The Third Relationship a single egg. Cradling it in his hands, he stepped away, leaving the
remaining eggs undisturbed.
The Bushman handled the egg gently, savoring the reward of an
age-old primal drive to seek food. In this desolate sea of sand, where
scarcity reigned and there was no telling where the next meal would
come from, uncovering a treasure trove of protein-rich, energy-dense
ostrich eggs marked a rare find and a good day.
Paul and I were already preparing for what would happen next:
between the three of us and one daypack, we would tote the remaining
eggs back to his fellow Bushmen, also known as the San people. His
sudden good fortune would bring welcome smiles from the community.
His stature would rise a notch higher.
But when we pointed down at the remaining eggs and gestured our
willingness to help carry them, he walked away. A single egg would
suffice. His response bewildered me. All living beings, no matter their
culture or species, are driven by the quest for food. Passing it up seemed
unnatural, and certainly not conducive to survival. There, deep within
this African desert, I witnessed something almost unfathomable to a
Westerner.
Following our time in Namibia, Paul returned to his career in Min-
nesota and I resumed my work directing agricultural health and food-
safety programs from my headquarters in Costa Rica. One day a pack-
age arrived. During our desert trek, Paul had snapped a photo of our
guide with his arms behind his back, one hand clenching his digging
stick, as he stared out at the red, sandy plains of the Kalahari. Paul had
framed the picture and sent it to me where it soon found a new home
alongside my computer. Whenever the daily grind of deadlines and
meetings took its toll, momentarily gazing at the image helped me
restore perspective.
Since then, I have learned more about our Kalahari adventure. Less
than 10 percent of ostrich eggs survive the seven-week incubation
period. Only 1 percent of hatched chicks reach one year of age. Some
seventy eggs are needed to yield a one-year-old ostrich. But if just one
egg becomes that single adult, the cycle can continue with an untold