Jane and Helen

I received email news earlier this week that one of the women involved with our Tuko Pumoja project had died. We received an email from Philip of PCDA from the Maasai Village where we spent time while in Kenya in January that our Maasai friend Jane had passed away. This was especially hard to hear because we had just been there a short time ago and had spent time with the children at school, in the village, and interacting with the tiny community. In their visit last year Lloydie and Deb had spent time with the women building a “kitchen” (a traditional Maasai style thatched hut with dung walls) and tell an incredible story of carrying the roof down the road from the manyatta (village) to recycle it for the kitchen.

Philip's wife and baby coming from the kitchen

When we were there in January and each of us spent time with one woman in her home or boma, I was welcomed by Jane into her home. We conversed with the help of the neighbor girl Helen who spoke very good English and several children joined us in the merriment as they laughed at me trying to do dishes the Maasai way (with not much water) and trying to properly learn how to say the Maasai name that Jane gave to me ( Nashorrrrwah) with a rolling “r” sound not spoken in English, meaning “one who gives”. I love my Maasai name as I thought that Jane in our brief time had understood something about me.

At one moment Jane took of her bracelets from her wrist and gave it to me as a friendly gesture which I really appreciated. She also suggested that Helen show me the goats which was when I had my experience of trying to “catch a kid” as Helen had instructed me, which was a lot more difficult than she ended up making it look!

Holding Helen's kid with a sweet onlooker

After my kid catching experience, we visited again in the boma, also a traditional thatched structure with dung walls and only a tiny window of a couple of inches to let in a very little light. We all drank HOT chai together made over a fire in the darkened very HOT boma with perspiration on our faces and though I was really hot, I didn’t much mind because we were having fun, chatting and exchanging stories the best we could and it seemed rather magical to be across the world in this different culture yet realizing how we were 2 women who were very much the same in a lot of ways. We all gathered together before leaving the village and when I went to say goodbye to Jane we exchanged hugs and she took one of her beautiful necklaces off her neck and slipped it over my head. Helen wasn’t around at that moment, but we didn’t really need a translator for this interchange…..

Sitting in Jane's (left) home

And so I am thinking about Jane who seemed very young to me and not in any way ill at the time I met her. However, the average life span in Kenya is only 50. She was a lovely warm woman with a nice smile, very welcoming and very generous. And I am thinking of this little village who must be saddened by her loss. I know from Philip that Jane was raising her niece who was away at school in form 2 (second hear of high school) on the day when we were there and that now she has lost her aunt, after losing her father when she 8, her mother when she was 11, her grandmother when she was 13 and her grandmother when she was 15. We are all sad for her and the entire PCDA community. This is a reminder that having connections to people across the world in a different culture only makes the world feel smaller and that life everywhere is fragile and precious.

The number of views on this blog surpassed 10,000 today. It’s hard to know what to think of that since I know that some readers have come from random search engines seeking out particular bits of information about Kenya, or AIDS or even to find pictures of animals from the safari which I took on my first trip to Kenya. But I do know that many of the visits were purposeful and I would like to think that I have shared my experiences in Kenya as a volunteer in an educational and inspirational way. The title of this blog, Zuri Watoto Wote, means by my rough translation ”All the Beautiful Children” in Swahili. I chose it before I had ever been to Kenya and when I was attempting to learn a little bit of Swahili in advance. I still love the title now that I have met the many beautiful children there; I could have, however, called it “All the Beautiful People” because my connection isn’t only to the children. I knew that when I set out on that first trip to Kenya that I would be fulfilling a lifelong dream to visit Africa (truly since I was a child) and to do volunteer work in a third world country. I did not really have an idea of how much the experience would grab my heart, change my life and change me.

I have wanted to convey in my blog a broader sense of the Kenyan people than those stereotypes that people might have when they think of  African countries stricken by AIDS and poverty. Yes, there is AIDS and there is much poverty, but there are also wonderful thriving people who are celebrating life despite their hardship and their poverty in a way that is truly enviable. And there are people who have a capacity for connection, grace and authentic communication which is touching and not lost in the superficiality of life’s busy pace. These are the beautiful people who I have met. I have played with, sung with, danced with, done art with, painted the faces of, many beautiful children, all orphans. I have listened to some sad stories and felt their pain, but have also seen them smile and laugh. All of these people are a testament to the human spirit. My greatest admiration has been for the women I have met, especially the mothers, who work so hard and sacrifice so much to take care of their children yet still retain such grace and dignity. And although I have had the role of the volunteer, the “helper”, who brings donations and professional expertise, I too have been “helped”  by the interchange to have a broader sense of the world and her people and to feel a different sense of my place in it. I have seen the value of a strong cultural heritage, of living a simpler life and of appreciating what one does have, what I have,  in a new way.

Earlier today I was watching Chimamanda Adichie, Nigerian author, who presented a TED talk entitled “The Danger of a Single Story”. She said in her talk “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”  When I listened to her it very much resonated with the experiences I have had and with what I learned by spending time with people in Kenya as I have had the privilege of hearing many stories and have learned so much from those who have told them to me.

So three years, 65 posts and 10,000 blog visits later its hard for me to imagine my life without this experience and all the people I have met and the touching moments I have shared. My fellow travelers will be life long friends and LLoydie Zaiser–we are kindred spirits in this mission and jointly have a lifetime of things to accomplish in Kenya–along with Jen and Deb……. Since my plan is to return to Kenya each year I hope to keep the blog going between trips with updates on news from Nyumbani and elsewhere in Kenya and with stateside activities such as Tuko Pamoja and preparations for the next trip.

I hope that if you are reading the blog and are touched by any of the stories that I relay that you will pass it on. When I originally set out to write the blog it was with the intention of making people more aware of the plight of AIDS orphans in Kenya and the concept of global citizenship. I have certainly learned that there is far more about which to be enlightened and hope to continue to share that which I continue to learn. I will close with a poem:

We are all the same

I am that man, that woman, that child,

I am just like them

Except that I was born lucky

In this land of privilege and plenty

Otherwise, we are the same

I am that man, that boy

Sent off to fight, to witness that

Which should never be seen,

To lose his youth, his self, perhaps

To die, we were born alike.

I am that woman, that mother

Who weeps for her sick child,

Who cannot work enough

To feed her children, to save them

But keeps trying, we are the same

I am that child, that baby

Thrown on a garbage heap,

Alone and unwanted, left to die

Somebody’s child, too sick to keep

She is like me; she is like you

Except we were born in the land of plenty

Where our eyes are shut and our ears

Do not hear, so we will not know  

That we are those men, those women,

Those children, we are all the same.

I have had a lot of time to ponder since I returned from Kenya two months ago. In spite of the busyness of my life here, my thoughts frequently go back to my experiences there and the ongoing connections through email and phone calls and even in person with my fellow volunteers have kept it all very much alive. I also have received emails from Kenya including follow up from Lilian about her clients whom I saw in the Village. My attempt to present some of my experiences to my colleagues at the hospital reminded me that I always have volumes to share in too little time and that my exuberance and passion in sharing these experiences is something that everyone notices. I have tried to write a short article for a professional newsletter and struggled with how to put the experience into words with the right balance of facts and details for the reader with the powerful feelings that came with doing the work in Kenya. One comment that I often make is that the Kenyan people have a remarkable way of speaking authentically from their hearts, that they are not inhibited about doing that which contributes to making the experience so touching. It’s a way of connecting that I wish would happen more here because it seems we have lost some of our capacity to be that open in expressing ourselves eith the fast pace of life and its many demands and the turn to technology for communication. I feel however that there is an exception to that kind of heartfelt communication that I have grown to value in my interactions with the Kenyan people. This has to do with talking about grief and loss. I cannot identify this as a generalization of all Kenyan people since I have had far too little experience to make such an observation. However, it is an observation that has struck me in the course of my time spent with people there.  In Nyumbani Village all the residents have had very powerful personal experiences of loss. There are 900 children who have lost there parents to AIDs and many have lost other close relatives as well. There are almost 100 grandparents many of whom have lost their children to AIDs. However, there seems to be a powerfully strong culture of silence around grief and loss. No one seems to speak of it. In  the counseling center when interviewing clients I was often told tragic stories about losing loved ones, often a string of losses that was profoundly sad to hear, but was told in a hushed voice as if to say that there was something unspeakable about it.  The most striking example was an adolescent girl who told me of losing both parents when she was very young, then her grandmother, then her uncle, all of whom had parented her. However she also told me that talking about these losses was a “secret” and that she had never talked about them before. The idea that there is a silence about such painful losses has stuck with me and has made me wonder about those photos that I have captured of those soulful, almost sad looking children’s faces–maybe those are a fleeting glimpse of what is unspoken.

I have given this some thought and talked with Lilian and Lloydie about some possible ideas I have for how to address this. I think perhaps an annual ritual of remembrance honoring those lost could be a step towards helping this community to share the burden of each other’s grief in a healing way. This would need to be done thoughtfully, embracing the culture of the village and with the blessing of those who oversee its care. This could be powerful shared experience in which people come together without actually individually saying very much or anything at all yet still give a voice to some silenced feelings that could be acknowledged in the sharing through song and ritual. One of the wonderful aspects of knowing that I am committed to returning to Kenya each year is that it gives me an opportunity to think about not only what I can do in the time that I am there, but also what could be helpful over the longer term. This is a shift in my connection and commitment that I am delighted to embrace.

Kristin Smiling with the Children of Nyumbani Village

When I came home from Kenya, I felt so joyous about the experience there, fulfilled and gratified too, but more than that I felt really good and happy. This second trip to Kenya had been even better than the first, I had made the committment to going every year, and I knew that I had really made a difference while I was there. I immersed myself in editing my photos, had ongoing contact with Lilian and new relationships developed in Kenya and a lot of contact with Lloydie, Jen and Deb as we planned the Tuko Pamoja party which I was thrilled to attend. All of this kept the trip alive and kept me in touch with those good feelings. I know that my fellow volunteers feel this too, this joyful sense of celebration to be able to help people–it’s really unique. So I started to ask myself why does this make you feel so good? I am a psychiatrist after all, and I felt curious about the strength of my own reaction  and of those around me. We have many pictures of us smiling broadly in Kenya while doing the work there, but it wasn’t just for the camera, we are truly happy and feeling good every day in Kenya.

Lloydie with the Kenyan Ambassador's wife at Nyumbani Children's home

Sitting in the Maasai manyatta, against the cow dung walls in 100 degree heat and totally happy

So I started to do a little research on this issue of volunteering and altruism and how it makes you feel and came upon a lot of information. It turns out that it is fairly recently the subject of study, but there has been quite a bit of work done. When we do good deeds, volunteer, behave in an altruistic way,  it reduces our stress level and that can be seen on a physiologic, biochemical and cellular level. The term “helper’s high” has even been coined to describe the euphoric feelings that one gets. Oxytocin, the boding chemical that helps mother’s bond with and nurture their new babies, is released when you are helping others and its calming and stress relieving. In addition, the “feel good” chemicals of the brain like endorphins and dopamine involved with reward circuitry of the brain are also triggered by altruistic behavior. However, this isn’t only a stress reliever in the moment and a transient good feeling, numerous studies have now shown that people who engage in regular altruistic behavior such as volunteer work have less illness and live longer lives. One study of older adults done at Cornell found that in older adults, those who volunteered regularly had a marked reduction in early death that was a stronger effect than exercising 4 times a week.

So why am I writing about this here? I,  of course,  would like to get other people involved with coming to Kenya. There is a great need there. But I also wanted to share this experience of feeling good and how it can be derived from being a volunteer or helper because I feel like I am so lucky to have come upon this work in Kenya that allows me to make a difference for people are in need and yet to still feel like I am the one to whom something is being given. Kenya has taught me first hand my most powerful  lesson of the “science of good deeds” and I wanted to share what I have learned.  But I know it isn’t only in Kenya where this could happen and I hope that others who haven’t yet had as full an experience of the “helper’s high” as I have had might give it a try wherever it suits you. There is a lot of need for helping in the world and feeling good, relieving stress,  perhaps living longer, these are just a few of the rewards.

Lloydie and Kristen, before leaving to the go to the Lea Toto sites

Deb with a child at the Children's Home

View of the moon from the early morning plane ride

I headed down to Maryland this weekend, outside of Washington DC, early on Friday morning to get ready for the kick off event for the Tuko Pamoja initiative. It began as a serene and very short flight by comparison to flying to Kenya although memories of Kenya were very much on my mind as I traveled. I was thrilled to be able to meet up with my fellow Kenya volunteers, Lloydie and Deb and to see Jen, Lloydie’s assistant whom I got to know better over the course of the weekend. On Friday we spent the day finishing the preparations for Saturday’s event and spent all day talking about future plans for the initiative and travels to Kenya for next January. We have so many ideas when we get together that the synergy and excitement are a little mind-boggling! We are pursuing a non-profit status for Tuko Pamoja and came up with oh-so-many ideas for making this a successful project for helping the women, our friends of Lea Toto, Nyumbani Village, Kibera Paper and the Pastoral Community Development Alliance in Kenya. It goes without saying that the group of us have incredible passion about this mission and amazing bonds with each other so spending time together just by itself is a great experience.

Jen and Lloydie had been working hard on the set up well before I arrived and much of it was completed.  I added videos and worked with LLoydie’s husband Bill to get my photos on the big screen TV for display. The house was a virtual museum of all things Kenyan and on the first floor was an educational display about each of the women’s groups whose crafts we plan to promote. Lloydie greeted people at the front door to introduce the project, but I think they got a sense of the enthusiasm before they even walked in!

Karibu! Welcome to the Tuko Pamoja Kick-off--no mistake, you are at the right house!

Maasai display in the entry way---affectionately known as "Maasai Mary"

Our goal was to not only gather feedback about each of the crafts we had chosen as samples, but also to have our guests “meet” the women by sharing our personal experiences with them. I was at the Kibera paper station where there were photos of the days we had spent there learning to make the cards with them and doing the art exchange process of teaching them to block print and make valentines. I also had a video clip of us singing and dancing together so that people could see the sharing of the experience and the joy that it brought. There was information about Kibera and Kibera Paper and there were samples of the cards. I had a great time telling people about the women, our time together and how meaningful the experience was as well as about the cards and how they are made.

A guest at the Kibera Paper Women Display

Deb was at the display about the Susus of Nyumbani Village and their baskets and Jen introduce the women of Lea Toto projects.

Lea Toto Women Display

In the basement, many tables were set up with examples of crafts from each group with surveys to fill out. We had almost sixty people who came and also filled out surveys to provide us with invaluable information about the crafts and which ones they think will be most likely to sell.

Paper beads from Kawangware

Display of Maasai bracelets

Display of Nyumbani Village baskets woven by the Susus

Anya taking the survey

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PROVIDED FEEDBACK ON THE SURVEYS!!

We really enjoyed sharing stories of the amazing Kenyan women with everyone and were thrilled to get such positive and enthusiastic feedback. Next we will review surveys and make some decisions about which crafts to order when Lloydie returns to Kenya in June. She will place the order then and get the crafts in August to bring them back to the US (details for transporting hundreds of baskets, hundreds of cards, etc yet to be worked out). The women will be paid the fair market value in Kenya then. Once the crafts are brought back to the US, they will be boxed for home party or craft fair/event sales and after they are sold here the women in Kenya will get an additional payment. If this works successfully the hope is to have this grow and to add a website and more….

We also provided some pretty delicious snacks for everyone and a chance to buy some Kenyan items on our sales table bringing in $1000!  It was a very exciting and inspirational day that ended with a sense of accomplishment and more vision for this project. We felt more than ever that our mission to help these women in Kenya and to thereby help their children can actually be realized, that we will no longer leave struggling with the sense of not knowing how to really help them, and that it will be possible to truly do something that could make a difference. We were all tired at the end of the day….but I think we all had a little trouble sleeping from the excitement of Tuko Pamoja– of all being in it together. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but it’s work we can’t wait to do….. I wish we could have shared this day with the women in Kenya, that they could have been there too, but in many ways, it felt as if they were.

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Lloydie with a "Momma" from the Vision Self Help Group of Dandora

Deb and Josephine of the PCDA women's craft group

Originally it grew out of the idea of wanting to help the mothers of children with HIV who are getting services from the Nyumbani Lea Toto Clinics in the slums……because whenever you help the mothers in a community you help the children, whenever you help the mothers, you are helping everyone. There were already established groups of women, like the Vision Self Help Group of Dandora,  working together to craft products to help finanacially support their families and to emotionally support each other.  They had been selling their crafts, but the market was quite limited. And then the idea grew to helping other women’s groups who have been severely affected by hardship and poverty and also hand creating incredible crafts. Groups like the grandmothers of Nyumbani Village who are raising so many orphans after losing their own children to AIDS and weave beautiful baskets of sissel and yarn; the women of Kibera Paper who hand make greeting cards, each individual works of art from recycled paper;  and the Maasai women of PCDA who doing amazing beadwork. First it was casually called the Women4Women project as it was beginning to take form. Now it has gathered momentum and garnered lots of enthuisiasm as it has gone  from the U.S. to Kenya and come back again and has evolved a new, very appropriate name of “Tuko Pamoja” literally in Swahili, “We are together”,  the spirit of which is that we are working together.

Lloydie recently  announced the Tuko Pamaja project in an e-mail that was sent far and wide to friends of KEST (Kenya Service and Educational Trips) and said the following:

Many former KEST travelers have left Kenya wishing they could be of more assistance to the many women’s groups we meet struggling to feed and educate their children.  KEST has decided to do something to help, hence the Tuko Pamoja initiative… we ARE in this together…

The mission of the Tuko Pamoja initiative is to:

1. Create a sustainable income resource for female-led Kenyan artisan groups by way of providing a US marketplace for their wares

·      Facilitating ownership, independence, empowerment and a shift in thinking from day-to-day to longer term planning

·      Insisting on high quality, useful, and diverse products that are suited to the US market

2. Educate Americans to the needs of these groups and call them to ACTION

·      Organize a way to provide an opportunity for Americans to help the identified Kenyan artisan groups from the States

I am hoping that my family and friends will be interested in supporting this program, and not just by purchasing crafts!  Women from all across the country will have the opportunity to sell these products on behalf of our Kenyan sisters!  This can be done by hosting a party in your home, much like a Tupperware party, or by having a table at a local fair or bazaar.  KEST will provide everything but the customers, your friends!

The womens groups in Kenya groups in Kenya who will be initially supported by the project are the groups whom I previously mentioned. The Pastoral Community Development Alliance woman’s crafts group. You can get a glimpse of thier capacity to do beadwork just by lookint their own necklaces and bracelets!

Massai women of the PCDA craft group

PCDA Woman and crafts

The women of the Vision Self Help Group of Dandora–these women have been together for almost 10 years. They all have HIV and/or have HIV+ children and live in the Dandora slum around Nairobi. They are now skilled artisans who make jewelry and a lot of different items from beads as well as many other beautiful things:

Women of the Vision Self Help Group of Dandora

The Susus or grandmothers from Nyumbani Village who have all lost their own children to AIDs are are all each raising 10 AIDs orphans. Not only can these spirited and rocking grannies dance, but they are the keepers of the Kamba culture for the Village, the ones who make the homes for the children and are skilled basket waevers with many years of experience!

Dancing Susus of Nyumbani Village

Traditional Basket weaving

The women of Kibera Paper all live in Kibera, the largest slum on the periphery of Nairobi. They work at Kibera Paper in order to make an income to support the very basic necessities of life for their families. All of their cards are made from recycled paper and in each one is individually crafted, panted, wired, threaded, designed and signed by hand. Having worked side by side with them I can attest to just how much work goes into each card and to the beauty of each card.

Making Kibera Paper

This is a wonderful video about the making of Kibera Cards, I posted it in a prior post but am putting here because I want people to have another chance to view it in this context:

On March 10th, KEST is hosting a kick-off event to the Tuko Pamoja Project at Lloydie’s House near Washington D.C. It will be an opportunity to introduce the project to as many people in the area who can come, to get feedback on the crafts we hope to promote and to give people an opportunity to “meet” these women through the sharing of our experinces with them. Having spent time with all of these Kenyan women, I personally say that I have tremendous respect and admiration for all of them. They all struggle with tremendous poverty and many have been through unimaginable hardship and loss. They are however some of the most grateful, resilient, and warm women and mothers I ever have met.  I know that I speak for all KEST travelers when I say that spending time with them has created a special place in our hearts for them–we have created with them, sung and danced with them, listened to their stories, drank tea together,  hugged and exchanged heartfelt words and shared tears in saying goodbyes.  We want to share in helping them in their lives, after all “Tuko Pamoja,” we are truly all in this together!

If you missed it before here are the Kibera Paper women singing with us before we had to say goodbye.

Maasai children listening to a story

Although I have been home for almost two weeks now, it still feels as though I just left Kenya. The trip, the countryside, the people, my fellow volunteers have all still been very much on my mind. I have been missing my fellow travelers but have manged to bridge the gap with email conversations, exchanging photos back and forth and making plans for other events (in a post yet to come.) I have been reliving the experience in Kenya through editing hundreds of pictures. Although Kenya and the Kenyan people are very colorful with their bright clothing, the most powerful of the photographs for me are the black and white photos of faces thought so often seem to convey something unsaid. So I will share some of those:

Maasai child in the classroom

Two Maasai girls at school--I wonder what they are thinking?

One of the girls in my cottage at the Children's Home

A man at Nyumbani Village--I met him at the food containers and wished I knew how to speak Kikamba with him.

Two boys at the Children's Home-- I think with new haircuts and very impish grins

A Village child with an amazing face

Two of a group of children who ran up to us in Kibera asking "How are You?" in a chorus

Two Village children on the schoolground

One of the Village children who frequently stopped by our lodging to play

A small sampling of  the many photos which I could share and there is a story to go with each and every one of them

Instead, however, I will tell you a story that doesn’t have a picture to go with it. When I left Kenya to come home I did so with a heavy heart because I wished that I could have stayed longer, there was more to be done and LLoydie, Deb and Kristin were headed off to another community and  another orphanage called Talitha Kum. I had 6000 ksh (Kenyan Shillings) left of my donations (about $75) which had not yet been used. It had been left over after we bought as much of the ingredients for the Maasai school lunch program as we could fit into four grocery carts and I had set it aside for another purpose yet to be determined. So when I left Kenya,  I put it in good hands with Lloydie with the thought that we could perhaps add to the porridge supplies or some other need might present itself. And so it did. When Deb and LLoydie were attending a “prayer group” for members of the community at Talitha Kum, a man, a social worker,  spoke up about how he was praying for help for a child with whom he had been working for a long time. The child was an adolescent boy who had lost both parents to AIDs at a young age and had been living on the streets for eight years. He had managed to develop a relationship with him and the child had been remarkably going to school all those years by begging or stealing the money for school fees and a school uniform. When he took the National Exam, a requirement for all form 8 students (8th graders) to be considered for high school, he scored extremely high. On the basis of that he was accepted into a very fine government high school;  these are the best schools in Kenya to which every student wants to be admitted. But the cost of travel to the school which was such a distance away was too much and he could not attend. The social worker took him and his records to the “Elite School” (I include the name because it’s so cool) which was a more local private school and asked if they could do anything for him. There he was told that if he could come up with the first year of tuition they would accept him and the next three years would be paid for by the school. So the social worker and the boy had raised a lot of money, but it wasn’t enough for him to start school in a few days. Hence the prayer at the meeting, and the connection with the remaining 6000 ksh.  LLoydie and Deb spoke up and offered to pay the remainder with that 6000ksh and 2000 that they each through in and made arrangements to do so at the school.  So this boy is now guaranteed an education, but equally important is that because he will be in boarding school as high schools are in Kenya, this will be the end of eight years of living on the streets for him–he will have a bed, a home, and three meals a day. He must be an incredibly resiliant young man to have survived on the streets while succeeding so well at school.  I think that this was a perfect way to spend the rest of the donations.  It always amazes me how little it takes to impact someone’s life in Kenya, how sometimes the pieces just fall into place. When I was talking to Lloydie today about many ongoing and future plans–and because we were really missing each other, she said we need to visit this boy and the social worker when we go back to Kenya. I think that sounds like a fine idea.

An interesting juxtaposition of names......Rumours cafe next to the Psalm hotel......and Trust is a condem ad.

Being on the road in Kenya lends itself to taking in  a lot of scenery, some very beautiful, some very reflective of the culture, and  some reflective of the different uses of language that is prone to tickle the funnybones of travelers. Whenever we were on the road we always took pictures out the window and enjoyed sightings of the things that were typically Kenyan such as having to stop the car for an ambling cow crossing.

Cows crossing!

People seemed to be walking on the side of the road all the time with heavy things on their heads or babies on the backs and we enjoyed watching them. Sometimes we even saw some unconventional ways of getting around.

Family walking using an umbrella for shade

Standing up on a donkey cart

What we ultimately ended up enjoying the most, or at least in a different way from the beautiful scenery, were the signs or displays on the front of hotels, retaurants and store fronts since these often were quite humorous to the American interpretation. We made a sport out of trying to capture the images from the car. One of my favorites, which I unfortunately failed to capture because I was on the wrong side of the car was a billboard ad for a restaurant which said “Now it’s official! We have the tastiest breasts and thighs.” There were however a lot of others that made us chuckle and a sampling will follow.

No breeze, and more importantly, no ocean anywhere around here

The name says it all

Another name that says it all...

We were puzzled by the Mixer and vibrator sign after an initial laugh, but I've since thought that maybe its a cement mixer and jackhammer??!

A typical hair salon

Not exactly Starbucks, but you only get instant Nescafe for coffee anyway and tea is always made with milk and LOTS of sugar

I included this one for two reasons: Lynne's last name is Israel and I thought my son might like to see an alternative school of engineering

Kenyan's are very spiritual people, generally in a very lovely way, sometimes this gets extended beyond what we Westerners would have anticipated

We couldn't help but wonder how well this name was working for business?!

We liked this one since Lala Salama is goodnight and what we said to each other in the style of "the Waltons" each night.

In case you missed it in the corner of the last picture, this raised our curiosity....

we enjoyed being on the road and taking in the culture and though I’m poking a little fun by posting these, it’s okay because all of us are undeniably in love with Kenya and with the Kenyan people. I will do another post that shows you more of the beauty of the country side, and one with more of the beautiful faces, perhaps a collection of some of our more memorable moments that I haven’t yet shared. Though I’m home now I still have more to share and there’s truly a dual purpose in that: to share the magic of the experince and to not let too much of it slip away as I get pulled into the incredible busyness of my life here. I need to hang onto this incredible experience and all its richness for me as well as sharing it. So stay tuned there is more to come.

Following our departure form Nyumbani Village on Saturday morning we drove back to Nairobi and then to Karen and our lodging at the Dimesse Sisters. We had a very long ride partially because we stooped at a worrdcarvers workshop and store but also becuase we got caught in a lot of traffic around Nairobi and arrived back much later than expected. The drive was yet another reminder of how much we appreciated our driver Justus since none of us would want to brave driving in the crazy Kenyan traffic or on the really bad Kenyan roads with crator size potholes and for which speed limits are determined not by signs but rather by enormous speed bumps. Knowing we were going to arrive late, Lloydie called ahead to let Sister Rhoda, the very hospitable and outgoing nun at Dimesse sisters that we would not make it back for lunch. She offered to leave a snack out for us and when we arrived mid afternoon  there was a table set with a full course meal plus some extras treats. She wanted to be sure we got something to eat because we were “doing such good work.”   You just have to love that Kenyan hospitality! And having just come from the village, this was especially a most delicious meal!

Carving a giraffe

We were headed to Nyumbani Children’s Home in the evening for movie night and had to make yet another trip to the local Nakumat to buy popcorn and such but a priority for everyone before that was to take a real well needed shower .  We all seemed to emerge from our showeres slightly euphoric from the feeling of being squeaky clean again! So well groomed and well fed we set off to buy the movie treats and headed to the Children’s Home. In my cottage they were just finishing up with dinner and had to do the after dinner chores. Everyone pitches in with doing the dishes, sweeping, washing the floor, etc. After that was done they all watched the news, broadcast primarily in Kiswahilie, but the older children translated for me. After that we settled into a viewing of “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” as I dispensed cup after cup of cheese curls and juice baxes amidst a chorus of pleases and thank yous. That was my last evening at the Children’s Home.

Cottage E children cleaning up after dinner--everyone helps out

The plan for the next day, my final day in kenya was to do something fun and relaxing and Lloydie had scheduled us to go to a tea farm for a tour and for a lunch. I have to say that the drive there was quite beautiful and one of the most lush views of Kenyan vegetation. The day was beautiful like every other day, but a welcome bit cooler. As we got closer to the tea farms the view got more and more beautiful.

Fields of tea plants

We went to the Kiambethu Tea farm in Limuru which has been in existentence since 1910. The original beuatiful house is still there and has been in the same family for four generations. There is a beautiful garden on the property and a preserved section of the original deciduous forest.

Garden at Kiambethu Tea Farm

We began our tour with Fiona, the owner, showing us the original tea plant, now a non-harvasted tea tree, and then taking us inside for tea and telling us much more about the growing of tea as a criop and how it is processed at the local factory.

Fiona and the original tea plant

We then took a walk through the forest with Kamangi who pointed out much of the indiginous vegetation and its medicinal purposes. We met the geese of the fram and the cows who supply the milk for the delicious homemade ice cream.

Kamangi giving us a tour

Kiambethu cows

Kiambethu geese--they didn't seem that happy to have visitors

The walk was followed by drinks on the veranda and then by a very delicious lunch including fresh salad and vegetables and some of that homemade ice cream amongst other tasty treats for desserts. This was a wonderful thing to do on my final day in Kenya.

The group at the tea farm

Since I would soon be departing when Justus drove us back to our lodging we gave him a special gift for having been such a pleasure to work with and to let him know how much we appreciated him. The rest of the afternoon was spent sorting our 6 duffels of donations plus 4 additional huge duffels that were left by the last group.

Justus gets a thank you gift

Deb sorting donated clothing

I must admit that I got a pass for much of this so I could do some packing of my own, but more importantly so I could blog the rest of the time spent at the village since it had become a way for everyone else to be able to share their experiences too. As my bags were packed, the reality of leaving became all too real and the time was drawing nearer for me to head to the airport. I must admit that it was hard to leave since I knew that everyone else would be staying on for at least another week, but I could not be gone any longer from my practice. And it was, of course, especially hard to say goodbye. Though we talked about reuniting in the fall for the annual Nyumbani fund raising gala in D.C. and at least Deb and Lloydie and I were already talking about returning next January, that only softened the sting a little. We had all had this wonderful experience together, knowing that we were making a difference in people’s lives, loving all these adorable children, building relationships with many people, hearing their stories of hardship and loss, being moved to tears and being inspired by all of them to be better, do better, appreciate more….a bonding experience that will keep us forever connected to each other and to the people of Kenya.

Nyumbani Village-- signs at the crossroads

Kristen and Lloydie taking in the Village

The last few days at the Village were very full with activity and the final evening was a marvelous experience which could not have been a better send off. We did attend a celebration on Wednesday evening which was goodbye party to Soloman who is the laboratory technologist and to Mr. Multhi who is a teacher who has been reassigned by the government. It was quite a good dinner compared to the every meal of rice  or ugali (very thick maize porridge) with sukumawiki (cooked kale and onions) or githuri (beans with onions and maize). We had Kenyan style sangria (assisted in the making by Kristen) and softdrinks that weren’t warm! Afterwards there was a bonfire with toasting the people leaving and singing and going around the circle with each person saying something about themselves: where they are from, what country they would like to visit, their favorite animal, etc. What was most striking was the number of people who stood up and spoke from the heart and also said “I am proud to be a Kenyan.”

The Kest volunteers all continued  with working in various ways in different areas at the Village until Friday when it came time to take a field trip into Kitui to work on spending the rest of the donation money to purchase large numbers of plates, cups, silverware, sheets, etc. All have to be metal (except the sheets, of course) in order to meet the standard of sustainability established by the village. I stayed behind in the village as I had work to do in the counselling department,  but heard that it was quite the shopping trip and that the group was extremely grateful to have our driver Justus who had rejoined us at the Village that morning. Justus is Kambe and speaks the local language, is extremely charming and great nogotiator. Lynne stayed behind to do an interview for the Susu memory book and ended up impromptu running the Young Ambassadors Club since the group didn’t return from shopping until 4 even though they expected to be back by early afternoon. It has been a true spirit and example of “tuko pamoja” (we all work together, we are all in this together)  as we have worked here in the Village.

We have continued to interact with children and grandmothers and to build bonds and relationships that feel like they have been there much longer than they have existed in reality; that seems to be the Kenyan way.

Jefferson, a very nice young man whom I met in the Village

Walter playing with the children--an "action shot since he had just finished tickling that squirming one!

Another soulful face at Nyumbani Village

Brian, a retired Loretto school principal from Ireland volunteering in the Polytechnique School

On our final evening in the Village we were invited to two special events. The first was a dance performance in Cluster One for which there are no words to fully describe. The dance was done by the children with costumes, drums and other instruments and truly BLEW US AWAY!! I have a video which will give you a flavor–the performance was in one of the houses after the sun went down under the only light supply which is one solar powered light so the video is very dark, but please take a look and listen (it gets better after the beginning but I didn’t have a chance to edit…)  These kids were tireless and could be professional. We all thought they must have extra joints with the way they moved!

First, the warm up, which was so good we thought it was the whole dance:

Then the whole performance which made us vicariously exhausted and revenous because they used so much energy!!

After the performance we went to dinner at the Village priest’s house. This was the 2nd time we had a break from sakumawiki and githiri in the village…and we were surprised to find that Lillian was there and had cooked the dinner! Everything was quite delicious and it was a nice opportunity to spend a final night with people we really like and to be more relaxed.

Last dinner in the Village

The following morning Lloydie and I set out early on Saturday morning to meet the high school students as they were arriving at Lawson High School to deliver letters from sponsors and I wanted to have another opportunity to see Caroline, the student that my family sponsors since though I had met her the night before we wanted to meet again and to take some pictures. I regret that so much of the week went by without spending more time with her but I will have to do better next year!

Students arriving at Lawson School on Saturdy Morning

Caroline, the student we sponsor, and me on the school ground

Lloydie and Immaculate to whom she delivered a sponsor letter

After our early visit to the high school we had an early arrival to breakfast since we knew that John, the really friendly cook who just loves Lloydie (and vice versa) was making a special breakfast (vs the usual packaged bread and margarine) of mandazis for our final morning. Mandazis are a really delicious Kenyan treat most similar to an American doughnut but much lighter and not as sweet. We also got to watch him make them and got them as fresh as they could possibly be!

John making delicious mandazis for us!

After breakfast it was time to say all of the final goodbyes– no more avoiding it. Despite the fact that the village is really really hot, the food is mostly repetitive, there is nothing cold to drink, the bathrooms are a real “experience”, staying clean for more than a minute is impossible…..it is really hard to leave. It is a truly magical place with such a unique spirit of working together to save lives and to create a true village that works together to raise children and to care for the elderly, to respect the earth, to respect the culture, and to respect the value of all life. As I have said before, it is impossible to capture in words, you just have to go there and experience it for yourself. It will steal your heart.

Saying goodbye to Susu Mary

Kristin saying goodbye to one of the children

"Goodbye"....no it's not goodbye, it's "see you later", or as everyone in Kenya says, "we are missing you already!"