It's Africa Calling, Act Five: I am a migrant worker

October 10, 2007

Dear Friends, its Africa calling…

Act Five -- from soil to soul

It has been fun to share with you my adventures and reflections in Africa. My role here varies from tourist to doctor to city planner. Our meetings with the Lord Mayor, his Excellency the SDO, and the Fons (Kings) of the Nso and Bambalang Kingdoms have been wonderful. But in truth, I am just a migrant worker -- a foreigner who has come to help till the soil.

On a morning walk, Panditji was talking about my migrant work, “Blair, this work is vital for everyone. Massive cross-continent tree plantations can stop the Sahara desert from moving south and swallowing up all of Africa. It will cool the planet and bring biofuels that can bridge the gap, while new technology is being developed to further lower our energy consumption. How beautifully it will solve so many problems arising from petro-politics. The soil feeds the soul – it is a fact.”

Coming to Kumbo this year has allowed me to see the world from vantages I never knew. Market linkage, soil regeneration, cultural preservation and renewal, trade not aid, global warming – these terms are becoming part of my thinking process and inner evolution.

If I really want to help those who I claim to love and those who I have never met, then I must create this bridge between the soil and the soul in my own heart. If the soil can no longer feed us healthy food, how can we nourish our brains and bodies. Poor nutrition eventually equates to poor mental and physical health.

I must go from migrant to vibrant! Join me!

Love,


Blair