Local life

Daniel in his Christian bookshop

transport!

on the way to market

Many thanks for ideas about things to include on the blog  - please keep them coming. I've been asked about the local community, and how people live. Kasulu is a very, very  busy market town, with main market days on Tues, Thurs and Saturday. Local people come from 10 - 15 miles around with bananas, pineapples, vegetables, firewood, sugarcane, chickens, furniture..... to sell from their own land. Early in the morning the roads from the surrounding hills are crowded with people carrying things on their heads or on remarkably loaded bicycles. The usual load is 5 large hands of bananas on one bike (or 6 mattresses!). It's difficult to get photos of the bustling, colourful markets - so you'll have to come to see for yourselves. In the surrounding villages nearly everyone is a self sufficient farmer, with a few acres of land. Kasulu thrives on the business from the markets, and from its geographically central position in the region. A lot of transport comes through this way, and there are numerous guest houses and hotels. There's no industry as such, but schools, a teacher training college and a rapidly growing number of small businesses. The above photo is of Daniel, a good friend, who recently opened the only Christian bookshop in town. He's doing well, and as well as selling books he sits at his sewing machine making leatherette covers for bibles and prayer books. (about £1-00 each, with zip and handle - place your orders!) People are remarkably industrious in creating and supplementing income, so as to improve the opportunities for their children.
College students on holiday for a week, so time to catch up on admin, learn more Swahili, and prepare for mega-trip away next week. More news anon.