Between a Rock and a Hard Place

We visited a farmer today who had taken advantage of a hay-baling program. CWS had implemented the initative with one of our local partners. Most places in Kenya have two seasons: a long dry season and a short wet one. During the wet season grasses grow very fast, only to completely die out during prolonged time without rain.

John, a US visitor, bales hay with two farmers.

This particular man, Patrick, had baled many bushels of hay to sell to other farmers and pastoralists in the area for livestock feed. He also had a small tree farm growing outside his house. While these were all good, income-generating activities, I found out later that the land was not his and was simply taking care of it for a friend. He wanted to go to hotel managing school, but the funds from selling hay wouldn’t be enough to cover the fees. He asked me to be his sponsor. I had just met the guy not five minutes ago, hoping to see how his life had improved. In some ways I suppose it had, but the situation was far from perfect. If we continue to water these seeds of hope, maybe gardens of economic security will grow.

Turning from Patrick without a concrete answer, I found our driver, James, waiting to speak with me. Evidently not a very experienced driver, he had been slowing us down all day. We had called in to request a new driver, and somehow he had already found out about it. I tried to explain to him that while we wanted to be safe, we also were on a timetable and needed him to keep up with the rest of the vehicles. He apologized profusely, assuring me he would do better tomorrow. Apparently he had been on the ropes for a while, and the loss of this contract could tank him completely. I didn’t know what to say, merely managing to mutter, “Work it out with your boss and maybe we’ll see you tomorrow.” We didn’t.

If you can’t keep up, then what? To fall behind means losing your livelihood.