Hello Everyone!

I hope you are all well!

THANK YOU! Thank you to all of you that gave Jason and I extra money for his coming to visit me! I know I said thank you in my previous blog, but the extra money we had we used towards a beautiful safari. Here are some pictures!

VICDA and Terry’s: There have been many politics regarding the partnership of the local volunteer organization (VICDA) and Terry’s Orphanage. I’ve been doing my best to stay out of the personal agendas that seem to have caused some hardship and severed this relationship. I wish I could tell you that GVN will continue to send volunteers to Terry’s, but unfortunately the severing the relationship means that GVN will no longer send volunteers. GVN has been great about continuing to support me (and Deborah) until we leave, but after we leave, GVN volunteers will no longer be sent to the orphanage.

Extra fun things for the kids: One thing I forgot to mention in my last email is that some of YOUR donation money was spent on supplies for the kids that Jason brought with me when he visited. He brought a lot of medical supplies and some fun little treats and toys for everyone. The kids are very happy with all of the nice things that you have given them.

Mombasa: Deborah and I took a little mini vacation this past weekend to a beautiful place along the eastern Kenyan coast. Mombasa is a beautiful place. The weather is tropical and the ocean is warm and clear. We had a chance to go snorkeling, ride a camel along the beach and relax in the sun (playing chess, reading and giggling!). We went to watch the 2007 Cross Country Race. Kenyan’s took first in almost every event (the 6K, 8K, 10K &12K). Although we didn’t go to the event although it would have been easy to get tickets. We decided that sitting on the beach with the locals, watching it in the shade with beer in our hands was a better option than being out in the sun, in the crowds and possibly stranded downtown because they closed many of the roads (although there was a huge misconception from many thinking that “I” was actually running in this event. I’m not even close to an athlete in comparison! I know some of you were worried that I was traveling to a big event when the US Embassy gave many warnings for travelers to not go. Don’t worry, we were very safe! The day after the event, Deb and I decided to check out one of the nearby hotels because we had heard that some of the runners were staying there. Guess what… I got to meet part of the US Cross Country team (see pics). I was SO excited. Although they didn’t win any of the events, they said they all did very well considering the extreme weather. They were all very proud (and very nice to talk with). And on our way back to Machakos, Deborah decided to get her nose pierced. It looks great on her and matches her newly found friend’s quite well!

To my yoga and meditation friends: I’ve been thinking about my practice a ton over the past few weeks. My life has been nothing but non-routine for almost a month. I’ve literally been living out of my backpack and sleeping in a different bed almost every few of nights. I’ve been traveling from Machakos to Nairobi, to Massai Mara, to Nairobi to Machakos, to Nairobi to Mombasa and back to Nairobi and then Machakos again. Finding space and time for meditation, yoga and even exercise has been really difficult over the past few weeks. This has definitely been a time for me to practice letting go and just being with situations that I know are temporary. I’ve used spare moments to take time to myself and to just surrender to knowing that my month of March was chaotic. I’m hoping April will bring me a bit more solitude. I’ve become very sensitive to space in the past few weeks because I haven’t had much of my own (in terms of physical space or even time). I’ve learned that Deborah is a HUGE space person. This has been nice for me because she’s taken the initiative to make our living conditions a little more home-like (something I’m not very good at doing). I’m appreciative for having this kind of energy in my life right now since I’m missing home and friends so much.

Dormitory breaking ground! I’ve saved the best news for last. Within the first few hours from coming back from our mini-vacation (admittedly I was still on the bus and hadn’t even reached town) I was calling and setting up meetings to get the dormitory project started. We arrived back in Machakos on Tuesday evening and within the first few minutes of our arrival, I was talking with the administrator and the contractor about getting started. We have a new plan (see pic) that includes a little better lay out. We started measuring the grounds (pics of the men measuring). We are having our first delivery of materials brought in as I send this blog to you now! I can’t tell you how excited I am. AND, the best news, I have the very best partner to help with all this. Seriously, Deb took off running into this. She kicked butt and took names with getting everything established. She bought note pads, folders and receipt ledgers to document and save everything. She conquered by asking questions and establishing the grounds with how we would be involved with building this dorm. There was no question that we are in charge of this and that we will handle all the specifics. Already we are seeing “hidden costs” that weren’t put in the original plans or estimates for how things would cost (not surprising!). I really think this is going to be an interesting, hard but fun project to do. I’m so glad Deborah is here with me to help!

Thanks for reading my blog. I miss you all so much! I told the contractor I want this job done in 6 weeks (he was confident in that estimate). My hope is to be done by mid to end of May so that I can travel to Amsterdam and back to the US a bit early.

Blessings!

Jambo to all of my family and friends!

It’s been a long time since I’ve written and I’ve really missed writing all of you! I hope this message finds you well. As I type this message, I have tears in my eyes. I am completely in awe that we DID IT! We raised the money to build a new dormitory for these wonderful children in Machakos! Can you believe it?

It was never in my mind of possibilities to come to Africa and actually be able to have the opportunity to build a dormitory. I will also admit for as excited as I am, I am completely nervous about everything that needs to be done in the next two and half months while I’m here. First and foremost, I’ve been studying extra hard to learn Kiswahili. I feel that I really need to know what’s going on when I’m negotiating with people and money. The more I can really understand, the better position I will be. My wonderful friend Wanja (aka Naom) has really been helping me with this and I’ll look to her to help me even more as the months continue. Secondly, I have recruited some help from another GVN volunteer. Deb, from Alberta (I talked about her in earlier blog messages) changed her GVN program to come out to Machakos earlier than she had anticipated in order to help me. Isn’t that great!!! This has been such a blessing because I think it will be a little easier if I have someone to talk things over with and help to make decisions. As soon as we get back from Mombasa from watching the biggest cross-country running event in Kenya, we will break ground. I can’t tell you how excited I am! Third and most importantly, I have a list of people that I’d like to thank. I know I run the risk of forgetting people as I name everyone individually, so please forgive me if you have not been listed on this blog right now or in an earlier posting. I ask that you please let me know, or post a comment so that I can make sure to acknowledge EVERYONE. If it wasn’t for all of you, I wouldn’t be here and I surely wouldn’t be able to build a dorm on OUR behalf.

• Marilyn and her family (her son Hunter who visited the orphanage in January with Marilyn and her husband Joe). Without their very generous donation to GVN to put us at our goal, we wouldn’t have been able to do this as quickly or perhaps even at all!
• Jane Nordess
• Jini & Natalie
• Kathy Schultz
• Carol and Don Schramm
• Kirk and Liz Contrucci
• Lawrence Murphey Enderes
• Peggy Olson and all of her wonderful colleagues that put together donation funds on behalf of this effort.
• My family and my friends for all of their continuous support. I receive emails, letters and phone calls often. It makes it easier to be doing this when I feel that I have the love and support of my family and friends back home. I miss you all so much and look forward to doing this work so I can come back home to you!
• GVN (they’ve been instrumental in helping with money transfers to Africa. Additionally, they’ve been supportive and such a pleasure to work with! Courtney and Michelle, thank you!)

For the past few weeks I’ve been very busy. I’ve been doing a lot of traveling. When Jason came to visit, we spent much time between Nairobi and Machakos. We also had the chance to see one of the most beautiful places in the world, Massai Mara. Unfortunately (and fortunately for speed’s sake) I’m at the US Embassy today while writing this blog. I am not able to bring my camera in to download pictures for you. I promise that my next blog will contain some great photos! Many of my family members have given Jason and I money to spend during his visit to Kenya. We can’t thank you enough for this! We spent every leisure dollar towards our trip to Massai Mara. Here’s a web site that I found (not sure who’s it is!) that has some good pics of what Massai Mara looks like. http://www.pbase.com/junwu/massai_mara We REALLY did see all of these animals that closely and traveled in a safari truck similar to the one you see in the picture! We stayed at this beautiful lodge! http://www.travellers-choice.co.uk/kenya/msopa.htm

It was total HEAVEN for me! I haven’t had a real shower since my last travel in early January unless I stay at Wanja’s. Her shower is good! (I’m used to pouring a bucket of water over my head for bathing) I got to eat good food stay in a nice cozy bed. At night, the lodge would provide entertainment (Massai dancing and feeding of the wild hyenas). I have a new drink I can’t wait to make everyone called dawa (means medicine). As a reference of where we traveled, here’s a map!

On the way back into town, I had one of the scariest things happen to me. The driver we hired for safari was getting ready to drop us off at the matatu station (called a stage) so that Jason and I could take a matatu to Wanja’s. All of a sudden as we reached the stage, we heard all of this pounding on the side of the van (opposite of where I was sitting). Of course everyone was startled, was looking over at the why people were pounding on the van, and instantly I felt a huge tug through the window on my little pack that I carry around my waist. I was being mugged in the van. Two men were pulling and yanking on me and on my pack. Luckily I had it strapped around my waist so they would’ve had to pull me through the window in order to get it. I started screaming as loud as I could (my thought being that maybe someone outside would here me and stop these men from acting so violently). Jason was sitting behind me and he was pounding on the men’s hands and forearms to try to break their force. As soon as the driver figured out what was happening he stepped on the gas and the men had no choice but to let go of me. I was very, very lucky! Not only could I have been seriously hurt (imagine if they had a knife with them), I could have lost a ton of things that were very valuable to me. I wasn’t carrying much money with me (less than US$100 in shillings), but I had my beloved ipod with me, my camera with all my pics from our vacation, some special keepsakes that I carry with me everywhere I go, and much more. I have to take partial blame for this situation because I know that I should not have had my window open (not even a little bit) when traveling through downtown in a very obvious looking tourist van in a not so great part of town. I do know to always carry my pack around my waist so at least I was sensible with one thing in this situation.

I hate to end this blog on a bad note with a scary matatu story…so I’ll tell you one more short story. On Jason’s last night in town, we stayed at the most wazungu place ever, the Hilton. I tell people that whenever I am lost in any city anywhere in the world, there’s usually a Hilton close by so I just ask “Hilton, iko wapi?” (Where is the Hilton?) and people point me in the correct direction (most of the time). I decided to pamper myself with a massage while staying there. Let me tell you, it was a funny experience. For those of you that have had massages in America, you most likely have had an experience similar to mine. You are taken to a dimly lit room, asked to undress to what you are most comfortable undressing to, given a bed with a sheet to lie in and then given a few minutes to prepare yourself. When the masseuse enters the room s/he knocks to let you know s/he is entering. S/he then (sometimes) gives you some guidance and asked you about what sort of pressure you’d like. Well, my experience was a bit different! Although there was a bed and a dimly lit room, there was no sheet, just a towel which wasn’t really used all that much. I was asked to remove all my clothing (which I was comfortable doing since I generally have massages this way). The big, strong African masseuse asked me what type of pressure I’d like (soft, medium or firm). Of course, I went with the most firm. It was the most firm massage I’ve ever had…I really liked it but it completely made “firm” look wimpy in comparison to massages I’ve had in the states! As the woman started my massage, she asked me where I was from, what I did in Kenya, etc. I told her I lived in Machakos town and she said, “Oh, Susan (one of the other staff at the Hilton) lives in Machakos, you have to meet her.” I was thinking she’d introduce me AFTER the massage. No, no…she quickly ran out of the room, while I was completely exposed and went to find Susan. Both women came back into the room and proceeded to talk with me for the next several minutes. It was very funny…not something I was used to. I did enjoy the massage, though! I enjoyed the whole experience! Susan didn’t stay the entire time and the big, strong African masseuse gave an awesome massage!

Love to all!
Renee