Details To Come...

Okay friends, I had big plans of big posts today but I'm finding myself a little short of time, so here's the Cliff's Notes version:

1. Medical camp at Mbaruku IDP was a success yesterday! Have lots to post about this one, complete with photos, and will do so once I'm back home.
2. Katie Gotaas has arrived safely and it's so wonderful to have her here! Sharing my projects and my life in Kenya with friends from home has been a huge blessing!
3. Tomorrow morning Tami, Katie and I head to Tanzania where we will tackle Mount Kilimanjaro - the highest point in Africa at over 19,000 feet. Pray we make it to the top and back down in one piece!
   
4. I get back to Chicago on October 28th and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone - especially ESSIE!!!
   

67 Little Artists!

Today at Jamii was so fun! Tami and I came prepared with two art projects for the kids - colorful dinosaurs for the Nursery and Pre-Unit classes and google eyes to use in drawings for the Baby Class. These little kids sit in their desks all day (um, in Kindergarten I played on the playground and had story time on a shag carpet) repeating numbers and letters, so this was a welcome break. For the teachers, too!

Lyndsay left behind these fun dinosaurs. You use a stick to scratch off the black part to show the fun colors underneath. A total HIT! Once the kids (and teachers!) had all designed a dinosaur, Tami and I strung them all together and hung them above the classroom. It now looks so colorful! There were calls of "yangu, yangu!" (mine, mine!) as the kids found their own hanging above their heads. So fun! Thanks, Sheils!

Tami was the mastermind behind the Baby Class art project. She brought google eyes from home and designed coloring book style pictures of animals and people for the kids to color in. That, paired with several stickers and crayons made for a fun-filled morning!

The baby class was so tired after their art project that they took a nap!

The Dustiest Day

Yesterday was an interesting visit to Mbaruku IDP camp in Kikopey. Tami, Irene and I were joined by three lovely lasses from Ireland and their Australian friend who had heard about the Dust Babies and wanted to assist in some way. As soon as the van rounded the corner we had a hard time seeing the camp with all of the dust that was blowing around. When we arrived, a group of men were trying to salvage a tent that had started to blow away and within minutes our sun screened skin was coated with a thick layer of dust. The wind swept through the camp, bringing with it dust galore! The poor kids started coming toward us, most of them shielding their little eyes from the dust.

Despite the weather we had a fun time playing with the Dust Babies and our visitors were taken by them at once. As Irene always says, "you just can't help but love them." Never were there truer words! Our generous visitors decided to outfit the new school house, built by Irene and VICDA with 30 desks with benches, enough to fit 90 babies who will attend the school. They also offered to fill the four underground water tanks for the community which will give them enough water for about a month. Asante sana!

And, of course, we had a chance to check on the chicks! I'm happy to report that 202 of them are doing very well! They are healthy and strong and active, running around the coup from feeder to feeder. As Purity, the woman who has been primarily looking after them, reports, "these chicks eat non-stop! Eat, eat, eat!" It's nice to be able to visit an actual project at Mbaruku and to see so many people excited about the prospects. Thank you, again, for your generosity and support in this project! I hope that we can all visit Mbaruku for a scrambled egg breakfast in a couple of months!

Our next goal for Mbaruku is to get a couple of doctors to come from Naivasha to volunteer on Friday for a medical camp. The doctors would supply the free treatment, and donations would cover prescriptions and supplies. If you would like to donate to the Medical Camp, please let me know ASAP as I am trying to organize this one last project before I leave for Tanzania this weekend.

Happy Life Children's Home

Yesterday I went with Irene to visit Happy Life Children's Home in Nairobi where three VICDA volunteers are working. What an impressive project! The children are well fed, well cared for and seem truly happy. The orphanage has a high adoption rate to both Kenyans and internationally and it was touching to read about some of their stories on Happy Life's website.

The Literary Side of Safari Jenn

If you know me at all, you know that I always have a book with me. I was once compared to Rory from Gilmore Girls for this fact alone - I am a total Book Worm. This is okay with me, there are worse things to be and, it turns out, being an avid reader is a good thing in a place like Africa where half of your day is spent waiting. Irene is late, I take out my book. The bus hasn't arrived, I take out my book. Tami is held up in the visa line, I take out my book. Who's laughing now?

And what's better than reading a book in Africa? Reading a book about Africa while in Africa! I'll admit, I try to hide the cover when doing so as not to stand out more than I do already (hey, check out the tourist reading the book about Safari!) but that's half of the fun. My current page turner is Paul Theroux's travel memoir, Dark Star Safari, a tale of an overland journey from Cairo to Cape Town. Like Theroux, this is my return to Africa - a place that was once my home. Although I wasn't absent nearly as long as he was, (my three years to his thirty-some) a lot has happened in Kenya in the past couple of years and although the place is exactly the same, it's totally different.

Reading about Theroux's time in Nairobi had me smiling to myself, especially since he threw in a Dickens reference!

"Prime pickpocket territory, for it was so crowded, so crammed with urchins snatching and begging, as well as the blind, the leprous, the maimed. I was reminded again that medieval cities were all like this. African cities - a motley liveliness that lends color and vitality to old folktales and much of early English literature. An obvious example was Dickens's London, an improvised city populated by hangers-on, hustlers, and newly arrived bumpkins - like Nairobi today... My idea was to walk fast and look busy and not dress like a soldier or a tourist - no khakis, no camera, no short pants, no wallet, no valuables, just a cheap watch and loose change, for it was a rapacious and hungry and scavenging society."

This is especially ironic seeing as this is my second copy of Theroux's book - the first one was stolen along with my backpack. And, of course as I write this I have my bag wrapped around my ankles, my wallet in the secret pocket, all valuables safe at home and my watch hooked on my belt loop. Just had to throw that one out there. Nairobi: the city I love to hate.

Only At Corner

I've written about my Kenyan family, but rarely about my Kenyan neighborhood: Dagoretti Corner. I currently reside in Cu Cu's house (pronounced Sho Sho and Kikuyu for grandmother) with Bridget, her cousin Mercy and any other female volunteers who stop on through. George and male volunteers (there are none now, how I miss the 2006 days of Real World Third World!) live in a different house on the same property. Several other small homes are in the compound and are rented out to various families with complete "how are you, how are you" choruses. Whenever I tell Kenyans that I live at "Corner" I get a shocked look in return. The area, especially after dark, is not safe. Mom, relax, George's property is very safe at all times of day what with two Maasai warriors protecting each gate and George's trusty guard dogs, Skippy and Jack (may Jimmy rest in peace). During my two stays at George's house, several suspect things have taken place in the area: shootings, car jackings, fires, scary men with machetes standing on the corner... but, until yesterday, I was never a victim of Corner.

SCENE

Dagoretti Corner, morning, Kenyans busy walking to work. Jenn and Tami walk amongst them down Wanyee Road. As the wazungu walk, they notice a crazy lady yelling at everyone who walks by.

CRAZY LADY
(points to her head)
It's empty! Empty! Nothing inside!
(slaps the legs of a small boy walking to school)
Empty! Stupid!
(spots the wazungu)

JENN
(under her breath to Tami)
Just keep walking...

CRAZY LADY
Wewe! Mzungu!
(walks backwards, facing Jenn, arms outstreatched)
Mzungu! Mzungu! I march with you.
(steps aside, allowing Jenn to pass)
Ya!
(delivers a harsh, calculated blow to the back of Jenn's head)

Jenn gasps, clutches the back of her head and looks back to make sure Tami is safe. Kenyans stop in their tracks and gasp, not knowing whether to laugh at the mzungu beating or ignore it. Jenn and Tami keep walking.

DAGORETTI MAN
Tsk, tsk, tsk. That woman is CRAZY!

JENN
Yeah, I noticed.

SCENE

Once the headache and shock subsided, this story became a source of amusement for anyone who would listen. Irene, especially got a real kick out of it. Knowing what I know about Corner, I'm just glad that's all she did - it could have been so much worse!

It's Official! There are Kuku at Mbaruku!

200 Chicks in a box! All strapped in, ready to hit the road!

Well friends, the news is good! After waiting for most of the day for the shop to call and report that the chicks were all ready for transport Tami, George and I left the chicken shop in Embul-bul and set out to deliver the 200 noisy little chicks to their new home in Mbaruku! We arrived at the camp around 5PM and found all of the residents eagerly awaiting the special delivery. Dust Babies, Dust Mamas and Dust Bwanas were huddled around Jenniffer Yard (yes, you read correctly - J E double N I double F E R - I love Kenya) waiting to get a glimpse at their new source of lively hood.

The Dust Babies send their thanks to all of you generous
contributors! Thank you, so much, for your donations,
this whole project is possible because of you!

Once again, George the host dad saved the day! I would have had no idea how to get the jiko (charcoal heated incubator) going or how to arrange the coup for the first few weeks, but George was all over it! He made sure that everything was in working order, clean and prepared before letting the chickens out of their box and into their new home. Tami and I just stood back and let things happen, both of us at a bit of a loss for words. After all of the planning and hard work, there are actual kuku at Mbaruku! I still can't believe it and certainly can't communicate my feelings in words quite yet. There's something so special about seeing a project like this come to fruition and I only wish that Clare, Lauren, Lyndsay, Heather and Nikki could have been there to share in the joy with Tami and me.

The baby chicks, packed safely in their boxes, about
to be released into their new home!

I really cannot thank all of you enough for your support, donations, encouragement and prayers. From the beginning, this was meant to be a community project, and I'm delighted that it has become just that in two regards. Not only have the residents of Mbaruku IDP camp come together as a community by becoming chicken farmers, but my own community of friends and family have come together to see that Mbaruku succeeds. In a few months time this project will start to turn a profit for the IDPs and will greatly assist them in the rebuilding of the lives they lived prior to the election violence in 2007. They will rebuild homes, send their children to school and, as a community, be stronger than they were before. Again, thank you for coming together and helping me assist them in this way.

Adult residents at Mbaruku, eager to get a look at the baby chicks.

After a full day of traveling, the one day old chicks
are eager to get a taste of the chick mash.

This Is The Day!

Okay kids, get excited! Tami and I are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the chicks from the hatchery to take to Mbaruku (yes, I've been misspelling it this entire time) IDP Camp TODAY!!! A very exciting day indeed, thank you again for all of your generous donations, prayers and support. Look for photos of the drop off tomorrow!

Hell's Gate National Park

Other than my fearless trek up Mt. Kilimanjaro to mark the end of my volunteer time, there was only one touristy thing I wanted to do this time in Kenya - Hell's Gate National Park. How fun to be able to experience the trekking safari with Yes We Kenya newbie, Tami!

Tami and I set out from Naivasha via matatu (a good first matatu experience for Tami, 23 people stuffed into a 14 passenger van) and after making the 2 km walk from the road to the gate were the first people to enter the park. For about 30 minutes we were all alone with the animals which was wonderful until we spotted a large herd of buffalo right next to the road. Tami had been afraid to see lions, but I'm much more afraid of buffalo since they attack with little warning and for no reason at all. Tessa and I had a close call with a buffalo in Lake Nakuru a couple of years ago and I didn't wish to relive the experience. So Tami and I waited by Fisher's Tower for other people to arrive and go past the buffalo, feeling a tiny bit guilty for sacrificing other tourists. Luckily the buffalo didn't react to the bikers or hikers, and we confirmed with the ranger that Hell's Gate buffalo are somewhat tame and used to people going by. Feeling reassured, Tami and I continued the 8 km trek to the gorge, filling the time with a Disney sing-a-long. I really don't know why...

Tami and Hampton hiking through the gorge.

The gorge was amazing! We opted for the 1 hour trek, but ended up getting the 2 hour one with our Maasai guide, Hampton. Each time we reached what seemed like a rock blockage Tami and I looked at one another knowingly and then watched carefully as Hampton showed us how to get over. Of course, we had to come back down most of them, too. Needless to say our "hard core" weekend was certainly that!

We were able to secure a ride back to Nairobi with John from VICDA but didn't have enough time to get back to the gate on foot and then to Naivasha. So, in true African tourist fashion, Tami and I hitched a ride with a nice Canadian couple to the road and then caught a matatu back to Naivasha, leaving about an hour for a nice lunch before the ride back to Nairobi. All in all a great time and well worth the wait!

First Night Out of Nairobi!

Hard to believe I've been here for well over a month and have spent every night of it until Friday in Nairobi! But with Tami here and adventure in the air, we decided to be dropped in Naivasha (Lyndsay's favorite word) for a "hard-core" Mt. Kilimanjaro dress rehearsal. We didn't get to see that much of Naivasha Town since we were only there for a night, but that didn't stop us from having fun exploring our 1000 ksh/night (about $12) hotel room!

Mbili Goodbyes

Mbili bob. Mbili goat. Mbili goodbyes. Thank you, Lauren and Lyndsay, for giving so much of yourselves to the children of Kenya. It is much quieter here without you. xoxo

Lauren and a Dust Baby

Lyndsay shares a moment with Muffin

New Toys for the Dust Babies

Tami came with fun toys for the Dust Babies from her mom - KAZOOS! The kids had a blast with them and it was certainly a song-filled visit to the Dust Babies. Asante Mama Tami!

Tami gives a quick kazoo demonstration

Tami gets to know the Dust Babies

JKA Giveth, JKA Taketh Away

Heather and Tami were officially in Kenya for about 7 hours at the same time. Sadly, only about 2 of those hours were spent in the same house and the rest were stolen by JKA - the international airport. It was a bitter sweet day for me, saying goodbye to one friend who had given so much of herself to our projects in Kenya and welcoming another who, like the others, traveled so far and sacrificed so much to be a part of this experience. But I know that this is only the first chapter in Heather's Kenya book, and I look forward to reading the rest.

Face Paint: Always a Good Idea

To celebrate Heather's time at Jamii we decided to break out the face paint for her last day!






This last little guy is named Ochieng and I first bonded with him on Friday. The kids at Jamii get out early on Friday and within minutes the school was empty except for Ochieng. Apparently his sister was supposed to pick him up, but forgot him. I decided to wait with him until she arrived well after 5pm. We colored, played with stickers and just sat. Since then, I've noticed that he's forgotten everyday. He just sits with his sad little face on the bench and waits. I really feel for him and have made it a pet project to get at least one smile out of him before I leave. It's like he lacks human contact, so I try my best to hug him, hold his hand and give him a little extra attention and love.

Chicken Update

I know I haven't posted a bunch on Baruku lately, so I wanted to give a quick update on the chicken farm project for all of you generous people who have decided to become a part of it. The chicks were supposed to be transported to Baruku tomorrow, but the hatchery didn't have enough so we are now doing the transport next week. We are still heading back to Baruku tomorrow with some new volunteers to introduce them to the project and so Lauren and Lyndsay can say goodbye to the Dust Babies one last time. Stay tuned for more!

Where's Nikki?

Those two words were uttered countless times in the two weeks that Nikki was with us in Kenya, but now that she's actually left, they are truly felt. It was so much fun to have Nikki join our Yes We Kenya group in the final hour and there is one little girl who will never, ever forget her. Marion was a student at Jamii until yesterday when she was able to start in Grade Two at Olympic Primary in Kibera - one of the best non-government schools in Nairobi. At nine years old, Marion was far too old and clever for the pre-unit (kindergarten) class she's been attending at Jamii and, as Monica said, they were keeping Marion there, waiting for God to send someone to sponsor her. Well, God sent Nikki. It was a bit of a process with placement tests, matatu rides and several trips to Olympic, but I'm delighted to report that Marion is currently wearing a brand new uniform and learning with children her own age at her new school. By sponsoring Marion, Nikki has literally changed her situation and has given her the best possible way to succeed. Marion now has a brighter future. Asante Nikki!