Farmer in Sukuma Wiki Field

This kindly farmer, Boniface, tends to a field of Sukuma Wiki, a leafy vegetable much like turnip, mustard or collard greens eaten in the American South. The name of this plant means "to stretch the week," because it is usually grown in home gardens and helps people eat a balanced meal for very little money. The field is owned by the college where I work, Tropical Institute of Community Health and Development (TICH). They have 20 acres in this neighborhood and will build a new, larger college campus here in a few years.

You can see the nearby mountains in the background. This is the escarpment leading into the Great Rift Valley, which runs from Northern Africa, through Kenya and Tanzania and further south. Buses climb these steep mountains, slowly, taking people to Nairobi, Kenya's capital city. Once over the hills, you can see into the beautiful rift valley that goes on for miles and miles.