How to draw a crowd

Sunday- We took a long walk on a path that follows the lake and then cuts inland past a number of family compounds. The area sits at 4200 ft. and the surrounding countryside is covered in rolling hills and small family run farms. Kids, chickens, goats and cows all run free. Some girls were gathering sticks and stopped to stare at us and shyly ask for a photo. When I showed it to them they broke into a fit of giggles which brought kids out of the woodwork. Pretty soon we had a posse of a couple dozen kids, all wanting to hold or shake our hands and have their picture taken making a silly pose. Then the young moms came out with their babies wanting their photos taken. When we tried to leave all the kids followed us so I started to sing (in my terrible voice) and found they could mimic me perfectly. It was actually a lot of fun but here’s the lesson of the day- don’t carry a camera unless you want to draw a crowd.

A compound is land that was traditionally farmed by one family. The families are essentially squatters as they don’t buy the land but it becomes theirs by virtue of their occupation of it. As sons are born and then marry, the land is subdivided to accommodate each family. The girls can’t own land and when they marry become the property of their husband’s family. If he should die she is inherited by his brother. A man can have several wives and this is one reason why HIV has spread so efficiently in this part of Kenya.