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
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