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.