A reddish brown road, surrounded by bushes with purple flowers. Below in the valley, the reed and rice fields slowly wind upwards to the hills. There in the distance the lavaka’s, big erosion gullies, flame red. Nearby there are some banana trees and a row of palm trees. A little boy is herding his geese. …
A heart as loud as lions
Yesterday was the birthday of Chinua Achebe, a writer who died earlier this year. In Gillingham we were just reading a book of his with the book club in the week of his decease. Today a picture to commemorate this literary hero. The publication of Achebe’s book Things Fall Apart was a breakthrough in literature, because …
Autumn leaves
The changing seasons are a wonderful part of being in Holland. At the moment, the autumn is making its presence very clear. It treated us this week to the ending of day saving time, the first kruidnoten and an enormous grape harvest! In Zwolle, it was not only autumn leaves that fell from the trees, …
Nothing but the truth
It is a sunny day and I am standing at the parking lot in front of the court in Nanyuki. Through the open door I see Freddy in the witness stand. He gestures wildly and cuts through the air with an imaginary panga. A police officer keeps me company. He realizes that his lunch is …
A little garden
One of the most beautiful persons that Victor Hugo describes in his book Les Misérables, is the Bishop of Digne. This man spends his whole salary on the poor and the ill, and treats every person without prejudice. The following passage describes how every night he spends some hours in his garden before going to bed. …
The great little man
On September 21, the international day of peace, terrorists killed dozens of civilians in a shopping mall, including children and pregnant women. Most violence in the world is no longer in the news. Drugs murders in Mexico, guerilla wars in Congo. Violence always moves in circles. After the attack in Nairobi, the danger is that …