https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXzfIg6jfh0
3000 Days.
That’s the number of days the average female will spend menstruating.
In our privileged part of the world, it’s an annoyance, but doesn’t stop us from living life. But for many of our sisters on this planet, those are 3000 days....more than 8 YEARS...staying home.Hiding away. Missing school, Missing work. Feeling shame.
OR risking disease and infections by using unfit materials to manage their periods. Dirty rags, leaves, mattress stuffing, etc.
Days For Girls is a nonprofit organization that has a real solution.
A simple high quality reusable feminine hygiene kit.
When girls use it correctly, they can keep going to school. Become educated. Be better able to provide for themselves and their families. Have opportunities.
And education! Accurate science based facts on anatomy and reproduction.
Lessons on self defense and watching out for human traffickers. They’re taught to be strong and protect themselves.
Because they are worth protecting. That’s empowerment💛
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| Group photo after our day with the girls |
But then the opportunity to get more involved popped up through what can only be credited to divine intervention. This was just meant to be!
What a blessing this has been so far in my life.
I’m excited to see what my future participation with DFG looks like!
For now: the trip report!
Warning: it’s lengthy. I had ample time to write my thoughts and experiences each morning when I awoke too early and wasn’t allowed to go out on a morning run by myself 😥
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| Practice/Training day - Pheny as my translator |
Day 1, Monday September 3
We awoke early from the Boma hotel in Nairobi. Too early for most of the team, as we didn’t get to bed til very late the night before (1-2am). But adrenaline kicks in when you’ve got a big day! This would be the nail biter: would we get on our flight to Malindi along with our 700lbs of luggage without problems?!
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| Giant turkeys! |
So I clapped it dead and blood got on me. Probably my own- I think it bit my toe before I noticed it. 😑Gross.**)
Back to the Boma: we had a lovely breakfast featuring unique offerings such as passion fruit, weetabix, arrowroot, vegetable curry, and chicken gizzards 😳😱🤢.
I politely passed the mystery dead animal innerds, but definitely jumped at the chance to try the mystery fruit.
I’m still not sure what it was. I asked and they said tomato.
That was no tomato.
It was similar to a guava but dark purple and oblong shaped.
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| Teaching hand washing. This girl was such a character!! Loved her! |
Nope, actually to the wrong one because the airport had switched departing terminals for domestic flights but hadn’t gotten around to changing the signage. 🙄🤨 It was kinda fun though to load and unload 14 huge dufflebags plus carryons, twice.😂😅
Diane got bullied into letting a guy help her with her luggage, who then demanded a tip and was not happy when she only gave 200 shillings ($2).
Lesson learned: don’t let anyone help me, they want big shillings.
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| Teaching the Muslim girls to sew their DFG bags |
Easy 70 minute flight. I was seated by myself so I read the entire inflight magazine and learned a lot about Kenyan environmental efforts. No more plastic bags! So cool! I wish the whole world would follow! And I worked on my Swahili counting. Got up to 29.
Arrived in Malindi - what a difference from the bustling city of Nairobi!!!
Much hotter here, more jungle, SO much more remote. We were quickly found by Elvina, our hotel owner.
Her family - Dad, sisters, brother, daughters - will be taking care of us. I was absolutely smitten by her unbelievably adorable granddaughter, Lulu. We played lots of peekaboo and I got to sit with her. 😍Driving thru Malindi was a visual overload!! SO much to see and take in!!
Very unique transportation vehicles. Mostly scooters and TukTuks of various sizes shapes and colors. Buildings, shacks, and tropical foliage kept my eyes darting everywhere, trying to take it all in.
We went to lunch at a very upscale outdoor restaurant. Pretty inexpensive- $6 for my excessively large marinara flatbread. Gave the leftovers to Elvina who gladly accepted. Very tempted to buy the chocolate banana milkshake but trying to be cognizant of my tummy and it’s aversion to traveling 😱🤢 Then we went to the 7to7 - the only supermarket in town.
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| Sweet little LULU! <3 td=""> |
Or...take a nap.
Which is what I inadvertently did upon our arrival thru the jungle to our hotel on the river near the ocean. I just passed out on my bed when I was “testing it out” 😉
I couldn’t help it. My room is HEAVENLY!! ✨
First thought: IM GLAMPING IN AFRICA!! It’s just a foam mat with thin sheets on a wood platform. Second floor of a concrete building. Narrow steep steps to climb up. Canopy roof covering multiple rooms with sticks and straw bamboo-esque “blinds.”
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| Arriving in Nairobi with our LUGGAGE! |
In water that smells odd 😳😫🤣 And I don’t even care that it’s cold because it was refreshing. We spent the evening assembling sewing kits to teach the girls to make their own liners. We did this assembly line fashion with several of Elvina’s family members jumping in to help.
That was awesome because I got to talk with them about their lives.
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| Van travel! |
She still lives there but I didn’t see her much. He is a very happy and hard-working man. He said he only sleeps two or three hours a night, and works the rest of the time. Mtwuali is a very nice guy, better dressed than most - even wears shoes! He drives TukTuk for a living. He said it’s very challenging because the vehicle needs lots of maintenance. Rogers has 18 grandchildren from his 8 kids.
One great grandchild, Lulu. Elvina has 2 daughters. Diane brought Lulu a super cute dress and shoes. She also brought a really nice set of silicone kitchen utensils for Elvina. They are very gracious and grateful for the gifts we bring.
We didn’t get dinner until quite late. Honestly, we really didn’t need dinner. Everyone just wanted to go to bed.
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| Just another person, walkin' to the airport... |
The breeze and birds are so constantly relaxing. It’s SO Swiss Family Robinson.
That’s just best way to describe it.So everyone went to bed right around 9 PM.
I stayed up a little longer, getting in a quick shower and organizing my stuff, but I was very motivated quickly go to bed because the longer I stay up, the more bugs came out. 🐜 🕷😨 They've got GIANT flying beetles here!!
I was serenaded to sleep by a choir of birds.
And woken up by the choir of birds 🐦
And entertained all night by the birds. There are just a lot of loud birds here.
MY BAT 🦇 STORY: I’m glad they warned me that there are lots of bats here, or I would’ve been really confused about what I saw and heard during the night.So I was having a very vivid dream about being in charge of primary music time. Not in my own building, in the North Stake Center building. I was getting frustrated because a little boy, Liam Campbell, kept making loud squeaking sounds from his squeaker shoes. I asked him kindly, repeatedly, to stop.
He wouldn’t, so I took him out to his mother. She said, “Liam didn’t do that, he doesn’t even own squeaker shoes.” I insisted he did.
We argued a bit til I woke up...
AND SAW THE OUTLINE OF A BIG BAT IN MY OPEN WINDOW AREA!!!
My first thought:
I need to apologize to Paula for accusing Liam of making the loud noises. It wasn’t him, it was the African Bat. 🦇
I went back to sleep but not fully. I basically just laid there from 3am-ish til we got up at 630ish. I watched the sun rise.
It was magical. Like a Lion King on the savanna moment.
Day 2, Tuesday Sept 4
I heard Elvina and her sisters begin work before the sun even came up.
So it must’ve been around 430 or five, because the sun came up around before 530. It sounded like someone was splashing in the pool, and I realize they were doing dishes.
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| Elvina doing my hair |
There’s a little hose at the bottom of the water tank, and they use that to fill up basins with water and wash dishes.
I was hearing them chuck the basins of water into the woods... I wanted to go offer to help, but I also wanted to just lay in bed and listen to the bird choir.
And start this journaling. Or I know I’ll forget it all.
I imagine when I get home and back to my regular life, this whole trip will just seem like a dream. They called me down for breakfast.
It was pretty simple. One fried egg for each person, toast, jam, hot chocolate.
Training began around 8:30 AM. The other volunteers came in. Some are relatives of our hotel hosts. I think it’s awesome that we have local people invested in this training and this program.
The ultimate goal of Days For Girls is that locals develop enterprises/businesses creating and selling kits.
We just provide the material unavailable in their country.
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| Visiting Rodger's mud hut home |
We spent the day training! Learning and rehearsing the material to be taught the next day/weeks. There’s so much to go over, and probably not enough time, so we’re prioritizing and delegating.
It was a fun day! Lots of introductions and getting to know each other.
I spent the majority of the evening learning to hand sew a bag and liner.
Sewing isn’t a strength of mine.
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| Henry and I getting ready to teach |
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| Rodger's goats |
We also organized all our 14 huge bags of supplies in the spare room.
It was a good full day of prep work.
Day 3 Sept 5
I didn’t get a great nights sleep due to hearing mosquitos buzzing. I hate that high pitched noise. I think my mosquito net is keeping most of them out but occasionally one gets in. I’ve got a few bites. Praying the malaria meds work🙏 Did a video chat with mom and dad, then the kids before they went to sleep. So funny to virtually tuck them into bed....as I head down to breakfast... We got in our big van with a few of the Kenyan volunteers and headed to Galana school!
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| Shopping in Malindi with Joanne. I wanted it alllll! |
I got a little emotional as we walked into the big classroom after our meeting with the Principal.
50 beautiful Kenyan girls, staring at us...some smiling and giggly, some intense and serious.
We did our introductions. Family is very important to them, so we always talk about our children. They think it’s pretty cool I have twins, it’s not common here.
We had translators for the main curriculum, because though the girls spoke some English, they definitely didn’t understand when we got into physiology/biology terms. Dianne, as the RN and group leader and most experienced, did the bulk of the teaching.
Joanne does a bit more as well since she attended the DFG training.
Becky and I got a few sections to present. We demonstrated how the DFG kits work.
I was the model, wearing large underwear outside my clothes and showed exactly how to wear the kit.
That got the room howling in laughter !! 🤣😜
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| One of my favorite girls! |
We emphasized abstinence. Like REALLY emphasized abstinence 🙂
But because rape is so common here, we also teach self defense.
Joanne is awesome at that.
Lunch break was interesting. In the past, they got a 2 hour break for lunch because they had to go home for it.
So school went 830-1230 and 230-430. But recently the government has started sending food (huge bulk bags of rice) plus the schools are growing “gardens” (very randomly out in the field...not like nice rows).
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| Lunch with Lulu |
They had hominy and beans cooked in water, oil, and onions. I tried it - so delicious! It was better than the lunch Elvina packed for us - pancakes.
The girls quickly went back to our sewing project - making their bags and liners.
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| Hiking to the ocean |
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| Diane and I at the Sabaki River |
The Principal, Madame Lucille, did a lengthy heartfelt departure speech. She had been meeting with the girls parents and had an announcement for them: if they worked hard, their parents promised to all pitch in and get the girls a school bus! They all cheered!
The ride home was precarious....it had been raining hard so it was really muddy. I thought we’d get stuck several times but that old van muscled through! 💪 Dianne brought small inflatable balls to throw out the window to the kids. It was cute, they got so excited. They chased after our van as fast as they could. Looking out the window is so fascinating here! It’s amazing to see how they live, work, etc. The trees are brilliant...so cool looking.
The huge ones are called Booba.
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| Training day under the hut. Phil is the photographer |
Ever.
We got back to the compound and I wanted to go see the hippos but it was too late in the day. They get active and aggressive in the evening so we need to go during the daytime apparently. But I could definitely hear them and their piggy noises. We went on a walk to see Rogers’ home and the Canadians home. Rogers, the grandfather, lives in a mud hut he made on the property. He has a dozen or so little goats. 🐐 I got to hold a baby, it was simultaneously adorable and gross.
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| Catharine and I. She was my volunteer buddy! |
Like a real Swiss Family Robinson setup.
A tropical paradise treehouse.
It’s a couple who came here on a bird watching trip years ago and loved it so they bought land - using Mtwuali on the land deed- and they visit every December for 6 weeks. Gorgeous home. Like nothing I’ve seen besides in movies. Their second floor overlooks the river and it’s breathtaking.
Makes our hotel setup (that I love) look junky.
The whole thing seemed so random. I wonder if this kind of thing happens elsewhere or if it’s really just too unique. We had to hurry back for dinner 🥘 so Elvina wouldn’t be upset. But I wanted to stay longer.
We had a fish that was hard to eat cuz there were so many bones. And a head staring at me.
Gross. 🐟
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| The fabric store plus cash changer |
After dinner - chatting, bananagrams, Carol Burnette on YouTube after they were horrified that I hadn’t ever seen it.
Quick shower in the cold yet refreshing semi-stinky shower. Nightly prayers and under the mosquito net to sleep💤 😴 Day 4, Thursday Sept 6 Another morning waking up in my African tropical treehouse listening to the bird choir. Love it. Though I wish I could go exercise...I’m really starting to miss working out. I just love that feeling of being physically spent, it’s so energizing. Here I have to be mentally “on” for the majority of the day...man I’d love going on a long run or bike ride to just tune out and recharge. But that’s ok! I’m here to work 🙂
We got picked up again right after breakfast in the rickety big van. 30 minutes of a wildly bumpy ride thru the villages and we arrived at Galana school. It’s got such a great view from the top - I could see the ocean in the distance from one side and the river on the other.They want to eventually make it much bigger and turn it into a boarding school.
Walking in today was much different than yesterday- we all felt so much more comfortable. By the end of the day it was all hugs and laughter and endless photo taking, like we had been best friends for years. There’s such a special spirit there, I’ll never forget it.
Sofia. The youngest there at 15 years. Such a tiny girl - quiet and petite with stunning big brown eyes. The only one who fit into the smallest size underwear we brought for them!
When the truth is...they live oceans away from my world, in a tiny place nearly impossible to get to...the odds of seeing these girls again?! Yeah. Makes my heart sink. Especially knowing so many are walking home this evening to mud stick dirt floor houses with no electricity, clean water, and possibly to unsafe homes with predatory men or pushy boyfriends 😞😞I wanna take them all home and go to Girls Camp !!😉😁 I got to teach the portion on hand washing. I taught the 4 steps, and a cute song to go with it. Super fun. Henry translated for me. I also helped as much as I could with sewing the liners, though I’m still not even good at it myself😬 At lunch time, Elvina packed us donuts.
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| Plotting together at the tourist market |
I chatted with Catharine and she told me she doesn’t eat lunch because then it makes her sleepy. Not sure if that’s true or she just didn’t have anything and didn’t want to accept what I offered.
She also told me about her family - her mother had 18 children. 13 lived past infancy. Her father had 50 children with multiple wives. She told me he saw it as a sign of his manhood and prosperity. She said it wasn’t prosperity, it was poverty.
Her husband married another woman so she left him. But she had to leave her 3 kids too. She didn’t seem like it was a big deal, because she still provides for them and they’re all in good schools.
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| The view from my 2nd floor African treehouse |
SO FREAKING AWESOME .
And it was good too! It’s just corn flour made into a paste with water and baked. Not regular corn though, kinda like maize or hominy.
I’m going to try and bring a bag home to make it for everyone. Minus the fish. Ooye...it was icky. Not the taste necessarily, though it was fine. It’s more just the fact that’s it’s the ENTIRE FISH. 🐠 head, bones, and all.
I tried to sneak away without eating it and Jane said in her beautiful Swahili accent, “eh Cheltzie you-ah dinit eat-ah yo fish!!” 🤭🤥🤫
So of course I went back and made an effort...then insisted my belly was so full from all the deliciousness that they’d have to carry me out if I had another bite 😝
I snuck off for a quick hike down the hill to see if the river was close enough.
It wasn't.
Too far.
But it was fun to feel adventurous and rebellious for a bit. Saw some really awesome vegetation! I’ve been to lots of tropical places before but Kenya is unique. It’s like a combo of jungle, forest, and desert. So fascinating.
Back to work.
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| I loved this girl!! I want to take her home! |
We did our usual lengthy goodbyes with parting speeches from everyone.
Everyone.
We ALL have to say something beautiful and profound to end the day. 😳🤔
We played at the end, throwing frisbees to them and taking a bazillion pics.
Bumpy ride home, throwing more toys out the window to eager kids. They often yell CIAO!! at us, because the only white people they’ve seen are Italians.
I wish I had brought more stuff to give them. Anything. We got home with still some good daylight so I asked if someone would take us to the river to find hippos.They hesitated but finally Grace and Janet agreed.
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| The pizza of DEATH! Those tomatoes....ugh... |
Lots of extra good beach sand here. We couldn’t see the hippos from the top of the sand dune they took us to.
But we did see flamingos!! They were so gorgeous and elegant. Not like the plastic pink things we put in our driveways 😜
Fortunately some awesome little boys came by and said they knew where the hippos were! We followed them, dirty bare feet torn clothes and all, right to the river. It connects with the ocean, it’s so beautiful.
It took awhile, but we finally spotted them in the distance. THEYRE SO BIG!!! Huge hippos swimming. Wow. I so wanted to stay but the group didn’t cuz they were scared the hippos were too close 😒😕 so we hiked back home. With two pounds of mud on our shoes.Dinner was great. Too great. They feed us too much! Plus then we hang out playing games and chatting for a couple hours, eating biscuits, so that didn’t help. Bleck. So full. I really like Quixx, a dice game we learned. And I really like sleeping. In my African tropical treehouse 😊
Day 5 friday Sept 7
Slept in! Maybe subconsciously my mind/body finally realizes I’m safe and can just relax!
I quickly video chatted with Brian+kids. Caught them right before they went to bed. So great to see their faces.Today was the first day the homesick feelings hit hard.
Not necessarily homesick... Na Penda Kenya. “I love Kenya” - but just SO wanting to hold my kids again.
I wish more than anything I could transport them all here just for a few hours.
Show them this incredible place, and hug them til their heads pop off. I wish I could show EVERYONE this place!
I mean, I can show all the pictures and video in the world....there’s nothing like BEING here.I think of the pictures I’ve seen from a few friends and my Uncle Kit and the boys Kilimanjaro trip...now it’s all coming to life.
Plus bonuses they’ve never seen : a classroom full of 50 girls in matching tattered uniforms finally learning how their menstrual cycle works and their joy at receiving the supplies to manage it.
It’s a beautiful sight and a God-sent privilege to be part of. Today we first taught the Sabaki village women. Janet helped spread the word that we were coming and told them all to meet at the big hut at 9am.
Then as we walked there we encouraged every woman to “Come! Follow us!” 😃 We had 52. We thought we’d get 100, but this was a good group size. Lots of little babies and toddlers too. Hey, how do you know if a Kenyan child is “potty training” (bush training??)?Answer: they have no pants on!
Possibly no shirt too😳
Goodness, they’re so well behaved. They all stayed right near mama and played quietly.
The one or two that got noisy were quickly shushed by mama nursing them or taking them on a little walk and whispering to them.They don’t yell at their kids or hit them.
Again today I taught the section on the periodic cycle. Or for short: period. Grace did my translating. Later at the next training I chose Catharine to do my translating. These women were kind, but they just looked tired. Tired and worn. Their lives are just so full of hard labor - all day, all weather, with a baby on their back and a couple following behind and one in the womb 😳 So many children.
They have access to “Family Planning Tabs” (birth control), but there seems to be a hesitation for some to take it. Not sure why. My heart just went out to them.
I must seem so different to them.
Like alien. I wonder what they think of us.
I wish they knew how much I genuinely see them as my equals, my sisters. We all came from the same Heavenly Father. We all made that same choice in the premortal life to follow Jesus Christ.But they were born into an impoverished remote African village and I was born into privilege and relative wealth I’m just now truly realizing.
I grew up being taught I could do anything, be anything. They were taught survival.
After DFG kit distribution in Sabaki (and my very enjoyable sprint back to the compound to retrieve the flip chart not brought by the van...ohmyword I got so sweaty so fast) we got lunch then headed to Kipangajeni school.
It was near Galana school where we went befire. But it’s a good thing we didn’t do Kipangajeni first or I might’ve had a meltdown. It was just so, so humble. Beyond that really. Dilapidated. Looked like it had been through a bomb. It was all fun and games - playing football/soccer with the kids - til we went into the classroom and saw 50 girls on torn up concert floors wearing matching tattered uniforms.
Attentive and patient, ready to respectfully listen to us. We shortened our presentation big time so those girls didn’t have to sit any longer than needful. Which is hard to do, because all the content is SO good and important. But we got the most important points across, I believe. Again I taught the menstration portion, explaining what occurs during each part of the 28-ish day cycle.I feel like I’m getting better each time we present. More articulate and focused. I need to remember to always speak directly to the girls, not to my translator.
And to be REAL, not robotic. Annunciate and be concise, but really friendly and genuine. Just be ME, not a weirdo speaking thru another person.
After the presentation we threw the frisbees, took pics, chatted with them (I love practicing my Swahili - they seem to get a good laugh from it) then off to a random orphanage school to give out soccer/footballs ⚽️ Just for fun, since Becky brought a bunch of them.Then home to grab some stuff Phil and Dianne forgot. They were headed off to see the girl they sponsor. A sweet 17-year-old named Evelyn. Orphaned and HIV positive since birth.
They met her on their last trip here two years ago. She is a bright shining star of a teenager, with excellent English and big dreams. I almost skipped this trip. It was tempting to just hang out at home and rest.
But I decided to go, because I’m not here to rest, I’m here to contribute and experience. I can’t even describe the scene I witnessed and how grateful I am that I jumped in that van to join them. It was honestly the most beautiful meeting I’ve ever had the privilege of being present for. I had to look away and distract myself or I would’ve been an emotional mess.Seeing them all embrace each other was so incredible.
A girl born into a seemingly hopeless situation, now living with elderly impoverished grandparents, has the undeniably God-sent fortune of running into a couple of the most generous American philanthropists on their way to an AIDS support group meeting.
They have made sure she has everything she needs to go to school, and will continue to do so in the future.They gifted her a cute backpack full of supplies, and she gave them a list of things she needs.
They hugged and chatted and made introductions around to relatives and friends. I would so love to do something like this.
Give help where it’s truly needed and make a real difference in someone’s life. It’s just so hard to find that right situation and know there’s no corruption involved... but I know the Lord will help me find those who need help I can provide, I just have to be looking and ready.
We headed home, had another lovely dinner outside (Elvina is a fantastic cook), and played games til late.All while being thoroughly entertained by the BAT SHOW!! 🦇 🦇 They were diving around everywhere!!
A nest of flying ants had just come alive apparently and the bats were going nuts! The frogs too. They got really fat and slow afterwards. 🐸 🐸 Cold shower 🚿 then Lala Salama! Saturday Sept 8 Shopping day!! I’ve been looking forward to this all week. Can’t come home empty handed 😉
But I’ve also been dreading it because I hate bargaining and negotiating with the shop owners. But that’s the game we gotta play 😒😫😑We hopped in a couple TukTuks and headed to Malindi.
The tourist market was SO FASCINATING!!! So many amazing creations by talented artisans. For super cheap of course.
Part of me wishes I had brought more money. Part of me is fine with what I had, or I just woulda kept finding stuff I couldn’t resist!!
I’m so excited for all the presents I got everyone!! We went to lunch around 2pm to BarBar, one of the nicest restaurants around.Still pretty inexpensive. But it was allllll downhill from here. I made the mistake of ordering a foccia bread with tomatoes and basil. 🍅 🌿
KISS OF DEATH. I thought it’d be fine... But they were fresh, not cooked.
My people warned me...don’t do it, you’ll get sick...I ate it anyway... it’s just a little tomato and basil, and we’re at a nice place, cmon! Nope.
Apparently I’m not invincible with a stomach of steel.
I went to bed feeling “off” - tired and had a weird tummy feeling. Woke up at 1am with Montezumas Revenge. It was the worst 20 minutes of my life. Sweated SOOooOO bad!!
So grateful we have decent toilets 🚽 I prayed I’d survive and apologized for being careless. Finally fell back asleep and woke up on and off the next few hours.Weak and dehydrated. But all better!! It didn’t stop me from doing anything I wanted to do. I’m super grateful for a lesson learned and not inconveniencing anyone along the way. Ugh, so gross. After lunch we did a 7to7 grocery shop (out of shampoo, eek!), bought what I need to make ugali for everyone when I get home, then back to camp.
Jumped right back in the TukTuks to be dropped off to see the hippos/kiboku under the bridge. But it was almost dark outside so we didn’t get a great view.I did see one open his mouth, that was cool. The rest of the group didn’t want to go down to the actual rivers edge but I did so Mtwuali took me, and a bunch of boys followed.
I had yet another “pinch me” moment. I’m in Kenya, on the river bank, watching the hippos, with a bunch of Kenyan dudes. This is just unreal. We had a nice long walk in the dark back to camp. Followed by dozens of little kids.
So of course I took the opportunity to chat with them and practice my Swahili. I asked their names, ages, and what they liked to do. We counted. We reviewed the Lion King characters. Then we ran out of things to talk about.
So I asked them to teach me a song. No hesitation, they went into Jambo Bwana! And I now have a new favorite song!
Jambo, Jambo bwana! Habari gani, Vzuri sana! Wegene, wakaribishwa Kenya yetu! Hakuna matata ☀️
Monday 10 September 2018
Time to start writing out the dates like a local 😉😉 Another day, another adventure! It’s just amazing to me how unique, exciting, and enlightening every single day is. I’m learning SO much all the time. Whether it’s cultural info, or language skills, fascinating histories of my fellow volunteers or the people we’re serving...it’s all just so awesome. I could live like this all the time.Well...no, I do miss my fam. We’ve had lots of good video chatting lately. Though the kids are sometimes more interested in playing with filters than talking to me 😑🤨😜 Brian calls me a lot too. I think he misses me 😘💛 He’s doing such a great job with managing all the kid stuff plus work... he’s SuperDad!! Ok so today... Majenjeni School. 105 girls.
About a dozen were Muslim, so that was unique! It must be hard wearing the hijab in this heat. I guess they’re used to it obviously. There was some miscommunication so we had a delay once we arrived.We had planned to be there all day, and tomorrow. We were able to get just 3 hours. Tomorrow we get 90 minutes. So we had to scramble and make a game plan to modify the teaching. Catharine, my good Kenyan friend, told me this will be a curse for the school leaders who weren’t welcoming us as they should.
She said it’s in the Bible, that you always welcome visitors and listen to what they have to say, especially if they’ve travelled far. You don’t have to accept their message but you must respectfully hear them. I really like Catharine 🤛 She teaches me so much! Both cultural facts and language help. My Swahili is getting better everyday. Lots of fun phrases and vocabulary up my sleeve. And the Jambo Bwana song to entertain the kids 😁 After the obligatory introductions we jumped right into the lessons then sewing the bags for the kits.I taught my usual section - menstruation - and had Catharine translate.
I’m so much more comfortable up there now than at the beginning.
I put everything in my own words instead of reading the script, so it’s more genuine - while being strictly factual- but not robotic.Sewing bags was also fun because I really feel like I know what I’m doing so I’m comfortable helping the girls. I’m still not nearly as good as the other ladies but I do my best. It was hard! 2 hours of helping each girl, while practicing my Swahili ... it was intense.
We felt bad because we delayed them an hour for lunch, but we knew that as soon as they went to lunch, we had to leave. And this content is just so important for them to know. It was fascinating to see how well-behaved the boys work. Phil and David and Jack taught their lessons.
They said it went really well. It’s amazing to see 100 or so boys ages 15-19 all paying respect full attention, no one goofing off at all. In white shirts and ties, as clean and well-dressed as they are able. Puts our typical American boys to shame. Girls too! Their culture is just so much more respectful.
We headed back to the compound for lunch. It was the usual crepes, then we bought spreads to put on top. I feel like a moocher, because I am out of shillings, the local cash. I brought lots of US dollars, but they won’t accept the cash I brought because it’s not perfectly flat. It was bent in half. I didn’t know you were supposed to bring only brand new bills. It’s fine, I’m just borrowing from Phil and paying him back with the $20 bills that he will have to take home to use, I just feel bad not being self-sufficient. Since we were done earlier than planned for the day, we spent the late afternoon at the ocean! 🌊 IT WAS SO MAGICALLY DELICIOUS!!!! Like breathtaking, pinch-me-am-I-dreaming, gorgeous views.
But not like magazine cover photo perfectly manicured beachfront. This was REAL. Totally natural primitive beauty.These stretches of sandy beaches look the same right now as they did 100, 200, 300 years ago. With the unfortunate addition of some garbage washed up on shore.
We had so much fun there. Just walking in the waves, feeling the sand under my feet, running around, looking for shells… It was just blissful. I could’ve stayed there all day.
The walk home was also fantastic! One of the best hikes ever.
It’s like eye candy everywhere - so much amazingness to see. Both the natural vegetation and observing what the locals had done in the area.Planting trees, making charcoal, getting water, creating paths thru the thick brush.... Again, I could’ve happily hiked around there all day! When we got back, my little friends were there so we played for a bit. Nayma and Lulu. So cute. I taught them a fun little hand clapping game I made up. It’s just so fun to find ways to interact despite the language barrier.
And it’s interesting to see little children staring at my comparatively pale skin as if I’m an alien 👽😅 Then a little more chatting before I retreated to my room. For being such an extrovert, I’m surprised how much I like being by myself. I love being in a group of people and I’m totally comfortable public speaking... but I just feel compelled to go hide away in my own space after I’ve done all my people-ing.I didn’t come out until I heard them yell, “Chakula!!” That means food 😋 Plus I need that time by myself to catch up on this journaling and go through all the pictures I’ve been taking and organize my stuff.
Annnddd... I like my treehouse bedroom. It’s breezy and cool. Dinner time is very relaxed here. We don’t rush. We eat slow, and talk a lot, play games and prepare for the next day. So different from how hurried our meal routine often is at home. In my defense though, it helps that we have someone has done all the preparation, serving, and will do all the cleanup. I’ve tried to help but she won’t allow it, it’s her job.
So we are just enjoying it!
Tuesday 11 September
I really can’t believe that tomorrow is my last full day here. So crazy. I feel like there is still so much more to do. So many more girls to teach. So many relationships to build. So much culture and language to learn. Part of me wants to stay here forever and see how much good we can do for these wonderful people. But then I video chat with home and I know they need me even more 💛So today was an altered schedule because of some miscommunication with the school district and the teachers.
We were lucky to get 90 minutes of time with the girls, because the teachers didn’t want to give up any time.
But the school district had already given their blessing on our project.One of the local volunteers said teachers here often get in trouble because the students are not prepared for the exams. She said that teachers waste too much time in the beginning of the semester, so at the end of the semester they are stressed out.
I wish they understood that what we are teaching here is so incredibly valuable, it’s worth doing whatever they need to do to accommodate. But the 90 minutes we were given to teach was in the afternoon, so we had the morning time free.
We all got in the van and went to Henry’s home.
That was a really eye-opening cultural experience. Since his dad just died, they are preparing for the funeral. We literally watched all the male family members digging the gravesite in the corner of their property.One was using a pick ax to loosen up the tough ground, and one would shovel. Then they just took turns as they got tired. There were five homes on the property, each belonging to one of Henry’s siblings, and one for the mama.
They had lots of vegetables growing in various spots and they had several cashew trees.
I had never seen a cashew tree before, so that was unique.
And the cassava plants are really awesome.
I am definitely looking for cassava when I get home. I don’t recall seeing it in any grocery stores. We all made a contribution to their fundraiser for the funeral.That was a very culturally appropriate thing to do. They said that a 1000 or 500 shilling donation is considered extremely generous. That is equivalent to 10 or five dollars. At one point when we were all sitting below is shady tree just talking, some women drove up in a motorbike, got off, and embrace the mama. We heard the mama make a very very very loud noise that went on and on.
We weren’t sure if it was some sort of weird laughing. We started smiling, because the other volunteers were kind of smiling and laughing too.And at this point I’m still not sure exactly what that howling noise was, but I’m going to assume it’s crying or mourning of some sort.
But it definitely didn’t sound like crying.
Even though I’ve seen how other cultures like Polynesian can get into really loud wailings and mournings when they’re sad or someone dies. This was different than that.
Whole new sound. I was told that the funeral will actually begin the night before, they will stay up all night long with music.
Mostly drums I assume, but I’m sure they’ve got other instruments. Joanne passed out cute friendship bracelets and I gave a bottle of gummy vitamins to the eldest brother - the new Patriarch of the family.His name means “the example.” That’s a lot of pressure. Like how I keep meeting girls named Purity, Mercy, even one girl named Immaculate.
But who am I to talk....my daughter is Charity 🤣☺️ Henry showed us inside his home & we met his wife and children. He speaks English great but his wife doesn’t. It’s interesting how many people speak great English and some, not a word. I wonder if those are the ones who didn’t finish school for whatever reason.
His home was very humble as expected. But clean enough and ready for guests coming in for the funeral. He looked proud of what he and his family had. Lengthy goodbyes then back in the van and off to Majenjeni school.We arrived and had to wait almost an hour before starting. So much communication issues. But that’s always fine because it gives me a chance to practice my Swahili with the Kenyan volunteers and ask them questions about their culture.
I love learning! We taught for about an hour.
I did a review of what we learned yesterday, then showed them the calendar they’re receiving to track their periods, explaining how and why that’s a helpful thing to do.
Gosh I’m so much more comfortable up there now!! I wish I could go back and do Galana school now to redeem myself!They say I did fine but I know I could do a million times better with my experience now. Oh well.
We opened it up for questions. I encouraged them to not be shy - this is their opportunity to ask anything at all about everything we’ve taught.
This is where it got interesting. They definitely had questions! What if I have 3 periods in a month? What if I skip two months? Will I start my period if I see someone else start theirs? If I have sex the day after my period is over is that a safe time so I don’t get pregnant? Ahhh! So many questions!
It’s obvious some girls are sexually active with one or more boyfriends and are eager to figure out how to make sure they don’t get pregnant. 😑 🤦🏿♀️So we just answer as best we can! Asserting that abstinence is the ONLY safe choice, but if they won’t choose that, always use protection, and limit partners. Just doing the best we can do!
These girls have GOT to get an education if there’s any hope for them to be successful and get themselves - and ultimately their communities - out of poverty.We did sizing and distributed bags.
It took awhile just cuz we have so many girls, but we were very fast and efficient. Then a big group picture.
Then we throw the frisbees.
Then we present the soccer/futbols.... then we played VOLLEYBALL!! 🏐 with the soccer balls of course but it worked just fine. IT WAS SO FUN!!!
The girls were like, “how do you know this game?!!” 🤣🤣😅 I could’ve stayed and played all afternoon. So fun.Back in the sweltering vans for 30 bumpy road minutes and back home.
Unloaded, inventory, chat about what went well and what could be improved. I spent some time figuring out my departure plan and what makes the most sense.
Debating whether to check a bag- risking it getting smushed, lost, etc, plus having to pay for it 😑🤔
But fitting all in my carry-on would be a miracle. I have a lot of presents for people!
Plus my carry-on will have a lot more space on way home because I am leaving everything here to give away.So we will see what I decide. I also need to figure out what I’m going to do in Nairobi during my 10 hour layover. There was an option to have Benson take me around, but I just didn’t want to sign up for that.
Dinner was interesting, because it was in the dark electricity went out.
I’m starting to see that is a common occurrence. But it’s OK because we’ve got people with solar lights and headlights and I’ve got a flashlight on my phone, so it was fine.
Elvina does a great job on dinner every night. Her vegetables are fantastic. I just wish it wasn’t so late. We don’t usually have dinner until a bit after 7. If it were an hour earlier, we’d have daylight!After dinner I finished putting together the little packets of ibuprofen tablets for the girls and paper clipping them shut.
Before bed... no, actually whenever I can… I like to look down and see what the women are doing in their work area.
They’re always up with the sun.
Boiling water, washing dishes , doing laundry .... all while standing in dirt. Or if it starts raining, MUD. They bend at the waist, never squatting.
That can’t be good for their backs I’d think... And in the mornings I see James, our night guard, finishing his shift and heading home. Wearing a huge heavy winter coat 🧥😂🤣 I can’t imagine how freezing they’d be if they got to experience a PNW winter!Wednesday 12 September I was tortured by mosquitos all night!!! They couldn’t get inside my net, but they sure tried, and I could HEAR them. That sharp high pitched buzzing sound. Uuuugh. Makes me shudder. And not sleep. And swat wildly in the dark at them.
I have to sleep in the fetal position so my body doesn’t touch the edge of the nets where they could stick their nasty blood sucking needle mouths thru. Besides THAT....‘twas another lovely night! |
| The Indian ocean!! ahhhhh! |
Quick shower, DFG shirt on (that we washed ourselves in our basin last night with shampoo and hung dry praying it’d be ready in time), downstairs for hair time. So grateful Hannah brought extra hair ties to share!
I had 3 women working on me for an hour and we still didn’t get done before time to go. I even ate breakfast on my lap. I guess I have too much hair 🤷♀️ They use so much oil in their cooking. I can’t wait to get back to fresh food again when I’m home home!
 |
| This funny deserted beach hut |
They actually do the order differently than us for the last part on the face. So they got a good laugh when I taught them how we do in America.
At one school, I also taught them the Snowman primary song. And then I had to teach them what a snowman is… ⛄️ 😂I taught my usual section on menstruation. I really emphasize to them that their cycle is not just the seven or so days they bleed, there are important things happening during the entire 28 day cycle. Especially ovulation. But since every one is different, it’s almost impossible to know exactly when you ovulate, so the only way to avoid pregnancy is abstinence, or at least use protection every time.
 |
| Goodbye girls!! I will never ever forget you. |
The next four hours or so were quite the endurance test for all of us. The room wasn’t getting any cooler as time went on. I had to be 💯 focused, helping girls one on one as needed to make sure they get it right. I also had to help some of the other groups girls when it got overwhelming for that volunteer. It was absolutely exhausting.
I didn’t get lunch until about 330, and it was stale “donuts” (more like small bagels). 😕 I said my goodbyes to the volunteers that I know I wouldn’t see tomorrow. Pheny, Sara, Mercy, Jane, and Jack (Mr. Biya). They are all such amazingly wonderful people!I feel so blessed to call them friends now. It’s hard saying goodbye to friends that you are 99.9% sure you’ll never see again in his life. On the bumpy ride home I just spent all my time looking out the window trying to take it all in. Such a unique place.
I’ve traveled my fair share around the world, and I’ve never been anywhere quite like this. I so wish that all of my family could spend a day here. When we got back I just hung out with people for a few hours. When it was almost dark, I took Hannah and Catherine and we walked around the village. Nayma and david joined us of course 🙂 if Courtney was here, she and Nayma would be BFFs. They are so alike!
I brought the container of gummy vitamins and we went down the street saying, “Peremende!” And the kids would come running out. I felt very good about myself giving them a yummy treat that was also good for their bodies.
We kept going until we were all out of coming vitamins, and it was also dark. We got home just in time for dinner, and it was very fitting parting meal: rice, spinach, and fish. The entire fish, of course. 🤢 The rice and spinach mixture wasn’t very tasty until Joanne give me the brilliant idea to chop up fresh mango and mix it in. Then it was tume sana!!
We played a few rounds of bananagrams, Hannah had an emergency reaction to the hazelnuts in a cookie she ate, Diane and I teamed up to cheat and win the game, then we called it a night. 😊
Thursday September 13th (happy BIRTHDAY MOM!!)💛💛 Despite staying up too late due to packing and then the crazy loud storm ⛈, I was up early. Full of energy.
Everything in me was saying I’m long overdue for a good run.
So I just said forgetit to the rules about not going out alone and I went on a quick adventure run. In sandals, capris and a tshirt, cuz I’d feel ridiculous in real running clothes here. No one ever wears shorts. So I jetted up to the sand dunes.
I had intended on the ocean, but would’ve had to go across an area I spotted very fresh kiboko tracks. Wasn’t gonna push my luck.
Even on the trail I was on, which was relatively safe, I was practicing in my head the escape plan. If the hippo was far enough away, I would make a run for it. If it was very close to me, I would lay flat on the ground and play dead. Easy peasy.😜 The view from the top of the dunes is breathtaking. I tried to take a mental picture to really remember it all. I could see the Sabaki river emptying into the ocean. What a sight.
Started running home and heard a big truck coming full of men probably headed to the dunes to dig. Maybe I’m paranoid but I dove into the forest to hide. Then I found a giant guava!! Then I got turned around and ended up in someone’s compound and heard voices and got scared and said a prayer and finally found the road again. WHEW 🙏
Gave the guava to Constance then saw it was only 7:20 so I still had time. I ran the other way thru the village to the Sabaki bridge. Maybe 3 kilometers. That was super enjoyable. I just felt so FREE! Despite the fact that villagers stared as I zoomed by. I just yelled a friendly JAMBOJAMBO and they hopefully realized I was just running for fun. No emergencies going on.
Quick refreshing shower, packed up, gave out a few more zawadi, ate an egg for breakfast 🍳, took group photo, lots of goodbyes, and scooted away in the TukTuk for the last time.
Departure thoughts:
- Seriously looking forward to a good warm shower with full water pressure.
- I won’t miss the insects. Especially the evil mosquitos.
- Not even bringing my luggage in the house. Inspecting in the garage for bugs first. Then all clothes to the laundry room.
- I want to hug my babies so much. Oh and Brian 😉
- I think my hair is going to look wild when I finally take these tight tiny braids out!
- Airport security guards in Kenya walk around swinging their huge machine guns 😦 😯
- Washrooms featuring both toilet paper and hand soap are a beautiful luxury.
- I see the fact that I fit everything of mine into one carryon backpack and a handbag of souvenir gifts as divine intervention.Because Heavenly Father knows I hate checking in luggage so he gave me this little miracle.💛And I honestly don’t mind lugging around 40lbs of stuff for the next 2 days til I’m home 🏡 - Kenya really is magical 🇰🇪 ☀️ - It’s amazing to be in a full airport and I’m literally the only American.
And to drive thru an entire bustling city and be the only white person in sight.
Which shows how ethnocentric I am 🤦🏿♀️ 🤷♀️ - I’m going to miss that beautiful Indian Ocean. 🌊
And those WATOTO!!
Ohmygoodness.
The children.
Their big white eyes set against that silky smooth brown skin. Black fuzzy short hair. Energetic waving and smiling. Running after us on dirt roads with every ounce of speed they’ve got. High fives and singing together....ugh.
I want to bring them all home.
- I hope the hundreds of teenage girls we taught remember that their bodies are worth protecting. I hope they know I really meant it when I told them how beautiful they are.
I hope they stop the cycles of poverty by fighting for their education and dignified treatment. - I’m going to miss playing volleyball and futbol with them. - This is truly such a beautiful place with such wonderful people.
Their good traditions need to be preserved, while ending practices and beliefs that lead to human suffering.
I know that what we do and what we’ve done with female health education and creating sustainable hygiene solutions can be a significant catalyst towards a brighter future for everyone.
KWAHERI! 🇰🇪 ☀️
***My list of Swahili words I jotted down as I learned them:
SOAP = SABUNI GOOD MORNING = HABARI YA ASUBUHI Muchana =afternoon Joini = evening Good night = Lala salama Hello everyone = hamjambo nyote GOODBYE = KWAHERI DANGER = HATARI TEACHER = MWALIMU LEADER = MTAWALI VERY GOOD = Nizuri SANA QUESTIONS = SWALI FRIEND = RAFIKI LOVE = PENDO MAN = TANA Banana 🍌 = Ndize Watermelon 🍉 = tikiti maji Yellow = m SMALL MAN = KATANA WATER = MAJI Kilakitu Iko sawa sawa = EVERYTHING IS OK MINUTES = DAHIKA How are you = UNA ENDE LEAJE I’m well = Na Endelea Vizuri My name is= JINA LANGU NAITWA chelsea HOW ARE ALL OF YOU = muna ende leaje What’s your name = una itwa nane WELCOME ALL = kariboony nyote I love Kenya 🇰🇪 = na penda Kenya 🇰🇪 I’m full = nimeshiba ✋ WAIT , Stop = Gojea, Simama You are very beautiful = uko mbrembo sana Nice to meet you = nime furahi kukuona Kuaona (many/plural) No problem = Hakuna Crocodile = mamba RUN = How old are you = una miaka mingappi? You are doing well = una finya All done = tume maleza Very delicious = tamu sana Hujambo!
***Here's the email I sent to mom and Dad on Friday:
I’m about to get on my flight to Amsterdam and thought I’d check in. I want to hear all about how today went for you guys!! My first flight went well. It was just so crazy seeing the airport guards walking around carrying those huge machine guns! I tried to be stealth and get a photo. You’ve gotta zoom in but I got it! Fun win: I didn’t have to check a bag! There was so little in my big black luggage, I just took everything in it and put it in a big sack and called it a purse 😜 So I just walked in with my carryon big back pack plus my purse of souvenirs. So that made me happy. As did the Washrooms that had toilet paper AND soap!!! It’s the little things....☺️ The Nairobi airport was entertaining enough that I just hung out there all afternoon. Window shopped, read stuff, caught up on photo editing. Seeing the Nairobi museum and giraffes wasn’t worth hauling my stuff around and dealing with traffic and everything. The baby elephants would’ve been though 😉
***I don't like posting on Facebook (many reasons), but I felt I had to do SOMETHING... plus it was my mom's birthday and I felt bad I couldn't be there to do something for her (though I definitely bought cool presents to bring home to her!) So I hope she knows that it was a big deal that I did a facebook post dedicated to her... and subtly shared a tiny glimpse of my trip :)
My FB post:
Breaking my aversion to FB posting to give a public happy BIRTHDAY!💛 to my awesome mama, aka Nonny Smith. The woman I grew up observing be adventurous, ambitious, generous, and good with a needle and thread. How did she spend her birthday morning? Taking care of my children, so I can be here in Kenya trying to emulate those attributes I saw in her. It’s been a banner year of travel for us - Beijing 🇨🇳, Oahu HI, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Alberta 🇨🇦, Cook Islands, New Zealand, Puerto Vallarta, Australia, Africa... None of this could’ve happened without her support!! I feel so blessed to have her. Happy Birthday Mom!! We’ll celebrate tomorrow at the huge party you’re in charge of 🤣🤣 💛 #DaysForGirls
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