Notes From Real Life

It’s our last day in Kenya! This morning we got the experience everyone travels here for, Safari! 🦒🐘🐆Of all nights, it rained hard last night! We have had such beautiful weather otherwise, with just a few afternoon sprinkles on a couple of days. Although the rain had stopped by sunrise when we set out it had left the trails through the Nairobi National Park muddy and rutted. One of our 8 vans became stuck fast and the rest of us had to take on extra passengers. My group’s driver was amazing though & we sailed through after a wild, swerving, sliding ride! It added to the excitement! We saw baboons & giraffes up close, tons of impala & gazelle & antelope, rhino in the distance & lots of birds!

Then we got to visit the elephant sanctuary where baby elephants who’ve been orphaned are rehabilitated & eventually reintroduced into the wild, kept track of by their keepers until they have been adopted by a herd. We learned so much and it was super fun to watch these “little”’babies drink their milk & interact with one another, their keepers & us! You can even adopt one for only $50/year! One but we learned is that most are there because of human-wildlife conflict so most importantly please, no ivory or rhino horn!

It is amazing to be in the land so beautifully written about in Out of Africa; West With the Night; Circling the Sun; The Snows of Kilimanjaro…!

Today we were greeted warmly at Compassion’s national office. Actually it is headquarters for their regional operations throughout Africa. I am inspired and encouraged by this organization’s commitment to environmental rehabilitation; hands-on, consistent, relationship-based lifting children out of poverty.

A special treat was getting to hear from 8 alumni from the program. It is heart warming and truly amazing to hear their stories of rising out of the clutches of the Dandora Slum to graduate from college and achieve many other successes as bloggers, fashion designers, World Bank interns and always always giving back as volunteers and supporters of other children in similar conditions.

Something I have noticed here in Kenya is bathrooms separated not just by gender but for adults & children. Today I asked about this & was told it is to protect children. I think it is an excellent idea.

Welcome to Kenya where the lines are nonexistent for the ancient amusement park rides! 😂 I screamed so loud on the roller coaster because I was terrified we’d fly off the rusty track at any moment or a little lap belt would fail & one of us would go flying off. And what did “my boys” do but signal to the ride master to circle round two extra times to torture me! 😊

In short, we had an amazing day meeting Joseph face to face. 💕It turns out he is quiet too like Quinn and this similarity caused Quinn to open up & they became great friends.

They climbed the climbing wall & came down the giant bouncy slide over & over & over!!!

Compassion put this day together for us at the unnamed amusement park/zoo & arranger for all the sponsored children to come with their social workers to meet us sponsors. We played & had lunch & they shared their Compassion files with us, which contain all of our correspondence & their school records.

Our Joseph is in boarding school but took a day off to be with us & by day’s end was asking us to visit again & to visit us in America. I told him & Quinn who both have more potential than their current academic records reflect that they need to “pull their socks up” (this is the Kenyan version of our bootstraps chastisement & then they can be successful & travel back & forth to their countries working hard & doing good to many.😅😊

My hair is more beautiful than ever after all that love it received yesterday. 😊

In a few moments we are off to meet Joseph. 🎊

The food here in Kenya is so wonderful. But the thing is it is important to finish your plate. My problem is that I want to try a little of everything & by the time I have a little of everything on my plate it looks like this! my new favorites are mandazi & sorghum porridge. ❤️

The thing about the children here is they are so open and accepting. We are a novelty. Our skin. Our hair. Today I was surrounded by all these sweet faces, little uniformed people. Then their hands begin to reach out, touching my skin, my hair. Soon I let them take my hair out of its braid and several little hands were in my hair, braiding it, twisting it. The delight was absolutely mutual. Everyone kept saying oh, your hair, it’s going to be so knotted! but the fact is I did my hair just for these kids today because I know they are fascinated by it. It is for them & I welcomed their little hands all over & in it. It is all so much ❤️.

Today was what Sunday should be. A relaxed breakfast before we headed to a local church affiliated with Compassion to worship. Poor Q was not used to a two hour service since our Catholic mass is typically one hour. And most of it was in Swahili although the pastor tried to accommodate us by reading the gospel and giving the homily in English which his co-pastor then translated into Swahili. Again, a beautiful welcome.

After the church service and lovely outdoor reception we went to a restaurant on Lake Victoria. Same healthy local fare, different setting.

And then we got to go on a boat ride! It was supposed to be a double decker but in Africa you have to stay flexible. We ended up taking turns on a regular pontoon and water bus (like a cross between a rowboat and canoe, wooden, but motorized). The water was super rough and though fresh water it is home to crocodiles, hippos and water snakes! We got a bit splashed but fortunately did not capsize!

Now a little about Compassion. It was founded by Everett Swanson (I think I may have misspoken earlier…like I said, this trip is educating me!) as a minister to 35 South Korean children in 1952. The name arises from this Bible verse in Mathew 15:32NIV:

Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.””

Tonight we got to hear a young man share his story and it is amazing. Please check out this link. https://youtu.be/DH8dm_AIiwM

It is short but inspiring. This Kenyan has been with us on this journey all week and has impressed me so much by his gracious manners, ease of public speaking and ability to make all of us feel at home. In fact, a phrase you hear over and over here is kirabu, which means, in different contexts, “you’re welcome” or “feel welcome.”

Please visit https://www.compassion.com/history.htm for more inspiration.

Tomorrow we leave our sweet hotel in Kisumu after visiting one more child development center, this one in the nearby slums, and return to Nairobi.

On Tuesday we meet Joseph!!!