December 26, 1995
Mrs. Wembly just told me that she will be leaving for America by the end of the year. She's taught me so much...I just wished she could have stayed longer, and maybe for me to have studied some more. I suppose it's for the best though. The area is becoming unstable. We hear rumors of the Ten Commandments Insurgency, even though they are in the bordering country and still quite remote from our village.
Today I showed Mrs. Wembly a small place I found when I was a boy. The village called it the Maziwa. It was in a cave that I found it, even though I was not supposed to. When I first went it was a very dark place, and I was only a boy with a torch. Still, I had a feeling that there was something in it. My mother had told me about the fluttering spirits in it, and I saw a few flutter about in the dim light. When I had traveled some way, I found something: a small pool of water that seemed to bubble from the ground. It was held in a beautiful small pool of slick and shiny rock. Out of curiosity I drank the water, and found it to be the purest water I had ever tasted.
At first I did not reveal it. I was afraid I had broken some taboo, but at last I smuggled some of the water from the spring and gave it to Kamaria. It became our secret place when I told her about it. Of course, the villagers were curious, and soon word of the spring spread. Now we have several torches in there that we keep alight to show the way to the Maziwa.
Although Mrs. Wembly had tasted its water, she had never been in there, so I decided I would take her. She was courageous, keeping herself relaxed in that brave way the white men do. She seemed very happy, calling it a wonder from God. She always talked about her God, but I had to agree. Such a wonder could not have existed otherwise.
When we returned I helped her clean her quarters. It was then that she told me about America and how she was set to return. I was sad for her, but I knew she had to return to her place.
I asked her what America was like, and she told me that maybe someday I would come and see what it is like. Perhaps it would be good to see what the outside holds...I have lived in my village for my entire life. Who knows what the future will bring?