Headed Home

36 straight hours of travel to get home.

thanks to Mark and my new Kenya-bootcamp-thighs i don't miss my connection in London and make the flight...gosh, that airport is huge....i run like the gazelle i spotted yesterday. :)

my luggage? - not so much. it's ok. it smells bad anyway....

i'm sad to leave the kids and people i've met on my journey. i'm so happy i was able to see what i've seen, learn what i've learned (anyone need a new brick bbq?), and give a little, too. i can't wait to do it again - i'm starting a new savings account this week.

if anyone wants to join me next time - i think we are headed to Haiti in 2012.

thank you to all who donated - money, supplies, well wishes... i couldn't have done any of it without you. very much appreciated.

oh - and i found out that the cost to build one of the houses we built is about $2,000 US. - crazy, right? micro finance works. i was there.

we were able to help build 2 of them. we also saved enough of our trip money as a team to donate enough to build 4 more homes at the IDP camp we visited on our first day. i call that success. :) thanks again everyone. :) xxoo cricket

Thursday - Safari Day

oh boy - we embark on 2 safari drives this day and are greatly rewarded... more of everything we got to see yesterday - plus baby elephant (ahh), a migrating herd of wildebeast with a few zebra in the mix, a CHEETAH right by the road and to top it off 2 male LION and a LIONESS - we were so close - we saw 4 of the BIG 5 - we are very happy. that picture of me pointing - i'm pointing at 2 lion feet - he's sleeping upside down on that rock... cool.

more food. more tusker beers. it's our last day together. :(

Wednesday - the bus leaves at 7am. Be on it!

holy cow - we are leaving. sad goodbyes to our wonderful hosts at the Bluu Nile hotel - they loved us, and our 'i don't know how much to tip' tipping. :)

driving to our safari game lodge was beautiful - all 10 hours of it - no really, it was really pretty. a lot of the landscape looked like napa valley - very green and lush. we spot many safari animals on our travels - we are in for a real treat!
we see zebra, giraffe, hippo, crocodile, meercat, elephant, buffalo, water buck, impala, dik-dik, crown crane, wart hog - and oh - a LEOPARD! all before we even get there...crazy. i can't believe i'm even here.

we arrive at our hotel - maybe it's my new perception of things - but is this the MOST FABULOUS HOTEL EVER IN THE HISTORY OF HOTELS??!! we walk across a covered, dark wooden bridge to reception, and i can't contain the slightly-under-my-breath statement
'now THIS is what i'm talking about...'
turns out this hotel is a 'game camp'. i like game camps. :)

we are shown to our tented rooms - so cool. i have a pillow! a toliet that flushes, every time! a hot shower! is that? wait - is that a HOT WATER BOTTLE WARMING MY SHEETS?! yes. yes it is. i am in love with this place and will not leave. ever.
we are extremely happy. we roll on our beds and giggle.

the dinner buffet is ridiculous. we found out later that the owners of this place were in for a visit and we were treated to a little bit more food and delightful treats due to this fact - we call ourselves lucky. :) i eat 4 desserts. small portions, but still. 4.

after dinner we take over the pool area and all of the chaise lounges for a shooting star show - the stars are amazing out here - it was dreamy good. it's an early morning for safari - i'm going to my water-bottle heated bed - good night. :)

Tuesday - our last day with the guys

our last day on site - short and sweet - the houses are really almost done and the roof is going up on the 2nd house. very cool to see. we are really gonna miss this place.

work is followed by a closing ceremony and little party - more pictures and some really cool dancing by our crew and hosts. the guys brought in a guitar player and treated us to a little Kenyan culture - we really enjoyed it...

back to the hotel to pack and get ready to leave - our safari awaits!

Monday - last full day on the build sites

it's our last full day on the job and both houses are really close to completion! today i got to work on brick laying way up high - on the scaffolding i helped erect - and i was a little nervous of my handiwork! all went well - no accidents.

i got to pet a baby cow today - don't tell immigration. it was also bathtime for the littlest baby in the village - this baby was terrified of us and wanted nothing to do with us... cried every time we got near - cute picture tho! :)

and Mark and Anika pulled a funny prank today with a rubber snake - apparently i was the only one not in on it - Anika was a snake stomping and flinging goddess in my mind...she saved all the kids from certain death! :) good fun - this is a great group of people - nice job, Mark - on putting together a terrific team.

tomorrow will be our last day working with the guys and we are starting to get a little sad - we will miss this crew.

A Party for the Kids!

finally we are off to the orphanage for the party we've been planning. i know it wasn't the reason for this trip - but this was hands down my favorite part of this adventure.

we arrive at the gates and see many of the kids in the yard to welcome us - we open the vans and quickly have many helpers to unload our bounty... we get everything inside and clear the kids from the courtyard so we can decorate and set up - i think we are as excited as they are! balloons strung from the rooftops, chalk drawings, hopscotch, more jump ropes, hula hoops. soccer balls. inside we have a coloring extravaganza set up, 10 2 liter bottles of Coke and Fanta, chips, popcorn and some sort or puffed chip, a huge bowl of candy and tons of tootsie pops.

we let the kids in and hand them party hats and noise makers as they enter - oh my gosh, the noise! - it was a constant honking of horns and we were all cracking up! we quickly get them all their own cups and begin ruining their dinner with junk food - each kid has a full glass of Fanta and a fist full of candy & chips - it's awesome. a bunch of kids are circled around the coloring table - which is set up with markers, crayons and many pages of coloring books, but no one has touched a thing... i ask 'do you guys want to color?!' and they all nod - i said ' go ahead! it's all for you!' and they all get busy - they were waiting until someone told them they could touch it - incredible manners.... i was blown away.

mark grabbed me and asked me to go look at one of the rooms near the back of the orphanage. i had seen where these kids sleep and knew how bleak and dirty the rooms were - cold cement floors, metal bunk beds, dark rooms - looked more like a prison than anything else. what he wanted to show me was that the kids had hung all the coloring book pages they had colored on our last visit up on the walls of their rooms. i lost it. it took my breath away and i could not stop crying. first, it sucked that this was their childhood room - think about yours. i know mine had a rainbow mural and every plastic horse ever made. second, i was so sad that something so small as a page from a coloring book was so important to them that they kept them ALL and hung them up - it was very hard for me. i was happy that they liked them so much, but sad that they didn't have things like this in their lives every day. they are great kids and deserve better. it makes me mad. it's hard to do something from this far away but i plan on trying.

all in all i think they all had a great time and probably a pretty serious belly ache. one little boy asked Mark if we were coming back again the following week. Mark said no, we had to go back home... the response was 'well, i had a really good time today.' we all had a really good time that day. i will never forget it and i will never forget them. i have the address and contact for these kids if anyone ever wants to send them anything... i will pay for the shipping as it can go with the things i plan on sending them whenever i can.

Sunday is our day off!

wow - it's our day off and time for some R & R!
we start the day with church (wow!) and a visit to another part of the village - Winni is a big part of this group and she's invited us to see her home. she's got quite a bit of land, a beautiful, completed Habitat home, 4 cows and tons of crops. corn, coffee...the works. church was very energetic, lots of singing and dancing - very spirited and super cool to experience.

after church we went to the job site to take pictures of some of the guys and their families. rob had hooked up with a non-profit org called 'dog meets world' - they take portable printers into villages like ours and give pictures of the people away... visitors usually take lots of pictures of these kids and families, but then leave with the cameras and no one in the village ever gets a copy of the photo. the idea here is that we leave behind photos for them to keep - something most of them don't have. the printers are battery powered and really slick - and to see the laughter and smiles on the kids faces as they watched the photos print was priceless.

the workers showed up with their families and looked so nice - dressed up, shaved...some of them we didn't even recognize! we took hundreds of pictures and printed them up for them - my favorite was a picture of all the little kids in the village with the gramma of the village - when we gave her the photo to keep she held it over her head and danced around with it - the kids were laughing and we were delighted... a great moment. :)

after this great event we were back to hotel to regroup and off to the orphanage for a super fun Fanta Coke party - which deserves it's own post so i can post more pictures.... :)

Saturday and a huge rainstorm

well today was the day we had scheduled to take pictures of some of the people in the village along with the day we had picked to have the party at the orphanage... but our plans were dashed by an amazing African thunderstorm and some corrupt police... you cannot believe the size of the raindrops and the sound they make on the tin roof of our mess hall at the work site - it was very cool. thunder and lightening, torrents of water making mud all around us - amazing. it was a short day of work. there is a rockin' picture of rob in a shawshank redemption pose somewhere - if i locate it i'll add it to the post...

we went into town after work so people could use the internet cafe - and as we were leaving the area we were pulled over by the police. (no pictures of this!) seems we were going the wrong way down an unmarked one way street - following many other vehicles...but we were the only van full of Americans, so i guess they chose us... both MC and i were picturing our fathers twitching, looking around, somehow knowing their daughters were in a possible tight spot in a 3rd world country...honestly i was a little worried, but knew our drivers james and bonnifus would get us outta there.

after some tense moments and a brief detaining at the police department ("i am NOT getting out of this van" - chrissy) the guys were able to persuade the officer to let us return to our hotel. $1,000 shillings was our compromise... which equates to just over $10 US. had i known that i would have given them $100 US to just leave us alone... but then we wouldn't have the story.

Friday

oooooh. 4 of our teammates are back at the hotel sick - so we are a little short at the worksite today. it's super hot and we are doing a lot of digging...so we are tired. i worked at the lower site today and it's much further along that the 1st site - progess is so fun to see!

before work today MC and i went to the big grocery store for supplies for the orphanage party this weekend - we spent $200 US and were able to fill 2 carts to capacity with party supplies as well as some staples for the weeks to come - it was a blast. bags of candy, chips, popcorn, hula hoops - the works. our driver bonnifus was so helpful with telling us what the kids would like the most - their tastes are a little different - i was soon to discover that we did a great job with the supplies....

Thursday

mark and i established 2 goals for today - 1) not to fall over and 2) well, 2 was a little personal for mark, but let's say that immodium was involved. let's remember there are no toilets at the worksite - pit latrines. and it's exactly what it sounds like. if you work hard enough you won't have to pee - so that's always my goal. :)

"the kids shout MUZUNGO when we drive by - what does that mean?" turns out it's a bus full of white people. :) Ebody is one of the construction guys here and when i fill the buckets too full he says 'enough enough already' - enough = emchuzie. i'm learning. we are also teaching some of the guys a little spanish - they are very quick and pick up everything on the first try...como esta? muy bien...

today i was lucky enough to get to lay bricks on the 1st house - less shoveling = a less exhausted me. :) it was much cooler today and the first time i didn't feel like i was going to throw up all day - awesome! i was also asked to help cook lunch - which was great. i helped make plantains, little green beans that tasted a lot like peas, and a corn meal paste that tastes a lot like nothing.... but it was fun, and Cam said it was the best meal he'd had so far..so i think it was a success. the kitchen consisted of some rocks to hold the metals bowls over a small fire - very smoky and super hot. great fun working with the ladies!

after work we visited a local school - the kids were very excited to see us, sang us a few songs and loved all the gifts we brought. soccer balls from troy, school supplies from pekis and toothbrushes from cari were all donated here...

wednesday

whew. moring came too early and no one could move. of course when we arrive at the worksite the crew is there already working - waving and saying hello.

rob found a hammmer today and snapped a pic -worn down to nothing by hard work - it was very cool.

work was start/stop today because much needed be be done by the fundis - it was ok tho because after work we were headed to an orphanage.

the orphanage we went to was local - they have 7 here in kisii. the director told us it's because of the fact that aids is so common, neglect, and poverty. as we arrive at the orphanage we are greeted in the yard by a handful of kids - then just inside the door we are greeted with a handshake, each one of us, by a 2 year old boy who goes by the name obama. his picture will be here as soon as possible - he was incredibly cute.

after a quick introduction by the headmaster our teamleader said what we were all thinking 'we want to play with your kids!'... and the mele began! after a quick song for us they were turned loose and we had them all to ourselves. 32 of them - both boys and girls - with soccer balls, jumpropes, coloring books and crayons and all these crazy white people to play with. it was a blast! team mate cam is a ping pong master and had the kids going crazy at the ping pong table and virginia played soccer in high school so all the boys wanted to play soccer with her. it was great.

after we left that night we decided these kids deserved a party and the planning began - this saturday night will be one to remember - team mate MC and i went to the store this morning and spent $17,140 shillings on party supply and food staples for them... that's about $200 US, but 2 full grocery carts loaded till we couldn't push them here... it's gonna rock. :) i can't wait to see them again.

tuesday - we arrive, we start, we sweat like idiots.

ok. so we are super lucky to be staying in a hotel and not sleeping on the floor of the church, as originally scheduled. (thank you mark!) so we spend our first night at the bluu nile hotel. i could have used my sister's sniper skills this morning to rid ourselves of what we've deemed the monkey-rooster that woke us at 4am. turns out the hens are kept in the kitchen in small cages and our room had an adjacent wall. but - hey, i have running water and a door so i'll shut up. :) my roommate and i were laughing so hard the girls in the next room heard us.

after our first day on the build sight i wrote in my journal 'i've never been so tired, stinky, dirty or sunburned in my life.' i didn't know that the next day would top that. ha! we are building in an area that has an 80% poverty rate - by kenya standards - and it's not good. again - the pictures will show you. we are building 2 homes near each other, so our team is splitting up and switching back and forth. the homes are built as the materials are purchased - one home we can complete and the other we can do everything but the roof. we are literally working in a jungle type setting, very lush and tropical - the fruits and vegetables they grow here are endless. our tasks have included mixing cement, digging trenches, stacking and moving bricks and rocks, shoveling sand, making grout and laying brick.

the skilled professionals here are called fundis. they are like the foreman of a team. a fundi is paid - get ready for this - the equivilent of $4 per day. he needs to hire guys to help him with each job and their wage comes out of that same $4. so some of these incredible, hard working, iron men i've come to know are making .50 or less per day. PER DAY. this is back breaking work in crazy heat. honestly - i've never seen anyone work like this - and they do it without breaking a sweat. it's nuts. i've got some great pictures of these guys - they are really something. they are teaching us swahilli and we are teaching them english and spanish. most of them know enough english to get us to do what they want...but the spanish is new and fun for them. they are very smart and pick each phrase up the very first time.

one worker named paul is an older guy and he sits under a tree all day and breaks rock with a hammer for the concrete mix. he sat there all day doing that and when we were getting ready to leave i noticed one of the guys going over and helping him up. turns out he's blind. those of you who know me well know what i'm thinking. how in the world? ugh. it's really hard to see some of the things i'm seeing.

wow.

i'm not even sure where to start. i don't have much time and this connection is SUPER slow - so i'll start at the beginning. and i'll add more detail when i get home...pics too - i'm not sure this will work here, but i'll try.

landed late sunday night and went straight to the hotel in nairobi. it was daniel's birthday so we had birthday cake - super fun. the following morning we started our 6 hour bus ride to the town we'd be building in - kisii. kisii is actually the third largest city in kenya - but the outskirts are very poor and that's where we were headed.
on our bus ride we were lucky enough to stop at a very cool lookout point over the rift valley - the cradle of civilization - it's amazing. i have great pictures that won't do it justice. while driving we also saw a small group of giraffe and zebra - thanks to our van driver james...our van drivers are the bomb.
but the best part of our trip to our build was a stop at an IDP camp - (internally displaced persons) this is the worst of the worst. these people were displaced by a very bloody civil war in 2007 and have been there living there in tents ever since. homes like the ones we are building are being constructed, but it takes time and money. again, the pictures are almost too much to take. as we are looking at a home under contruction the kids start arriving to see who these visitors are... and soon we are surrounded. smiling, giggling kids all wanting to shake hands, touch your hair and your face. one team mate - MC - had a friend instantly - who stuck by her side the entire time we were there. i'm not sure what the swahilli word for 'uppie' is, but a little one marched over to me smiling and said 'baumba' and put her hands up in the pose i've learned over the years means uppie. i held her for a long time - she wanted to see my eyes and kept touching my hair. she even put her head on my shoulder. it was impossible not to cry. every kid there needed shoes. every kid needed new clothes, a bath, a meal. every kid. but they were all smiling and laughing and running around and playing. leaving was the worst... we want to stop back by on our way home, but are not sure we will be able to. i felt horrible that i couldn't say goodbye in swahilli - kwa heri. now i know - and it's a good thing, cause there were so many more kids coming.... that's just day one. i haven't even arrived in our city yet.

1 week!

Just a week till I leave and I'm getting really excited! I'm packed and ready - taking as much as the airlines allow (+ some...it's worth it) for the kids. A HUGE thank you to all who donated items for the children in the village and the school we are visiting. My craft/sports bag is overflowing. :)

Of course, another HUGE thank you to all who donated hard earned cash - without your help I wouldn't have been able to go - I did the math yesterday (mistake) and my grand total was near $5,000. yikes... I promise to make it worth every cent.

The next post will be from a random internet cafe somewhere in Kenya. I'm hoping to be able to upload pictures too - stay tuned - I'll send back as much as I can.

xxoo much love to you all.
chrissy

The trip is paid in full!

After months of Facebook status changes, emails to every contact in the address book, and outright begging, my trip is fully funded and paid in full! Thanks to everyone who helped to get me to my goal...I truly appreciate the donations and the kind words.

I promise to make you all proud and will do my best while I'm there.

Shots are administered. Passport is renewed.