Salomon Moses is a cab driver in Chicago. When he arrived in America from Kenya a few years ago, he saved up and bought a medallion license. He told me this while I was riding in the back seat of his cab last May on a business trip in the Windy City.
After starting to earn enough to make ends meet, he said "I got myself off the couch." And he decided to do something remarkable. Every month he pays four Kenyans $50 each to tend to a tilapia farm back in his native land, producing enough dried fish to feed local villagers.
Salomon is also researching how to improve soil conditions in Kenya to support crops that are more drought tolerant, vital considering that Kenya's low plateau region received as little as 13 inches of rain per year -- compared to 47 inches last year in East Hampton.
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That encounter with this determined cabbie raises this question: what more could each of us do to help create a more sustainable future right here in East Hampton? It's time to get off the couch like Salomon, join a worthy cause, help someone in need or create a new community organization. Food for thought the next time you're enjoying pecan-encrusted tilapia.
