I arrived in Nairobi on time at 2:30 am. My cousin Luis and a man he works with picked me up. We had a long, crazy ride back to Kimuka
Hills in the rift valley where his compound is located.
He currently has a boy of about 6 years old named Samareh
(John) living with him whose mother died a few months ago from AIDS. A little after 6, we woke him up and prepared
a light breakfast for him so that we could take him to a local hospital branch
that treats AIDS patients with antiretroviral medicines. Luis took him in about
three weeks ago. At 6 years old, he
weighs only 13 kilos. Over these past weeks, they have been working to clear up
all of his infections and help him to eat regularly and gain weight. He is beginning to come out of his shell and
become more animated and he was perfectly happy to chat away with me in Maasai
all day even though he knew I couldn’t understand him. He also thought my
camera was hilarious. He is a big part of the inspiration for the children’s
home we are try to break ground for here soon, which will house over 30 Maasai orphans.
We waited at the hospital for over 2 hours to pick up more
medicines for him and then we were on our way. We made a few pit stops and ran
a few errands in the small town nearby (and when I say nearby its about a 45
minute VERY bumpy ride along rocky, sometimes muddy, dirt rods) and then came
back to the house to get a tour and then sleep like the dead. Luis’ home and
the volunteer house- The Terry House- are wonderful. The volunteer house is named for my uncle
Terence Powers who passed away 3 years ago and so much about this place and Luis’ projects remind me of him and the things he was passionate about that I
think it is wonderful he was able to honor him in this way. The grounds are
beautiful- with a huge shamba (field)
for growing many vegetables and tons of young trees they have planted all
around the house. In a few years, it
will look like a jungle…
He is also in the process of installing a biodiesel system
that will be running net week.
Hopefully, full power will also be restored by then as well. Tonight we enjoyed he use of the generator
but it is a huge fuel waster.
About 6 I woke up and Luis' wife Mercy announced she would cook a
special dinner in my honor- chapati- So I watched and helped her (helped as in got to try one) make a naan-like
bread and a stew of meatballs, potatoes and vegetables. It was a delicious first dinner in Kenya that I got to enjoy with another volunteer and Luis' beautiful son and wife.
Now I go back to sleep exhausted and hoping that tomorrow
I’ll wake up feeling acclimated to the time and full of energy! Hope I get to
see my first giraffe tomorrow!
