http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesgrayking/ / CC BY-NC 2.0
In 1992 when I was sixteen I worked as an aid worker in Kenya alongside my best man and marathoner David Spitz through a program called Global Routes. The organization still runs many programs but has since canceled its mission to Kenya due to tribal conflict. My group lived in the town of Sagalla in the Sagalla Hills above Voi town. Above is a picture of the hills. In the satellite view, below, Sagalla is located in the center of the green zone, an ecological island above the Tsavo plains--the only home of the Sagalla Caecilian.
While digging through some junk in my closet the other day I came across an old dictaphone. On the tape inside I had written "do not erase" in pencil. With some fresh batteries I was able to play the recording. At the end of my stay in the village, after helping to construct a school house and a dairy cooperative, I recorded the town's send off party. The student music is exceptional, even if the quality of the recording is not. I just transferred the recording to an MP3 file below. After the music, you can hear the school's wonderful headmaster. After him comes "the chairman of the board of governors" (not so wonderful) followed by two short addresses by our Global Routes leaders. Click on the button below to stream the recording.