Saruman's Tower

Since yesterday I have passed through Shadows Avenue several times hauling furniture and other things from volunteers' house to the mission and to the future sisters' house (or - if I get miraculously help somehow to enable me to build completely new convent in its original location as I wanted before I was transferred to Musoma, and then my successor built the convent in 'wrong' place - then the present unfinished convent will become a starting point for the future base for volunteers).

The Shadows Avenue is this 100 meter long section of the muddy/dusty (depending on the season) road starting from our health center and ending at the junction where I take left turn to go uphill further one hundred or so meters to get to volunteers' house. Well grown trees lined on both sides of this particular piece of the road cast welcoming shadows in scorching hot sunny days...

This is one of my favorite parts of Kiabakari. It reminds me of old country driveways to some old mansions in old times, cottages, noble people palaces...

where you would imagine seeing  properly dressed gentlemen driving their old vehicles or open carts or wagons pulled by fine horses and gorgeous ladies in their fashionable clothes and umbrellas to protect their marble white spotless skin......

imagining now, when I pass there these shadowy figures of people of the past walking or driving by under the canopy of tall trees...totally in peace radiating inner light...

All this would be just great and suitable for Shadows Avenue in Kiabakari if not the formidable structure towering on its eastern side, like a Saruman's tower at Isengard  in Lord of the Rings trilogy...

This disturbing structure is called in professional medical terminology - INCINERATOR - and serves as a furnace to burn down to ashes all medical and biological waste in our health center...

When I was building this thing back in November 2007, many people were passing by, stopping and asking all sorts of questions what it was and for what use?

I got tired of constant elaborated replies so decided to answer rather in a cheeky way. I was just telling passersby that I liked grilled meat so decided to build a big barbecue to grill a lot of meat at once...Most of them though were suspicious if I was really serious. Then I changed the story and was telling them that this was a small crematorium for those who would die in the health center and their families would not afford to give them a proper burial. So we would cremate them instead! You should see their faces hearing this explanation! Then, on one of the volunteers adding to the confusion, by naming it INSEMINATOR, the people had become completely disoriented and many of them decided just to take as a precaution a rather wide detour passing by this place as they were totally unsure if it was quite safe to even cast a glance towards this ominous structure!

So, the Shadows Avenue brings me always to this clashing point between the Shire looks of shadowy part of the favorite greenish road and this Saruman's Tower proclaiming the end of life and dominion of Mordor...Between life and death...where astonishingly, contrary to our mental associations, shadows mean life and prosperity and bright sun with its Saruman's Tower are the symbol of death and destruction...

And whenever I happen to pass by, like I did in these two days, I cannot but chuckle to myself, remembering those times of the construction of Saruman's Tower a.k.a Incinerator a.k.a Inseminator a.k.a Barbecue!