Hey everyone! Sorry for the mix up on the blogs, but hopefully you’ve all found our posts now! We had a full, fun, and interesting day yesterday with a visit to a women’s microfinance group in one of Nairobi’s sprawling slum areas and a trip to an open air market. It was amazing to hear some of the womens’ stories…most of them have 5-7 children and live in a one or two room shanty house. Despite this, they join together weekly to make crafts to sell and raise money to support the community. The market was a exciting and a little stressful! All the vendors are eager for you to purchase from their stall, and they rarely take no for an answer! It was fun to test our bargaining skills and we got some really great deals on carvings, bowls, baskets, and artwork. Today we are mostly laying low and relaxing before we get to sit on a plane for a ridiculous amount of time! We can’t wait to see all of our family and friends again and share more about our time in Kenya! Love, Laura
On our way to the safari one of the vans started to over heat so it took awhile to get there. The car trouble were fixed and we had so much fun on the safari! On the first ride we saw soooo many animals. We were able to get very close to elephants and giraffes. We slept in luxury tents on the Masai grounds. The next day we had a full day of safaris. We stayed in the park area the whole day. In the morning we headed to the Mara river and we saw hippos that looked very mean. We had a picnic lunch around a giant tree and it was so much fun. We also saw a few cheetahs, but no leopards! One of the vans saw a male lion, but he was sleeping and not very exciting. We then woke up the next morning for an early game drive and this time we saw a pride of lions and a baby!! The cub was so adorable. The Big 5 of Africa are the rhino, leopard, lion, elephant and water buffalo. We ended up seeing all but the rhino and leopard. I guess there are only 5-10 rhinos in the entire park so it would have been very lucky to see them. We left for our journey back to Nairobi, which is a 5-6 hour drive back. When we arrived home we ate at a fancy restaurant where they had great music and dancing! It was a lot of fun, but the service was very slow! It took us 2 hours to get out food, but we got hamburgers and fries so it was all worth it. Today is our last day of activities in Kenya. We are heading to Mark’s church and then heading to a women’s self help group where they make neat things to sell in order to make a living. After the group we are heading to the slums. We are also heading to a market and we are all excited to buy things!
Here’s the Mennonite Guesthouse that we stayed at last night! It is beautiful and they have working showers! ;) -Laura
The Jirani kids are oh so great They are always bright and full of faith Having fun is wht they like to do and they make much time for learning too We have traveled far but are happy to be here and we wish you all a happy new year you’re always able to put smiles upon our faces I hope, in your lives, you receive all of God’s graces At camp we laugh and learn and play all day because being happy nd peaceful is the only way In Kenya we eat chapati and ugali all of the time In fact, it’s how I got the energy to write this rhyme Kenya is such a beautiful country, blossoming like a flower If you work very hard, you can achieve great power We are so happy to have become your friends I hope our relationships do not end So, tomorrow we will be sad as all of you leave When you go back to school just remember, you can achieve anything if you just believe!
Jambo from Kenya! It’s currently 9:45 p.m. in Kenya, and my fellow Questers and I have just finished another tasty (I thought it was tasty, the others I’m not so certain about) African meal consisting of chapati, ugali, chicken, and some other vegetable stew. We just had the last day of the Jirani Camp and to sum things up, it was just simply fantastic. The various activities the Crossing team put on for the Jirani children could not have gone better, and the kids really seemed to enjoy learning, playing, and having fun with all of us. Erick (a helper of the Jirani Project) noted how the stew made from the tail end of a cow is the sweetest, and he compared this to how wonderful the camp was in its culmination. We have all learned so much, and I cannot wait to come back to the states and share all the new experiences I’ve had. The group of Quest students is bonding and we are really helping each other to make this a great experience for all involved. Whether it was putting on tye-dying, computer lessons, letter writing, wildlife/conservation lessons, or quizzes on the new constitution for the kids, we were able to work as a team to make all of our activities engaging, and beneficial for the kids. At the end, we can all walk away knowing that we did a great job teaching some things to these children; however, I think it was the children who taught us the most in the end. We also were able to visit Mark’s local church in Kipkarren yesterday. It was a very modest and humble building, but we found out that it was the people inside that made this church and our experience there so stellar. They sang many songs, shouted in joy, and danced throughout most of the service and never passed on the opportunity to shake our hands and welcome us to their church by saying “Karibu.” We sang a song that we had been practicing as well, and they were very happy that we were able to participate in their celebrations. I think that all was phenomenal, except that during lunch one of us found that they had added a chicken’s (“kuku” in swahili) claw to the stew that we were served. It must have been there to add flavor(*sarcasm*). Regardless of the chickenfoot though, the day was pretty magical, and I am looking forward to volunteering there tomorrow by painting the walls and doors to give it a more vibrant appearance that matches the spirit of the Kenyans who pray there. For now, we are finishing our goodbyes to the children as they will be leaving for their schools tomorrow to begin the next term. Like previously stated, the tail end of the camp was sweet, and all is going extremely well. It’s so great growing and getting to know my quest-mates and new friends here in Kenya. With the safari, volunteer work, Masai market, and traditional dance show all still to come I could not be more excited. Happy New Year! Kyle Weck
We arrived safely in Kipkarren two days ago, after a very frightening drive here (not for Nick, but for Amanda)! We drove through the rift valley, which was absolutely gorgeous, and straddled the equator! The driving made me (Amanda) feel like we were going to fly straight off the edge of the roads with no guard rails, but we still arrived safe and sound. We met the kids on the same day, and although they are quite shy, they are quickly warming up to us. We tie-dyed t-shirts yesterday and it was a huge hit with the kids, and all of the adults at the camp. The first day at the camp was difficult for most of us considering it is a completely different life than we all have at home. The power and water never seem to be working at the same time, and there are slugs, geckos, and bugs everywhere you step. We are sleeping under mosquito nets, which I realized after the first day are wonderful to keep the creatures out of your mouth at night! The last few days have really made us appreciate life in the US. I (Amanda) am not a fan of the food, but for those of you who know me, I am one of the pickiest eaters ever. Starch and carbs are pretty much our diets here, but we get tea/coffee five times a day, and eat “snack” (a roll) every 2 hours basically. We all also tried our first Kenyan beer last night that, even though it was warm, it still tasted pretty good! I must admit though, none of us really made it up to midnight considering we were all exhausted. We are all supporting our badgers today with t-shirts, and are hoping for a big WIN! Hope everyone had a happy new year, and we will update this as soon as we possibly can :) When we have better internet connection, we will update you fully on all of the wonderful Jirani kids here at the camp, and will also have the kids tell you all about their experience here with us! -Amanda and Nick
We arrived in Nairobi late last night and met our host, Mark…he and some friends drove us to our first nights lodging at a quaint nearby guesthouse. It felt great having the windows open and a rain and flower-scented breeze blowing in our rooms. We woke up the next morning to sunshine and 75 degrees! After breakfast and moving to our next lodging, we headed into Nairobi for a driving tour and a museum visit. The city is big and full of tons of different people and the CRAZIEST drivers I have ever seen. Think roundabouts with no yield signs or lanes…! Mark drove us near some of the government buildings and high end hotels, which he said were, “Very expensive! Probably $5 a night!”. So thats evidence of how nice the exchange rate is for us here.
We toured the national kenya museum and learned about Kenya’s history, culture, and animals. After that, we ventured to a town outside of Nairobi called Karen to do some money exchanging. I exchanged $50 for about 4,000 Kenya shillings. A bottle of water cost me 60 shillings.. a little less than a dollar.
After this we ventured to a giraffe conservation park that raises the endangered Rothschild giraffe. Part of the experience is getting to feed and pet the giraffes which we all enjoyed! We were also shown how to hold a treat between our lips and have it plucked out by the giraffe’s 18 inch long tongue! Giraffe kisses aren’t gross though because their saliva can actually be used as an antiseptic, so it was quite sanitary ;)
We returned to the Mennonite guest house we are staying at tonight to a nice family dinner style meal complete with chocolate hazlenut crepes for dessert. The lights flicked off twice during the meal for a few seconds and when I asked Kyle why, he said, “Oh, T.I.A….This Is Africa.” :) That might explain why the toilets don’t always flush so well either…
Tomorrow we begin our road trip to Kipkarren where we will host the kids camp for the Jirani project students. The trip will take about 5-6 hours, but we will be making some stops for lunch and to check out the scenery in the Rift Valley. Amanda is looking forward to seeing some zebras on the way, which are apparently cross the road in herds sometimes. We’re having a wonderful adventure so far!
Love to all,
Laura
