and I
love her for it, but she probably won’t be doing it again, certainly not soon
with the little one on the way...
