Happy May!

May 8^th, 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