One last post...

Okay...so a lot of people have been asking when I'm going to finish this thing up.  And to be honest, life has been really crazy and I never seem to have time to do, well, anything.  So I've decided to write one last post with a couple highlights and the rest of my pictures.

Just about every person I've talked to since I've been back has asked me what the best part of my trip was. And hands down, it was all of the kids I met. I know I've said it, but not enough...the kids were absolutely amazing. Just hearing them laugh and seeing them play together like any other kids would...I don't know. After hearing about what some have them had been through, even the smallest smile was so incredible to me. Throughout my time there, I learned each of their stories. And with every story I heard I found myself even more overwhelmed and inspired by how beautiful each child was.  I wish I had time to tell you about each one of them, but unfortunately pictures will have to do.





Beyond the kids, there were of course so many other amazing things I was able to experience that I also will never forget. I got to spend Christmas Eve at another nearby orphanage (with almost 200 children) and had a ball playing with the children all day, finding myself amazed when something as simple as new shoes for each of them was all they needed for Christmas to put the biggest smiles on their faces. I even got to play basketball (or more like get my **tusch kicked --haha happy grampa? -- trying to play basketball) against some local people, and although I pretty much made a fool of myself, I felt too excited that they had actually wanted me to join them to care (not to mention, I did make a basket :)). I got to see the countryside and how thanks to the generosity of many and the work of Father John, people’s lives are being changed by access to clean water, something I of course have always taken for granted. I got to go to church and sing and dance in the aisles with everyone, leaving feeling like for once no one cared that I was white or “mazungo,” we were just there to pray (and party). As scary or inconvenient as it may have been, I got to be there to see the post-election trouble first-hand, and more importantly see how it affected those trying to go on with their lives despite it. Most unforgettably, I got to visit a slum where I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of suffering and destitution, but even more so by the bright smiles and the amazing resilience of the people, as they faced the struggles of each day and found happiness despite the adversity. But most importantly of all, I got to spend three weeks far outside of my comfort zone and everything I knew, and got to meet amazing people, every single one of whom opened my eyes to something else I had never thought of and a way of life I otherwise never would have really understood.

I can’t even begin to say how lucky I feel to have had this opportunity. Looking back on it all, I don’t think I could have possibly had a better experience. I know that this amazing opportunity would not have been possible without the help of so many people, and for that I am so grateful – to everyone I met there, everyone who helped me get there (yes, I guess that would include the Heathrow airport), and especially to everyone back home who supported me through all of this (and even worried themselves sick…). It has really made me realize how lucky I am to have so many amazing people in my life, even those who were only there for three weeks.

As I finish, I wish I could explain how much this trip meant to me. But all I can say is that it has truly changed my life. The way that I see certain things, the way that I think about my life, it really will never be the same. And for that, I feel so blessed.



Oh, and for the many who have joked “where to next?”…unfortunately for my parents’ sanity, I’m headed out again in March -- El Salvador, here I come! (Followed by an eventual trip back to Kenya of course. :) )

 

Life at the Orphanage

As weird as I feel writing these entries such a long time after I experienced all this, I've been overwhelmed by people asking me to keep writing about everything. So for the few of you who may still be reading this, I'll try to get through everything in the next week or so.

The day after the wedding was my first day at the orphanage. As bummed as I was to be moving out of the hostel and away from Ian and his family, Esther, and Becki and Lara, I was SOOO excited to get there and get started.

We drove to the orphanage first thing in the morning. We were greeted by an extremely energetic woman. It wasn't until 15 minutes of talking with her that I realized she was actually Jane. This is going to sound ridiculous, but for some reason from reading the information Jane had sent me before my trip about the orphanage, I was under the impression that she was Swedish (I know, that sounds crazy...but I did). Well, it turned out Jane was very much Kenyan and very much not Swedish. And most importantly a lot of fun.

She took me upstairs to introduce me to all of the kids, but they were all sleeping (yes, all 12 at the same time!). There were 7 all lined up on the bed and the rest scattered around the room. They all seemed so sweet and perfect. I remember thinking it was going to end up being a lot easier than I had thought. But it wasn't long after they had all woken up I realized they had had me way fooled. :)

Luckily, before they woke up I had time to unpack, get settled and meet the other two volunteers (Ngozi and Kate) who were also staying there, as well as the 3 women who worked there full-time (Janet, Irene, and Faith). They all kind of filled me in on how things work there and showed me around the rest of the orphanage.

The orphanage was actually Jane and her family's home. There was one very large room upstairs where the kids spent almost all of the day, except when they were playing outside. They slept there, ate there, played there, did EVERYTHING there. That meant we were in there all the time as well. I expected to go kind of crazy being couped up in the same room all day every day, but that wasn't the case at all. I soon learned I wouldn't have time to go crazy. From the moment naptime was over until it was time for them to go to bed for the night, we didn't stop once. There was always a diaper to change, a mouth to feed, someone crying, and someone wanting to play with you all at the same time. It was always hectic but I was ALWAYS loving it! :)

I expected things might calm down a bit once I had gotten the hang of things, but I was definitely wrong as every day that followed was crazier than the one before. Generally, each day went pretty much the same. We woke up each morning by about 7 to an alarm clock of crying babies. And were always welcomed by the same smell of more diapers than should ever be closed in the same room. We usually spent a couple hours taking care of that and then bathing all 12 (4 or 5 at a time) and getting them dressed for the day. After that it was time to feed them. Believe it or not, feeding time was harder than any bathing or diaper changing we had to do. It was really a struggle to get a lot of them to eat, especially those that hadn't been at the orphanage for that long, as their diets before hadn't been much, if anything at all. On top of that, we each always had 2 or 3 to feed at once. Needless to say, feeding times were generally the most stressful part of the day. However the most rewarding too. It probably sounds kind of odd, but I always felt so great (even proud) whenever I got one of the kids to finish all of their food.

After the morning routine, with the kids clean, full, and happy, we were able to break for a quick breakfast. After that, we would spend the rest of the day having fun and playing games with the kids, with the occasional feedings and diaper changings of course.  As much fun as it sounds (and actually was) it was also a lot of work.  There were days (actually, most days) when we would be so busy that it would be 10 at night before we realized we hadn't even stopped for dinner. As stressful as it might sound, every second of it was still a blast. Okay, maybe there were a few seconds in there with some unpleasant diapers (sorry...too much information? :) ) but other than that I just played all day long! So even though I was exhausted by the end of every day (and somehow just as exhausted each morning) I was always having way too much fun to care.

Well that's all I have time for right now... I promise more pictures and more about the kids next time.

The Wedding...and PICTURES!!

Alright, so I really have no idea where to start with all of this, so I guess where I left off would probably be best.



Above are some pictures of Ian, Edith, and around Thome, the town I stayed in. As I said before Ian and his family were very nice and I feel so lucky to have met them. There are also pictures of Lara and Becki, the other two girls who stayed at the hostel with me. We got along great and had so much fun together during the week we were there. Becki was 24 and from Sydney, Australia. She came to volunteer for an AIDS education program for 4 weeks. Once she's done, she's headed to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro then to Zanzibar then back to Nairobi for one last week (how awesome is that). She has been to so many different places so it was always interesting to hear her talk about everything she has experienced. Lara was 21 and also very nice. She was Canadian and said "Eh" so much that I thought she had to be kidding. She wasn't. She came to work at another orphanage and school with older kids.

Anyways, during our first week there Edith gave the three of us Kiswahili lessons in the morning and then spent the rest of the day taking us EVERYWHERE! The thing I enjoyed the most was definitely when we went to the wedding. It was similar to typical American weddings in that there was the white dress, bridesmaids, vows, etc. However the main service was only about 30 minutes, followed by an hour of speeches, songs, and dances for the bride and groom by family and friends

After the ceremony, the reception was held in the yard of a school. There was food and of course more speeches and dancing. It was so much fun. Although the best part of it all was the people we met there. I was blown away by how nice everyone was to us. Everyone we talked to was so eager to welcome us and hear about what we thought of their country so far.

As much as I liked talking with people, hanging out with all of the kids there was even more fun. The first three kids we met were James, Frederick, and Patrick, three 7 year-old troublemakers. They were just adorable. They spent the first half of the service eyeing us from across the church and smiling and the rest of the time moving closer and closer until they were sitting in the pew in front of us. At first they ducked behind the pew to hide and peeked up whenever they thought we wouldn't notice then giggled when we did, of course making us laugh as well.

After the ceremony, we were bombarded by many more kids. At first, they all would just kind of stare at us and whisper with each other. Within a few minutes however they would get a lot less shy. They would chant "Mazungu! Mazungu!" (which is the Kiswahili term for "white people") and would run up and shake our hands. At times, there were up to 20 kids around us, all trying to touch us and play with our hair. It was really an odd experience and as much fun as it was, we were relieved when they got over our "whiteness." We spent the rest of the time dancing with them and playing tag and other games.

Before we knew it, it was already night and time to say goodbye to our friends and pile into the car (a tight squeeze with 8 of us trying to cram in). We left with the entire crowd of kids chasing after the car laughing and waving goodbye. I will never forget them and their smiling faces as we drove away. From dancing with everyone at the ceremony, to realizing what it was like to be a Mazungu, to hours of laughing with some of the sweetest kids I've ever met, it was an amazing day that I will always remember.

HOME SWEET HOME!

I MADE IT!  Thanks to everyone who was thinking about me.  I've been so overwhelmed by how worried everyone has been.  I had no idea!  Thanks for all your thoughts while I was away.

The trip back was long and of course not without excitement.  It was so hard to leave the orphanage, especially since the kids were all still asleep and as much as I was dying to see them one last time I couldn't.  Although seeing them probably would have made it harder, so maybe it was for the best.

I left early enough in the morning that we didn't run into any riot-trouble on the way to the airport.  Although that's not to say there wasn't any trouble.  I got totally ripped off by the taxi driver and ended up leaving all of my Kenyan shillings (as well as a piece of my mind) with the driver, but I guess that's not the worst that could've happened.  Plus those extra shillings wouldn't do me much good now.  Not to mention, it makes for a good story.

My flight out of Nairobi was hilarious.  Between the little girl in front of me who whined loudly and continuously throughout the flight (she was adorable enough that it didn't bother me too much) and the crazy man to my right who mumbled under his breath about the girl the entire time until finally standing up and exploding on the mother AND the angry (and intoxicated) man behind me who yelled at every stewardess (and I mean every) that walked by about how terrible they were and how they ought to walk right out of the plane, it was definitely entertaining.

I don't think I took a single breath in the London airport until I was sitting at the gate.  I don't think my parents did either.  But I made it.  Not only that, but they upgraded me to "Premium" (not quite first class, but it might as well have been!).  I had a huge leather chair and could stretch my feet as far as I could go and still had room.  Basically, I was loving life the whole way.

From there I stopped in New York for the night although almost without a hotel room as apparently they didn't have a room reserved for me until May(?), but after some begging it all worked out.  After a couple hours of sleep and a short flight I was back in Cincinnati.  But of course with no luggage.  But I was so glad to be back and safe and was exhausted enough that it didn't matter too much.  Luckily they found my luggage and delivered it this afternoon, so it's all good.

I ended up blowing off classes on Friday after realizing what a horrible idea it was to think I would be up for doing anything but sleeping.  I head back tomorrow with Sam who is planning on staying a couple nights so he can watch the big game on Monday!  (O-H....!)

Well it's late and while I have so much more to write, it's going to be put off again until tomorrow.  But I promise, a ton of fun stories (and pictures) will be coming soon!

Before I go, I just wanted to thank EVERYONE who supported me (and more importantly supported my parents) through all of this.  It meant so much to know so many people back home were thinking about me!  I really feel so lucky.  I can't thank you all enough!  :)

stuck in london AGAIN!

...just kidding. :) wouldn't that be just terrible though?

i just thought i'd write a quick note to let everyone know i am safely out of kenya and back in the States. i'm staying at a hotel in new york overnight (i have an actual bed...and a TV? and no mosquito net to fall down on me in the middle of the night. whats up with that?!)

i'll be in cinci by 8:30 tomorrow morning and head straight from the airport to cbus for classes (how awful). but then i'm coming back to cincinnati for the weekend to catch up on sleep and OF COURSE more importantly catch up with the fam.

well, seeing as my wakeup call is in 3 hours i should probably get to bed! hopefully i can finally fill everyone in on everything in the next couple of days!

ps - i miss kenya terribly

election news!! (sorry it's long...and maybe even boring to you)

oh my goodness i can't even believe i made it to a computer. finally. as much as i am DYING to talk about all of the amazing things i've done the past week and a half, i feel like most of you may be more intersted (or concerned) about what is going on now. the fun stories will have to wait until next time.

i have no idea if it's made national news and if it has how much has been covered, but things are a bit crazy around here. way more than a bit. the presidential elections were held on the 27th and it was pretty intense. two of the main candidates (Raila and Kibaki) had the country really divided and even before the voting began there was a lot of tension. it was so interesting to be here to see all of that firsthand. even the family i am staying with (the directors of the orphanage) was divided, as the mom and three daughters strongly supported Kibaki and the father (who i actually still haven't met as he had been in Western Kenya campaigning for Raila and is now stuck there until things calm down) and the son were very passionate about Raila.

anyways, as predicted the race was very tight, but Raila had seemed to be holding a steady lead throughout as the results were coming in. all of the Kibaki supporters i talked to were very disappointed (some even terrified for their country) but no one was angry or violent or any of that. they had all kind of come to accept that they had lost and Raila would be the next President. however the third day or so, the results began to swing the other way in Kibaki's favor and trouble began. even though Raila was still leading, his supporters started to get very nervous and as a result began to cause a lot of trouble.

for those who don't know, there are 42 (i think?) tribes in Kenya. and all of them are very proud to be a part of the group that they are in. as a result, it is not uncommon for their to be some tension between tribes. and in this case, it really made thigns get dangerous. the Kikuyu tribe is the largest and is the tribe that Kibaki is a part of. as a result, most Kikuyos backed him. Raila however is part of the Luau tribe (sorry about these spellings...) and so of course the Luau people strongly backed him. unfortunately, the Luau people are known to be a little more violent than most. so not many were surprised when things quickly escalated as the votes began to turn in Kibakis favor.

there was a period of one or two days when people had to wait for the votes to be counted in the last couple provinces that would determine the election's outcome, so of course during this time as people waited anxiously, things only got worse. there were shootings and cars being set on fire in the streets, people throwing large rocks (or pretty much anything they could get their hands on) not really caring who they hit, and basically just total chaos. it was actually really frightening. many people have been killed and so many more severely injured. i still have a hard time believing it happened (and is still happening). even in the areas that werent quite as bad, there was still a lot of tension. so much so that even i, who (to my parents' worries especially in situations like this) generally never thinks that i am ever in any danger, was pretty nervous.

when the final results came out, things somehow managed to get worse, as Kibaki was declared the winner by a very small number of votes. people just went nuts. riots got so dangerous that the government forbid the news from airing any more live coverage, as they didnt want to add to the chaos with panic by everyone else. as frightening as it may have been to watch the coverage, it was almost more reassuring to me when i could see it and know where things were happening. before, the news was on 24/7 in the house, but since coverage was restricted, i haven't seen the news on more than once. it's just so weird to think that all of this is happening and people in their homes aren't really sure of exactly what might be going on.

not only is the fighting dangerous, but it really makes life difficult for everyone in the country. all stores and markets have been shut down (as any stores open during the riots were looted). without a way to get food or other items they might need, people are really struggling. yesterday, Jane (the director of the orphanage) travelled hours to the only market that was opened and she said the line was out of the door with people waiting to get in.

i've heard that today things have gotten a bit calmer, which is good. however, tomorrow Raila plans to hold a rally in downtown Nairobi, so things are bound to get bad again. fortunately (and unfortunately) my flight leaves tomorrow. i will get out before the rally begins, but i'm a little worried that things might be a little more difficult than they would be otherwise (don't worry mom and dad, i will be fine). because of that, i'm leaving for the airport by 5 AM tomorrow (5 hours before my flight) just to make sure i get there. i'm positive that's a little excessive, but i'm not going to take any chances seeing as if there's one place i'd hate to be stuck at MORE than the London airport right now, it would be in Nairobi.

it's weird to look back on all of the experiences i had before all of this craziness started. from the first day i was here, i was so overwhelmed by the people here. everyone i met was so friendly and welcoming and it was so apparent that they were very proud of their country and wanted me to see that and leave loving it just as much. now, with all this going on, it kind of seems unreal. after being welcomed with such kindness and developing such a great admiration for the genuiness of people here, it seems surreal to be leaving the country in the state that it's in. every Kenyan person i met had such a peaceful way about them. so the fact that there is such hatred and violence going on right now is really hard for me to believe. i really hope that the problems can be resolved quickly so that the division that has been created can be overcome and life can get back to normal for the people here.

well, that's all i have time for today. i'm hoping to get to a computer in new york (or maybe even in the Nairobi airport as i will hopefully have a ton of time to kill before my flight). i hope everyone had a great christmas! i can't wait to see/talk to you all soon.