Traveling monk in Africa traveling in India

By the mercy of Guru and Gauranga, I will be traveling to India - the last time I went was in 2009. I will be leaving Johannesburg on the 29th of October 2012 and will return to Johannesburg on the 16th of December.

I am most fortunate, that I will be traveling with a very dear freind and a well wisher of Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON,  Abhishek Gupta, who also a photo jounalist and is from Bengal. I met Abhishek in 2011 in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. At that time he was traveling around east Africa on a photo asingment.  I was staying with Prakash prabhu, who is the president of ISKCON Dar es Salaam. Every night from 7pm to 8pm, he has a Bhagavad gita class at his apartment, Abhishek would come to the classes and would listen very attentively and ask interesting questions. We came freinds and told me that if I should ever come to India, I should contact him.

Watch this space for more nectar as we travel and visit the holy dhams, associate with the devotees of the Lord and to hear of His pastimes.

Transcendental East Africa Safari 3By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Gaur Nitai , I arrived in city of Nairobi on the 30th January - it was

By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Gaur Nitai , I arrived in city of Nairobi on the 30th January - it was the here that the birth of Srila Prabhupada's ISCKON movement in Africa began. I am fortunate, by your mercy Guru and Gauranga, I to have the oppertunity to come here to preach the glories of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's holy name, and to have attended the 3^rd annual BBT Africa conference which took place on the 4^th of February. From that time until last week Sunday, I had been in the nice association of Bhakta Kevin who is from Canada, who works there as a tour bus driver. He comes to Nairobi each year for about six months, during the time of the harsh Canadian winter to do nice service here in East Africa and to assist Srila Prabhupada's book distribution mission. I am begging for your blessings, - withthout the blessings and mercy Guru and Gauranga, our preaching cannot be successful.

Before I left for Nairobi, I visited Cape Town for a week – indeed I was most fortunate to have the nice association of the glorious devotees there and to inspire the devotees in the temple to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books and to preach the glories of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan mission. There are not many devotees in the ashram, as Vraja Krsna was in Australia and Gaurasundra Prabhu, is in Mayapur doing the Bhakti Vaibav course. However there is one very nice young devotee, Bhakta Rory, an Afrikaans boy from Stellenbosch University. He has joined the temple full time and is indeed most enthusiastic in his service to Srila Prabhupada and the devotees. Cape Town is a very nice place to distribute books. One of my favourite sankirtan spots, is the Waterfront, where many tourists and visitors go and also of course, somehow or other by the mercy of Guru and Gauranga, I will always encounter some special spirit soul who will take a book from me. I was in the Pick n’ Pay supermarket - I saw a young man and his girl friend with a full trolley of groceries. I said to the young man: “Looks like you were born to shop,” He laughed and I introduced myself to him, told him that I was a travelling monk. I gave him a selection of books to peruse. He took a Science of Self Realization and gave me a contribution. I asked him if he had ever read the books before like the one he took from me – “yes I have”, he said. I asked him what the title of the book was; he told me it was Chant and Be Happy. I asked where he had got it from; he said he got it from a travelling monk like me in Saint George’s Mall. So many special souls are out there who have read Srila Prabhupada’s books, and by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, we meet them again and they take another book. Srila Prabhupada ki jay!

I returned back to Johannesburg to take my flight to Nairobi, where I had the nice association of Arjuna Prabhu, a disciple of His holiness Partha Sarathi Swami Maharaj. and family, who took very nice care of me, the day before I left to fly to Nairobi. One evening, it had just finished raining, as me and Arjuna Prabhu sat on the porch and began to share how nice it is to be in Srila Prabhupada’s family, and how many wonderful things we are daily discovering about Krsna and His devotees. Being in the association of Arjuna Prabhu and his family, there was a very nice and pleasing atmosphere to chant Hare Krsna and to witness their nice service to Maharaj, Srila Prabhupada and the devotees of the Lord.

From the 6th February, myself and Bhakta Kevin, were blissfully engaged distributing books at thew University of Nairobi - a very nice place for distributing books. We had a very nice spot under some shady trees, along a main thoughrafare where students are constanly coming and going. Many students and professors eagerly took books (we even distributed a book to the university handyman). from time to time, I would go to Sarit shopping center and the Westgate Mall, just a short ride from the temple by mini bus taxi - called: matato in Kenya. At the sarit shopping center on this, I approached a young local man, introduced my self to him an gave him a book. He took one - I began to tell him about the temporary material body and the soul, afterwards, he told me, then in the five years that had been in university, he was never told about the soul and the body! It's all there in Srila Prabhupada's books! Everyone is looking for Krsna, and everyone here in Nairobi is looking for Krsna! Srila Prabhupada ki jay!

By the mercy of Guru and Gauranga, on this past Saturday, I travelled to the town of Arusha in Tanzania, about two hours from the Kenyan border. I have been invited to come and distribute books and to preach there. and to celebrate Gaur Purnima there. The devotees are starting a new preaching project, which they will inuagurate on that most asupiciuos day of the appearance of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, for the pleasure of dearest Srila Prabhupada. I am very much looking forward to book distribution and preaching there. Arusha, also known as "A" Town by the locals, is situated at the foot of Mount Meru, Africa's 5th highest mountain. The altitude gives the city a pleasant climate and lush green environment. Arusha is not a particularly attractive city in itself and is regarded by many visitors as little more than a necessary stopover before their safari starts in earnest. However, the natural charm of the Tanzanians and the buzz of a fast-growing city mean that Arusha has plenty to offer for those who are prepared to see beyond their air-conditioned safari trucks and satellite-TV hotel rooms - however by us giving them Srila Prabhupada's books, they will begin to undesrstand that there is more beyond the temporary nature of material existnce! So the town of Arusha is a nice place to distribute books to the many tourists who go on safari and to the local African people ther. I visited Arusha in 2009 and have very fond memories of meeting some very special souls there. I am here now in the city of Dar es Salaam, where I will stay and preach and distribute books, until I leave to go back to Arusha for Gaurpurnima and return back here to Dar es Salaam on about the 12th March - on the 14th March. This distributing Srila Prabhupada's books to the people of Africa is most urgent, as they are recieving the perfect peace process in the form of Srila Prabhupada's books, by the perfect person Lord Sri Krsna as given by him to his dear disciple Arjuna in Bhagavad gita.

How could I ever want to give up distributing Srila Prabhupada's books when there is so much mercy I am getting from Guru and Gauranga and all the devotees of the Lord!

Diary of a Traveling Monk in Africa

By the mercy of Guru and Gauranga,we traveled in Malawi
and east Africa for almost two months. Since that time I have
witnessed the amazing mercy of Srila Prabhupada, and the immense
blessings of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai. I had come to be with Murari prabhu,
a disciple of His Holiness, Bhakti Vikas Swami Maharaj. Murari has
been has been here since April last year. Since that time, he has
been sincerely following the orders of his Guru Mahara, who instructed
him to come to preach in Malawi. Murari is from Tanzania, and lived in
India for four years on a sankirtan party travelling around south
India. It was while in India that his Guru Maharaj instructed him to
come back and push on Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON movement in East
Africa. He stayed in Dar Es Salaam and thereafter, came down to Malwi
- first to Lilongwe, then finally to Blantyre. He is doing very nice
cultivation, book distribution and regular programs. Since he has come
to Blantyre, Srila Prabhupada's mercy has been manifesting in so many
ways. Many locals have been assisting him, not only that but he is
having nice programs with the local Africans of Blantyre - the main
focus of his preaching. One very nice well wisher, has come forward,
and has offered to build him a small centre, that will have all the
facilities for his preaching. Since Murari has come to Malawi, he has
been mostly managing by himself. His plan is to gradually find some
locals who can assist him. Murari's wonderful quality as a devotee, is
that he is sincerely following the instruction of his Guru Mahaharaj.
Although Malawi, is one of the most poorest countries in the world,
the people of Malawi have cheerful personalities, always smiling and
have a wonderful culture of respect. When when people take Srila
Prabhupada's books from us, they do so with eagerness and ask very
nice questions. Whenever we are walking in the street, we here many
people calling out to us; "Hare Krsna." When we ask them to chant Hare
Krsna, they do so spontaneously, smile and become very joyful. This
shows that they are a very pious people.

After a week, here in Blantyre, we travelled to Nairobi, to attend the
annual Ratha Yatra on the 19th of June. We stayed in Nairobi for a few
days before the Ratha Yatra, after which we travelled back to Dar Es
Salaam along the coast. We were asked by the devotees in Dar Es Salaam
to please come and stay for some time. We stayed for about a week, did
some book distribution, and did some programs at devotees houses. We
were very fortunate, that Prakash prabhu, who is in the construction
bussiness and owner of some flats in Blantyre, took very nice care of
us, allowing us to use a flat he keeps when he has guests While in Dar
Es Salaam, we took the ferry for the day to the island of Zanzibar.
Prakash prabhu arranged that we we would be met by a friend of his
when we arrived, two hour journey from the mainland of Dar Es Salaam.

After we passed through entry point of the island, we walked to the
local hindu mandir, a nine minute walk, along quaint alleys, in an
atmosphere as though we had gone back into time. On arrival at the
temple, we paid our humble obeisances to Radha and Krsna, and had our
breakfast prasaadam. As the island is almost ninety percent Muslim,
most of those that we distributed books to were Muslim. I remember a
bookshop with a man at the counter who was reading. I showed him the
books and told me that he would very much like to take one and gave me
a nice donation. Just then a friend of his came in and I introduced
myself to him. As I walked out of the shop, he came up to me, and
told me, that the holiest of books is the Koran. I thought he was not
pleased that I had given the book to his friend, but he had just come
to politely tell me about the glories of the holy Koran. I thanked
him, and replied to him: "Peace be on prophet Mohammed and his holy
name - he thanked and said goodbye to me. We left for Dar Es Salaam
later in the afternoon - knowing that the distribution of Srila
Prabhupada's books had been a sucsess, many Muslims had taken his
books and had received his mercy!

We left Dar Es Salaam two weeks ago, and had a two day hellish bus
ride back to Malawi. On arriving in Lilongwe, we stayed at a well
wisher's house there and returned back to Blantyre. By the mercy of
Guru and Gauranga, a well wisher here in Blantyre has got me a flight
back to Johannesburg!

I am indeed most fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel on this glorious
sankirtan safari, and to be in the wonderful association of Murari
prabhu, and to know that so many special souls received Srila
Prabhupada's mercy and the blessings of Sri Sri Gaur Nitai. There is
so much preaching and book distribution that needs to be urgently done
here in Southern and East Africa - it is our prayer to Sri Sri Gaur
Nitai, that they will send us some nice preachers in Africa, to share
the mercy and good fortune that Srila Prabhupada has kindly bestowed
upon us, to the people and nation of Africa, so that they may claim
the rightful inheritance from Krsna who is there father. Srila
Prabhupada ki jay!

Mahavishnu Swami approached me in February of this year while in Mayapu Festival. Maharaj asked me if could assist in the distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books in East Africa. A few small booklets translated into the local language of Kiswahili, and a Tanzanian disciple of Mahavishnu Swami recently translated the Science of Self-Realization into Kiswahili.

In the beginning of June, I boarded a bus in Durban. After a brief stop in Johannesburg, he continued onto Lusaka, Zambia. The final leg of the journey was a twenty-four hour ride from Lusaka to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. As expected, the bus was over crowded with both passengers and boxes of all sizes and shapes.

I had brought along some of Srila Prabhupada’s books for distribution to those who may have some interest. The bus had its share of people who accepted them and attentively listened as he described the teachings of Srila Prabhupada and the basic principle of Krishna consciousness. I hadn’t brought any prasadam, but found that preaching tended to curb my appetite.

I arrived in Dar es Salaam the following night with that “I-need-a-new-body feeling”. At the bus terminal Gaddy and Kevin were waiting to pick me up. Gaddy born in Tanzania, a 62 year old, professional musician who spent some months living in the Nairobi temple back in the early eighties. I loaded my bags into Kevin’s thirteen year old landrover, – the perfect vehicle for African roads. The landrover, previously owned by a safari company, had been fitted with seven seats, and three rooftop hatches for viewing wildlife and scenery and spent the first night in Dar at the home of Mahaprabhu Chaitanya dasa, a devotee from Bangalore and a disciple of HH Jayapataka Swami


Kevin and I left Dar es Salaam the following morning for the fourteen hours drive to Nairobi. Kevin spent nine years of his childhood in Africa and had attended school in Tanzania for two years. He has been with the east African festival tour every January for the last three years helping to distribute books and drive the truck. The East African Festival Tour had started by the efforts of Tribhuvanath prabhu, an Irish disciple of Srila Prabhupada who succumbed to cancer in 2001. The tour has gone on every year since then, conducting preaching programs throughout east and central Africa.

Tanzania certainly has much in the way of scenery. Scenes that passed us by brought to mind images from the classic movie “Out of Africa.” Rolling hills, savannah, and small agricultural plots dotted by acacia trees, with mountains in the distant background made up a large part of the landscape. That great African giant, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest peak at 19,340 feet loomed ahead in the distance, appearing even more spectacular, with the sunset casting a blue haze on its snow-capped peak.

A couple of hours before reaching the border we started to hear an occasional knocking sound from under the bonnet of the landrover. We attributed it to poor roads, but nearing the town of Arusha, the sound continued unabated and the volume had increased considerably. The paved roads soon ended. Judging by the outside scenery, it was hard to believe that we were living in the twenty–first century. Roads came to abrupt ends, and hand painted warning and directional signs were hard to see under thickening veils of dust and dirt.

We arrived at the border just after midnight. After obtaining our visas, the next step was to clear the vehicle through customs – something we failed to do. We had to bring back the vehicle from the Kenya side, but when Kevin went to start it, there was a loud squealing noise, and puffs of smoke coming from the engine compartment. Opening the bonnet, we discovered that one of the shock absorbers had broken free of its mount and had penetrated the bonnet. An irate Tanzanian border official had to come to the Kenya side and verify registration numbers before we were able to leave Tanzania.

A border security guard assured us he would watch the vehicle overnight, and the following morning we could have it looked at by one of the nearby mechanics. We spent the night at a guesthouse, and the next morning, we pushed the landrover to the mechanic’s shop. A price of twenty-five hundred Kenyan shillings was set for repair of both the shock absorber and replacement of the alternator’s bearings. Once the shock absorber had been re-welded, the mechanics insisted on further payment of an additional twenty five hundred shillings to repair the alternator. They had us and they knew it. We were short of Kenyan currency, so iI took a couple with copies of Your Ever Well-wisher in Kiswahili on dvd approached people and managed to make a few sales. Kevin had the dvd’s made in Canada and when he came to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, he had them dubbed into Kiswahili, which is the language spoken by the vast majority of East Africans.

We arrived in Nairobi mid afternoon. The twenty-fifth annual Ratha Yatra parade was underway in the downtown center. We drove into the city center and saw a bit of the parade, but opted to return to the temple for a little rest. Our arrival coincided with that of Gopal krishna Maharaj, who had arrived in Kenya for a week long visit. In February of this year in Mayapur, West Bengal Madhu mangal prabhu was approached by Mahavishnu Swami. He asked if I could assist in the distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books in East Africa. A few small booklets have been translated into the local language of Kiswahili, and a Tanzanian disciple of Mahavishnu Swami recently translated the Science of Self-Realization into Kiswahili.

Umapati Prabhu, a disciple of Gopal Krishna Maharaja has been serving as temple president in Nairobi for many years. He was happy to hear that we had come to east Africa for the distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books. Umapati prabhu was willing to give us as many books as we could distribute with a time line of six months to pay.

Five hundred students from the Bhaktivedanta College of Education came to the Nairobi temple the following day for the graduation ceremony. The BCEC conducts classes for students of all ages throughout different areas of Nairobi. In attendance was Gopal Krishna Maharaj who publicly acknowledged their accomplishments and awarded certificates to the students. Maharaj, who addressed the congregation, urged them to maintain their commitment to maintain this program and of the necessity of cultivating the Africans.

In the city of Nairobi, hawking of any kind is forbidden and strictly monitored. Devotees have in the past, been jailed for transgressing city by-laws. One of Nairobi’s better malls – Sarit center receives its share of tourists and Kenyans of European descent. The mall employs a disproportionate number of security guards – seems as though there is one guard for every ten shoppers. Kevin was discouraged by the number of guards present and opted to not distribute books, however, I was very glad to be back there distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books after an absence of five years.

The following day we went to a smaller mall nearby, but there were few shoppers and lots of security, so after having sold one book to an Indian professor from the University of Nairobi, we returned to the temple.

Kevin approached a man and asked him if he was a lecturer or a student. He asked what he was doing with the books and if he was selling them. He replied that he was not, and was merely asking for donations. He informed them man that we were monks distributing our books to the students and public alike. The man Kevin spoke to identified himself as Mr. Wahomey, who suggested, that if we wanted to distributed books on the campus, that we go to the office of the campus public affairs and speak to the director of public affairs, Mr. Sikuku.

We went to see the receptionist at Mr. Sikuku’s office spent a bit of time talking with us, and after getting to know that we were devotees and seeing the letters we had brought with us from the temple authorizing us to distribute prasaad and perform harinam in the city center, ushered us into the office of Mr. Sikuku. Mr Sikuku could not have been more helpful or accomadating. Kevin presented him with two copies of Beyond Illosion and Doubt and The Science of Self Realization. It was apparent from the smile on Mr. Sikuku’s face and his laid-back manner, that we would not have any difficulty in prsesnting our case and having our request to distributeSrila Prabhupada’s books distributed on the Campus of the University of Nairobi. Permission granted! He told us that we could, we could return the next afternoon and pick up the letter authorizing us to distribute books. This was certainly the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. Back at the Temple, Gaura Sakti was overjoyed to hear the news that permission to know that permission was obtained. The devotees had been trying for over ten years to get permission to distribute books, but to no avail.

The following day we resumed book distribution. Interested students were asked for their names and cell phone numbers. Gaura Sakti prabhu conducts a Saturday night program for new comers to Krsna. He has a total of fourty students enrolled for his program, although all are not in attendance every week. We were pleased to notice at one Saturday program, that two students who had gotten books, one had brought his friend along. At the end of the program The following day we resumed book distribution. Interestedstudents wereasked for their name and phone numbers.Gaura Sakti prabhu conducts a Saturday night program for newcomers to Krsna Consciouness. He has a total of fourty students enrolled for his program, althoughnot all are in attendance every week. We pleased to note, at a program, two students who had gotten books, one of them had brought along his friend. At the end of the program they were driven back to their homes – they both assusred us, they would return again for the next Saturday night program. It was Srila Prabhupad’s desire!

While backing the landrover out of the parkade Kevin thought there might be some problems with the clutch, but when large clouds of black smoke billowed out from the exhaust pipe upon the slightest degree of acceleration, he was convinced the turbo needed replacement – a repair job costing well over one thousand dollars.

Back at the temple, Kevin spoke with a few devotees trying to find out if there was a devotee mechanic in the community. Govinda dasa from the kisumu temple suggested taking the landrover to a garage run by a cousin of his. After a quick trip around the block, his cousin Arjun was certain the turbo was fine, but agreed to give the car a general check and repair or replace faulty components.

The road into the city centre was a motionless mass of cars. Local people walked between the cars selling a wide range of products – from peanuts, and cell phone chargers to booster cables and hand towels. A vendor peddling sunglasses came up to the car, and upon seeing our tilak adorned foreheads exclaimed “Hare Krishna”. We invited him to attend the Sunday program, but he echoed the sentiments of many Africans that the Hare Krishna movement was only for Asians. This is, sadly the prevailing mentality of the local Africans – Krishna consciousness is only for the Asians.

Padma Locana prabhu, who heads up the food for life program in Nairobi, invited us to his neighborhood to have a small kirtan and try to distribute books. He came to Krishna consciousness by attending Saturday evening classes in the temple. These classes are oriented towards local African people. Padma Locana’s wife is a staunch Christian, but she respects Krishna consciousness and her husband’s commitment. Myself, Kevin and Nicholas, from the Nairobi temple joined Padma Locana. The landrover was loaded up with books and a newly made book display we had fashioned out of wire donated by a devotee in Dar es Salaam.

The response from the local people was good, despite the fact that no books sold. The children became enlivened, I encouraged the to chant louder, which began to increase their attachment for the holy name of the Lord! Children who were able to recite the maha mantra in its entirety without a mistake were rewarded with a small book in kiswahili.

The adults stayed back and watched from a distance. I gave an introductory talk on the significance of the holy name of the lord – Padma Locana translated what I spoke into kiswahili. The kids were eager to participate in the chanting, and were sad to see us go. Before leaving, we posed with some of the kids for photographs. The kids were eager to shake Madhu’s hand, and he had some trouble extricating himself from the large crowd of friendly, inquisitive kids who had gathered.

By the time we left rush hour had started, so an alternate route had to be chosen. This road turned out to be a poor choice. A few cars had gotten stuck while wading through large pools of water, the result of a lack of drainage and the downpour of rain from the previous night. Some cars opted to make a u-turn, while others stood by weighing their chances and options. After watching 14 passenger vans cross these large puddles without difficulty, we were confident that our 4 X . landrover should not encounter any problem. Another cause for concern was that we were in one of two neighborhoods largely populated by Somalis and it would be dark within another hour.

Mahacandra dasa, a disciple of Gopal Krishna Maharaj invited us to his village in the town of Mwingi, three hours north of Nairobi. Mahacandra dasa is a government appointed teacher. He and some of his students eagerly received the four devotees arriving from the Nairobi temple. From the landrover we unloaded sixty-eight ten kilo bags of Maize flour we had brought from the Nairobi temple for free distribution. Mahacandra prabhu conducts weekly classes in the small storefront, which serves as temple room paid for by the Nairobi temple. As Mahacandra directed us from the main road, a large crowd greeted us as we got out of the landrover. I introduced myself and the devotees, and told them through the interpretation of Mahacandra, that we were very glad to be with them and the importance of devotee association. I told them, it was said in the bible, Jesus Christ said, where two or three are gathered in my name, there I will dwell amongst you. I explained, that wherever the devotees are together chanting the holy name of the Lord, He descends and dances on our tongue, and we become very happy and peacefull. Within minutes, happily chanting and dancing in kirtan. One of the village elders was so grateful to the devotees and happy he pledged to give us a parcel of land near the main highway.

We have been in Nairobi for almost ten days. Since then we are going out almost daily and trying to push on the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the form of distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books. Our room in the brahmachari asram overlooks Kipanda Road – a constant beehive of activity. From six o’clock in the morning onwards, cars are driven, pushed or pulled onto the side of the road, where throngs of workers will descend upon them with makeshift tools of all kinds. Jobs performed include welding, painting or general repairs. There are various engine parts and car components scattered liberally on the ground. This adds color and variety to the informal trading area. Local African women appear around mid-day and pop open their buckets to serve local fare to the workers.

The temple, a brisk ten minutes walk from city center of Nairobi, which has its fair share of noteworthy architectural accomplishments. Two buildings – the Kenyatta conference center and the Hilton Hotel are large imposing octagonal structures.

Nairobi is as much a cosmopolitan city as any other major city in the world, yet it maintains the vibrant mood of a cosmopolitan African community. People rely on small fourteen passenger vans (matatus) or large buses (City Hoppa) to get around the city. These buses often have images of sports figures or rap artists plastered on the windows. Biblical quotes or references to Allah, are occasionally painted on rear windows. Although playing music in the matatus is illegal, few drivers abide by this rule, and even fewer police officers enforce the law.

The Kenyans are a light spirited lot. One must greet someone before engaging in conversation. People on the street would acknowledge Madhu’s presence by calling out “Hare Krishna. Those who took books would often do so only after a brief conversation, unlike people in the west who had no time or inclination to talk.

While Kevin was tending to the landrover, I spent some time in the city center distributing books to the local people. It had been five years since he was last in Nairobi, and the city had undergone some noticeable changes, namely the absence of street vendors and hawkers. Their presence had previously made navigating the sidewalks a troublesome experience. Even smoking in public is illegal. For those wishing to smoke there are designated smoking booths throughout the city.

The city has its share of persons interested in the books of Srila Prabhupada, however, something we are getting accustomed to hearing is the same old refrain “I have no money”

Established in 1956, the University of Nairobi is one of the most prestigious universities in East Africa. It offers a wide range of courses such as agriculture, veterinary science, architecture and engineering. Students come from throughout Kenya as well as other parts of West Africa.

I had first come to Kenya in 2004 on my way to central Africa. It was hard to believe that five years had passed since he had last been here. On his first day in Nairobi Madhu went to the University dressed in his dhoti and kurta. The student’s response was favorable, although many were on limited budgets and unable to contribute much.

At the University of Nairobi, we met a few professors and lecturers. A philosophy professor bought two books. He told us he had gone to the Nairobi temple six years earlier just out of curiosity. Strangely enough, one of the spots where we chose to distribute books was in the shade of a large sculpture titled “The Fountain of Knowledge”.

“There are so many departments of knowledge all over the world and many huge universities, but there is, unfortunately, no university or educational institution where the science of the spirit soul is instructed. Yet the soul is the most important part of the body; without the presence of the soul, the body has no value. Still people are placing great stress on the bodily necessities of life, not caring for the vital soul.”

This stress on the needs of the body, Srila Prabhupäda teaches, is a sign of absence of true education. “Education means spiritual education. To work hard in the bodily conception of life, without spiritual education, is to live like an animal ….”
Moreover, this sort of life,Srila Prabhupada teaches, is the most dangerous, because one risks transmigrating from one body to another, and even into lower species of life.
“Without spiritual education, people are kept in dark ignorance and do not know what will happen to them after the annihilation of the present body.
“They are working blindly, and blind leaders are directing them. Andhä yathändhair upanéyamänäs te ’péça-tantryäm uru-dämni baddhäù. A foolish person does not know that he is completely under the bondage of material nature and that after death material nature will impose upon him a certain type of body, which he will have to accept. He does not know that although in his present body he may be a very important man, he may next get the body of an animal or tree because of his ignorant activities in the modes of material nature.”
“Even influential professors and other educators say that as soon as the body is finished, everything is finished. This atheistic philosophy is killing human civilization.”
How so? Misled by such ignorance masked as knowledge, “people are irresponsibly performing all sorts of sinful activities, and thus the privilege of the human life is being taken away by the educational propaganda of the so-called leaders.” 14
“Actually the so-called teachers or leaders of material society do not really know the goal of life. They are described in Bhagavad-gétä as mäyayäpahåta-jïänä. That is, they appear to be very learned scholars, but the influence of the illusory energy has taken away their knowledge. Real knowledge means searching out Krsna.”

To distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books among the learned class of people is very important, so that we bring about a society of leaders, who can lead by higher consciousness, so that Human society can become peaceful,.

During the ratha yatra in nairobi, we met and briefly spoke with Ananda prabhu, temple president of the Mombasa temple. He invited us to come to Mombasa. Seeing that Madhu had not yet seen the new temple, still under construction, we considered it a good idea.

On the road to Mombasa we made a brief stop at a gas station where we sold a book to a young woman. Farther along in the town of Voi, Madhu sold a book to a store cashier. This exchange roused the interest of his co-workers who wanted to be part of a group photograph. Email addresses exchanged, and with assurance that we would mail them a copy of the picture.

Ananda Prabhu, the temple president of the mombasa temple, invited us to come to Mombasa to distribute books. Mombasa is on the east coast of Kenya, which is the main port city of Kenya Largely Muslim. Devotees in Nairobi had told us that Mombasa would be a very difficult place to distribute books. As far back as the 1970’s when devotees first came to Kenya, there had been numerous attempts to distribute books to the people in Mombasa, but neither time nor greater effort appeared to have changed the people’s interest or willingness to accept Srila Prabhupada’s books. Bhakta Alan, a local devotee who had once been a student at the school in kisumu run by devotees, but was now no longer in operation accompanied us on the trip to Mombasa.


Considering the fact that book distribution was not something that would do well in Mombasa, we had no other real reason to be there. A phone call to the Nairobi temple brought news that a shipment of books had just arrived from Mumbai. The same day we received a call from Mahavishnu Swami while sitting in the office of Ananda prabhu. Maharaj had in response to a letter sent to him, managed to secure a donation of one thousand dollars for the BBT in Nairobi against our book debt.

By ten a.m. the following day, we were on the road to Nairobi. Knowing it to be a ten hours trip, we planned on leaving early, but were not able to do so. Considering the road conditions, traffic patterns, etc, we knew that an early morning departure would be a good idea.

Driving in Africa at night is not advisable, so when we passed through the town of Manduki, we stopped for a brief rest at the sikh temple to consider our options. The east African festival tour had stopped here in previous years. The Sikhs displayed their customary hospitality, and after a brief talk, they invited us to spend the night.

The temple is a most impressive structure. Built in 1926, it is hard to believe that such an old structure could be in such remarkable condition. The temple caretakers are doing a marvelous job at maintaining this temple. Early in the morning, temple attendants are enthusiastically wielding their brooms and water hoses cleaning the parking lot, hallways and the overall areas. There is not a scrap of garbage to be seen anywhere. We found the rooms to be clean, orderly and well stocked with soap, towels, etc.

As we were loading up the next morning, an Indian woman who was curious about what order we belonged to approached us. Turns out that this re-married woman is an Ismaili teacher from Kampala. She lived in Canada for fifteen years and had a genuine curiosity about Krishna consciousness. The Ismailis have a reputation for being open-minded and accepting of other religions. She was keen to share her religious views, but she bought an English bhagavad-gita from us.

Once we reached Nairobi, we planned to bring the landrover back to Arjun where he could complete the work that we were unable to have done in Mombasa. Arjun advised us to leave the vehicle with him for three days.

Arjun showed up with the newly repaired landrover three days later and joined us at the temple for prasadam lunch. As we were leaving, he stated the alternator bearings needed replacing. This was unwelcome news as we had replaced them a month earlier.

Tanzania was less than 350 kilometers from Nairobi, so we were confident that the bearings would hold up for the trip to the town of Arusha.

We left Nairobi just after three p.m. The landrover was fully packed with cartons of boxes, cassettes and dvd’s. Thinking the large number of boxes visible through the windows would attract the attention of the border officials, we asked Umapati prabhu for a couple of bed sheets that we could drape over the boxes.

Hardly ten minutes along the Uhuru highway, a beige colored Peugeot station wagon with a police officer, who told us to move over to the side of the road. The police officers inside wanted to know our identity and the purpose of our trip to Kenya. Satisfied with our answers they let us go and they returned to their car with Prabhupada’s books tucked under their arms.

Nearing Nairobi, while we stopped to top up with diesel, I ran over and approached a Gujarati man also filling up, and gave a donation of Ksh 500 for a Bhagavad-gita. He gave a thousand shilling note and did not ask for change.

The trip to the Tanzanian border passed quickly. Darkness was setting in, which provided us with a sense of relief. The landrover, packed with boxes of different shapes would easily have caught the attention of anyone, and we did not want to arouse the curiosity of border staff that would have no difficulty noticing the large number of boxes we were carrying. We cleared the usual border formalities without any problems or delays.

Mindful of Arjun’s cautionary words about the condition of the alternator we entered Tanzania. From the border onwards, the next two hours are just dirt roads. We had passed this road just a month ago. It was after nine at night, and all we could see was the occasional lone Masai walking down the road tending to a small flock of sheep or goats. Kevin thought he smelt something burning, but Madhu felt that he was just imagining this. Soon we hit a dead end, and while backing up, Kevin stated he felt the best course of action was to return to the border town of Namanga, find some accommodation for the night and have the problem tended to the next morning. The driving continued and twenty miles down the road, Kevin felt the landrover was struggling to maintain a speed of ninety kilometers per hour.

We parked the vehicle and when the bonnet was popped open, there was a shout from Madhu to turn off the engine. Apparently, the engine had overheated, and the manifold was the color of glowing embers. Kevin tried starting the engine after five minutes, and it started without any problem. However, after sitting for half an hour, it would no longer start. We were unsure as to whether the engine had seized, as neither of us are mechanics.

We managed to flag down an overloaded bus but they decided against tying their bus to the towing strap we had fastened to the landrover’s front bumper. The bus driver suggested we try and flag down a lorry (truck). This was not a very pleasing option to consider, as the brake booster had retired long ago, and the landrover could not stop unless considerable pressure was applied to the brake pedal. Fixing this would cost another one hundred and fifty dollars; however, Kevin had already spent the vehicle’s repair budget for both this year and next year, so this was not a job scheduled for repair any time soon.

Kevin felt a little stupid standing in the middle of the highway twirling his white dhoti to attract the attention of the oncoming cars, so he did what any roadside hero would do – he climbed on top of the landrover for a bit of rest. Madhu took over this most challenging of assignments and within a space of five minutes; he managed to flag down a car driven by an Arab girl accompanied by a male companion. The driver claimed to have some mechanical knowledge, but as he was checking pipes and hoses, a landrover carrying four police officers pulled up alongside us.

This was not at first a welcome sight, but later on proved to be just what we needed. These police officers were out on a night patrol, as this stretch of highway is notorious for problems – with the local masai and the occasional animal on the prowl, namely leopards and lions.

The word “pastor” is one known to virtually anyone in Tanzania. It is considered a honorable profession. Kevin had to barter a bit with the police officers who were initially asking for a gift of three thousand shillings to tow us the remaining eighty kilometers to the town of Arusha. Motioning in the direction of Madhu and explaining our mission in Africa, the police officer agreed to a reduction of one thousand shillings.

The first ten miles passed without difficulty, but the road worsened and there developed a constant need for braking, which resulted in the towing strap vacillating between being taut and dragging on the ground. This constant jerking did neither vehicle any good, so we were motioned to the side of the road and told that we could not continue to Arusha.

The police officer informed us of a small community headed by a catholic priest a mile off the main road. Father Renatus, a member of the Holy Ghost Fathers agreed to put us up for the night at his place, a quiet community named Engikaret Mission. Father Renatus, a man in his early forties had been at Engikaret since January of this year. He had been preaching in Ethiopia for six years prior to returning to Tanzania. He is ministering to the masai in the surrounding areas and was inquisitive and accommodating.

We looked over our book supply and gave him anything that spoke of the similarities between Krishna consciousness and Christianity. Included in the selection of books was a copy of Coming Back, Science of Self-Realization, Bhagavad-gita and Krishna Consciousness and Christianity. Father Renatus very much appreciated the need for austerity and the importance of performing penances. He gratefully accepted our gifts of Srila Prabhupada’s books and since he was conversant with the teachings of the Christian mystic, Origen we added a copy of Beyond Illusion and Doubt to his collection of books.

Engikaret community has had its share of visitors from the west. We were given a brief tour of the compound, including a look at the hermitage occupied by a Spanish priest who spent the last years of his life there. Engikaret has a co-ed boarding school for five hundred. Plans are in the making for the construction of a ten room building to house three hundred students.

The church itself is designed and decorated much like a masai home. Around the upper portion of the circular building is a striped border using traditional geometric patterns and colors.

As many of the Masai are illiterate, ingenious means to effectively preach have been devised. One such preaching tool is a plastic disc with a pictograph painted on it. This illustrates the pastimes of the great flood, the advent of Jesus and Mary and the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

The community is in a very dry area. Three underground water reservoirs were being built as there is a limited supply of water. The following morning the church mechanic showed up, and soon he and Kevin were headed eighty kilometers away to the town of Arusha, alternator in hand.

Most of the stores selling spare parts were closed this being a Saturday afternoon. A few inquiries around the neighborhood and we were brought to the home of home-based mechanic. After a quick diagnosis, we brought the alternator to have it rewound by a roadside mechanic. This job alone took a good two hours.

With the re-wound alternator in hand, we returned to the first mechanic, and once everything had been re-assembled, we returned to Engikaret, arriving just after 8 p.m.

Father Renatus has his core of dedicated followers. One such man is a Masai elder, one of the first converts to Christianity in the area. He had lived in the area since 1944. Madhu shot a short video clip interviewing both the masai and the priest. Complimentary copies of The Science of Self-Realization and Message of Godhead, were distributed to a few sincere people in the compound.

The following morning we left for Arusha. The mechanic who had spent the previous night at Engikaret accompanied us. Having him in the landrover proved highly beneficial, as the steering wheel developed an unmanageable wobble. He diagnosed the problem as a steering damper in need of adjustment. At his home in Arusha, he made the final adjustment, solving the problem of the day.

Arusha is the tourism hub of Tanzania. Whether one plans on visiting the Serengeti plains or attempting a climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro, one must spend some time in Arusha. Generally speaking, the second half of June, one starts to see the throngs of tourists flocking in from around the world

Three years ago, on the east African festival tour, we stayed at the Hindu Mandal temple in Arusha. The temple is contained in a large complex with the original temple built in 1956. It houses deities of Hanuman, Durga and Radha-Krishna. We spoke with the son of the pujari who has been serving this temple for thirty years. The pujari kindly agreed to give us a room for one week.

Once we settled in, I started approaching people who were coming to the temple and encouraging them to check out the variety of books we had in the landrover. The Gujaratis proved to be supportive and very helpful.

As no meals are served to the public, and we had no knowledge of stores or food outlets in Arusha, we chose to go to the sikh temple. The priest informed us that meals were only distributed on Sunday mornings. Outside the temple, we approached a middle-aged Indian man who turned out to be from Benares. We were explaining our predicament to him, when he extended an invitation to join him for lunch at one of two vegetarian restaurants in Arusha. After a very satisfying lunch, Ravi had his driver take us to a lumber-yard, near his place of work, where we could buy some planks of wood we would use to build a cabinet to house Srila Prabhupada’s books. We bid Ravi farewell, as he would be going to India in two days time, but before driving off, the security men guarding the temple asked us for some books. We gave them copies of Message of Godhead in Kiswahili.

The management committee of the Hindu mandal temple had permitted us to set up a book table, so after a maintenance man helped with this, we had our book display set up. A couple of books sold that evening, but we soon learned the best time to solicit donations and sell books was in the morning when people would come at 7 am for the hour long arati.

Dinesh, a well-known man in the community is a board member of the temple. He asked us if we would come to his house that evening. Half an hour later Dinesh and a friend brought us to their house, where we spoke a bit about Prabhupada’s mission and what we hoped to accomplish in east Africa. Both Dinesh and his friend live in a flat in a complex built by the Aga Khan Foundation.

We have been spending time with a carpenter during the last few days. We are designing a cabinet that can store books where they will be in a clean, undamaged and orderly environment. The final product will look like a cabinet lying on its back. There will be one compartment on each side of the cabinet. In the event the four seats need reinstallation in the landrover, the cabinet and side compartments are removable.

We have been getting very nice responses from local people who are making intelligent inquiries about Srila Prabhupada’s books. The Africans, including a large number from the educated class are taking books and giving donations. Before measurements taken for the cabinet, all books and personal effects had to be unloaded from the landrover. The cartons of boxes on the ground soon began to draw a crowd. This made for a nice preaching opportunity and a chance to display Srila Prabhupada’s books. Those who took the time to read a bit could identify with what Srila Prabhupada had written.

As a crowd formed, we taught them to chant Hare Krishna, and soon we had a large group chanting in a call and response fashion. We had to return the following day, as some minor adjustments to the cabinet needed doing. Adjacent to the carpenter’s shop is a small booth housing a young man doing tailoring work. Reza proved to be most helpful. He translated our concerns and questions to the carpenter. When the cabinet was ready for fitting, he enthusiastically volunteered to help with this.

As he helped to pack the books into the shelf, he would call out the names of different titles as he passed them to his sister, who was also helping us. It was so nice to hear him, as he packed Srila Prabhupada’s books: “Here are some “Coming Back” books. These are Perfect Questions Perfect Answers, and so on – calling out the titles of each book.

We had been in the town of Arusha for almost two weeks Arush is a very busy town – home to dozens of safari companies and hundreds of tourists. Our next stop on the transcendental sankirtan safari, was to head west, to Tanzania’s second most populated place, the town of Mwanza on the shores of Lake Victoria. Our stay of one week in Arusha has been most inspiring, and the response has been very nice - both from local Africans, Indians, expatriates and from the many tourists coming mainly from Europe, China, Australia and the United Kingdom. There are some white Tanzania farmers here growing coffee, and overseeing huge plantations of sugar cane grown mainly for local consumption.
Mahavishnu Maharaj’s desire is that we primarily focus on preaching to the African people. Srila Prabhupada has said that the Africans are the proprietors and that we should be preaching to them. The continent of Africa has many sleeping giants, but they merely need awakening by the sweet call of Lord Caitanya. There is an urgent need to flood this vast continent with Srila Prabhupada’s books, so that this instruction of Lord Sri Caitanya is fulfilled.

As evidence of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy, we experienced that the people of East Africa are taking to Krsna consciousness - chanting, dancing, and taking prasadam like other Vaiñëavas. This is all due to the power of Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu. Who can understand how His potency is working all over the world? Before Srila Prabhupada came to South Africa, he first visited Nairobi, East Africa’s largest city. We are very pleased to be here, distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books, from which the seed of Krsna consciousness was planted in South Africa. Let try to revive this pioneering sankirtan spirit here in Africa, and we will receive the blessings and mercy of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by our sincere efforts to preach and spread the glories of His holy name.

In reply to a letter written to His Holiness Giriraj Maharaj, expressing a desire to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books in Namibia; Maharaj stated that Srila Prabhupada is pleased when his books are distributed in new places.

So by the mercy of Guru and Gauranga, let us go and distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books, where they have never been distributed. By this book distribution, we will make more sankirtan devotees, who could go to every town and village, and devotees of Krishna will be made.

A road often used by locals on their way to Mwanza goes through two of the country’s national parks – Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater. Entry fee for citizens of east Africa is a nominal fee, but those of other countries have to pay the entry fee of sixty dollars. Circumventing the national parks and using the road used by commercial carriers adds another hundred and fifty kilometers driving distance.

On the morning of our departure, we stopped at the house of Bakati, the mechanic who fixed our alternator during our stay at Engikaret Mission a couple of weeks ago. The steering damper he previously adjusted was in need of another adjustment.

We picked up Bakati and drove him to his place of work. It was a great surprise for us to learn that he was the mechanic at the Arusha community of the Holy Ghost Fathers. The in residence priest, Father John welcomed us and gave us a tour of the grounds. The school run by the Holy Ghost Fathers conducts classes in carpentry, mechanics and electrical work. We spoke of our stay at the Engikaret community and the time we spent with Father Renatus. Father John spent three years in Rome where he earned an MA degree. Madhu brought his laptop into the house and within a few minutes, we sat watching Your Ever Well-wisher in Kiswahili.

Father John was satisfied with the answers we gave to his initial inquiries. He wanted to pay for the books we had given him. After having watched a bit of the dvd, his interest grew and he wanted more books. While Kevin spoke with Bakati about the landrover, Father John chose more books, and returned to his room for his wallet.

Bakati did a few repairs on the landrover, but suggested we get the alignment and a wheel balance done. He took off the steering damper and checked it. It proved to have no problem, so it was reinstalled. The drive to mwanza is over eight hundred kilometers from Arusha, so the prospect of having more steering problems is one we wanted to avoid, so we returned to the downtown core of Arusha and Kevin called up a local fellow who has a landrover of his own and hires it out as and when he can. Richard brought us to a local mechanic who identified the source of the problem – a small nut connected to the steering assembly was loose – resulting in the wobbling.

Dressed in dhoti, kurta and wearing tilak, we headed out onto the streets of Arusha, bookbag in hand. The local people responded favorably to the books. Kevin was approached by a tout who was on the streets trying to draw in customers to the store of his friends. Assured that a store keeper of a bookstore had a genuine interest in seeing Srila Prabhupada’s books, Kevin agreed to accompany the tout to the bookstore. The proprietor of the shop gladly took twelve books to sell in his shop. Before leaving the store, the shop keeper insisted on getting Kevin’s contact information, should he have a need for ordering more books.

Prior to being towed to the community of Holy Ghost Fathers in Engikaret, an arab woman and her partner offered to help us. In Arusha Madhu was approached by a woman who was insistent that he step into her store. Once inside she identified herself as the arab woman who had tried to help us when we were stranded. Madhu sold her a copy of Life Comes from Life, and she gave Madhu a complimentary card reader for his digital camera.

With this repair completed, we left. Our proposal was to follow the main road. The next large city after Arusha we planned to visit was Singida. We were to head south, and then head west when we reached Babati. About half an hour from Babati, we heard an all too familiar unwelcome noise – the grinding noise coming from the alternator bearings. We stopped to fill up the gas tank, and the attendant told us we had a chance of finding a mechanic ten minutes down the road.

In the town of Babati, we sought the advice of a local teenager. He hopped in the landrover and escorted us down the road to where we found a mechanic specializing in electrical work. The mechanic was agreeable and able to do the work. However, lighting was poor, and it took him some time to rig up some kind of lighting so he could work with some lighting. We were held up a couple of times as he did not have the right size sockets to disassemble the alternator. An hour later, we were out of Babati. The plan was to spend a day or so in Singida, and then move onto the capital city of Dodoma. As we were on roads, we knew we had not intended to take, we had to take an alternate route to Singida.

The driver of a severely overloaded Toyota landcruiser informed us that since we were continuing onto Mwanza, it was advisable for us to forego the trip to Singida, which was east of where we were. As we were heading west, we decided to take the direct road to Mwanza. The Toyota would stop periodically to discharge passengers, and we would pull in behind him. When we arrived at a fork in the road, the driver, looking over our map pointed out an alternate route that involved passing through many remote villages. We had to stop about three times and get directions to the next village. Inevitably, we would give a ride to the person who had given us directions. The first person to join us was a man in his forties. The second person we spoke to was a young farmer slowly riding his bicycle over the rough dirt road. His bicycle was loaded on the landrover roof, and we dropped him off ten miles down the road. The last people to join us were a Muslim man and his wife. They were very grateful for the ride, but as we had limited space, she had to crawl into the back of the vehicle with her shoulder bunched up against the rear window.

We spent the next three hours driving over dirt roads, with no lights of any kind, no police posts. It is safe to say that fewer than 30 vehicles pass over these roads per day. Assuming we were on the right roads, we drove on. Signs appeared indicating that we had arrived in the town of Mbulu. It was close to midnight at this point, so we checked into a small guesthouse for the night. The following morning the postal clerk informed that we were a two hours drive from Arusha. We had literally driven in a circle.

A mechanic in Mbulu had fastened new bolts to the shock tower to hold the shock in place. The previous repair in Namanga involved welding the shock tower. But seeing how that repair had not held up for long, we opted for a quicker and cheaper repair.

The road from Mbulu was unbearable. Constant battering by the unending trail of potholes and bumps took their toll on the newly tightened bolts. Soon a too familiar sound developed – what sounded like a tin can dragging along the road. The shock tower housing the shock absorber had loosened and was loosely banging around the engine compartment.

We drove along at quite a quick pace. At some point, we stopped and asked for directions. A car we had asked for directions had advised us to follow him. In his Toyota landcruiser he practically flew down the dirt road, hitting potholes and bumps. We were nearing 80 kph, but had trouble keeping up with him. We had told him our final destination was Mwanza, so he led us down the dirt trails far off the main roads. When it came time for him to take a turn in the opposite way, we pulled out our map, and he directed us through small villages. We picked up two two single passengers and a married couple. One of the passengers, a teenaged farmer put his bicycle atop the landrover.

By this time the battering had taken its toll on the shock tower on Kevin’s side of the vehicle. This was a noise we were very accustomed to, so there was no point in stopping the landrover and confirming what we already knew – the shock tower had broken off from its anchor. We drove along like this for well over an hour.

Since our first breakdown, I would constanly keep my eye on the temperature gauge, just happened to look over and saw the needle was well in the red range. Fearing the worst, and remembering the red hot manifold we had seen last time, we popped open the bonnet. We were greatly relieved to see that the manifold looked unaffected by any changes of temperature, but the cause of the overheating was that the shock tower had moved and pierced the plastic tank holding the coolant. Not only was there a hole in the tank, but the plastic return pipe had been sheared off.

Our cell phone served no purpose, as there was no signal in the area. A man wanting to help, offered the services of his friend who could have pulled us with his tractor, but no signal, meant no contact. If the water temperature dropped to levels within the normal range, we would chance on driving, until the water temperature rose to dangerously high levels. After factoring in the waiting time, the twenty-mile drive to the main highway took just over two hours.

Very soon, we spotted a lorry that had pulled to the side of the highway to change a tire. The Rwandan born driver was eager to help and seemed to know exactly what we needed. He separated the reservoir tank from its hoses and ran off. He was back in twenty minutes, holding the tank. A large glob of reddish putty covered the hole. Kevin was sent to buy a tube of super glue. With this in hand, the driver picked up dirt from the side of the road, and scooped out some dirt powder from the wheel. This he confidently mixed with the superglue, and liberally applied over the hole in the tank and plastic tube that had disconnected from the tank. A young kid sitting on his bicycle was sent down the road to fill up our five-gallon jug with water. The mechanic was well- paid for his hour’s work, and we were on the road once again. As promised, the repair held up well for the remainder of the trip.

To avoid possible damage to the repaired tank, the mechanic removed the shock. The second shock, although in place also served no purpose. We were now driving without shocks. The only suspension in the front of the vehicle came from the large springs. Now that we had one shock fully removed, and the other one not attached, the landrover would bounce like a ping-pong ball upon hitting the smallest of bumps. Our biggest concern was driving in the dark and failing to see a speed bump. To do so, was courting great danger to ourselves, and the landrover. Fortunately, the newly constructed roads were-built and there were plenty of signs warning us of road surfaces ahead.

It was after midnight by the time we reached Mwanza. We planned on going to the temple, but knew we would be spending our first night elsewhere. A group of Indians sitting outside a closed shop told us of a wedding that had taken place at the temple. Guests had come from India and Kenya, so there would be no guest rooms for a few days. Two of the men from the group offered to help us with accommodation. Following their car, we pulled into the Lake hotel, and both Neil and his friend paid the thirty thousand shillings to rent two single rooms for the night.

Driving around the streets, we saw a group of half a dozen Indian men sitting on plastic chairs on the sidewalk. We got out, introduced ourselves, explained our predicament, and two of the men asked if we could pay thirty thousand shillings. We had told them we wanted to stay in a cheaper guest house, but they invited us to follow them in their car. We were brought to Lake Hotel, where Neil kindly paid thirty thousand shillings for two single rooms.

Next day, we went to the garage of Ashok Patel, owned of Schumann Motors, a repair
shop exclusively dedicated to the repair of Landrovers and Ford trucks. While Kevin stayed at the garage, whilst they doing the repairs, I ventured into town and for next couple of days distributed lots books to the locals. Kevin also set up a book table, about two blocks from the Hindu temple, the priest there, who is a well wishing friend of the devotees who stay there each year during the East Africa Festival Tour, gladly provided us with a table.

Ram Gaura, a disciple of Mahavishnu was to arrived at the bus station at 12pm. Kevin and myself arrived at just after 12pm. At the office of the Akamba bus, we were told that the bus was late and would be arriving at 3pm. We decided that we would wait I decided that I would distribute some books, to the people who were waiting. I approached a man with a Swahili SSR who began to read it with interest. A crowd began to gather, I began to get them to chant Hare Krsna, which they did with great enthusiasm. While the man was reading the SSR, a person sitting next to him began to read – the crowd began to get bigger. I showed some more people the books and gave a English Perfect Questions to Perfect Answers. He liked the book very much, and asked me if I could give it to him free. I told him that I would have liked to give it to him free, but I could not, as we had to pay for the printing, and could not get the printing done free. He asked me again, saying that he did not have money – I sold the book to him at the BBT price. He gave me 500 shillings and thanked me for giving him the book. He began reading it, as he came to the centre page with the pictures, pointed to a picture of Lord Sringadev, looking as though at first he were confused. In Swahili, he asked me who it was in the picture. At first I did not know what to say – I said to him that it was Krsna. Still he could not understand, and began to shake his head. Just then, a crowd began to develop, as one man began to speak to him, although I could not understand what he was saying, I could see from his body language, that he was saying that what was in the book was not quite right. The crowd got a little bigger, and I could see that the mode of passion was developing. Kevin was sitting in the drivers seat of the Landrover chanting – as he could speak Swahili, I asked him to come over to diffuse the crowd, that by then began to get a bit frenzied. Kevin came over, and began to calm them down. He then told the man who disagreed with the book that we had given to come and sit in front of the drivers seat and gave him a Swahili SSR to read. Kevin asked him, to read out aloud, so that the crowd that had moved to the car could hear what he was saying. After some time, and reading the SSR to the crowd, he became a little calmer, as Kevin patted him on the back to make him feel more comfortable. After the incident, I realized, that the pictures in the book had mad the African man disturbed. So it is important, that when we give Srila Prabhupada’s books to a person from another culture, that to them is foreign, which should not include pictures that will disturb them.

By the mercy of Guru and Gauranga, our week and a half stay at the town of Mwanza was a success – we had come there, to spread the message of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan mission and to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. We decided that we would go back to Dar es Salaam, about a fifteen-hour drive from Mwanza. Before we left, we had to collect the CD’s that Kevin had converted from cassette tape to CD. He had received a donation of three boxes of BBT cassette tapes from LA – on condition that all he had to do, was to pay for the shipping costs from the USA to Kenya. There many titles with lectures and bhajans by Srila Prabhupada, also that would be an added source of income. Next he had to pic up some used seats he had bought to use for his landrover, which would add more seating to the landrover, which from time to time, he hires out. After we had finished, we drove out of town, filled up the tank with petrol and checked the tyre pressure. The roads that we had been traveling on were very good, until we came to a stretch of road construction, which I knew was going last for a very long. At two police roadblocks, they asked us where we were going to – Kevin in his friendly explained that we were going to Dar es Salaam. The police suggested to him that it was not safe to travel at night; however, Kevin said that it would be okay. Sitting next to Kevin as he was driving, I would keep up a constant conversation, just in case he might become tired, and thereby loose his attention while driving. The roads were very rough, but then again, not as some of the previous roads, we had experienced in other parts of Kenya and Tanzania. There is a very extensive road construction agreement between the Chinese and the Kenyan and Tanzanian governments; however the detour road signs are normally a piece of rough wooden board with and hand painted to point to the detour. Just then, as Kevin who was driving about a hundred kilometers an hour, as if from nowhere, a huge mound of sand appeared. Kevin swerved, trying to avoid driving straight in to it – if we had driven into it at the speed we were traveling, we would have been in serious trouble. With Kevin’s driving skills, he managed to make a sharp right turn, just skimming the edge of the mound of sand. Kevin shouted it disbelief, “Just hold on, chant, chant!” Ram Gaur, who was sleeping at the back, suddenly woke up in alarm, totally confused and not understanding what had happened. My heart began to beat faster from the stress of what had happened suddenly happened. I chanted loudly – in a short space of time, a million thoughts went racing in my mind. I remember thinking to myself, would we be all right, if not what would happen if I did not remember Krsna. For a second everything became a blur, I felt the impact of the landrover, it almost overturned and turned to one side almost in a full circle, coming to a full stop. I shouted: “Oh no, thank you Krsna, thank you, I can not believe what has happened, but You have saved us!” I looked at Kevin, in total bewilderment, I said to him that I could not believe that the landrover had not rolled over, and that we were all safe. Kevin started the engine – it would not start, he tried again, it was dead. Luckily, it was a full moon, so we could see where we were. We walked around trying to understand where the road was – we walked up a steep incline, to the top of where the mound of sand was that we had nearly collided with; it was a drop of nearly a meter high! We both shook our heads in total amazement, as we said to each other, “We made it to the bottom there in one piece, down there, unbelievable!” After finding our bearings, we noticed, that we had taken the wrong detour, as there was no road sign to show the detour of the road. We went back to the landrover, opened up the bonnet; Kevin looked at the engine, hoping to find some loose wire. Although we could not see very well however, the head lights of the landrove, which gave us some light to see the engine, the engine would not start. I started chanting, it was the only solution in our predicament. I stood in the middle of the road waiting to flag down some oncoming vehicle. Almost three quarters of an hour passed, as in the distance I saw the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. I strained my ears to hear if it was a truck or a car. As It got closer, I could see it was a transport truck. I called over to Kevin. The truck stopped, Kevin went over to the driver and explained to him in Swahili what had happened, and if he perhaps could come an help up. The driver and the co-driver came down and had a look at the engine, using his cell phone as a torch, which was better lighting than the headlights of the landrover. After some time, he told Kevin to start the engine – it started. I was so relieved that the engine had started, that I put my arms around the driver of the truck that helped us and said, “Thank you, thank you…!” As we continued driving for about three quarter of an hour, Kevin said he felt that the steering was not quite right – he got out and checked underneath the landrover, and said, “Oh no, the rod connecting the two front wheels is a bit bent.” I climbed out and had a look; bent in a u-shape, not that bad. We decided that we could continue to the next town and get someone to look at it in the morning; it was already about twelve o’ clock. Just as we came into the town that we had plan to stop at, we heard what sounded like hissing steam. I put my head out of the window, to see where the sound was coming from – I could hear it was coming from the front of the engine. It was then that Kevin notice on the dashboard, the oil warning light came on. Any red light I would see, alarm bells would start to ring in my head, and I would think to myself, here we go, another engine problem, so what else is new. We got out, opened the bonnet, the whole engine was covered in think oil – it was as though oil well had be We not what to do, so Kevin decided, that he and Ran Gaur would find a guesthouse and stay over until the morning and come back at eight o’clock. I would stay in the landrover, and Kevin and Ram Gaur, would go and find a guesthouse to stay in and come back at eight o’ clock in the morning, by that time we would be able to find a mechanic. I tried to sleep as best I could. Morning came, as many curious onlookers came, to see this landrover full of books and bags, and one mazunga (meaning white person in Swahili) in a dhoti and kurta. Eight o’ clock came, Kevin an Ram Gaur had not yet come back, it was getting late. I did not know which guesthouse they were staying at to try and contact them. I asked some of the locals – most of them could not speak English, it was difficult to communicate. Finally, I found a person who could speak English, he was doctor, I said that he would help me and ask around at the other guesthouses if he could find them. After some time, Kevin and Ram Gaura arrived with the mechanic. Together with the enthusiastic help of the locals, we managed to push the landrover up the narrow street and u-turn it around to the mechanic’s workshop. The whole engine was hosed-down with detergent, which took about an hour, after which the mechanic then discovered after doing a thorough check; he discovered a loose oil-connecting pipe. Two hours later, by the mercy of Guru and Gauranga, we were back on the road to Dar es Salaam – everything went fine, until about two hours before Dar es Salaam, the landrover steering became unstable, a hissing sound developed, we slowed down and discovered a flat tire. Kevin looked for the jack and could not seem to find it – we had left it behind in Mwanza! I tried to stop some cars on the busy road; none seemed to want to stop. Finally, a Toyota Land cruiser with an African man and his family. Kevin spoke to him and asked him if he could help us with a jack to change the flat – he could, and what would be happy to help. As he was putting the jack under the landrover, he looked at me and smiled, and said to me; “I remember seeing you in Mwanza, you remember.” This was certainly the mercy of Guru and Gauranga!” We arrived in Dar es Salaam at about eleven thirty and made our way to Kevin’s friend Gaddy, who he was glad to see again. Ram Gaur spent the night at his place, I stayed at a nearby guesthouse, and Kevin went back to his accommodation the Salvation Army, where he has been staying since coming to Dar es Salaam. The next morning Gaddy, Ram Gaur and myself, took a taxi, to Ashok, a friend of Krsna, who has a factory to pick up the temple car. Ashok has been of great assistance to the Food for Life program in Dar es Salaam. I stayed got a room for the day at the YMCA. Downtown Dar es Salaam includes many small businesses, many of which are run by traders and proprietors whose families originated from the middle East and the Indian sub-continent – areas of the world with which the settlements of Tanzania coast had had long-standing trading relations. During the daytime the heavy weight of traffic, office workers, busy merchants, street vendors and restaurateurs of the area lend it a frenetic and slightly claustrophobic air. I spent many memorable days in the city, distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books there and to the many local Indian and Muslim shopkeepers, who too books from me. I remember, there was one electronic shop owned by a Muslim – his friend was an Indian who liked the books, but said that it was all right, that he would not like to take one. I said to his friend that he should ask him to lend him some money to take the book; after all, he was his friend, and that friends care for friends – he agreed, gave him some money, and took a book. Srila Prabhupada said even if he looks, touches reads it, he benefits. His grace Umapati Prabhu, the Temple President from Nairobi, came to Dar es Salaam for a visit for a week. Every night we would have ecstatic Bhagavad gita programs on the twelfth floor on the roof of Parush’s block of flats he lives in and owns. Parush has also been of great help to ISKCON Dar es Salaam. About a year or so ago, the center in town was demolished to make way for a new building. so now, the devotees are using a community Hindu temple which they are hiring. The temple also has a nice kitchen, and there are pots and cooking utensils, which they can use which are part of the hiring agreement. I stayed with Caitanya Mahaprabhu prabhu, who had taken very good care of me. He and his wife are from south India - Caitanya Mahaprabhu is a Jayapataka Swami Maharaj disciple. I left on the bus from Dar es for Lusaka on Sunday morning at six thirty. The journey to the Tanzania/Zambia border at Taduma took a whole day and arrived at Ten o’ clock that night. I spent an uncomfortable night trying to sleep. The border opened at the next morning at – I made sure that I would check my passport at the exit and entry posts, before the rush began. I entered into Zambia; I climbed back on the bus, and get ready for the next stage of the journey to Lusaka. After an hour or so, I noticed that the bus had not departed yet. I asked around and enquired what time the bus was leaving – the driver of the bus told, the bus was leaving at five o’ clock that same day; nine hours to go before it would leave. I brought some b English and Swahili SSR books with me from Dar es Salaam – the rest of the time, much to the curiosity of the people at the border, many who would call out to me: “Shaolin,” I think that they may have been watching too many Bruce Lee Kung Fu movies. I only had book titles, Swahili SSR and The Laws of Material Nature, the cover of the book on it has a man with an axe with head of a cow, and the cow with a head of a man, as people would crowd around. I would then get everyone to chant Hare Krsna, which everyone would do, bring much laughter as more would gather around. I went into a stationary shop and spoke to the owner and preached to him about the difference between the body and the soul, which he said that he agreed, even to the point where he told one young man who was standing outside of the entrance, that he should come inside and listen to the important message that he had heard from me – that important message had come from Srila Prabhupad. He took the book, and told me that he was very happy to have met me. As the afternoon wore on, everywhere I would go, people would call out to me, Hare Krsna. I distributed all the books I had, and was a bit disappointed that I had not brought more with me. This transcendental sankirtan safari, was a great transcendental adventure, I was most privileged and fortunate to have had the opportunity to be on it and to assist you Maharaj, my Guru Maharaj, Srila Prabhupada , and Sri Gaur Nitai and help them to Their holy and to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books – Srila ki jay!

East African African Sankirtan Safari 2009

SRILA PRABHUPADA'S MERCY IN NAIROBI

It has been almost ten days since our arrival in Nairobi – since then, both Kevin and I are going out daily, trying to push on the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in the form of Srila Prabhupada’ s books. Our room in the brahmachari asram three floors above ground level overlooks Kipanda Road – a constant beehive of activity. Vehicles. From six o’clock in the morning onwards, cars will be driven, pulled or pushed onto the side of roads, where throngs of workers descend upon them to restore them to a semblance of working order. Jobs performed include welding, painting or general repairs. There are always various engine parts and car components scattered liberally on the ground. This adds variety and color to the informal trading center. Local African women appear on the scene around midday, and pop open their plastics buckets and serve out local fare to the workers. All this is done within a five-minute walk from the downtown center. Nairobi has its fair share of noteworthy architectural accomplishments. Two buildings – the Kenyatta Conference Center and the Hilton are large imposing octagonal shaped buildings.

The town, with its lively and bustling city centre, can be compared to that of any other major city in the world. At the same time it maintains the mood of a vibrant cosmopolitan African community. Well laid out flowerbeds line the wide avenues on either side, and some of the traffic circles have fountains in the middle.

With a constant stream of all modes of transport, matatus, are used to ferry the public to the suburbs. Larger buses known as City Hoppa ply the downtown streets. These vehicles are always plastered with images of rap artists on the windows, or the names of their favorite football team. Once seated inside, one is subjected to a constant barrage of thumping reggae music. These buses are similar to the minibus similar to mini bus taxis in South Africa.

Kenyans are a very colorful people. There is a culture of respect to be shown when meeting them, as I soon discovered. Upon meeting one should always greet a person first, before engaging in conversation. This contrasts with South Africa, where I would directly approach a person with, “Are you from around here?’, or I would compliment them on the nice t-shirt they were wearing before introducing myself.

The majority of Africans, who took books from me, would always be eager to take them and ask very nice questions. Many people on the street would acknowledge me by calling out “Hare Krishna.”

While Kevin had sent his Landrover in for some repairs, we were both relieved that it was as bad as we thought. Kevin had thought that the turbo needed replacing, meaning that it would cost about a thousand dollars. With our tight budget, it would have been a bit of a setback.

While he was tending to the landrover, I spent some time distributing books to the local Africans in the city centre. Since I was last year five years ago, the city has undergone some noticeable changes. No longer present are the street hawkers who made navigating Nairobi’s sidewalks a troublesome experience. The city has banned hawking of any kind, and one can be fined for smoking in public. There are designated smoking areas and public washrooms are strategically placed around the downtown center.

A visiting devotee to Nairobi, Govinda Prema, who is from the temple in Kisimu, contacted his cousin, who as it happened, by the mercy of Guru and Krsna, owns a auto repair business, whose main business is refurbishing old Landrovers. Kevin and I introduced ourselves to him. After a brief inspection, we were assured that the turbo was not in need of repair. However there were some minor things that needed repairing, and that we could pick the landrover up the next week. We were again relieved to hear, that the cost of the repairs was a fraction of what we though it would have been. Kevin thought he was looking at a repair bill in excess of a thousand dollars, so was greatly relieved to see that the total repairs came to a third of that.

The city centre had its share of interested persons; however, it was not uncommon to hear people stating that they did not have any money. Established in 1956, the University of Nairobi is one of the most prestigious academic universities in East Africa, It offers a wide range of courses such as, agriculture and veterinary science, architecture and engineering. Students come from all over Kenya as well as other parts of West Africa.

I had distributed books on the campus in 2004, when I first came to Kenya, on my way to central Africa. It was hard to believe that five had passed since I had first distributed books there. The first day I distributed books dressed in my dhoti and kurta. We found the students to be very interested in the books, although they were somewhat distracted and unable to give us their undivided attention as they were rushing from class to class.

We were fortunate to meet some professors and lecturers, who showed interest in our books. A sculpture entitled “The Fountain of Youth”, provided a shady spot for us to stand in, and afforded us some protection from the overhead sun. Kevin spent some time speaking with someone who was a lecturer in philosophy. He agreed to take two books, and after inquiring what religion we were, stated that he had visited the temple in Nairobi some six years ago.

Kevin approached a man and asked him if he was a lecturer or a student. He asked what he was doing with the books and if he was selling them. He replied that he was not, and was merely asking for donations. He informed the man that we were monks distributing our books to the students and the public alike. The man Kevin was speaking with identified himself as Mr. Wahomey, and acknowledged that he worked for the University of Nairobi, but would not identify in what capacity. Mr. Wahomey suggested that we go the office of public affairs for the university and contact a Mr. Sikuku.

The receptionist at Mr. Sikuku’s office spent a bit of time talking with us, and after getting to know we were devotees and seeing the letters we had brought with us from the temple authorizing us to distribute Prasad, books and perform harinam in the city center, ushered us into the office of Mr. Sikuku.

Mr. Sikuku could not have been more helpful or accommodating. Kevin presented him with a copy of Beyond Illusion and Doubt and the Science of Self Realization. It was apparent from the smile on Mr. Sikuku’s face and his laid-back manner that we would not have any difficulty in presenting our case and having our request to distribute Prabhupada’s books distributed on the campus of the University of Nairobi. Permission granted! We were told we could return the next afternoon and pick up a letter authorizing us to distribute books. This was certainly the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. Back at the temple, Gaura Sakti was overjoyed to the hear the news that permission had been obtained. The devotees had been trying for over ten years to get permission to distribute books, but to no avail.

The following day we resumed distribution. Interested students were asked for their names and phone numbers. Gaura Sakti prabhu conducts a Saturday night program for newcomers to Krishna consciousness. He has a total of forty students enrolled for his program, although not all are in attendance every week. We were pleased to notice that last Saturday brought two students who had gotten books, and one of the students had brought his friend along. At the end of the program they were driven back to their homes, and assured us, they would return the following week. It was Srila Prabhupada’s desire, that we cultivate the educated class of people. After all, they will be the leaders of society – at present in this age of kali, our leader, due to lack of elevated consciousness. The result which brings about a godless society.

“There are so many departments of knowledge all over the world and many huge universities, but there is, unfortunately, no university or educational institution where the science of the spirit soul is instructed. Yet the soul is the most important part of the body; without the presence of the soul, the body has no value. Still people are placing great stress on the bodily necessities of life, not caring for the vital soul.”

This stress on the needs of the body, Srila Prabhupada teaches, is a sign of absence of true education.

“Education means spiritual education. To work hard in the bodily conception of life, without spiritual education, is to live like an animal ….”

And this sort of life, Srila Prabhupada teaches, is the most dangerous, because one risks transmigrating from one body to another, and even into lower species of life.

“Without spiritual education, people are kept in dark ignorance and do not know what will happen to them after the annihilation of the present body.

“They are working blindly, and blind leaders are directing them. A foolish person does not know that he is completely under the bondage of material nature and that after death ma-terial nature will impose upon him a certain type of body, which he will have to accept. He does not know that although in his present body he may be a very important man, he may next get the body of an animal or tree because of his ignorant activities in the modes of material nature.”

“Even influential professors and other educators say that as soon as the body is finished, everything is finished. This atheistic philosophy is killing human civilization.”

How so? Misled by such ignorance masked as knowledge, “people are irresponsibly performing all sorts of sinful activities, and thus the privilege of the human life is being taken away by the educational propaganda of the so-called leaders.” 14

“Actually the so-called teachers or leaders of material society do not really know the goal of life. They are described in Bhagavad-gitä as mayayapahata-jana. That is, they appear to be very learned scholars, but the influence of the illusory energy has taken away their knowledge. Real knowledge means searching out Kåñëa.”

To distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books among the learned class of people is very important, so that we bring about a society of leaders, who can lead by higher consciousness, so that human society can become peacfull, there by brining about a god consciouss society!