Kaele

My news this week is that there has not been much electricity anywhere in the extreme north. What happens is that once the rainy season starts there is wind before a storm. A fragile pole gets knocked down and it takes them days to find it and fix it and poles are falling down everywhere. No electricity rules out buying any fresh food as it goes off within hours. Last Thursday a group of about 8 Brits travelled over 100kms to Kaele to the house of a peace corps guy who has satellite TV to watch the British elections. We didn’t see anything because there was no power, but I stayed the next day anyway and went to the market and then out to a neighbouring village to see a big quarry full of green water and crocodiles which was a lovely setting. Kaele is a mixed Christian/ Muslim village so they have lots of bars and even had a beer promotion going on in one of them. It is weird to see old guys in their shalwar kameez rushing up to the bar to get 2 bottles of beer so they can get one free or a free beer glass or totally unsuitable t shirt. A bit like it’s weird seeing a young macho guy walking a sheep on a lead. Gwendoline and I had dinner in a circuit which is basically a small version of an underground restaurant except we were the only guests.

At the week-end there was no electricity or internet connection in Maroua, but I spent a nice day by the pool and another in the resource centre library reading books about change management in an international development context.

 

‘Potential is the totality of an individual’s inward might, untapped strength, unused energies, unexploited abilities’.

‘Life is not measured by what you have acquired, but by what you have inspired’.

‘Great minds think the unthinkable, believe the unbelievable and dare the un-dare-able’.