Maasai Mara Game Reserve- An opportunity of a lifetime!

It is our last week here in Kenya! Time has gone by just way too fast. We decided to take our last three days and do something on our bucket list..... an African Safari in the Masai Mara, which is connected the Serengeti in Tanzania. We were already here in Kenya, why not!?!? And, the agency made it possible through the work we did for them in the schools and orphanages with packages just for volunteers as a thank you. 

It took about six hours to get to the Masai Mara which is near the Tanzanian border (bottom left part of Kenya). We rode in a pop top van that was great until there was no more road. All the sudden, the road just stopped and it was nothing but reddish colored dirt and rocks for miles. So many miles that we rode through the bush, literally, for about three of the six hours. But, was it worth it or what! Just what I pictured.... a open deck lodge with a view of the Mara as you eat your meal and the accommodations were the thick green tents that were quite comfortable! Each had its own bathroom with running HOT water, mosquito nets over the beds and.... we even had electricity in them during specific hours of the day run by a generator. WOW! 

The day we arrived, we were shown to our tent and told to be back in one hour, we were heading out to an evening game drive! Tonight, we saw zebras, water buffalo, gazelles and warthogs..... I was still looking for elephants, lions, leopards and cheetahs! 

This cheetah just made a fresh kill for her cubs to snack on.... 

At the end of the game drive, we returned to the campsite for dinner that was of mostly Kenyan staple foods. 



Looking off the balcony and watching the sun set upon the wild was unreal, something I will never forget.  We were up and out by 8 the next morning for a full day on the game reserve. We were able to see lions today and they are quite bold! The walked right over to our pop top vehicle and just sat in the shade that it created. We were even lucky enough to find some cubs in the bush and their mother let us get quite close for photos, but she watched us intensely to ensure nothing happened to them. There were four of them, rolling around in the weeds after one another trying to make small roars. The cutest scene so far. I would have loved to just hug one..... 

The buffalo are covered in flies and their ears constantly waive back and forth to get them away from their eyes. They also tend to travel with friends... these birds are always sitting upon them, eating the bugs off of them. These same birds were on the hippos too! The buffalo and the hippos seemed to welcome these feathered friends! 

My Maasai Life!

Wow, what an experience! I was lucky enough to be able to spend some time with the Masaai people of Kenya. Approximately two years ago, another volunteer came to Kenya, just like we did, and created a night school program for the Masaai men. In the Masaai culture, the oldest male of the family is responsible to herd the family sheep and cattle all day so by the time the day is over, there is no opportunity for school. They continue to be uneducated as a result. This volunteer who came two years ago wanted to do something about that without stepping on their culture too much. It was a delicate balance, but it happened. He created the first ever Masaai night school which allowed these Masaai men to go to school in the evening after the herding was done. These men walk up to several hours just to get here to begin school by 7 PM with class ending at 10 PM leaving them to walk several hours home in the dark among the wildlife. 

The very first group of students is our (now) friend Josephat. The volunteer and teacher he found to oversee the education in the evening were looking for Masaai men to attend and the teacher happened to run into Josephat one afternoon. He was sitting in the bush watching over his cattle and sheep with a Bible in his hand. The teacher spoke with him and Josephat explained he would like to be able to learn to read so he can read more of his Bible and on that note, he was invited to be a student at the night school. Here is a newspaper article that the Kenyan Star published....http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Herdsmen+by+day++and+pupils+at+night+/-/1056/1476668/-/vcewb7z/-/index.html

Josephat was able to finish his primary schooling (elementary) at age 29. He can now read in his language (Swahili and Masaai) and he is learning to speak English. He is this night schools FIRST graduate of the new program after two years of study! How exciting! Celebrating with a little lunch here!

Merry Christmas from the IDP/Refugee Camp!

Merry Christmas from the IDP Camp! We, along with a  group of volunteers, decided to return to the camp today, Christmas Day, to share a Christmas meal with this community. Earlier in our trip, we came to this community and learned that they are the victims of the 2007 civil unrest during election time. When this community spoke out against the election outcome, their villages were burned and people were slaughtered leaving them with absolutely nothing, fearing for their lives for those who were remaining. They fled and found their way to Gilgil where they were offered a small plot of land by the government as a temporary fix to the issue. They have been residing in tents made of plastic tarps, meant to last for 6 months, although they have been here since 2007. As the tent tarps crack and tear in the heat, they repair it and cover it with anything, even bags. 

We chose to spend our Christmas with them and made the two hour journey with food and goats! Our group of volunteers all pitched in and we were able to get enough rice, beans, and vegetables and chapatti for the camp! In addition, the group purchased two goats to slaughter so the camp could enjoy some meat with their meal. I also helped to cook it with the ladies of the camp! That was very hard work actually! The rice and potatoes become very thick, making it difficult to stir over the fire and the smoke from the fire burns your eyes. These ladies work so very hard! 

We sang songs and danced, we had a lot of fun! The teacher, Joyce, rounded the kids up and we played a game called "I lost my handkerchief, so find it." It is similar to our game of "Duck, Duck, Goose." The player will use a piece of cloth and go behind each of the kids who are sitting in a circle and walk behind them saying "I lost my handkerchief" The rest of us in the circle reply "then find it!" and the player will repeat again as he keeps walking around behind us and we reply.  Then, the player will waive the cloth over the heads and say, "not you, not you, not you" (similar to duck, duck, duck) and then.... yell "You!" (our "Goose!") and drop the cloth on their head and run, going around the circle! The one who had the cloth dropped on them will hurry to their feet and circle around, running, the opposite direction and they see who gets back to the new empty spot first. Who ever loses becomes the next person to walk the circle saying "I lost my handkerchief." So much laughter, so many giggles, it was so much fun. Needham was even singing and dancing along with the group (below)

 

After all of our laughter and fun together, we decided to distribute the remaining school supply pouches that all our friends helped to put together with us. We figured that since it was Christmas Day, it would be a great time for them to receive these since their new school term would be starting in January. They would be able to have these supplies to use in their classroom after Christmas. There was enough for every child to receive one so Asante Sana friends!

 

I also had a small doll in my bag from my friend Emmy Brown of Salon 3747 in Raleigh, NC. She gave it to me just before I left with several other things and I had put it in my bag just before coming back out to the camp. This little girl here received it! (below) Thank you so much Emmy, she loved it!

 

Lake Naivasha- one more stop!

On the way back to Nairobi from Hell's Gate National Park, we stopped at Lake Naivasha for a boat ride over the lake. Here, we met some hippos which are HUGE! I knew they were big, but these were amazing! We spent about an hour on a boat tour and saw all sorts of interesting birds and wildlife, even some locals trying to do some net fishing. 

Hell's Gate National Park- a quick stop and a real treat!

After the last week and a half of travel and work, it was time to see what else Kenya had to offer. Since I was about 8 years old, I always wanted to see some of the wild animals from National Geographic and I was finally able to. We took a bike ride through Hell's Gate National Park on our way back to Nairobi from Outreach Weekend work.....which was amazing! Here, we saw giraffes, monkeys, zebras, warthogs and gazelles. No lions since lions do not roam this area, thank goodness since we were on bicycles! 

The water from the rocks was steaming hot water, natural hot springs! It was the best face wash I had since I got here! WOW! You could see the steam coming from the water and you just knew, it was HOT! It was actually almost too hot for my face and hands as I washed quite quickly, but how refreshing and it felt so clean on my face! Remember, hot and fresh water is a commodity around here!

The experience would not be complete without seeing some of the wildlife along the way of the bike ride. They were just hanging out. The monkeys were not very afraid of people and would come right up to you if you offered them a snack you had. Feeding animals in the park is illegal and if you know me, sometimes my ability to read becomes selective. This little lady here received my mango in my bag. Now, at home, a mango costs about $2 each depending upon what season is it.... here they are 8-10 cents depending upon your negotiating skills so..... I was willing to let her have since she had this little one in tow. She also got my banana I had. Bananas are about 3-5 cents each here so, I was definitely okay with it, although the park rangers were not! Oops, I dropped it! Looking frustrated that I just dropped my banana in the dirt was kinda helpful in this situation. 

A Visit to KCC Slum

The KCC Slum is a small community about two hours from Nairobi. Here, they reside in metal structure homes with dirt floors. We came to visit the children and play some soccer with them, although, once the soccer ball hit the dirt, 100 kids were following after it. I guess you could say that the game was not very..... organized! But, they were having fun, that is all that mattered! 

We were able to tour the new school that previous volunteers just finished building for these children. The photos are just a few moments in time from this day! I took some time to really think about the experience and just how different life is here for these kids........

If you would like more information about this slum community, please visit their website! http://kccslumproject.org/

They are on facebook and you can like their page to receive updates about what they are doing in this community and you can even meet the volunteer who started this project, Marcus, on his you tube channel that has been published! He came to Kenya to volunteer short term, just like we did and felt drawn to this community. He never left and has been here since early 2010. This is now his home! They have been able to build a new school, provide instruction, food and health care, as well as develop several self sustaining projects. Below, Needham and I had the chance to meet one of the teachers in the school house here at KCC. We were able to share some of the toy cars Needham collected and some school supplies from all our rafikis (friends) back home in America! Asante Sana from KCC teachers for the school supplies! 

Outreach Weekend- Internally Displaced Persons Camp

It is time to go on the weekend outreach to an Internally Displaced Persons camp. It is similar to a refugee camp, but since one cannot be considered a refugee if they are fleeing within their own country, they are called internally displaced people. In 2007, during the elections, there was civil unrest due to several tribes being against one in particular. When this tribe became out spoken about the elections, their villages were burned and people were slaughtered. The remaining people fled their areas and made their way from the Eldoret area of Kenya (near the Uganda and South Sudan border in north west Kenya) to Gilgil. They were given tents meant to last for 6 months, but they have been living in them since 2007! 

There are about 80 children here and they do go to school at this camp. The school is a one room school house built by previous volunteers where one teacher works hard to educate all ages and abilities. The teachers name is Joyce!  And teachers in the United States complain about a lack of resources, space and pay.....Joyce receives no pay, has no resources (there are no textbooks or curriculum plans and no paper), and she has only so many wooden benches in this one room school house. She educates in groups so it is never a full day of instruction for every kid here. She comes up with any activity she can to entertain them and help them learn. But, she is happy to be helping to make a difference. Joyce was also excited to receive some tag blankies hand made from Emmy Brown of Salon 3747 in Raleigh, North Carolina (see below)

 

At the end of each day, the children find their way back to their family tent. This camp has no running water and no electricity. Sometimes, there is more than one family per tent. During the rain season, it is the most difficult for them since the tents often leak, people get seasonal sicknesses, they experience sanitation problems and even die. I was invited into Joyce's family tent and as I sat down for few minutes, it got extremely hot inside as during the day the tent material holds in heat, while at night, it gets chilly. They sleep on the dirt floor.

While we were here, we played games with the children, distributed the remaining back packs and school supplies to the teacher as well as the many flip flops we found at a retailer on clearance, just before we left to come to Kenya! Each pair found feet!

Market Day- Wangigi Market- Every bean counts!

Going to Wangigi Market today to try to find a good price on the wholesale food sacks that everyone worked hard to sponsor. With Lucy, we headed out and we were so focused on getting the food everyone sent for, we didn't even think about how we would get that much food all the way back to the orphanage. Lucy went to different vendors and was unhappy with the price and we decided to check again with one more wholesaler. You could see the guys sewing the large sacks right next door and they were being filled with beans or rice right there with each sack weighing between 50 pounds and 100 pounds. She must have argued a great price as her hand went up and I ran over with everyone's donations in my pocket and PAID! I must say, the vendor saw me and was not happy, but Lucy was happy, the kids would be happy and that is all that mattered! 


So wait.... how do we get this back to the orphanage, its close to 5000 pounds of food!?!?! Duncan, our host Dad was already at the end of the rocky pathway arguing with some man in a truck and he was able to get the man to agree to haul it for us for $5.00 (500 shillings). YES!!!!!!!!! The truck backed up and we started to load it, sack by sack, bag by bag! Pretty soon, it was filled and we couldn't put any more weight in the truck..... but.... we still had more food to load. The truck went to the orphanage with another volunteer and we were wondering if the driver would do it again, what were we going to do..... just as I was growing very concerned, I saw Duncan at the end of the road arguing with another guy in a truck and
here it came. It was backing up to where the rest of the food was and the guys started loading the food, heavy sack by heavy sack! I saw that I still had some of the food money left since it was not enough to buy another sack of food, but it was still a generous amount. Rather than ask for a half of a sack or something similar, Lucy asked if we could use it for potatoes and vegetables. Figuring everyone would be okay with that, we took a walk into the crowded alley and looked at potatoes and vegetables. She went over to a lady sitting in the dirt next to these long burlap sacks and started speaking with her, shaking her head no. They must have come to some agreement because she motioned me over and she explained she was able to get this 300 pound sack of potatoes for still less than what we had left so I paid the lady and her two sons carried this 300 pound sack back to where the rest of our rice and beans were. I couldn't believe they were capable of this! We were also able to get a huge bag of red onions, an unbelievable amount of tomatoes, kale, and I was then left with about 500 shillings from everyone's donations (about $5 USD). Not quite enough to get another round of anything so I decided to hang on to it and maybe another need would surface that it will cover. We headed back to our food pile and there I saw our Dad arguing with the truck driver about the potatoes. The driver was saying he would not allow those in his truck, it was too full . So, the driver went with the food sacks to the orphanage. So now we have 300 pounds of potatoes and these veggies.... still way too much to carry back ourselves. Just then, Lucy saw her neighbor from down the street from her in a van. The lady stopped, they talked and Lucy said she would take these for us. I was unsure but figured we had to hope! We loaded the rest of the stuff and the van driver said they would go to the orphanage with it.On our way back to the orphanage, I found a way to spend that last 500 shillings. We walked passed a guy selling hay and I remember how hungry and unhealthy the orphanage's milking cow was.... so.... I pulled out the shillings and bought lots of feeding hay with it for their milk source! 

We hopped on a matatu bus that took us back to our walking point to the orphanage and we trekked the 3 miles to the orphanage. When we arrived, most of the food was unloaded and the older kids and other volunteers were using the wheel barrow (that we washed clothes in yesterday) to get it to the storage closet- every sack and potato made it! ALL 5000 pounds! Once the sacks were moved, there were beans spilled here and there in the dirt and the kids came over with their bowls and started picking up the beans. They got just about every bean that dropped and I was quite impressed. Every bean counts! 

Hope Home Orphanage in Gathiga, Kenya

We made it! We arrived in Nairobi and found our way to our placement and host family. We were placed at the Hope Home Orphanage which has a story........ ready?

Back in the mid nineties, Lucy, a Christian woman began to feel that she needed to do something for the poor in her country, so she began to pray for a solution to this need she felt.  She prayed for a while and then she began to feel fear, afraid that she might not be able to handle the answer she was given.  She decided to stop praying about this issue and go about her usual business.  One day while traveling by matatu to visit her mother, she had to pass to the Nairobi city center.  On this journey she could see the poor and slums around her and she began to cry.  She tried to hold the tears back but could not keep her feelings inside.  Finally feeling overwhelmed, she got off the matatu and  began to talk to the street children in the slums.  That first day she purchased some food and shared a meal with the children.  Then she promised them she would come back next week. 

For several weeks, Lucy traveled to the slums to meet with the children, talking with them and often sharing a meal. One day she decided to invite them to her house, so they could see how she lived. They were very curious and excited to come, so the next week using the money Lucy provided for transportation the boys arrived at her house.  They had a wonderful afternoon sharing a meal and meeting Lucy’s family.  However when it came time to leave, the boys refused to go. They pleaded with Lucy that they did not need much space and they could sleep on the floor.  She argued with them, stating that this was not the deal they made.   The agreement was for the day, not forever.  But the boys were adamant that they were not leaving.  Lucy spoke with her husband, Duncan, who reminded her that she started something and she had to finish it. So they stayed, and Gathiga Hope Home was born. As of now, there are approximately 110 children here.
In the early days, Lucy and Duncan’s home served as the orphanage, but now they have two separate locations, Gathiga Hope Home with 80 children and Ebenzer  Hope Home with 30 children.  Most of the children have come from the streets and all the orphans at Ebenzer have a connection with HIV, either they have it or some relative has had it and passed away. 

Keeping up with that many children is not easy and with that comes many, many, many, clothes to keep clean too! We use what is available to do the best we can and we used this wheel barrow and filled it with water and washed the clothes of nearly 110 kids by hand. As you can see, clean water is a commodity and they take hours to hang dry in the sun.   These might be ready for tomorrow so we can wash what they wore today, all over again tomorrow.   

Our work here in the orphanage consisted of the clothes washing (the hardest task by hand!), cooking, sorting beans, playing games with the kids, reading them books and stories, and teaching in the orphanage classroom (English or other studies). Every day with these kids was a joy! Despite their circumstances, they were happy, full of energy and always had a smile on their face! Here are a few moments in time at the Hope Home Orphanage and Ebeneezer Home. 

The kids are inventors! We saw them scrunching plastic bags together into a large ball (see below), then take string they found and wrap it with the string and tie it. They were now kicking around a home made soccer ball. Very creative and thoughtful, as well as resourceful. They even found some fun rolling each other around in the wheel barrow that we use to wash clothes in! 

From Washington DC to Paris, France, to Nairobi, Kenya! We made it!

On the trip to Nairobi, we met another volunteer on the same project, Niamh, who is from Ireland. We ended up on the same flight out of Paris together so with our new friend Niamh, we made our way down the steps of the plane and onto the runway. Niamh and I took two seconds to pose for a picture once we were at the bottom! As we snaked through the guys with what appeared to be machine guns, we were ushered onto a bus. (Security was very tight since Westgate was not long ago) This bus took us around to arrivals/customs where we filled out the form for our visa, and processed through. Okay, so..... now we are concerned about all the donations in our bag! Remember... we packed about 300 pencil bags filled with supplies for the kids and I noticed that they were randomly selecting people ahead and making them open up their stuff for a search and taxing people on coming gifts and goods....... So.... we decided to split up and once the tables got busy with people and officers, I went for the door and quickly fell behind a very tall Kenyan and followed him all the way out the front, literally on his heels! I waited and waited and then out comes Niamh..... then Needham. Needham was stopped!! But... luckily, I had taken all the bags with donations and he only had our personal clothing items bags!

We were picked up by an agency driver who was there holding a sign with the agency logo. We followed him to the car and as he was in the back helping to load all the suitcases, Needham walks around to the side of the car to get in on what he thought was the passenger side of the vehicle. The driver comes around and just stands there, staring at Needham..... asks him if he was wanting to drive. Needham laughed and said no and continued to stand there... thinking the driver came around to his passenger side to joke him. The guy finally had to ask Needham why he was trying to get in the driver seat then and we all had a good laugh after 18 hours in the air! This is when we discovered that Kenyans drove on the other side of the road. So... we are on our way to the first host/volunteer/base house by Kibera. When we arrived, all the other volunteers from around the world were already asleep since it was close to midnight now so we were shown to our room and surprise..... couldn't sleep. After sleeping on the plane and my body telling me it was nearing 8 AM, I was wide awake.... in Nairobi, Kenya!!!

It is time to go! Our first adventure to Kenya, Africa!!

It is time to go! We are here at Washington Dulles International Airport with so many different emotions..... not sure about what we are about to experience,  but we were very excited to help make a difference in Kenya for three weeks! It feels right.... that is all I can say! The airline was also kind enough to waive the additional baggage weight fee once we explained what was in the bags and where it was going. Another wow! This is when our life was about to change and looking back to this moment, we didn't even know by how much!

So... what was the final result of the efforts for food sacks? Thank you to everyone who sponsored the approximate 50 sacks of rice and beans. This will amount to about 5000 pounds of food!!! Thank you so very much!  We are also carrying 300 pencil pouches filled with school supplies, and 250 back packs!  

Thanks for helping to sponsor all of that food for the orphanage and for the help in collecting school supplies! We would like to send a special note of thanks to Eastgate Exxon, Wallace Ford Photography,  Davis' Unique Hair Design, Salon 3747's stylist Emmy Myrick Brown, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Metal Craft and Mechanical Service http://www.alldriveshafts.com, and many friends and family from all over!(Laureano Family, Al Spraker, Leon Lewis, Darrell Manuel, Askew Family, Mustico Family, Hugenin Family, Wallace Family, Benson Family, Victoria Whitaker, Stefanie Easter, Cindy Dennis, Barbara Crews, Vickie Tilghman, Kathy Fiscel, Kenneth Thornton, Sherine Register, Loretta Reilly, Shannon Moore, Sievers Family, Lisa Horne, Shupp Family, Teachey Family, Alandzak Family, Morton family, Chromey Family, Joey Lavalley, Calvin Ford, Roby Peters & Rebecca Wilson, Antonia Robinson, Sheldon Wiley, Sabrina Shaner, Woodard Family, Otto Newkirk, Lewis Family, Teresa Miller, Al Aguilar, Haynes Family, and Judianne Steibly)

We couldn't have done it without help!

We had tons of fun with everyone who helped! To help us reach the food sack goal of at least 1000 pounds of rice and beans ( which was the original goal for the Hope Home Orphanage), friends and family participated in being flocked! A flock of pink flamingos were flying to benefit the food sacks for the orphanage while they awaited their earlier planting to finally be ready to harvest. If the flock landed in your yard, it was because your friend donated to a food sack for them to land! You then got to choose another friends yard by sponsoring the sacks. Thanks to everyone's fun with this, we were able to raise enough for approximately 500 pounds of food! 

In addition to the food sacks, we wanted to bring the students in the orphanage classroom some school supplies to use while we were there. We were not quite sure what they already had so, I wanted to make sure I brought it some of the basic needs for school. Many friends and our family donated pencils, erasers, sharpeners, paper and zip pouches for the supplies for each child at the orphanage. We could not have done it without all the love and support of everyone who helped! Thank you so much! 

With our friends, we were able to pack 300 pencil bags with the supplies from everyone which included over 3000 pencils 1500 erasers, 230 sharpeners, and 462 boxes of crayons! Jody Ramey of Eastgate Exxon in Monessen, Pennsylvania (a family friend) donated 250 back packs for the kids too which was a very nice surprise! Now the kids will each receive a back pack too!!!! Thank you!