Rest In Peace

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Elvis passed away on the second day following his surgery. As each day went by we learned more and more of his story. He was attacked because he was with another man's wife. The husband shot Elvis with the arrow and then attacked his wife with a machete. We heard that she had been admitted to another local hospital. We were never sure if she survived the attack.
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Following the successful surgical removal of the arrow from Elvis' neck he proceeded to get sicker and sicker in the unit until he got septic (a systemic infection that ultimately killed him). The arrow had been impaled in his neck for approximately 12 hours prior to it's removal and we later learned that it had been dipped in snake venom and round-up (the same systemic herbicide used here in the States). His attacker obviously wanted to ensure that if the wound did not kill him the poison would. The fact that the arrow was in him for so long gave the poison more time to get into his system... he never stood a chance.
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It was amazing to me that even though the Kipsigis used a barbaric method of fighting; like bows and arrows, their battle techniques were very sophisticated. From the way they crafted their arrow heads from nails and sculpted the barbs along the arrow-head shaft that prevented their removal to the way the arrow heads were attached to the wooden arrow so they would detach when they came into contact with the target, to the use of systemic poisons to ultimately kill their victims.
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It was obvious that there were some very deep rooted cultural beliefs and traditions at work in Kenya and I couldn't wait to learn as much as I could about these Kipsigis people, their beliefs, and their traditions.
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Rest in peace Elvis...