The ideal battle

The ideal battle is supposed to be one that is won before a single life is lost. By amassing such a formidable arsenal of weaponry as would deter any potential attacker, a country considers itself to be engaging in this ideal battle.

People talk about which fighter jets, tanks, submarines we should and shouldn't have bought (because there are ones with 'more advanced technology') in such an earnest fashion that the conclusion that we really need a engage in this psychological warfare has long since been forgone.

Obviously the prompt for this post was the recent $10b (over ten years) cut from the Australian Defence budget - despite a real 3% per year increase in spending on defence (ie. 3% over and above inflation). Which in actual fact means the 'cuts' are just a reduction of the even greater increases in defence spending that were already planned by the previous government. Hardly a brazen piece of policy making, but still gets one thinking about why so much needs to be spent on defence.

I don't believe in the preservation of culture for the sake of the culture itself. Cultures have evolved throughout time, as has the maturity of humanity's collective consciousness. Through out that time there is a gradual clarification of a line between right and wrong, with no room for relativism. The International Declaration of Human Rights is the best example of this maturity. So, I would agree with the argument that a military presence on peacekeeping missions is required. When faced with militia (like government sponsored ones such the Sudanese janjaweed) or other armed forces that are committing crimes against their society, international intervention is required. I would even go so far as to put myself almost on the fence when it comes to the invasion of Iraq - obviously done for the oil, but perhaps there may be some good come out of it in the long run - but then again perhaps not - time will tell. The military intervention of the Japanese whaling boats (did that happen in the end? last I saw it was ordered to be done) is another example when military technology and equipment are useful.

But the investment in a defence force that can achieve these basic needs would only be a small portion (and I refer less to Australia than I would to other nations) of the amount spent by countries in fighting their ideal battle

Events, non-events, photos

I've finally uploaded some more photos into the gallery - new albums (Meru, Construction, and More Mamas and Kids) so there is no need to sift through old albums. I'm trying to get some more videos up onto Youtube - but internet here is very slow.

http://lucas.intercate.net/gallery/Jantanz

Events:

More pieces of roof keep going up, tanks getting plumbed and water being collected.
More health and finance lessons for mamas (and now labourers), land lent to mamas, business plan provided to us and money lent - currently being ploughed.
Alterted by neighbours of unscrupulous characters wandering around the area.
Fence cut the other night and a small water tank stolen - guards too slow or too asleep to catch them.
Theft considered a scoping activity in preparation for a bigger heist.
Security systems improved and ready for attackers. Neighbours advise that they will kill any thiefs they catch.
Watched the documentary - 'Three Peaks, Three weeks' - charity climbs for NGOs in this region - definitely worth a look if you can find it. Not bad, but irritating for those who live here to see it all generalised and crammed into some nutshells.
Looking forward to visitors.

Non-events:

Shopping today - all closed. Will have to invent something interesting for dinner tonight.

Another day another dala dala

A day with a hot sun burnt the back of my neck a bit as I wasn't wearing a collar today. The shade of a tree or the ever expanding roof are delightfully cool as the breeze floats down from Mt. Meru and dries the sweat from a labourers brow. A mid-afternoon shower (literally a cold bucket of water for me and one sent by Engai) as we again catch the edge of a torrential downpour in the Rift Valley. The sky clears, barely a particle hangs between my eyeball and the peak of Mt Meru as the shadow from the setting sun hikes up the southern slope. The birds are in full song (including some roosters), a pair of curious children have just departed after a solid hour of staring and my mind is turning to dinner (and blogging).

Hard to describe the calm, peaceful happy feeling of the last couple of days. Starting with yesterday afternoon. Darren was busy on Friday afternoon so I had all the tools and all the men at my disposal for building the roofing A-frames that have become my speciality. In the space of 3 hours we almost built an entire A-frame - which usually takes a whole day. The swahili communication was more accurate and diverse than I had managed previously and the men followed my directions exactly as well as showing enthusiasm, initiative and even urgency in building as much as they could before the end of the day. We finished work five minutes overtime and began wandering home, men peeling off to go into their homes on the 1.5km walk back to the FWS volunteer village. Valley Martin (most developed tape measurer and 2nd in charge A-frame builder) lives past our house by a couple of kilometres and we walked home together with thunder storms raging in all directions except on top of us.

The mouth-watering good bolognaise that Heather and I made for dinner was a surprise that ended a superb day. I woke this morning excited with the prospect of continuing to build with the energy of yesterday. And did they ever! The A-frame was connected and prepared for lifting in about 2 hours, lifted into place in 30 minutes and then immediately the building of the next A-frame began and was half finished by lunchtime. Saturday is only a half day of work at the building site, so I paid the men their weekly wage. Pay day is a bittersweet time - I enjoy being able to hand over cash ($15-$18 a week) to farmers who would usually be waiting on their crops to supply food and income. But when they miss days of work or have to make a loan repayment to us and the amount of cash I can pay them shrinks (to less than $10) I feel concerned for their week ahead - will they eat properly? will they drink from the nfareji? will they borrow too much? I remind myself that this income is generally a bonus for them (although they do spend less time working on their farms).

Did I mention it was dinner time?