Closure

So, the last blog.

It is strange, as well as challenging for me to write this last blog. I find myself stuck at many points and forcing it at others. I am now sitting on my bed in the US, as opposed to 8000 miles away in a small internet cafe tucked away in one of the many buildings of Kahawa West, Kenya.

Over there I felt like I could just write on and on without having to stop for a single thought. There was so much going on around me that provided a constant fuel for thought and reflection. Over there, everything was worth writing about and sharing, the place mine as well have been Mars for how little my friends, family, and I knew about it.

Well, now the good thing is I feel like I do know a lot about it. I learned about Kenya and in the process learned a lot about myself and our country as well. I think that the biggest thing I learned is that people can be very different, yet be very similar at the same time. The kids I taught, the family I lived with, the workers in Dubai, and all the volunteers from various places of the world all had their own story and unique existence in life. However, no matter where you are in the world it is possible to connect to others and learn from one another.

There is no doubt that Kenya has many issues that need to be resolved; a corrupt government, a disastrous water supply situation, a reliance on crops that very well may be "ungrowable" in the future due to climate change, etc. However, you will never find people so full of spirit and hope as you will in the Kenyan people. This hope and determination is the reason why although surrounded by countries like Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia, they are a successful democratic society. Many would crumble under such circumstances but the Kenyans are fighting to better their country.

Our host Steven defines this Kenyan spirit. I promise you that you will never find a better man than Steven. He is constantly smiling, laughing and seeing the good things around him. Show him a banana fiber painting of a Maasai warrior and he will spend 5 minutes pointing out details you yourself never took the time to recognize (This is what happened when Tommy and I gave him such a painting as a gift).

Here in America we have characteristics that are just as honorable. We work hard. We are a society that revolves around our work; for better and for worse. The Kenyans know what it means to wake up at 5am to get water from their wells but may not yet have perfected their intellectual pursuit. We may know what it means to study diligently for 20 years of our life and then work 70 hours a week, but sometimes we lack that which the Kenyans have - the ability to appreciate every crumb of life.

This opportunity was an amazing one. It made me want to go to every other inch of the earth and explore. Everyone reading, if presented with the opportunity, should go to Kenya. Before leaving, many people were concerned with whether or not Kenya was safe. It is hard to learn about Kenya and what to expect when going there. I personally spent months before this trip looking for information, specific information, on what I could expect on this trip but was constantly let down. I left for Kenya with very little knowledge of what to expect. The picture I had created in my head was far from accurate. There is no doubt in my mind that many, many people do not go to Kenya, and other countries for that matter, because they are afraid. This is a pity because there is so much to see and learn, and as they say - you only live once.

Nearly every person I met in Kenya told me "tell your friends good things about Kenya." They are saddened about the misconceptions about Kenya. I would spend time telling you how wonderful of a place Kenya is, but I think my many blog entries said enough.

Thanks for reading everyone

-Kevin

Maasai Mara

The end of our trip was just as fantastic as the the rest. Thursday we headed to the Maasai Mara National Reserve. While there, we had a tour of a Maasai village. Each person going on the tour paid 10 US dollars - money that went to pay for a school the Maasai were developing.

During the tour we saw the men and women each do their own dance. They would walk in unison, jump, and make quite scary noises with their mouths. It was definitely incredible. Afterwards, the men showed us how they made fire out of two pieces of wood. I was able to try this out with them which was pretty cool. I contemplated just buying them a few bic lighters to save them a lot of hassle in the future...

After the fire making, Tommy and I were taken by 3 Maasai men into one of the huts. Their huts are completely made out of cow poop. Inside the hut it was completely dark. The huts were filled with smoke which quickly began burning our eyes. As we walked in we entered a room which had a fire being used to cook milk mixed with blood from the cows, something the Maasai drink each day. A few children, as well as a female Maasai sat around the fire. As we sat around the fire the Maasai encouraged us to take pictures with them and the children. They then showed us necklaces that had lions teeth on them. We were told that before a male Maasai is able to get married, it must kill a lion. The teeth from the lion are then worn around the neck of the man. The Maasai wanted to sell us a couple of necklaces with the lion's teeth, an offer I could not refuse. I know that many people may think that the killing of lions and the wearing of their teeth is cruel, but the Maasai live with and respect the animals of their region more than you could imagine. They only kill when necessary. I did not feel bad at all buying these lion's teeth.

After leaving the hut, a couple Maasai showed interest in the binoculars that Tommy and I had bought at Bass pro shops. They offered to trade us their Maasai clubs for the binoculars. This was another offer I could not refuse. Not only did I have very little use for these binoculars anymore, but I think it is the coolest thing ever to know that there is a Maasai out there using binoculars from Bass Pro Shops that I traded to him.

That night after leaving the Maasai village we went on a game drive. Entering the park we saw zebra, antelope, gazelle, etc. However, after not too long our van and driver noticed a bunch of other vans grouped together not too far away, a sign that something was going on. We drove up to be told that a leopard was in the bushes but could not be spotted anymore. Our driver, Patrick, drove around to get a better spot. He pulled right into the bushes and immediately we saw the leopard walking about 15 yards from our van. It was incredible. It moved so stealthy and showed immense power. It was amazing.

That night we went back to our camp, had dinner, and went to bed in our tent. The tent had 4 beds. Tommy and I had been paired up with two girls from the US that were also volunteering and staying at the hostel. We told them fake stories of relatives and friends that had been attacked by leopards while camping at similar camps around the area. We told them about Tanzanian tribes that came to the Mara sometimes to attack tourists. Tommy also told them about some spider from Kenya that embedded itself into people's skin. They bought everything and freaked out. Pretty hilarious.

The next day we went on a game drive through the park from 8-5. We saw every animal imaginable as well as had our first lion encounter. I lion had recently hunted a wildebeest. The lion stood eating from the wildebeest carcass while 20 or so vultures waited to get the leftovers. As soon as the lion left, the vultures made the move, but the lion came back to scare them away (Greedy lion...). Finally, the lion left and the phrase about eating like a vulture made complete sense. A pile of vultures converged on the carcass.

That same day we also saw two cheetahs sitting on a hill, elephants, and giraffes. Before lunch we drove by a heard of hundreds, possibly thousands of wildebeest, part of the annual wildebeest migration. We ate lunch by the river they must cross, dodging crocs in the process. We saw hippos and gigantic crocs in the river after we ate.

After lunch we drove around some more and then headed back for dinner. After meeting a kid from California, multiple heated political discussions, including the legalization of marijuana, we went to bed. We woke up at 6 to go on our final game drive. This game drive was only a couple hours long but we were able to see one of the coolest things during this time, a pride of lions. 15 or so vans parked on the grass as 4 female lions and 2 males walked right by us. At one point Tommy and I could have practically have bent down and pet one of the lions. Surprisingly, they do not even bother looking at the people around them, they just continued on with their business.

After that game drive we headed back for Maziwa. It was already Saturday. We went to visit our host family one last time and then were picked up by Ian and Ethel to be brought back to the hostel. It was really sad to leave Maziwa. We knew that we would probably never be back there, or at least for a very long time.

We stopped at a market on the way home and bought the last avocados we would eat in Kenya. We brought them home, cut them open and put them on our dinner, which was my favorite meal, chapati.

Before we knew it, it was Sunday afternoon and we were being brought to the airport. We said goodbye and were dropped off.

The 5 hours flight from Kenya to Dubai was not bad. I was able to watch a movie, 12 Rounds, which sucked but passed the time. We arrived in Dubai at 2:30 in the morning, spent about an hour figuring out what we were going to do, and then finally got a hotel at 4 in the morning.

Oh ya, by the way, it was 41 degrees Celsius in Dubai. When we left the airport I thought I walked into a sauna. It was ridiculous, and it was 4am!

The next day after sleeping from 5am until 2pm we were able to check out Dubai. We walked through the incredible heat to a mall where I ate at a sweet fast food place. Afterwards, we paid a boat driver 20 dollars each to take us on an hour long boat tour along the river/bay. In the distance was the tallest building in the world, among one of the coolest skylines I've ever seen.

Dubai is a great city. It is very rich and very clean. Everyone is very kind and as a customer you are treated ridiculously nice. Tommy and I discussed that unfortunately it is a place that people are either unaware of or are afraid to visit because it is nearly completely Muslim. This is not something that should be of concern as westerners received very hospitably.

After the boat ride we headed to the airport and got on our flight to Atlanta. After 15 hours, Tuesday morning Tommy and I arrived back in the United States. I can easily say that I have never been so happy to be an American. The trip was great, I loved every second of it (even when I was sick and puking), but we really do live in the best country in the world with a lot of things we definitely take for granted.

One blog left.

-Kevin

The Beach Boys

So yesterday I was still very sick and just layed in bed almost all day and drank water. Kind of a bummer but I feel better today.

Last night we just relaxed outside our room and played some chess and then cards. Our neighbor who has a connecting deck with us played some cards with us too. Tommy is about 90 percent sure she is a prostitute and I am only about 50 percent sure. Either way she was nice to us and never tried to make any deals or anything like that. She taught us a card game which through her explanation made no sense. We went to bed at about 10.

We woke up this morning and had to check out. Since our train does not leave until 7 the hotel told us we could leave our stuff by the barside. When we went to bring our stuff there we saw that the tide was very low. We decided to walk out into the ocean.

We headed out through the sand and plants. Two beach boys walked with us and showed us the different sea urchins, sea cucumbers, etc. that were now visible. We immediately knew that they were going to want some shillings for this even though we never asked for them to come with us and it tends to be very annoying. However, they were very helpful. We were able to walk a couple hundred yards from the normal shore in water that was never past our shins.

Anytime you read about Mombasa a reoccuring theme will always be the annoying Beach Boys. This cannot be emphasized enough. As soon as you step on the sand they all bother you. They want to sell you necklaces, keychains, drugs, massages, boat rides, you name it. It is not like you can say "no thanks" and they will leave you alone either. These are the most persistant dudes you will ever meet. Last night when we were walking back from dinner on the beach and it was dark out. The beach boys are pretty much all gone at this point, but one kid was still out trying to sell peanuts. This same kid has bothered us to buy peanuts every day we have been here. Last night we were like, "no thanks we dont want any peanuts" and the kid (probably like 13 or so) was like "you always say you dont want peanuts, everyday you say that." Well, that is because we really never want any peanuts. Last night I was feeling sick and tired so I just said "get lost kid." As Tommy mentions in his blog, these people may be poor, but I dont think that gives them the right to constantly harass every foreigner that walks on the beach. We are always polite and say no thank you, but after saying no thank you a certain amount of times I think it is best to just tell them to get lost.

I like Mombasa. but I like our little villages around Nairobi more. Everything there is more authentic and more "Kenyan". Mombasa was kind of stressful in its own way, although being sick the whole time I was here probably did not help my opinion of it. We leave tonight at 7 back to our host family and I am excited for this.

I am also very excited to be back home in the USA.

-Kevin

Mombasa

So Tommy and I went to the Nairobi Railway station at 5pm on Friday. The train was supposed to leave at 7 but did not actually depart until 8:30. This train ride turned out to be horrible.

We had dinner at around 9. The food was pretty bad. We had some wine with dinner as well and then went to bed. At 6am we were woken up by gongs for breakfast. Tommy and I both tried to go back to sleep. I was not able to and ended up going to the bathroom to throw up. The combination of a lack of sleep, horrible food, and a very rocky train ride was too much. From that point (7 am or so) until when we finally arrived at 1pm I was puking and feeling horrible.

By the time we got off the train I was feeling a little better. We headed to our hotel which for only 25 dollars a night each is awesome. There are monkeys running around and the Indian Ocean is within walking distance.

During the day I just drank a lot of water and attempted to eat food. I think I may have had some kind of stomach virus but I am not sure because the whole time I was on the train I could not retain any liquids or solids. By the end of the train ride I was puking out straight water that I drank 30 minutes before. I appologize for such details but it was a horrible experience I must share. I am sure I sound like a big wuss right now but oh well.

That night Tommy and I got pizza from an Itialian place. Mombasa has a lot of Itialian influence so the food is really good. I was only able to put down a slice or so but I could tell it was great pizza. We went to bed at 8pm.

Today I felt much better. We slept until 8 and then went out to enjoy the Indian ocean and relax. Mombasa is much different from Nairobi. It is quite amazing that these two places are in the same country. The architecture is different, as this city is mostly Arab. In general though it is just nicer. Although, Nairobi is a horrible city and it does not take much to beat it out.

Hope everyone is doing good back in the States. I am excited to get back home and tell everyone about these experiences along with show you all the pictures I have been taking. Also, I have nice little gifts for all of you who are reading!

-Kevin

Last day

Hello. Today was my last day in Waskam. I just wanted to check in real fast.

I went to Kiambu this morning and bought a soccer ball for the kids that should hold up for a long time. The cheaper ones only last a couple days but the most expensive ones all just get stolen by local guys that play. It is was an interesting balance that I had never had to consider when purchasing a ball!

In Kiambu I also bought 12 boxes of chalk and enough pencils to last a very very long time. The kids never had any pencils and getting a piece of chalk was constantly a struggle. I am glad I could help them out in that way!

My next goal, if possible, is to get that school some new textbooks. I did the math and it would not be very hard to do... If I were still at Loyola 2 kegger fundraisers could literally almost do the trick. I will figure out some other way.

Leaving the school was pretty sad. All the kids asked me when I would be back and realistically I know that will probably never happen, and if it does I will be much older. I gave them all my email address and really hope some of them actually are able to email me.

Oh, before I left I was also able to give Kimani enough money to save his sick goat. The struggles people have here are clearly much different than at home!

My ride back from school today was the perfect ending to Waskam. I hopped on a matatu that was just about to leave town and made it to Kiambu with only a few stops. Once in Kiambu I got on a matatu that was literally just about to leave. This alone could make a persons day. I cannot emphasize that enough. The ride home was also very awesome and smooth. All in all I made it back in 35 minutes, by far a new record and much quicker than my usual hour and a half trip! Good times.

Tommy and I catch a train for Mombasa at 7pm tonight. Mombasa is apparently worlds different from the Nairobi area as it has Arab roots. I am excited to see this.

Talk to everyone soon.

-Kevin

Fresh Rabbit

Today Tommy headed to Waskam school with me. Poor guy had to get up at 6 instead of sleeping in until 8:30 like he always does...

We got to school, brought in the water and waited for the children to arrive. We also planned out our lesson during this time. I was not sure if a big group of the students would be there today because of the custody battle going on in courts, but luckily we had everyone there.

All 20 of the older kids (ages 7-13) packed into one of the small classrooms. Kimani and one of the other teachers sat in and watched as well. Tommy and I started with a 20 minute lesson on the history of the US, including important dates such as the civil war, world war II, etc. This was very important, as these kids seemed to know nothing about the US except for a guy named Obama. Every question we asked was answered by a student saying "Obama?"

Aside from US history, we showed them where we were each from and pointed out major cities and the capital on the map we drew on the board.

After teaching them a bit, we moved on to some true or false questions. We would write on the board things such as, "True or False, the South won the civil war?" The kids actually did very well and remembered most of what we had taught them.

After true/false, we taught them "Hangman." None of the kids or teachers had played this game before so it was really fun. We used phrases such as "New York" and "George Bush." The kids got really into this game as we had them all pick team names and gave out points for correct letters and guessing the final word. The teams were very creatively the Lions, the Tigers, and the Chamelions. Tommy and I were the Super Giraffes and we got 5 points anytime the three teams collectively could not figure out the word before the "man was hanged." (Before anyone attempts to correct my use of the word "hanged" you best google it).

After a while of hangman, we moved on to trivia and asked questions and gave out points for correct answers. I threw in a math question and at the end Tommy had one member of each team sing an American song. One kid sung a song I was unsure of, one sung Amazing Grace, and the last was the best of all, Sweet Home Alabama. After the first two songs I decided to get the third one on video and I don't think the kid could have picked a better song to sing.

The final activity of the day was a dance and singing competition. We had each team arrange an organized song and dance and they performed it for Tommy, Kimani, the other teacher and I. These are all on video as well.

All in all I think the kids had a blast and learned some American culture in the process. It was really fun.

After teaching Tommy, Kimani and I had tea and then headed off for Kimani's house. He showed us around and then we sat down for lunch. The rabbit which yesterday I had watched hop around was now in a pot in front of us. It was delicious. We also had avocados on the side and a potato, corn, spinach side dish. It was all kind of mashed together but tasted great. For a drink we had tea made fresh from their cows milk. Pretty amazing.

After eating he gave us a tour of his Shamba (farm). I had already seen all of this, but I think Tommy enjoyed it. We then walked up a big hill and took a path shortcut to Kiambu town. From there we grabbed a cab to Nairobi city.

We had been in Nairobi once when we got a matatu for Hells Gate, but this time was different. I think we were in the heart of the city and it was incredibly chaotic. When we got to the desk to book our train ticket to Mombasa everything went smoothly until we went to pay. As you will find, in Kenya no one really excepts credit/debit. Therefore, we had to walk to an ATM. The ATM was close but on the way we basically had to play a game of Frogger. The longer you are in Kenya the more and more you will come to depise the Kenyan government for all the little things they cannot get right (stoplights, crosswalks, SPEED LIMITS). We made it back to the train station and booked our ticket and headed back to Miziwa. I love everywhere I have been in Kenya so far, but I have no desire to go back to Nairobi. Unfortunately, we will be back tomorrow at 5 to hop on a train to Mombasa.

Tomorrow is my last day at Waskam. I am going to get them a soccer ball tomorrow as well as give Kimani 300 shillings to save his goat from some medical problem. Every single person Tommy and I have met here needs money for something and they are definitely not too shy to directly ask you for the money to help. It is sad because although we can help some people, realistically Tommy and I do not have very much money ourselves.

Just as Tommy's main concern is to help out at his hospital, my concern is to improve the education here in Kenya, specifically at Waskam. I really believe that just like everywhere else, education is the road to improvement and prosperity. I have been making a list of the concepts the kids have been struggling on in my classroom (mostly math and English since that is what I have taught most) so the teachers know what to focus on. Also, I am trying to think of a plan to help supply the school with more books and supplies. If I can do one thing it would be to get them some more books (they do not have even close to enough for each student) and better assessment tools (the tests they took were horribly designed). I have everyone's emails so I can keep in contact with them about this. Everyone reading, feel free to give me any suggestions as well.

As always I am exhausted and am excited for some time to relax. Also, apparently there are more non-Kenyans, specifically mizungus in Mombasa, so it will be nice to not to feel like an Alien for once. Constantly being stared at is not so great.

I will touch base again soon. For all of those that have followed this experience so far, THANK YOU!

Also, thanks again to anyone reading who contributed to this trip. I really appreciate it and I think you were a part of something pretty important here. Even though it was only 2 weeks, I think that may be all it takes to show young kids what else is out there in the world besides the life they may be living. It may be beautiful here, but there are SO many problems that they all, if they wish, deserve to get away from.

-Kevin

Kimani

Today turned out to be an awesome day. I woke up at 6 feeling pretty good. Yesterday I drank about 3 liters off water from 3pm till I went to bed at 9. I think dehydration was definitely the issue.

Today at school I graded papers and hung out with the kids during the morning session. They had just finished 2 straight days of testing so today was pretty relaxed. While grading papers the main lady Hellen talked to me for literally an hour straight. She is a really nice women but she tells me nothing I do not already know. Thankfully, there is Kimani.

During the first tea break I sat around with Kimani and had more talks about Kenya and the US. Kimani is by far the smartest teacher at this school and he also understands the most English. He always teaches me alot and similarly I teach him a lot. The comparisons and contrasts we make between the US and Kenya are fascinating because you can see how each ones weaknesses could be solved or helped with ideas from the other countries strengths. I always enjoy these conversations.

After tea, since not much was going on we decided to take the rest of our break and go for a walk through the village. This turned out to be amazing.

We ended up walking to Kimani's house. He lives a 10 minute walk from the school in the most beautiful part of Kenya I have seen yet. His house lies on a slight hill with nature and animals all around. His house was clearly hand built with whatever materials could be found and the fences and gates for his farm animals were made with sticks and branches. There was an amazing amount of beauty and relaxation sitting in his land. Everything there was his and besides little things like sugar, he needed no one to live.

Kimani has 8 chickens that wander around, two cows along with a calf that was just born a month ago, 8 rabbits, 2 goats as well as two baby goats and 2 dogs. the structures he has made to hold all these animals was awesome. He kept opening doors that led to more homes for more animals.

The baby goats were the coolest things he had. When he let them out they just jumped all around. They run too, but seemed to take any and every opportunity to jump from one place to another. They were so small and cute.

The calf was also cute. It was lying down in its cage when I first saw it and I believe that is the first time I have seen a cow that is not standing. Although the calf was less than a month old, it was pretty big. Not nearly as big as an adult cow but to think that these things are born like they are... well it just blows my mind.

We had a snack consisting of an avocado that came right from one of his 15 or so avocado trees as well as a small pineapple (possibly the best pineapple I have ever had).

After gathering up some of the animals we left his house for a trek through his "shamba" (basically a farm). We walked through a cornfield which had random avocado trees growing all over.

After a bit we came across his wife and another relative doing some laundry in a little stream that went through their land. His son, Jonathon was also there. After greeting them we continued on to my favorite part of this excursion...

We came across a lady and a man, both probably 75 years old tending to their farm. They owned beautiful looking crops and were working hard to keep it that way. The man grew sugar canes and in Swahili Kimani asked if we could have some. The man, Kimani told me, is basically his father and they have a very close relationship, so the man happily said yes. He walked over to what looked like to me was just some kind of bush and pulled out a long cane looking stick. He then took his machete and hacked off the ends of cane and then cut it into 3 pieces. One piece would be used to regrow the crop, one was for us to eat, and one is sitting in my lap to eat later.

The man then took the piece we would eat and cut off the skin/bark whatever it would be. He cut little strips up and handed them to me. I have never eaten anything right out of the ground that was so delicious. Sugar cane is clearly what is used to make sugar, but when you eat it straight it is even more delicious. You simply chew on what otherwise looks like a piece of stick. It tastes sweet and is very juicy. After the flavor dies out you spit the piece out and get another. I must have eaten like 4 pounds of sugar cane on our walk back to the school.

When we got back to the school Kimani, Hellen and I discussed tomorrow's plan. Tommy will be coming to teach with me tomorrow. We will do an English lesson, an American geography lesson, and whatever other lessons we feel like doing. We will teach from 7:30 until the 10:30 tea break. From there we will leave with Kimani to his house. I am bringing 300 shillings because Kimani offered to slaughter one of his rabbits for lunch tomorrow. Yes, I am super excited to be eating fresh rabbit meat for lunch. Sorry all you animal lovers out there. We will also have fresh avocado from his trees and traditional Kenyan food, as Kimani put it. I have become friends with Kimani and am very grateful that he has showed me his house and is offering to give us lunch tomorrow. The 300 shillings is all he asked from me as his animals are important for his food and income. After eating lunch Kimani, Tommy and I will go on a little walk through the town to Kiambu. It should be awesome and I am sure Tommy will enjoy a change of pace from his hospital.

Today after lunch all the teachers and I talked about getting married and all that jazz. Here in Kenya they get married pretty quickly after meeting someone. Therefore, because they are not with a partner for very long before marriage, they said that many people's true colors come out after marriage, causing problems. Also, although it is not legal, many men have many women as "wives." Kimani was funny because he said it was a good thing because one of them may not be able to fulfill one's desires. I told them about how marriage works here and they seemed pretty surprised that people could be together for many many years before actually getting married.

Another thing that always shocks Kenyans is how open America is to homosexuality. When I tell them that homosexuals come out to the public they look at me and are so surprised.

The biggest problem, by far facing Kenya is the corruption. The government is an utter joke. If you saw how Tommy's hospital was run you would laugh and the fact that my school, which is not very good, is way better than public schools is equally as sad. All the government officials are very selfish and are willing to accept money in almost any circumstance, never with the countries well-being in mind. I have yet to meet a single Kenya that does not have disgust towards their leaders. It really is sad because as Kimani told me today, "almost all the problems Kenya faces are self inflicted wounds."

Well I cannot wait to get home and cut open this sugar cane. So yummy. Tomorrow will be a great day and then that brings me to Friday.

Keep checking this as only a few blogs will be remaining.

Asante!
Kevin