May 8th, 2015
Hello!
Sorry this is the first post in a while! I have been busy
here in the Village! I can’t believe it is already May, and I have less than 2
months left in my fellowship. Its crazy how the time has flown by. Now I have
to focus on wrapping up my projects and getting everything prepped for the next
Princeton in Africa fellow. My replacement will be arriving after I depart the
Village so I have to make sure everything is in place for her before I leave.
This month was our schools semester break so all our
children were out of school. They kept busy however by playing lots of sports,
relaxing and catching up on chores such as planting this seasons crops. Their
break coincided with the rainy season therefore it was our prime time for planting
our rain-fed agriculture fields. The schools reopened this week and you can
tell the kids are happy to be back to their normal routine.
Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to go with one of our
social workers to pick up some new children. Every April, August and December
we intake new children. We have room for them after our graduating class exits
the Village each December. I had never gone on a home visit or pick up so I was
eager to go and see how it works. Throughout the morning and afternoon we picked
up 16 new children from surrounding villages and towns. It was crazy to see how
nonchalant the handoff of guardianship goes. These children come from extreme
poverty and are complete orphans therefore them coming to the Village is a very
good thing, but yet it is hard to see these children just getting dropped into
our van like its no big deal. Most of them come with siblings but you could
they were all scared. By the time we reached the Village however, many had
relaxed and seemed excited to see their new home. I went by to some of the
clusters and houses they had been placed in, in the days following their
arrivals, just to check up on them and make sure they were acclimating. Its
amazing to see how welcoming the other children and grandmothers are to the new
kids and they already seem right at home.
Another exciting event was a soccer tournament the Village
hosted last week. Six other teams
came to compete with our boys soccer team. I had recently received a donation
from an Austrian football club to buy our team new jerseys. I coordinating the
making of the uniforms in Nairobi and amazingly, the jerseys arrived two days
before the tournament. The boys got to wear the jerseys and they ended up
winning the whole tournament, winning a trophy and prize money. You could tell
they were super confident going into their matches with the new uniforms. They
looked amazing and it was a very exciting day for Nyumbani Football Club. If anyone is interested in donating for such things like uniforms or sporting equipment, let me know!!
This past weekend was a long weekend because of Kenya’s
Labor Day last Friday. I traveled to Nanyuki with my friend Ellie (who lives in
Nairobi). We went up to visit our friend Sally who lives at a research center
on a private ranch outside Nanyuki. Last time I had been there was August and I
knew that this weekend might be my last chance to get up there (its 4 hrs from
Nairobi). We spent Friday night at Sally’s research center and she took us on a
game drive around their property where we saw over 40 elephants, numerous
giraffes, gazelle, hippos, ostriches and warthogs! It was awesome! The next day
we hung out at Sally’s before heading into Nanyuki town where we shopped around
before meeting up with other friends. We went out to an amazing dinner at a
local Italian restaurant before going out for some dancing and drinks. It was a
really fun night! Sunday we headed to the Fairmount Safari Lodge, a 5 star
hotel nearby who is infamous for their Sunday brunches. Brunch was amazing and
well worth the cost and trek. I felt very sick after eating so much but it was
well worth it. Before brunch, Ellie and I visited the neighboring animal orphanage
where we got to see all sorts of abandoned or injured animals (they are
released back into the wild after recovering). I included below a picture of me
with a cheetah, ostrich and tortoise. It was really cool to see these animals
up close!
Now I am back in the Village just working away. Next week I
go to Ethiopia with two friends for 1 week. It will be my last big trip before
my fellowship ends in July! Its crazy because I feel like I just graduated
Princeton, but this years seniors are graduated in just a few weeks!
Until my next post!
Love,
Maggie
