Watch out for the duck!

So much less productive day in terms of school visits, but productive in life learning!! So up and out, on the bikes, but almost to first school... Flat tire. Got to there and then Lindsay and the local coordinator left and headed to the next school (where she was again the first white person). JMK, the director went to go fix the tire, and I sat there - random white guy sitting on a wooden chair in front of the school with class and lunch breaks going on around. I sat there writing in my journal about feeling like an exhibit at the museum...

Tire haunted us as we tried to move on, but ended up back in Samaya and spent two hours as the whole village fixed the flat. It was so sureal. There sit Lindsay and I, with women and children all around, half watching us and half watching the group of men/boys working on the tire. They wouldn't let us help, so we sat... half there, half untouchable. Seemed quite odd indeed. Ended up it took too long to change, so we aborted the school hopping and headed back to Makeni with a brief stop back in Kamakwie for a few things. The few things of course were about 250 pounds of rice, a couple chairs, a table, some wood, three goats just stuffed in the back, and four chickens with their legs all tied together... Both Lindsay and I were terrified at the animal scenario. But animals here are not treated with a great deal of compassion, different world...

Then on the way back we hit a goat... and I learned it is all far more complex than that!! The goat was already hurt, broken leg of some sort. So as the other's moved it didn't. We tried to stop but got it somewhere - I couldn't tell how, but it was still alive. JMK and the owner exchanged contact info and on we went.

So here is the system: if you hit and kill a goat it is 100,000 Le for the driver to pay ($25). That is a lot of money here - 20 days pay for the average worker. The driver is always seen as at fault rather than the animal. But there are of course different values for different animals. The hurt goat would be about 70k. A sheep is more than the goat as it has better meat and some intriguing superstitious value . A chicken is worth about 50. A dog is worth nothing, nor is a cat - no food value. But the most important one of all not to hit is a duck! Yes, I've been wondering why Kap's family has a duck in the back yard (with no water), and that I see ducks all over here.  Intriguing!! Lol.  The duck as the most sacred animal....