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| Oh. Yea. Got my hair braided. |
Ok so I have a lot to fill everyone in on. So much freakin’
stuff has happened since the last time I posted!
Week of New Year’s
So our friend Augus invited us to one of his friends’ homes
for a little New Year’s party. We got there around 6:30 or 7, I think. Anyways,
we chilled for a couple hours and had dinner. It didn’t sit very well
unfortunately, so I decided to go back. Vinny, who was also at the party,
coincidentally had to leave as well to go pick up his kids from their
grandmother’s house, and Henry decided he’d rather go back as well. Tim and
Mike were on the coast doing their thing. We had to take a matatu to downtown
Nairobi, and then pick up another matatu back to Amani. While we were in town
though, there were some activities had, and Henry wound up with a broken leg.
We dragged him home, and then after all the stuff had happened I decided to go
to the pub around the corner for a drink. They were throwing down of course and
one lady came up to me and poured a whole canister of glitter on my head. Took
weeks to get it all out!
Over the next couple of days, I tried to convince Henry to get his leg checked out, but he was convinced he had just strained it our something. Long story short we finally had a day where we went to the dispensary next door. They sent him to get x-rayed, and they told him it was a fracture. He ended up having to have minor surgery. He ended up going back to the States earlier this week, in fact. I, however, was in Chesongoch when he left. It was a bummer, but everything happens for a reason!
Over the next couple of days, I tried to convince Henry to get his leg checked out, but he was convinced he had just strained it our something. Long story short we finally had a day where we went to the dispensary next door. They sent him to get x-rayed, and they told him it was a fracture. He ended up having to have minor surgery. He ended up going back to the States earlier this week, in fact. I, however, was in Chesongoch when he left. It was a bummer, but everything happens for a reason!
During this time I also did some more work on the wall. It
was a ton of fun, and the kids from the area loved to come and help out. The
girls came for a couple days and added some of their own flare as well!
The Great Rift Valley
By January 7, I was in the valley, and boy was it a little
different. I’d visited a couple places like this before, but living in place
like that is a lot different than visiting. It was a million degrees outside,
and there was no water, and more importantly no toilet seats.
I went with the girls, and we got to work in the Pre-Primary
school and the dispensary run by the sisters there. There were only four
sisters (Jacinta, Bernadette, Angela, and Tekla), but they do all the work! Sr.
Angela taught in the school; Sr. Bernadette and Sr. Tekla in the dispensary;
and Sr. Jacinta made the whole thing work.
We got to play with the kids on a regular basis and even do
some classroom work. Those kids have far too much energy. No matter how much I
ran or carried them, they always wanted more. It was hysterical.
At the dispensary, we sorted a lot of pills. They told us
later that we actually sorted enough pills to get the dispensary through the
next year apparently! We also made cotton balls and folded gauze strips. They
also had us painting a lot. We painted the maternity ward, some of the staff
quarters, and even the front gate of the convent. I kept pushing to have a
good, old-fashioned paint fight, but the girls wouldn’t have any of it. I did
manage, however, to turn the shower on while they were painting one of the
bathrooms. I prefer to remember their screams of shock as screams of laughter.
It’s all about the perspective, right? |
| *I* know how to strike a pose. |
If there’s a specific day to note, though, it would
definitely be the day we hiked the mountain. It stands a little over a mile
high, but it was not a mile hike. I guess I’m used to paths and stuff. This
mountain path, if you can call it that, was this winding trail that went
through all the little villages and maize fields on the side of the mountain.
There was also this massive escarpment that we had to cross like three times.
It was also incredibly steep. Steep as in, I almost fell off the side like 4
times. I attribute that to my shoes as opposed to my talent as a walker.
It was the tallest mountain peak on our side of the valley.
The other side bordered the Sudan, and there were some pretty big mountains
there. I still felt accomplished.
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| That is Sr. Tekla. We had fun with this. |
Finally, the day came to leave. It was a very interesting
experience there. I became pretty good friends with Sr. Tekla, and, despite the
fact I’d barely been there three weeks, she cried as we drove away. It’s a
different life down there. Back in America and even in Nairobi, people seemed
to always get bored. They come home from work, and they don’t know what to do
with themselves. The Marakwets(the tribe mostly associated with the area where
we stayed) don’t seem to differentiate work from pleasure. Not that they don’t
have either, but they seem to have a seamless transition between the two.
Living life as whole instead of in parts. Sometimes it was difficult for me to
figure out how to work with that, but by the end I could see the benefit of it.
It was pretty cool.
Post Chesongoch
Anyways, I came back from the valley a few days ago, and I’m
already gearing up to leave again. I got my visa for Tanzania today, and I will
begin my ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro on February 6th. I won’t lie. I’m
slightly nervous but totally stoked. Kate got me some Diamox pills to help with
altitude sickness, and the company we’re using has all sorts of gear ready to
do. 3 porters for each climber, a chef, an assistant guide, and a head guide.
It’s a full entourage on a 5 or 6 day hike. We’re supposed have a midnight hike
on the morning of the last day, so that we reach the peak at sunrise. I can’t
wait.
Side Note:
The application deadline for volunteering in Africa through
the BVC program at Belmont Abbey is coming up. This is a once in a lifetime
opportunity. Even if you don’t know if you want to go, just apply. You can
always say no when the time comes, but give this a chance. Apply. Find Fr. Chris
or Michael Becker. Feel free to ask me or the girls anything(although I think I’m
better :D). You’re finishing college. Do you really want to go into the real
world and tie yourself down just yet! Go experience something new! Broaden your
horizons! Heck, if the experiences don’t do anything for you, learning a new
language and spending the better part of year in 3rd world country
never looked bad on ANY resume.
Anyways, thanks for tuning in this time around. I'll send out another update after I climb Mt. Kili!
As always:
To Mail Me Anything:
Benedictine Fathers
Amani Conference Centre
P.O. Box 32101-00600
Nairobi - Kenya
To Donate Anything:
Southern Benedictine Society
100 belmont mount holly road
Belmont, NC 28012
(Write "BVC - Harris" in the memo section of the check)
Here are some bonus pics:
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| Clearest Rainbow I Have Ever Seen |
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