Day 5b...highlight of the trip!

I apologize in advance, this post is mostly writing. I was too busy soaking up every moment of this experience to take many pictures but I've tried to capture it here for you.

It's usually hard to pick one favourite moment when you've had an amazing, exciting, inspiring trip like my African adventure but in this case it was easy. After this particular afternoon I think almost everyone in our group said that meeting the girls at the Kisaruni (place of peace) all girls high school was their "highlight" of the day. For me, it was the highlight of the trip.

Kisaruni philosophy - inspiring!

 

So, this is how it went down. We were told that we would be touring the high school (where we had done the building work the day before) and 3 of the girls would be showing us around. So, imagine my surprise when we arrived at the last building of the tour (the dining hall) to be greeted with a chorus of voices (about 50 students and their teachers) and one by one each of us got taken by the hand to sit with one or more of the high school girls. Then the girls got up on "stage" to sing and dance for us. Then WE got invited on stage to sing and dance with them! Then one girl got up and welcomed us. She spoke to us about the school, her experience, and how thankful she was to be there. She was completely confident and had an amazing grasp of the English language. One by one she asked which of her classmates wanted to speak next....and each time every single girl put up their hand!

The girls singing and dancing

Eventually, it was our turn to get up on stage to introduce ourselves. I can tell you, I was certainly NOT putting up my hand to do this...being pretty afraid of public speaking. However, I was completely inspired by these fearless African warrior princesses and I thought to myself, Tash, if these 13-16 year old girls can get up here and speak in their second (or third!) language and tell their story then so can you! And it wasn't so bad. I told them I was from Ottawa (and it was the capital of Canada so they should remember this), had gone to University to study biology, had lived and travelled all over the world but Kenya was the most amazing and beautiful country I had ever seen, told them how amazing I thought they were and I wished them every success in whatever dream they were pursuing.

To be honest, I don't think I've ever been so proud of myself! It was indeed a life changing experience :)

Afterwards, we got some chai masala tea and mandazi (like donuts and sooooo good!) and chatted to our original girl(s). I asked Mariam if she wasn't at school what would she be doing and she said she would probably be married. Her sister was married at the age of 12. It is astounding how quickly change can come about....in the same generation, two sisters are going to have completely different lives (hopefully)! I mean, if Mariam chooses to get married at least it will be her choice.

Here are some more pictures....

The library

Mariam and me eating our mandazi

I personally felt so emotionally connected to these girls and their stories and was overcome with a whole range of feelings that are still with me today. I was...

• Happy that they each had the opportunity to study at this FTC private high school
• Sad that many of their sisters and friends did not have the same opportunity,
• Inspired by them for putting in so many hours each and every day to pursue their dream (starting at 6am and finishing at 10pm, by their own choice!),
• Proud of them for excelling at their studies,
• Impressed that each girl had a very specific career path (Mariam, wanted to go to the university of Nairobi, become a children's lawyer and also be the first person in her village to travel outside of Kenya),
• Honoured that they sang and danced for us, and
• Humbled at their courage and leadership skills when they got up and spoke (in perfect English no less) in front of a group of "visitors" from Canada.

I think it's very fitting that there is no word in Kiswahili for "stranger"...only visitor. Reminds me of a sign I saw in an Irish pub "There are no strangers here, only friends who haven't met yet" :)
 

Day 5a...Mulot Market and Baraka Health Clinic

Another chock-a-block day full of inspiration, passion, and pride! :)

After a post-breakfast crash course in Kiswahili from our warriors we headed off to the local subsistence market to try our hand at shopping and bartering! I have no pictures as this is an actual working market where the locals go to do their weekly "shop" - getting up in the wee hours of the morning to walk several hours to buy/sell necessities at the market.

It was quite an experience as you can imagine! I have to say, compared to some of the markets I've been to in other countries this was quite a pleasant experience. Although everyone was flogging their wares (locally grown food, fabrics, second hand clothes and shoes, miscellaneous household items etc) and trying to get the best price for them (and boy did we have "foreigner" stamped on our foreheads) they were very polite and not overly aggressive. Our warriors, James and Jackson, were instrumental when it came to getting a "good price".

To help us get the most out of the experience, we were divided into groups of 4 and tasked with buying "gifts" for another group with 200 Kenya shillings (Ksh) per person (about $2). We exchanged the gifts at lunch and I have to say everyone stuck to budget and did pretty well. Below is a picture of what I was given (tea and a mug wrapped in a piece of fabric). I bought the little stone heart myself for 50 Ksh.

It was so nice to interact with the locals and some of our group did really well conversing in Kiswahili. This was a really wonderful bonding experience for our group - working together and also thinking about our fellow travellers and what they might like to take away from Kenya.

One group was exceptionally creative and purchased all the ingredients for ugali and mboga (spinach) and had the kitchen cook it up for dinner! It was pretty tasty.

Gifts from the local market

 

Next up was a tour of the Baraka (Blessing) Medical Clinic. Here we met one nurse and two "clinicians". I have no idea if they are doctors but they seem to do everything from talking with patients, taking blood samples, running tests in the lab, delivering babies, and minor surgery! (Although, according to them the babies pretty much deliver themselves as the Mamas walk to the clinic when labour is well underway!)

Baraka Health Clinic

Ambulance

James giving us the history of Baraka

Baby unit in the maternity ward

 

Obviously, it is an amazing accomplishment to have built this permanent health clinic which serves over 40,000 community members. I was really impressed to see the lab facilities - a lot of the tools and equipment are the same as the lab I worked at in Ottawa (on a much smaller scale though). And the clinician took great care and pride in his duty to get test results accurate. Actually, both clinicians were extremely proud of the clinic and the great work they do there - as well they should be! It is a beautiful establishment and would not be out of place in most towns in Canada.

What a fabulous morning....and that wasn't even the best part of the day....stay tuned ;- )

Day 4b....the hard work begins!

 

Clean water isn’t a luxury—it’s a basic human right.

I think we all know this and why but if you'd like more information you can read

http://www.freethechildren.com/international-programming/our-model/clean-water-and-sanitation/

 

After meeting Mama Jane and the other Mamas (and before lunch I might add) we all grabbed a mitungi and headed down to the river to fetch water. Prior to FTC drilling boreholes for access to clean water, everyone used to drink the water from the river (where they also bathed, washed clothes, and watered their animals). As you can imagine, this led to numerous diseases and illnesses (and with no access to medical aid...well, you get the idea).

 

Eventually, the local people started boiling the water to make it safe to drink but this was not only time consuming it was impractical given the limited firewood. Thankfully, most people now only have to fetch water from the river for cleaning and watering their gardens etc. However, depending on how far you live from the river, this could still take a good chunk of your day, especially since most women have to go several times in one day.

 

And it's bloody heavy....as we soon found out!



 

 

Fetching water by the river

Me and my mitungi

Mama Jane and her daughter tying the ropes

Here we go, 50lbs on my back!

I shared the work with Connor (and Olaf)

Enough water to last Mama Jane a day or two

 

 After lunch we headed off to the Kasaruni Girl's high school to get our hands dirty! 

Side note: Since 2003, primary (elementary) school has been free to all children but highschool is not. As I mentioned before, girls are usually the ones that don't move on to highschool due to money constraints, family obligations, or being married off. The girls at this highschool are sponsored for $2,500 per year which includes room and board. In a later post I will talk about how amazing these young women are.

 

 

Today we were helping lay the foundation for a new girl's dormitory. I don't know anything about construction (in Canada or in Kenya) so had no idea what to expect... but it sure wasn't moving rocks!

 

Before - outside of the soon to be new building

Mid-way through

Many hands makes light work

 

Wilfred shows the next steps which is breaking the rocks with a sledge hammer

 

Today was just a taste of what the fundis (craftsmen or in this case construction workers) have to do every day. It was hard work but so rewarding! We all came to Kenya to help in some small way and today we actually got to accomplish this goal in just a couple of short hours. With so many of us (and some of our guys worked like machines!) we saved the fundis 2-3 days worth of work. I felt really good afterwards...and slept like a baby!

 

Priceless....

 

One of my highlights of the whole trip was a wonderful tradition we had at Bogani where we would go around the tables after dinner and each say our "highlight of the day". Sometimes these were funny or surprising but more often than not it was something or someone who had touched our heart that day - there was never any shortage of these moments.

 

The highlight of today for me (and many of us) was the sheer enthusiasm the kids had when our lorry was driving down the road. They would coming running through the fields screaming "Jambo" at us with huge smiles on their faces. And we would yell jambo back at them and wave. You would think this got old after a while but it was so much fun! (Although this did get me into trouble on one day, I'll tell you about it later).

 

In the picture above, one of the little local girls actually came up and held Thea and Mary's hands during the water walk. It was such a precious moment. I see now why I wrote in my journal that today was "priceless".

 

Day 4a...meeting the locals

Reading back through my journal, I wrote that my second day in the Mara was "priceless". I guess I could say that about the whole trip but I didn't know that at the time, lol.

 

Side note: Our facilitator said it takes a "special" kind of person to pay thousands of dollars to do manual labour in rural Africa! I'm going to take that as a compliment! ;- )

 

This was the first day we really met and interacted with members of the community. If I was impressed hearing about the wonderful FTC initiatives from our facilitators, I was absolutely blown away to hear the same from the locals. First stop....Mama Jane's house (new and old)!

 

Walk to Mama Jane's house

Mama Jane's new and old house
 

Mama Jane has implemented so many improvements to her homestead and way of life which have made a definite impact on her health and the health of her family. 

Although her English is very good, Justus (one of the trip facilitators, in-country associate directors, and all around nice guy) translated while Mama Jane spoke in Kiswahili. Here she is showing us one of her "projects" which is to dry her cooking pots and utensils on this rack outside to prevent flies and other insects from spreading disease.

Some improvement projects are simple like having a garbage burning pit and drying clothes on a clothesline instead of on trees (where insects can crawl in). Some changes are bigger and require money, time, and/or materials - like building an outhouse or boiling water to prevent contracting diseases like cholera. (I'll talk about water in the next post).

Mama Jane is a pioneer! She has two vegetable gardens and is trying this new, vertical garden. Apparently it can grow just as many vegetables as a patch of land but takes up much less space and, more importantly, water.

We would later find out that people who volunteer at the FTC "farm" can bring back plants to their home in return for their hard work.

Mama Jane's old house - very small for 7 people and animals

 

We also met a number of other ladies that form part of the local "merry-go-round" - another amazing initiative and success story.This is a group of 12 women who donate money every month into a central pool and each month one of the members gets that month's takings. There is a chair person, vice-chair, treasurer, and written rules that must be followed. The group governs itself and there are the "elders" that make final decisions if necessary. Mama Jane was chair of her group but now is chair for the regional committee that overseas all the merry-go-rounds.

 

For the first few years the group decides how the money should be spent and what improvement projects will be undertaken by every member that year. After a few years, each member can decide how she will spend her money. As this group is in its 4th year, I think, many of the women are going to buy dairy cows this year. Mama Jane has been building her new, brick house for 5 years and although she kept saying "it's not finished yet", she was extremely proud of her new home - as well she should be! I'm proud of all the Mamas and everything they are accomplishing - talk about girl power! :) 

 

Our KPMG group and all the Mamas of the merry-go-round

 

Mama Jane and her daughter came back to Bogani for lunch and afterwards they both talked about the life of a Maasai woman - growing up, weddings, and marriage - how it was and how it is now. It was truly enlightening.

 

Mama Jane is one of the most friendly, charismatic, entertaining, and genuine people I have every met. She just loves to answer questions! I thank her very much for welcoming us into her home and teaching us the Maasai way of life - new and old. It was such an educational and inspiring morning!

Just a pretty tree - thought I'd share :)

For those of you that thought I didn't do any "work" while I was in Africa, wait until you see the next post!

Day 3b...arriving at Bogani, our home away from home

It seems that illness, lack of sleep, heat, and the excitement of giraffes and baby elephants caught up with me and the flight to The Mara, in itty bitty planes, did not go well for me, more so the landing really. None the less, flying over the breathtaking landscape was when I got my first "I'm really in Africa!" butterflies. :)

Itty bitty plane

First glimpse of the Maasai Mara

 



Once we touched down and met our facilitators and James our Maasai Warrior, we all walked about 15 minutes to Bogani...the amazing Free the Children (FTC) facility (or compound, if you will) with cottages, luxury tents, and a lovely eating area. (I would later find out that this place is HUGE with 3 kitchens and 4 eating areas and there were other groups within the electric fence enclosed grounds that we never ran into). Any fears I had about sleeping in a "tent" for a week were very quickly dismissed. See for yourselves....

The walk to Bogani with James leading the way

Bogani - beautiful accommodations

Tree garden

Close enough to scream for Askari (security) - far enough away for privacy

Comfy bed - with magically appearing hot water bottle every night

Hallelujah, a working toilet! (Had my own shower too)

Even though I really wasn't feeling well I didn't want to miss a moment of this incredible experience. So, like a trooper I dropped my stuff off, got changed and headed to lunch. The first of MANY fantastic meals. Could not have asked for better food on this trip - variety, quantity, quality - you name it, we got it. (No, there are no pictures of the food.You'll have to take my word for it).

Getting acquainted at our first meal together

After lunch was when the real education and spirit of the trip began. We got in the lorry (our big van/bus for my N. American friends) and got to see a bit of the countryside on the way to Enerlerai Primary School - one of the first schools to partner with FTC. As we all sat in the "old" schoolhouse while our facilitator described life for the few students who were able to attend school at that time, I was overwhelmed by the feeling of what it is like to not have the basic necessities that I was lucky enough to grow up with. How hard it is to learn in a one room schoolhouse with mud walls and no floor, hardly any protection from the elements. Where families could barely afford one pencil and one notebook, let alone 5 or 6 or more for all the children in the family (and if there was no money, the girls were often the ones who had to stay home).

Old schoolhouse

New classrooms

Example of every kid's attitude

 



Hearing about how FTC partnered with the community to find a way to raise student enrollments - not just through better classrooms but a holistic approach to dealing with ALL the reasons why children can't go to school - was truly inspiring. I really started to feel grateful that I decided to go on this trip, learn about these communities and the changes they have embraced, and support Free the Children. What an amazing example of breaking the cycle of poverty.

We met a handful of students that day but would meet many more over the coming days and all of them would have this fantastic attitude and thankfulness for being able to attend school. It is something I wish we could impart to the kids back home. I know the younger people on our trip sure felt like they had something to live up to when they got back home. 

Blessings in The Mara

 

Even though it is not the rainy season, you can see the clouds in the background of this picture and it did rain a bit that afternoon. According to locals, we had apparently brought "blessings" to the region. I think it was the region that brought blessings to all of us.

Day 3a...Happy Canada Day!

7am came mighty early, especially having been up most of the night with sinus congestion and jet lag. But exhaustion was quickly replaced by the excitement of finally meeting the KPMG group and flying to the Maasai Mara! After a quick breakfast and introductions we all piled into our vehicle and headed to.....a Giraffe Sanctuary! (I clearly did not read the itinerary as this was a surprise to me).

What a great introduction to African wildlife! As you can see from the pictures below we got extremely close to the giraffes, we fed them and some brave (crazy?) people even kissed them!

Afterwards, we got a crash course in all things giraffe! Amazing that they can protect themselves from Lions and other animals. You can find out more information about the Giraffe Centre (and make donations) on their website www.giraffecenter.org.

Learning about giraffe bone density

Pumba!

 

Next stop....an Elephant Orphanage! Prepare yourself for ridiculous cuteness. But more importantly the David Sheldrake Wildlife Trust does some very important work protecting and preserving African wilderness - more information can be found at http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/.

 

 

It was a very exciting morning and we hadn't even left Nairobi yet! Little did I know that every day would be jam packed with interesting, educational, eye opening, and often emotional activities.

Stay tuned for the rest of Day 3 in my next post.

Day 2...the start of Free the Children trip...kind of

Day 2 started off with making up fantasy football teams with Erin while we sat on the couch in our pj's :) Followed by a wonderful breakfast made by Valerie (little did I know that every day for the next 2 weeks would start off with a breakfast of champions - no chance of losing weight on this trip!). Then a driving tour of Nairobi city centre, courtesy of George, who then dropped me off at the Karen Blixen Hotel and Coffee Garden.

Amazing hotel! Highly recommend it if you're ever in Nairobi looking for a sanctuary from the hustle and bustle.

Karen Blixen Hotel and Coffee Garden

My room - Karen Blixen

After months of anticipation, I was very much looking forward to meeting like-minded, KPMG travellers and their families who had come from all across Canada to participate in this Free the Children (FTC) trip.

Sadly, this was not to be just yet since everyone was arriving at different times. I did introduce myself to one couple at the restaurant who looked liked they were part of the trip and turns out they were KPMG Alumni and very nice. No meet and greet worked out in my favour since I had come down with a nasty head cold and really needed to rest and recuperate before the trip started. So, I had a nice long bath, put on the fluffy bathrobe, and ordered room service! Not really what you expect to be doing when you go to Africa but you won't hear me complaining! :)

Room service! I could get used to this ;- )

 





And that was pretty much the end of Day 2 with the exception of my roommate arriving at 11:30pm and also me discovering I could use the wifi at the hotel to communicate with the folks back home. I also got a local SIM card and credit for my phone - amazing how easy and cheap it was to do this, they even have a fantastic system for paying for things and transferring money from person to person via mobile phone. In many ways Kenya is more advanced than Canada - now isn't that an interesting realization?!

I lied in my previous post.....there will be animal pics from Day 3! Stay tuned ;-)