Africa Journal Posting 11

The lane way into the PAOC Missions Office and Guest House is a rough one. The day before we were to leave I wanted to get some photos of the condition of this road. Add to the rough stones that cover the surface there are speed bumps. As I crouched down to take the photo a voice asked me what I was doing. This is when I met Philip.

Philip is a large man that drives a truck from Nairobi to different areas in the country and also out of the country. Some of his trips take him into Sudan – which can be as long as four days. He described to me the conditions of the road and the dangers that there are along the way. The costs of staying in some of the area are very high.

Philip served in the Kenyan Army for 9 years and while there he learned how to drive truck. Now he works for a very good company that pays well.

Beside Philip on his left sat Peter. Peter was formerly employed at a restaurant. Then when that went out of business he began to sell women’s clothing in a large store. But that job has also ended.

The quiet one was sitting to Philip’s right side. His name was Joseph. Joseph watched me closely all the time that I was speaking with Philip. He was not as friendly as the other two.

As I spoke with Philip and Peter they were eating green leaves. The leaves, an inch long and about ¾ of an inch wide, were a light green with a thin stem. As Philip pulled leaf after leaf from the large clear plastic bag with the rolled down sides in front of Joseph, he chewed happily. After a moment or so he would pull out the stem and throw it to the driveway.

While Philip talked Joseph listened and continued his ‘work’ of putting small amounts of leaves into small plastic bags which then were stacked up on the top of the larger clear bag of green leaves. From time to time cars exiting from the other apartment buildings using the same laneway, stopped and rolled down their windows and began negotiations. An exchange of words took place and then the passenger or driver would produce some money and a bag of green leaves was passed into the car. Some cars bought more than one bag.

The conversation about trucking was interesting but I became curious as to what the leaves were and why they were the focal point of what was happening in the laneway. I asked Philip what the leaves were. He grinned and said it is like beer. He told me this was “Makoka”. He turned to Peter and asked him what the name was in English and Peter smiled saying, “Pot or Grass…”.

Phillip then pointed to another smaller plant that had a slim red stalk and a smaller green leaf on top. He said, “This one is Mirra or some people also call it Giza.” The small stalks bundled together were like a very small rhubarb plant. Philip was alternating between the Makoka and the Giza. After chewing each he would with drawn the limp stem and throw it to the ground.

I asked Philip what it was and why he chewed it. He described by saying, “It is like Beer. It makes you feel good. It stimulates you and makes you feel happy. If you want to work all night you chew this and you will not go to sleep. You can walk all night and never stop if you eat this. But the next day you will be very, very tired. You will curl up like a baby and sleep a long time. You cannot work and feel very heavy.”

Here in front of me was the drug dealers of the region. We had driven by them for over two weeks and they had stared at us as we drove by. We were in two different worlds entirely. They were dealing and we were preaching God’s word and doing God’s stuff – while using the same laneway.

On two more occasions that day I walked out of the Missions Guest House to the main street and some of the shops. There they were again dealing. Only this time there were some rougher looking guys that were not smiling as much. They were much darker and taller than Joseph. They stood right near the front of the laneway and produced a larger bag filled with smaller wrapped stems. One man pulled a larger bundle of the Giza from its container. It was about 4 inches around and neatly packed. Beside it was another two bundles. His ‘customer’ was looking closely at the bundles and then decided on two of them. After some words they exchanged the bundles for the cash. The cash was in large bills and lots of them. As soon as it was done the taller, tougher guys were gone.

I had just witnessed a big drug buy and delivery – all under the shade of our PAOC Mission’s effort.

I asked the missionaries about what I just saw. They told me that it goes on all the time. In fact the numbers of people frequenting the lane way is high some times just for this reason. But along with the Makoka and Giza being sold there are also people making a flat bread on open stoves and also roasting corn. It is a growing market.

What about police I asked? Where are they? The answer provided some consolation. The drug police are often sitting with them eating as well. It is a ‘stable’ economy and has happy people working and living right outside our door steps.

The first night that we arrived at the airport it was late. The driver that was hired to pick us up was not one of the regulars that drive for the PAOC Missionaries. He worked for a company that was called earlier on our behalf. I asked the driver if he knew where the Mission Guest House was and showed him the address just to make sure we were headed in the right direction. He looked at me and said – “I know the place.” Hmmm..?

When I talked with Stephen Chaloner about what I had seen he explained that there are many accidents where truck drivers fall asleep on the roads after a long period of using the Mirra/Giza. The body just can’t take the sleep loss any longer.

What do you pray for in this situation? What would you do?

~ Pastor Murray Lincoln ~