02/10/2025
It was in 2014 that Raphael and I travelled to the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro. We were part of a team running a workshop in rural Tanzania and I was working as an international permaculture consultant and trainer.
I hadn't seen Raphael Magambo since then, but last weekend after some work in London he visited me in Somerset. I was so touched and honoured as loyalty is something I prize highly! We picked up our friendship like it had just been a few days.
To meet up with an old friend after more than a decade is a profound thing. Reflecting back on all that transpires over the years: lessons learnt, heartache, disappointment; victories, achievements and growth. It's a lot!
We are older men now. On our way to eldership. Perhaps a bit wiser. Certainly a bit slower.
Our storytelling covered not just the personal but also our concerns with the wider world - youth, social media, politics and economics.
And through it all, I was reminded of hope. Of faith. Of love. For what is the point of life, if not to love?
I thought of the choice between bitter resistance (to change) or gracious acceptance.
We hiked up my local foothill, the tor at Glastonbury. Above the noise of work and children, above traffic and busyness, above political chaos, we experienced a sense of peace. Of calm. Of clean air and clear hearts.
We found a sense of scale, of perspective. That life will go on. That beyond the inevitable pain and suffering that one will experience, all is not lost.
That connection - to each other, to God, to the land, to our soul's work, is the medicine.
Asante sana Raphael! May your return home to Nairobi be blessed!
