My last few weeks have flown by. I finished my stay in Maasai land and was sad to leave the family. They are all really amazing people and I feel so lucky to have met them and experienced their kindness. While I was still in Maasai, I made a website for the night school. The address is www.ewangan.wordpress.com. Check it out!
Below is Nayia. She is 14 and actually amazing. She goes to school all day then comes home to do chores non stop (fetching water, cleaning, making dinner) until after dinner around 8:30 or 9:00 when she can sit down to do her homework. I can't even believe how hard she works - very different from my life when I was 14 and used to complain when I had to clean the bathroom once a week!
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| Nayia |
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| Tananko, Salosh, Sema - these kids are soo fun! |
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| Nayia, Risa, Sema, Salosh, Tananko - I thought Easter was a week earlier than reality so my roommate and I organized an Easter egg hunt. They had never done one before - very fun! |
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| Lerry, Nene - she was shaving his head and he was not happy about it! |
Last Thursday I travelled to Nairobi where I did an outreach program in Kibera. It is a program that was started by a volunteer a couple years ago. Volunteers go to Kibera twice a week to deliver food to 8 families and try to help them with medication and education. The program targets families who have no other way of getting income, either because of an injury or because the main bread winner died. It's a really great program and it was interesting meeting the families; the stories are pretty devestating. One of the little babies was recently tested positive for HIV. Isn't that terrible? Imagine living with that your whole life when you couldn't have done ANYTHING differently to prevent it. The program website is www.unitedforparity.org if you want more information.
Thursday night I came back to Nakuru to visit my old host family. It has been wonderful; it felt like coming home in a sense. Thursday night we stayed up until midnight catching up. Then Friday morning my roommate and I went to Kisumu where we spent the weekend. Kisumu is home to Lake Victoria which is the second largest fresh water lake in the world. It was awesome! We ate so much fish, went fishing and stayed in dodgy hotels. I have realized that is my favorite way to travel; arrive in a new city with no place to stay and no plans and just figure it out! One of the hotels we checked out didn't even have a bathroom, we would have had to go next door to use one! hahaha
Our ride back on Sunday was quite eventful. What should have been a 3 hour ride by matatu took almost 6. It started out by the driver deciding to jam TWENTY FIVE people into a 14 seater. hahaha - Luckily after two hours we got to switch matatus.
I just got back to Nairobi so I can catch my 8am flight tomorrow morning. I just can't believe it's almost over. Coming here has seriously been the best decision of my life. Kenya has changed me more than I have changed it, but I don't think I am done here. I don't know what the future holds, but all I know is I fell in love with this country and want to do more and more and more and more!
Lisa
Wow - Great Post!!!! Kenya will not be the same without you. Looking forward to seeing you, Padre.
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