Day 9a...Last full day in the Mara :(

Sorry for the delay, was on hiatus to focus on being a cowgirl (see Facebook) but I'm back now! :)

Hope you all enjoyed the safari pics. Although we were all pretty tired after the very early start, a few us stayed up after dinner to wait for lights out and watch the stars come out to play. Being a city girl, it was wonderful to see so many stars in the sky with no light pollution (haven't seen that since Australia). Unfortunately, none of us knew very much about astronomy so we had one lively discussion about whether you can see the milky way or not (isn't it wonderful not being able to Google everything and just argue, lol!) and then we shut up and enjoyed the view. Wine and blankets kept the chill away.

The following day was bitter sweet. Still lots more to do and see but I think all of us were quietly reflecting on what/who the week had brought and how fast it all went by.

What better way to start off the last day (other than the breakfast of champions) than with some more school building! We were thrilled that we were going back to the Kisaruni girl's high school to work some more on the dormitory that we had started. Today was concrete mixing and pouring! (I've just learned the difference between concrete and cement, I take back what I said a minute ago about Google!)

Before...the rocks from last time but all smashed up now

 

 I was on water duty at first

Mixing cement, sand, and rocks is hard work

The guys were on wheel barrow duty

Using these pieces of wood to smooth out the concrete

After...ta-da! That took us 2 hours, phew!

 

After the build we popped over to the Baraka Medical Clinic's medicinal garden. Our facilitator James talked us through a number of plants (hello, moringa the miracle plant!) and how the program works. It's a teaching garden and small farm where they can show the locals how to tend to their crops and animals. The eggs are given to the school girls as well as sold at market and they can also try growing new plants to see if they are suitable for the climate. As I mentioned before, volunteers from the village can take plants home for free. It's a win-win-win-win-win!

 

Checking out the garden

James - being smart

Very friendly (or hungry) cow

 

One pair of old jeans  covered in cement...$5 (they had holes in them)
One pair of old Sketchers covered in cement...$20
One pair of new work gloves covered in cement...$7

Building a dormitory so girls can go to school in rural Africa....priceless!