The Tree in the Rock
Of Paralysis and a Talk with the Earth
When I was 18, exactly 12 years ago, I came to Kenya for the first time. Due to a "misunderstanding" I didn't end up in the place in the mountains that was supposed to be my home for 9 months. I ended up here, in Kandongu. It soon became my home. I built my house here 3 years ago.
Many of you have accompanied and supported "Njoki" from the beginning and experienced the ups and downs of my life in and with this community in Kenya.
This year was the first time in the "history of Njoki" that external events and the consequences of the climatic and political situation in Kenya paralyzed me to such an extent that I did not know how to carry on. Sociopolitical states of emergency and environmental disasters alternate.
How can I continue to build ecologically sustainable, exemplary agriculture when droughts and floods come and go, leaving nothing but destruction in their wake?
How can I rely on the constant motivation and commitment of the local community to work with me to empower the younger generations when the economic situation ties up all of their time, financial and inner resources just to support their own families?
How can I build something unifying and healing in a country that - more than ever - is divided, dismembered and pushed into economic and social abysses by its new government.
Two days ago I was in a wonderful place in Masaai country. The place radiates a certain sacredness for me. Endless expanse, the generosity of the earth is very present to me here.
I climbed a rock to watch the sun disappear behind the hills.
There I sat, touched by the vastness and yet paralyzed inside: How can things continue? How should they continue? Am I in the right place? Does everything that I initiated and built up in Kenya still have any meaning?
I poured out my heart to the earth. And I asked her: "Dear earth, remind me why I am here. If I am in the right place, if I am on the right path, please give me a sign. Something that reminds me why I am here and where I should go."
I looked into the distance...and could see no sign. Beauty, yes. Breathtaking nature, yes. Dryness, relentless heat at the same time. Impressive, and nothing new for me. No sign. "You are naive. What makes you think you'll get a sign from the earth? You have to know yourself who and what you are and what you want to do." I felt a little ashamed.
The sun disappeared. I was just about to climb down from the rock when my gaze caught sight of a tree. I had overlooked it the whole time. It had been right next to me the whole time, a tree, with me on the rock. It was the only plant on this rock, its roots went deep into the earth, to the savannah-like bush landscape on the ground. Up here it seemed all alone.
The tree touched me deeply.
It was as if it was mirroring me. I felt its loneliness, up here, high above the community of other plants. At the same time, I felt its courage; it had worked its way through the rock and was now blossoming up here. It seemed like a lighthouse to me. A symbol of strength, tenacity and hope. It was a sign of pure life and growth here in the middle of the merciless rock.
My heart softened. The paralysis began to melt from my body.
Since that moment, I know: I will carry on. I have to carry on. And I want to.
It won't be easy, it never has been. Perhaps the challenges will be even greater than before, or so it seems to me. But I am here to stay. To break through a few layers of merciless rock. To find new survival strategies. And to be an inspiration that brings new life, new courage and new paths.
I will continue. And I will depend more than ever on the support of other people who trust my vision. No one can do pioneering work all alone. Every tree in the rock has roots that draw nourishment from deep within the fabric of the earth.
Through "Njoki" we built a school together.
We have changed countless lives.
Our projects and encounters are an inspiration for communities in Kenya and Germany.
We have laid the foundations for raising awareness about organic, sustainable agriculture and igniting environmental protection in the hearts of individual torchbearers on site.
And we will achieve much more because there is still so much more to achieve.
My personal heart focus is and will be to empower the young generation to find their own potential, to protect their environment, to recognize the treasures of their local resources and to use them for themselves and their community.
There will be a lot of change, new momentum, new setbacks and new successes.
I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IT!
ARE YOU IN?
In the next few weeks you will receive a few newsletters from me. About new projects, successes, restructuring of projects,... I am always happy to receive your questions, your input, your message to: contact@njoki.org
THANK YOU for being here.
Warm greetings from Kandongu,
Jana
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