A New Chapter
1970-01-01 00:59:59
My final semester of coursework is coming to an end. It is a bittersweet time, as I pack up my apartment and head back home to Arkansas for Christmas break. My age made me hesitant to come to graduate school, but just about everyone at Baylor has been so supportive of me. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would receive so many scholarships and so much encouragement. My graduate school experience has been better than I expected - and the time has flown by so quickly. But I am moving on to another exciting chapter of my life. In less than a month, I leave for Kenya. I am both excited and nervous. What does Kenya hold for me? How will it affect my life? I got a little taste of Kenya last spring, when I participated in a two-week, university-wide mission trip to that country. I didn't go to evangelize. I went as a journalist, curious about the activities of other people on the trip. I followed them to orphanages, schools, slums and other places. I saw children bathing in mud puddle
Read more: Chapter
Untold Stories
1970-01-01 00:59:59
Life has been fairly hectic since I returned home to Arkansas last Saturday. I have had medical appointments (I am trying to squeeze in a few more vaccinations before I leave, and I am trying to make sure I have enough of my prescription medications). I also have gotten my hair cut so it will be easier to manage, visited the optometrist to get more contact lenses and met with friends who want to hear all about the trip. I still must purchase some supplies, but my husband made me promise to hold off on that. Apparently, family and friends are planning to give me gift cards so I can get everything I need. I am very appreciative for their interest in my trip, but postponing my supply run is driving me crazy! In a normal situation, I would have everything packed and ready to go by this Friday. And I don't leave for a few more weeks. According to my husband, my obsessions to plan ahead and to be prepared are two of my most endearing qualities (Ha!).Nearly everyone I have visited in the las
Read more: Untold
, Stories
Sharing the Journey
1970-01-01 00:59:59
I have been working on my blog, trying to make it as appealing as I possibly can with my very limited technological skills. As you can see, I now have additional pages. Please be patient as I develop the content for those sections. By expanding my blog, I hope to provide you with as much information as I can. On the main page - and on many of the subsequent pages - you will hear my voice and see Africa through my eyes. In the "Tidbits" section, I hope to provide you with other perspectives, as well as information on issues that I might not be able to cover. Please know that I also plan to give the people I meet an opportunity to tell you their stories in their own words. So watch for video footage and audio files. I, from my Western point of view, can do only so much to engage you in what is taking place in Africa. I know that if you hear Africa's voices for yourself, you will be affected in an entirely different way.I look forward to sharing this journey with you!
Read more: Sharing
, Journey
What I Will Miss Most
1970-01-01 00:59:59
From the moment I started this blog, I have planned to post a list of things I will miss while I am in Africa. That list was going to include my husband, my dogs, Diet Dr. Pepper and a bunch of items that, in the grand scheme of things, don't really matter. Tonight, I discovered what really matters - at least to me. Two of my closest friends hosted a going away party for me, and it was eye opening.Most people simply do not get it. They do not understand why I want to go to Africa, why this trip means so much to me, why I want to work with HIV-positive women, why I care about what is going on in Africa, why I want to do something about what is going on in Africa. And, honestly, I stopped trying to explain myself a long time ago. At some point - probably after watching yet another person's eyes glaze over at the mere mention of Africa - I stopped talking about it altogether. It just seemed like too much effort for such little reward.But I realized tonight that I do have a suppo
Happy New Year
1970-01-01 00:59:59
Happy New Year to all. One old wives' tale dictates that whatever you do on the first day of the new year, you will continue to do all year long. If so, then I will be going to sleep early and doing a lot of traveling! My husband and I skipped our friends' annual New Year's Eve bash this year, opting instead to stay at home and catch some Z's. On New Year's Day, we drove to Memphis and spent the night so I could get up early today (5:15 a.m.) and start my journey to Kenya. I am sitting in the Detroit airport at this very moment, waiting for my flight to Amsterdam. It's an eight-hour flight. I have a nearly five-hour layover in Amsterdam before embarking on an eight-hour flight to Nairobi. Yes, I will spend nearly 18 hours in the air. But the journey doesn't end there. Nairobi is only a starting point. Come Thursday, I will catch a bus to Kitale. And that's another eight hours of travel! I am sure to be tired by the time I reach western Kenya, but I am not daunted. I simply thin
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, Happy New Year
Absorbing the Shock
1970-01-01 00:59:59
I imagine that traveling across Kenya by any means of transportation is an experience. But the bus ride to Kitale proved to be extraordinarily interesting and grueling. When visiting Kenya, the first thing an American must do is shed his notion of personal space. There is no personal space in a place where more than a million people reside in side-by-side, 10-foot-by-10-foot slum homes with rusted tin roofs. Thus, when I arrived at the bus station, I had to quash any feelings of claustrophobia I may have had. It seemed that everyone catching a bus Wednesday morning was standing shoulder to shoulder along the sidewalk outside the terminal. Collins explained to me that the public announcement system usually does not work, so people stand outside in order to see their buses arriving. Our bus showed up an hour later than expected. By the way, when visiting Kenya, the second thing an American must do is shed his notion of time. I do not understand why people here even wear watches; I suppos
Read more: Shock
Airplanes, Avacado and a Rooster
1970-01-01 00:59:59
The last two days have been a bit of a blur, my only real activity being sitting on airplanes and trying to catch some sleep when I could. I arrived in Nairobi last night nearly 45 minutes later than expected. The flight from Amsterdam was delayed, though I do not know why. I was one of only a few Americans on the flight. The others were a mix of Africans, Asians and Europeans. I have flown internationally by myself only once before - about a year and a half ago to London, where I met up with my husband, who was taking two weeks military leave from his Iraq deployment. I did not feel alone on that trip; I felt very alone traveling to Nairobi all by myself. It seemed to take forever for the baggage handlers to unload all the boxes, bags and suitcases. I must have waited for about an hour, all the while wondering how I would find Mark "Junior" Gaya, the Village Volunteers representative in Nairobi, in the throng of people waiting outside the baggage claim area. With my 63-pound sui
Read more: Airplanes
, Rooster
Sunrise over Kiminini
1970-01-01 00:59:59
Collins and I arrived in Kitale at nearly 7 p.m. yesterday. We made quite a pair - the both of us were dazed, jostled and sore. We laughed at our spaghetti legs as we disembarked at the bus station. I was shocked to find that my luggage was still in tact after all that bouncing around. And, as we stretched our legs, a man walked up to us and introduced himself as Joshua Mazinga, who would be my host at The Common Ground Project in Kiminini village. Joshua took one look at my bags and said he would bring the car to us. As he pulled around the bus, I was pleased to see another American sitting inside the car. Gloria is retired and from New York City. She signed up with Village Volunteers after meeting the founder of a Kenyan orphanage. She will be my hut mate for the next few weeks before returning home. Joshua insisted on taking us weary travelers to eat at a local hotel. Dorthea, who is being as cautious as she can when it comes to the food, opted not to eat. But I was ravished; I ha
Read more: Sunrise
Popcorn for Breakfast
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Friday evening, January 5, 2007) Since I woke up so early this morning, I sat in bed and did some writing. I will try to write something every day so I do not forget anything. At 8 a.m., a smiling girl named Esther tapped on my and Gloria's door, announcing that our bath water was ready.The grounds here at Pathfinder Academy basically are divided into two sections - a living section, where Joshua and his family (his wife Mama Sandra and four children Sandra, Margo, John, Tracy and Shana) reside and the school grounds. The living section is comprised of the family's four-room, mud-wall home; two volunteer huts; another living quarters; an unfinished hut used to store maize; and an outhouse with three stalls - two for "taking care of business" and one for bathing. Esther, Mama Sandra's 16-year-old niece, prepared my bath water by mixing cold and hot water together in a pink tub until it was the right temperature for me. Then, I took my tub of water into the bathing stall, und
Read more: Breakfast
A Day of Rest
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Saturday evening, January 6, 2007) I feel like a slug today. For Joshua's family, Saturday is a day for worship and rest. They are Seventh Day Adventists and attend a church within walking distance from the school grounds. Gloria and I were left to our own devices for most of day, and we spent the bulk of our time reading. Gloria, who walks six miles a day in Central Park, took a couple of short strolls. And I swept the floor of our hut, tried to shoo a curious heifer away from some wet laundry, and chatted with the children after church.Joshua and his wife have four children. Sandra is 11; Margo is 9; John is 7; Tracy is 4 ; and Shana is 2. Each of the children is named after one of Pathfinder Academy's Western supporters. Three of Mama Sandra's nieces also are staying here. Barbara, who is 14, is the daughter of one of Mama Sandra's brothers. Esther, 16, is the daughter of one of Mama Sandra's sisters. And Patricia, who is 19 or 20, is the daughter of another of Mama S
The Mbai Widows Group
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Monday evening, January 8, 2007) I am afraid that I will forever be known in Kiminini as "Christine," the 30-something American who has shamed her family by not having children. For some reason, people here cannot say - or choose not to say - the name "Christy" When I introduce myself, they insist on calling me "Christine" because they think I have shortened my name from that. I tried a few times to explain that my birth certificate actually reads "Christy," but to no avail. People here are very adamant. Once they believe something, it is very hard to change their minds. Elijah, who is serving as my translator on the oral history project, brought up the children issue today as we set out for Mbai, a small village with a brand new widows group, the members of which will be the subjects of my oral history work. He asked how old I am and how long I have been married. I told him, and he seemed shocked. First of all, he said, I look like I am in my 20s (Yeah!!!
Read more: Widows
, Group
An Enjoyable Area to PASS Through
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Sunday evening, January 7, 2007) Kiminini is a tiny farming village located in what is known as Kenya's western highlands. It is comprised of many small dwellings and a market that teems with people in the afternoons. The markets in Nairobi are geared toward tourists, offering beaded jewelry, carved figures, hand-made drums and other such items for sale. Kiminini does not receive many tourists (in fact, Lonely Planet's Kenya guidebook advises that this area "can be an enjoyable area to pass through" on your way to Uganda). So the offerings at Kiminini's market are limited to clothing, household items and foods for the locals. Kiminini sits against the backdrop of Mount Elgon, the fourth tallest mountain in Africa. The tallest mountain in Africa is Mount Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet), which sits on the border of Kenya and Tanzania and is claimed by Tanzania; the second tallest is Mount Kenya, which rises 17,000 feet and has a permanent snow cap; the third tallest mountai
His Name is Joshua: Leader, Teacher and General Contractor
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Monday morning, January 8, 2007) As I become more comfortable with Joshua
and his family, I am starting to ask questions. Joshua and his family belong to the Luhya tribe, the second largest tribe in this area. Joshua studied sociology and psychology at university and is a mere 39 years old. His passion for and dedication to community development are admirable. Joshua began building Pathfinder Academy in 2001. His compound sits on approximately 9 acres of grassy land. He wears many different hats. The people in the community refer to him as teacher, preacher and doctor, to list just a few of his nicknames. Joshua does not teach at Pathfinder; he runs the place. And he is under immense pressure this school year. This is the first year that he has offered grade 8, and the students in that grade will sit for the national exams this spring. In Kenya, the national exams determine a child's future. If one does well on the national exam, then he is routed to a prestigious high schoo
Read more: Leader
, Teacher
, General
, Contractor
Mbai Widows Saving & Loan
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Wednesday morning, January 10, 2007) I have been in Kiminini for nearly a week now, but I am not sure that I am adjusting very well. Everything seems to be getting harder, and the weather seems to be getting hotter. Simple things like going to the toilet, bathing and eating are becoming tiresome. Frankly, I hate trekking across the yard to pee in a hole in the ground. I long for a real shower, and I just do not feel like eating so much when I am hot and tired. Kenyans eat so much food! Every time I sit down to eat, Joshua chides me for taking small portions. But most of the time, I am hot and sweaty. Elijah and I have walked some distance every day this week.Yesterday, Elijah and I attended a meeting of the Mbai widows group. It was an experience I will never forget. Only 11 of the members were in attendance, and each made me feel very welcome. The women were still conducting their business when we arrived, so I was able to see first hand how "table banking" works. They ma
Read more: Widows
, Saving
Far Richer than Material Wealth...
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Wednesday evening, January 10, 2007) Elijah and I made the six-mile roundtrip to Mbai again today. The journey there was a piece of cake. It was 10 a.m., and the sun had not yet reached its full strength. The trip back, however, was a different story. I finally convinced Elijah to stop at Kiminini market so we could purchase a couple of cold sodas.I interviewed two women today. They welcomed me into their homes, nicely answered all of my questions, and shared their problems with me. The women's homes were extremely modest, constructed using wood frames and mud mixed with cow dung. The homes had only two or three rooms, and were furnished with tables and chairs most of us Americans would toss in the trash bin. But, though they have little, these women are very proud. They go to the trouble of planting colorful flowers around their homes, and they do the best they can to provide for their families.The first woman I interviewed today has truly struggled to support her children
Read more: Wealth
Crystal Light to the Rescue
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Thursday morning, January 11, 2007) Every day begins the same for me. I awaken at 5:30 a.m. to the sound of voices and chickens clucking, and then I lie in bed writing until about 7 a.m. I stumble to the toilet, and then I bathe with the well water provided to me in buckets. Breakfast follows, and popcorn is one of the dishes served. After a week, that still amazes me. But maize is a staple in this culture, so many things are made from it. The mixed vegetables served at lunch and dinner feature maize, and the ugali (a dish sort of like Italian polenta) that everyone here counts as a favorite food is made from milled maize.I haven't really missed it, but I have tracked down a source of Coca-Cola Light, or Diet Coke. One of the supermarkets in Kitale stocks it. Problem is I haven't gone into town very often since I made my discovery. So I am surviving on water and Crystal
Light packets.It appears that I will be spending my Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays conducting interview
Read more: Rescue
"Christy" (Finally)
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Saturday morning, January 13, 2007) Today is a day of down time. Joshua and his family are at church - and will be there for three hours or more. Joshua's second daughter, Margo, was a little peeved with me. I had told her that I would attend church with her today. But, as it turns out, I have work to do. I am putting last-minute touches on the oral histories I have written, and I am writing my column for The Times of North Little Rock.Friday was a busy, yet relatively unproductive, day for me. Elijah and I walked back out to Mbai. I should have strong legs when I return to the States. Walking six miles three times a week and squatting to pee and bathe should build up my muscles!Apparently the stern talk I had with Elijah a few days ago has paid off. He finally has stopped calling me "Christine" Thursday afternoon, as Elijah walked me around Pathfinder Academy and introduced me to all the students who have arrived for the start of the new school year, we argued about
Read more: Christy
, Finally
Regal Spirit
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Tuesday morning, January 16, 2007) Somalia is so far away from this place. Yes, Somalia and Kenya are neighboring countries. But the people living in Kiminini, perhaps the entire Western Highlands, are too busy attending to their own lives to worry about the fighting taking place on the northeastern border. Somalia creeps into their lives only occasionally, when they tune in to BBC radio or pick up a newspaper. For the most part, though, people here keep themselves occupied with surviving. On the way to Mbai yesterday, Elijah and I walked past a woman who was drunk. It was barely 10 o'clock in the morning. We also encountered a man - a former teacher - who was dismissed from his job because of his drinking problem. These are not the first alcoholics I have seen or met in Kiminini. Life here is hard, full of challenges and no guarantees for the future. Many turn to alcohol for comfort. That presents its own problems; if you have little money to begin with, how do you affo
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A Heartening Offer
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Writen Wednesday, January 17, 2007) Being a journalist has its ups and downs. Some days I feel powerful, with the truth on my side. Other days I feel completely impotent, as if my words are not enough to solve all the problems I see. Each of the seven widows I have interviewed has asked me the same question: "What can you do to help me?" I don't like my answer.These women are lucky to have roofs over their heads. It does not seem enough to say that I can share their stories with the world - and hope that someone who reads those stories is moved to action. But, frankly, that is my job. Journalists are not supposed to become part of the story. We are trained observers, not trained activists. Otherwise, we would all go to work for international relief agencies. But how do you explain that to a woman who cannot afford the flour to make her favorite flat bread? I usually find myself saying, "I don't know" That is not what they want to hear, and it is difficult to watch their
Read more: Offer
Sister Freda
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Friday, January 19, 2007) I have met Mother Teresa incarnate. Her name is Sister Freda, and she is a Kenyan nurse who founded a clinic more than a decade ago. She caters to poor villagers and slum dwellers. The 24-hour clinic serves as many as 200 outpatients on a busy day. Some people walk two days just to reach Sister Freda, whose bedside manner is unrivaled. As she moves from room to room, her voice remains calm and soothing. She is careful to stop and stroke the hair of a pregnant woman who could go into labor at any time, and she gently places a blanket over the legs of a sleeping toddler. Indeed, Sister Freda offers medical attention as well as comfort and hope.Most of Sister Freda's patients come to her with stories of great desperation. Morgan, a child no more than 2 years old, came to Sister Freda not too long ago. He lived in a nearby slum, where his daily diet consisted of tea and dirt. Yes, the rust colored dirt that covers the ground here. Morgan is the progeny
If You Can't Say Something Nice...
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Tuesday, January 23, 2007) Living and working in a foreign culture definitely has its challenges. First and foremost, it requires flexibility. If you set a meeting for 10 a.m., you can count on people not showing up until 11. And when those people finally do show up, you must spend several minutes engaging in small talk rather than getting down to business. Then there are the questions you simply do not ask. It is not polite to ask a woman's age, and it certainly is verboten to ask someone if she has AIDS. Indeed, talk of the disease is largely taboo among the people I am living. The widows with whom I am working probably would not tell me if they had AIDS - that is, if they have even bothered to be tested. AIDS still carries such a stigma here that some women simply do not want to know whether they have the disease. It is a dangerous prospect - for them and their families.In my years as a journalist, I have learned to adapt. I have learned to assess a situation, and the
Over the river and through the woods...
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Friday, January 26, 2007) You may be wondering by now if I have opened my jar of peanut butter. The answer is yes. I opened it my second week here - but not because I am tired of the local food. My guide and translator, Elijah, and I travel by foot three days a week to a nearby village. It started out being a 6-mile, roundtrip trek. But as the weeks have passed, we have started walking even farther. Some of the widows we visit live on the far edges of the village. Next week, out treks will be so long that we have to walk to the main road, hail a matatu (a horrible, crowded mini van) a short distance, and then ride boda bodas (bicycles with passenger seats above the back wheel) for a while. The journey does not end there. The bicycles can travel only so far on these rutted, rural roads. We still will have to walk quite a distance. Then, we will repeat our steps on the journey home. All of this travel takes time. I do not think we have ever made it back to Pathfinder Academy in
A Boy Struggles to Succeed
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Tuesday, January 30, 2007) A boy named Rogers arrived at Pathfinder Academy on Sunday. He is a lanky boy with a far-too-serious face. Rogers is in the eighth grade - for the second time around. But not because he is unintelligent. In fact, Rogers scored so highly on the national exam last year that he was accepted into a national secondary school. However, his family cannot afford the approximately $500 a year - or $42 a month - that it would cost to send Rogers there.According to Joshua, there are about 20 really good national secondary schools in Kenya. And each one accepts about 150 new students each year. Competition for acceptance is fierce. So it is no small feat that Rogers was able to get in. One of the main marks against him appears to be his gender. There is a real push here to educate girls. Many organizations offer scholarships for bright girls who want to attend secondary school. There are fewer such scholarships for boys.And Rogers could certainly benefit f
Al Gore and the Four-horned Bull
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Sunday, February 4, 2007) Life in Kiminini has been fairly slow the last week. I conducted interviews and wrote oral histories but not much else. Three other volunteers have arrived, and Joshua is being pulled in many different directions. I am not sure I will get to visit any of the other Common Ground projects before Friday, which is when I leave for Muhuru Bay. We tried to visit the Kitale Nature Conservatory today. It is a place dedicated to environmental preservation and research. There is a nature trail and botanical garden as well as a facility where genetic research is conducted on deformed animals. There is supposedly a three-eyed cow, a four-horned bull, etc. The goal of this facility is to find out what causes such deformities, and then prevent them from occurring in the future. I think it would have been interesting to see. But we didn't quite make it through the conservatory gates. The gatekeeper jacked up the admission cost for us mzungus (white people). He
The Evils of the Matatu
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Tuesday, February 6, 2007) In theory, matatus are a clever way to transport people from one place to another. These mini vans, which are built to accommodate 14 passengers plus a driver, are cheaper than taxis and hired cars. But, in reality, they are a horrendous way to travel. I have tried to avoid matatus like the plague. But, with Joshua out of town today, I had no choice but to board one of these nasty, crowded vehicles. Of course, Elijah was with me. So I wasn't nervous about being charged way too much money or being harassed on the way to Kitale. Still, every time the vehicle stopped, I prayed that we could get off. Matatu drivers always pack way more people into the vehicle than they should. When Elijah and I arrived at the matatu park in Kiminini market, one driver came over and tried to get us to climb into his already filled-to-the-brim vehicle. No thank you! The second matatu we examined was far less crowded. In fact, were were among the first three passe
A Trip to Hell... and Back
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Monday, February 12, 2007) Expectations are something I am learning to abandon while in Africa. The continent definitely has a tendency to throw curve balls every now and then. I set out last Friday for Muhuru Bay, an impoverished town located on Lake Victoria. The lake is so large that its shores often are referred to as "the other coast" And Muhuru Bay, like so many coastal communities around the world, is a sordid little place that the entire world has forgotten about. It also is a place where people really are not what they seem. I spent two nights there before returning to the safety and sanity of Kiminini. I went to Muhuru Bay to write oral histories of HIV-positive women - the same work I have been doing in Kiminini for five weeks. But when I arrived in Muhuru Bay, I found out that my project had been canceled several months ago. It would have been nice to know this before I made the seven-hour journey to Muhuru Bay. But, hey, lack of communication abounds he
Kenyan Tourism Tip #1: Bring Spare Tires, and Spare Cash
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Tuesday, February 13, 2007) It seems that I may have brought some of the bad ju-ju from Muhuru Bay back to Kiminini with me. My flight to safety can be described only as hellacious. My trip got off to a good enough start. I caught the bus from Muhuru Bay a little after 7 a.m. Monday. My escort was already on the bus, and I was able to link up with him easily enough. Soon, though, the games began. And in Africa every game ends with someone handing over a big wad of cash. Although it is difficult to tell, Kenya does have transportation laws. These laws restrict vehicle speed, passenger numbers, etc. I have yet to run across a public transportation employee who abides by these rules. The bus from Muhuru Bay can seat approximately 60 people. At one point, the bus driver had an extra 25 people standing in the aisle. Highly illegal behavior. So, as we rolled out on to the main road to Kisumu, the bus driver began to restrict the number of extra people he accepted. From Migori to
Read more: Kenyan
, Tourism
, Spare
Lonely Planet's Idea of a 4-Star Hotel
1970-01-01 00:59:59
Written Saturday, February 17, 2007) Since fleeing Muhuru Bay, I have been staying at the Alakara Hotel
in Kitale. There are so many volunteers at Pathfinder Academy right now that Joshua has no room for me in the volunteer huts. But do not for a second think I have been living the good life. This hotel has a serious water problem. The Lonely
Planet's Kenya guide lists the Alakara Hotel as a mid-range to top-end hotel. It notes, "The comfortable rooms have phones, the staff are friendly and prices include breakfast. There is a good bar and restaurant, secure parking and a TV room" I am the first to admit that I have a slight hotel phobia. Even in the nicest U.S. hotels, I simply cannot bring myself to walk barefoot, to sit or lie on the comforter, or to take a bath in the tub. It freaks me out to think about all the people who have stayed there before me - and what they have done in the room. But I can agree that my room at the Alakara has been "comfortable" It fa
Read more: Lonely Planet
A Mission of Medicine from Arkansas
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Saturday, February 24, 2007) I am exhausted after a week of hard work and disappointments. The hard work came into play Tuesday through Thursday. I made the six-hour trek to Migori to meet up with a medical mission team from Fellowship North church in North Little Rock. They were a great group of medical professionals and volunteers intent on making a difference in a community that is ravaged by poverty and AIDS. I arrived late Tuesday afternoon to find everyone streaming in from the medical clinic. Their home base was Marindi Children's Home of Grace, an orphanage established in 2003 by a nonprofit organization called Kenya Relief. The orphanage is home to approximately 100 boys and girls whose lives have been affected by AIDS. Most of them have lost their parents to the deadly disease. Unfortunately, I did not have time to meet these children. They were in school, and I was there to chronicle the medical work taking place. The group was kind enough to allow me to
Read more: Mission
, Medicine
, Arkansas
Cutting the Trip Short
1970-01-01 00:59:59
(Written Sunday, February 25, 2007) I am cutting my stay in Kenya short by about 2 weeks. The Muhuru Bay debacle really threw things off for me. I will finish up my oral histories this week, and then spend the following week doing some reporting. But, after that, there is nothing for me to do here. I would rather be at home twiddling my thumbs than in Kenya twiddling my thumbs. Actually, I won't be twiddling my thumbs at all when I get home. I have articles to write and reports to turn in to my professors.
Read more: Cutting
, Short
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