The Pilgrimage to Ulm

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Our flight from JKIA to Doha Qatar was faultless. Alighting at Doha past midnight, we were smacked by scotching temperatures of 40⁰C. Our mouths swallowed the hot air in silent pain. Being on transit to Frankfurt Germany meant that our stay at Doha was short-lived. We got to Frankfurt in the early hours of the morning. The electric train to Munich was swift and fast and by midday we breathed the cool breeze of Ulm. Ulm is situated between Stuttgart and Munich. Ulm occupies a central position in southern Germany. Documentaries about Ulm date back to the year 845. Ulm is also the birth place of Albert Einstein. I wish to share with you the three things I experienced during my trip to Europe

1.                  The Ulm Minster or the Ulm Cathedral

The Ulm Minster is one of the most attractive and biggest churches of Gothic ecclesiastical architecture in Germany. The Ulm minster was built as parish church financed by both municipal funds and donations of less than 10,000 Ulmites. On June 30^th 1377, three hours after sunrise, the then mayor of Ulm Lutz Krafft laid the foundation stone of Ulm Cathedral. Today with its 124 m length, 161.5 m height it makes the highest church steeple in the world. The people of Ulm pride in the Ulm minster, which is the center of attraction to hundred of thousands of tourists every year. The Ulm Cathedral has stood for over 600 years and from the look of things its has not covered half of its shelf life

2.                  The Ulmites festivals: The Oath Monday and the serenade of lights

The oath Monday is celebrated annually on the last but one Monday of the Month of July. Celebrations begin with the Serenade of Lights on the river Danube. The Danube is the second longest river in Europe originating from the Black Forest and emptying into the Black Sea covering 2, 872 km. Once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire, the river passes through ten countries: Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Austria, Germany, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Croatia, Ukraine, and Moldova. On the Saturday before Oath Monday, young men in boats race many kilometers upstream river Danube, let down candles and lanterns to flow downstream the river, making it the river of lights. Fire masters and pyrotechnic experts perform firework display from river Danube, resulting to a river covered by a romantic scene of flowing lighting candles and a heaven covered by fireworks of assorted colors. So romantic is the scene that I guess proposals are made and broken marriages re-united. After the celebration people join in feasting along river Danube under the shadow of temporarily riverside lighting. They enjoy all manner of foods and drinks, boys dance to music tunes from the stalls alongside their temporary girlfriends, men cuddle their wives with warmth, young mothers nurse their babies in the open and life in a sudden seems a glorious spectacle. On the Oath Monday the Ulmites gather for an important celebration marked by an address by the incumbent mayor of Ulm vowing to protect the city of Ulm and its inhabitants. He then awards the annual outstanding Citizens Award and the Science Award of Ulm.

3.                  The Castles of Europe

Germany, like other European nations has a rich history of Castles built by ancient Kings in show of their might, wealth, and strategy for battle. Some castles date back to the 7^th Century and portray great architectural work of the ancient Europe. We visited the Castle of Hohenzollern built in the 11^th Century. Despite having been destroyed almost thrice it still stands firm and is a major tourist attraction in the southern part of Germany and is visited by over 300,000 people every year making it one of the most popular castles in Germany.

Dear Toastmasters and guests; I wish to urge you that every time you visit a new place, write down your story and tell it to the toastmasters. In my case what are the things I can write home about my visit to Europe?

1.         The Ulm Minster or the Ulm Cathedral – the church with the tallest steeple in the world

2.      The festivities of the Ulmites – which include the serenade of lights on river Danube and the Oath    Monday

3.      The Castles of Europe and in particular the Hohenzollern castle standing at the top of mount Hohenzollern 855 m above sea level

I wish you a nice picnic to Europe during your next pilgrimage and remember to visit the city of Ulm and see the wonders of Europe.

Diarrhea; the potential killer for travelers

Food poisoning can cause diarrhea and diarrhea kills. It is more serious when it occurs to people on transit hence the name traveler’s diarrhea. To me a couple of years ago, every journey was an epic story and the question of food poisoning never lingered my mind. However this is not so when you are away from home; your choices are limited and at times you eat what comes your way. Tonight I will share with you three points to remember about food, and more so when away from home

Ten years ago we embarked on a mission together with 63 of my colleagues while in college, to reach out to the communities in Northern Kenya. We centralized our base for community activities at Laisamis Secondary school in Marsabit district. One evening we cooked rice and camel meat for supper. The meal was so mouth-watering that i told myself whatever remained would be my lunch for the next day. The following day 7 of my colleagues and I decided to take the previous nights food instead of the Githeri that had been prepared lunch. Little did we know that the leftover mixture of rice and camel meat had turned poisonous overnight, thanks to the high temperatures which propagate bacteria growth and spoil food even in the cover of darkness. After lunch we had a free afternoon so we tried some volleyball game; it is in the volley pitch that tragedy struck. Our referee left his stool and sat down in a slow motion style and that marked the end of the game. He had caught real time diarrhea

The fastest means to ferry him to hospital was by use of a wheelbarrow. He was bundled into the one legged container and as we pushed him to hospital I felt an urge to vomit. At some point i thought I had vomited out the organs of my digestive system. Our physically energetic team leader carried me on his back and we were all rushed to Laisimis mission hospital located on a slope a kilometer away from the school. Upon reaching the hospital the nurses rushed us into the ward full of canvas beds; each bed had a conspicuous hole at the middle and a large plastic bucket underneath.  I later learnt that these types of beds are commonly known as “Cholera beds”. We were meant to relieve ourselves from the comfort of our beds as we writhed in excruciating pain emanating from our stomachs. No sooner had we been laid to the bed than our colleagues who brought us to hospital went down one after the other with loud cries of “my stomach! my stomach”! – Our saviors turned victims of the tragedy of the deadly leftover meal of rice and camel meat.  They joined us in our canvas beds with a big hole and a bucket underneath! That became our home for the next two days. We were at the brick of death were it not for the quick response of the nurses who rehydrated us with drips and drips of fluids and electrolytes. Even being airlifted to Isiolo district hospital could not have saved us, besides the fact that we dint have even a light aircraft, all that we had was a wheelbarrow. I guess the following day’s papers could have read “students die of diarrhea while on a mission in Northern Kenya”.

Food poisoning is a serious threat to travelers; eating snacks prepared on the roadside, as we see on bus stops in Nairobi, and buying roasted maize from peddlers who by all standards do not qualify to handle food can cause travelers diarrhea.  It is certain that you would curse the day traveler’s diarrhea would get hold of you while on the crazy Nairobi traffic and am certain some of us have a story to tell.

1. If you don’t preserve food it can turn poisonous and you may end up catching real time diarrhea whose repercussions are detrimental to health
2. Incase you get diarrhea get to the nearest hospital in whichever means available. If you will use an aircraft, or a lorry, a wheelbarrow or be carried on someone’s back just ensure you get to the hospital. You better find yourself writhing in pain in a canvas bed with a hole in the middle and a bucket underneath rather that die of dehydration occasioned by diarrhea and vomiting
3. Develop discipline on the choices of food you eat. Avoid buying snacks on the roadside and eating foods in unhygienic places!

Here is a solemn call “when on a journey do not be ignorant of the foods you eat especially now that you know bad food can cause diarrhea, and diarrhea kills”!

Welcome to my blog

Hi,

To all friends of my blog i wish to inform you that i am starting a journey, a long journey to a place called "there", come with me and lets unfold the potential from within our bowels of intellect and in the process learn, laugh and enjoy life

Titus Mutwiri