Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 77

Sept 25 - Another Stop Along the Way

     After my last two posts, where I shared the harrowing trip to the Mara, this post may seem a bit anticlimactic. Yet, it is a more important story than any sort of drama I have going on.
 I believe it was four years ago, that our host Izzo, while driving out to safari one day, passed a tree similar to this one. Under it sat an adult and a group of children. When Izzo was driving back down this road, heading home from safari, he noticed the same group.
 He stopped the van, and he and the group traveling with him got out to see what was going on. This was an improvised classroom. There are no schools close enough for any of the area children to attend, so a caring adult gathered together whoever he could and started teaching them under that tree.    Izzo’s heart went out to them, and he started raising funds to build them a school. First it was just a three-walled tin shelter, but it eventually grew into Ripoi School.   Denise and I had the opportunity to visit it on our way to the Mara.

 Third Grade   Second Grade  First Grade  Kindergarten   Nursery   You may notice that each grade has fewer and fewer supplies, until the nursery class has nothing but rocks to sit on. But look at how many children there are in that classroom?
 It’s all about hope. Sharing hope and keeping hope in your heart.

Sept 25 - Drive to the Mara, part 2

     Shortly after I posted Wednesday’s blog, I rather regretted it. I love sharing all my pictures from my trip to Kenya, but I feel that I am doing a disservice to you as well as to the overall trip by not going more into detail. I just didn’t have time last time.
So here it is, the story in words instead of in pictures. (Ok, just a few pictures.)
As mentioned Wednesday, we left our Kenyan home promptly at seven a.m. to ride out to the Mara. Bonny and Dann picked us up, and Denise, Izzo and I jumped in the safari van with them. There was another woman (or more of a girl) in the van already also; I won’t mention her again, so if you forget she was there, that’s ok.
We stopped once in Kikuyu town for gas and to pick up one young man. Then a few blocks later we picked up another one. These are all people who work for Izzo in one capacity or another at one of his various endeavors. Oh, and there was also a quick stop at the police station in between.
It’s only 18 miles or so to our first real stop, but because of the short stops and because it is mostly city driving up to that point, it took close to an hour. (Well, there was that stop at the police station, but that only took a minute.)
You may be tired of hearing about the Rift Valley, but I will never get tired of it. So, I do have to share another picture of it. So, at this stop, some of the guys got out for their hot beverages and also to gab with whoever else was there. Mostly other safari vans. All the nervous tourists on their first safari sitting anxiously in the vans waiting for their drivers, as the drivers were all getting their morning drinks and bull-shit sessions. Sometimes I get it, and sometimes I don’t. But most of the time, you just have to experience it or you won’t have a clue what I’m talking about.
Once we got back on the road, it was about a two-hour, 70-mile drive to our next stop. Narok. Last potty break for the day and last chance to buy anything at a good-size store. That store would be Tusky’s, a small version of a Wal-mart. I bought snacks and Denise bought a book to read and if I remember right, a charger.
Here’s something crazy I just noticed. The receipt from Tusky’s reads “Tusker Mattresses Ltd”. What exactly does that mean, do you suppose. I could just scan you a copy of the receipt, but I’ll just tell you instead that I bought a juice, a bag of mints, bag of chips and package of cookies for three dollars. Back on the road, we drove a few more blocks, when Dann had to jump out to get something. No idea what that was. Or maybe I just don’t remember….
Once again back on the road, and I’m not going to be able to tell you much about time or distance. Google maps doesn’t show me the route we always take. Oh, probably because Google thinks we drive on actual roads. The route Google has from Narok to the town of Ololaimutiek is 62 miles. That kind of blows my mind. Google also says it should take two hours and 22 minutes. Hmm? Don’t I wish.
After around two and a half hours, we made a short stop at Ripoi school. I want to tell you all about that, but that will have to wait until next time.
As we were leaving the school, we could see the rain clouds gathering in the west. Only a few minutes later, it started raining, and 15 minutes later we got stuck for the first time. We barely got unstuck, when the van got stuck again.
Dann, Bonny and the other two boys jumped out and admirably pushed and rocked the van for a long time, as herds of cattle, sheep and goats were herded passed us. Denise and I had no idea how we could possibly ever get out of the mire. As the rain continued to fall. Finally, they decided someone had to walk for help, so Dann and Bonny started down the road. Izzo thought it would be about a ten-minute walk to the next point of civilization. It may have only been twenty minutes or so before they came back with someone in this safari van. Denise and I looked at each, as the new van spun its wheels turning around next to us. We thought, there is no way he can pull us out.
Somehow or other, maybe another ten minutes later, we were moving. Granted, we were slipping and sliding, but we were moving.      Just as a side note, in discussing the weather with Izzo, he mentioned the Katabatic rains. On Google, they are actually winds, which are a drainage wind, that carries high-density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Which makes very little sense to me.

Sept 25 - the drive to the Mara

     Finally, at seven o’clock, Wednesday morning, Denise and I jumped in the van to head out to the Mara. Our goal for the whole trip was to meet with the Maasai women who live next to the Masa Mara Game Preserve, to see what their needs are and find ways to improve their lives.  The drive into the Rift Valley never gets old.
 Dann and Bonny, two of our companions for the trip.
 Took too many pictures out the window.
 I’ve been riding through Narok for thirteen years and it really never changes much.
 Just gets more congested.
 Random, yet fascinating sites along the way.
 Such as this river bed.
 And the washed-out bridge.
 All was well until it started to rain and we got to this spot.
 Then we ended up here for over an hour.
 The various herds of livestock walking by didn’t help much.
 Even Dann the Maasai couldn’t get the cattle to get out of the road.   We were shocked that this guy was able to pull us out.   But we were finally on our way to the safari camp. . . Stay tuned.

Sept 24 - St Dorcas and Toothbrushes

     Today we delivered Denise’s toothbrushes to St Dorcas School and Orphanage.
 We were instructed to walk over to the volunteer house (which I may have already mentioned is about a ten-minute walk). We got there plenty early enough, just as the guy who was taking us there was leaving with someone else. He said he’d be back in just a few minutes, but we knew better.
 A few of the other volunteers came through the house as we waited, and we got to visit with them a little bit. Plus, there was also mandazi left over from breakfast. We waited until we were asked to try some before I plowed into a couple of them.
 Then we waited and waited some more. I think it was over an hour. But it’s Kenya. No worries. We did ask the house mom to call him, and she came back to say his phone was turned off.
 Finally, our escort returned, full of apologies and saying that his phone battery had died. And here I need to apologize because I do know his name but have no idea how to spell it. I can’t even venture a guess. He’d been taking us around for five days already; someone had spelled it for us the first day, but think I could remember?  We finally arrived at the school and met up with the three volunteers who were working there. I sometimes feel like a bit of a slacker as most of the volunteers have permanent placements. They are in Kenya between one and six months, so go to the same place every day, just like a regular job, with regular responsibilities. Being as I’ve only ever been there for two weeks at a time, I end up in a different place every day, doing what is needed and sadly, not connecting with the children and adults in any of these places.
 Anyway, but our task for the day was those toothbrushes. Denise’s dentist had once again generously donated a hundred toothbrushes, and we needed to deliver them and be sure the kids knew how to use them and how important it was to use them.

 We went from one classroom to the next, introducing ourselves, handing out the toothbrushes and giving our spiel.
 I wish we had taken more pictures, one in every classroom, but we were loaded down with our gifts.
 And then after we handed them out, the kids were moving so much to show us how to use them, that everything was a blur anyway.
 The classrooms, as well as the school grounds, were pretty typical for Kenya. Dirty, old supplies, shared supplies, but the kids were all happy to see us.
 Can you imagine?
 Here’s my random picture for the day. That’s artificial grass on the dashboard of the matatu we took in the morning. Interesting, huh?
 Sometimes I wish I would have taken more pictures (like the 1,200 I took wasn’t enough), but there was a lot of randomness every day. Every Single Day. Just like I am missing Kenya Every Single Day.

Sept 23 - The Nursing Home

     Today we visited the Senior Citizen’s Nursing Home in Kikuyu. One of the boys who works for the volunteer organization we work with took us on the single short matatu ride from our house.   We were stunned when we arrived. Both Denise and I had braced ourselves for the very worst, having been to Kenya enough to realize what bad can really mean. Instead, the home was in a very nice suburban type house, three bedrooms and two bathrooms, kitchen, dining area and living room, completely fenced in.

 There were only six residents there, three men and three women, that Denise and I can remember. Even though we were told that we could take pictures of them, that just didn’t feel right.

 The home is run by Helen, a retired school teacher who is supplementing the home with her pension. (It was news to me that anyone in Kenya received a pension after they retired.)

 Behind the house sat a very large garden plot, which looked to be growing peppers, lettuce, and cabbage.

 In the middle was a Loquat tree, which bears a small, delicious yellow fruit, it reminded Denise of a pear. I wasn’t sure, but it was good. We ate quite a few, but I was afraid too many would give me a tummy ache.
(Do you see the boy in the tree?)

 The residents? I wish I could remember. One of the men was a retired pastor and teacher, another was a retired police officer, who had lived and worked in Chicago at one time. One of the women looked like she might have Down’s. The others I really can’t recall.

 Helen’s three grown children were all there that day, and after our tour of the building and grounds, we spent the next hour or two visiting with them. Great kids, who were very supportive of their mother’s work.
 It’s Helen’s dream to buy a piece of property and build a larger home so that they can accommodate more residents, as well as continue with a garden and raise some livestock to support the home. What an amazing woman.   When it was time to leave, Denise and I were once again confident that we could catch the correct matatu back on our own, as our earlier escort had left for other business. Helen’s kids were just going to run to Kikuyu town to do some shopping, so they offered to give us a ride. I have to say one more time, they were great kids.

Sept 22 - Mugumo Park

     Today, we truly did take the day off. We didn’t have to worry about where we were going or how we were going to get there. Instead, our hostess Marta was in charge of us, as well as her two little boys, as we walked to Mugumo Park for the day.
 When I was in Kenya with my daughter Val in 2017, she and I had walked there for the day when we had a “day off”. It’s a simple little kid’s park with a little essence of Africa. On my previous visit, there weren’t a lot of people around, it was very quiet and had just a few games and rides for children.
 On this Sunday last month, we packed up the kids around eleven and made the hike there from the house. It’s only a little over a mile and a half away, but carrying one baby and dragging along a 3-year-old, we took longer than usual, but that’s okay.  
 There weren’t too many people or kids around when we first arrived. We ordered drinks and turned the boys loose.
 Slowly more and more families with their kids showed up. Some in quite spectacular attire, like the two sisters in tutus or the mom and maybe 6-year-old daughter in matching dresses. I wish I could have taken pictures of all of them, but I kept snapping them of Caleb and King instead (plus I feel like a stalker taking pictures of total strangers' kids).  
 Eventually, for lunch, Marta ordered chips (which are really basically French fries), sausages and chicken for them, and I ordered 2 samosas, and Denise ordered her own chips.
 I can’t remember what time we finally left (according to the time stamp on the pictures I took, we had to have been there over four hours). It was a long, but happy day.    Supposedly, the park is named after this tree - the Mugumo tree.
 On one of the rides.
 Our table, where we camped out for the day.
 Into the bouncy house the boys go.
  It took a while for Caleb to get his sea legs.
  But soon he was flirting with some girls.
  On the Merry-Go-Round.
 The view looking back up the hill, into the area where adults without kids hang out and eat in peace and quiet.
 Think there are kids terrified by this statue?
And yet, they are willing to go into the pond he is guarding.
 What do you think? Topiary?
 Trying to get a nice family picture.
 Or not.
 So this is the statue at the entrance of the park. See the blood dripping off the cat's fangs? Is that kid-friendly or not?
  Here’s the best story. As we were at the entrance getting ready to leave, a couple kids stopped to check out this hyena. Their dad came up behind them and went, “Roarrr”. The kids screamed in terror. Totally something that my dad would do. I guess it doesn’t matter where you live. Dads will be Dads.

Sept 21 - Out of Africa

     Saturday morning, we rolled out of bed without a clue what we would do that day. Marta thought we should take the day off, as if we’d been working that hard during the week. She suggested we visit the Karen Blixen House and Museum in Karen. You know? The woman who wrote “Out of Africa”.
 It didn’t sound like it would be too hard for us to get there. A single matatu ride to Karen, then another ride to the Museum.
 We set out with the utmost in confidence.  
 Got to Karen on the first matatu that came our way. Then boldly found a cab to take us to the House. The driver even gave us his number, so we could have someone at the gate call him to come back when we were ready to be picked up.  The house, the grounds and the wooded trail were all beautiful.
 The Ngong Hills in the distance. That's where Karen's lover, Denys (Robert Redford in the movie) is buried.




 Kenya Medical College, built in her honor, next door.
 Coffee bean processing machines.


  Recognize my Facebook picture?

 One last look at the house.   Back in Karen, we had lunch at ArtCaffe. I still can’t get over how good this chicken potpie and milkshake tasted. I can barely look at this picture without feeling sad that I can’t have this meal every day.  Then we hunted down a matatu to return us to Kikuyu.
 It was a great day. Us two white chicks rocked it. 

Sept 20 - Returning Home, Medical Supplies and the 'Hood

     Our third day in Kenya, we got to return to the house where I stayed on my previous two visits to Kenya. Marafiki’s Volunteer House in Kikuyu, about a ten-minute walk from where we were staying this time.  Not much has changed. It is still a beautiful house.     Even if it needs a little sprucing up, and a lot of interior decorating.
 But we weren’t there to admire the surroundings.  We had arrived to clean up the donated medications and other medical supplies, discarding what was expired and organizing what was still good. I wish I would have taken a before picture.
 Nearly every time I go on one of these trips, someone will ask me if I would like to take some medical supplies along. This is why I decline.
 They get a lot of donations and unless they keep track of what they have, a lot of them unfortunately go to waste. I made an Excel Spreadsheet of what they had left so hopefully it will go to better use.
 The rest of the pictures are of walking around the Kidfarmaco neighborhood. I think I finally had myself acclimatized to the area so that I wouldn’t get lost.
 It’s a quiet little neighborhood with a lot of character. It feels like home to me.

Sept 19 - Cleaning the Hospital and then some

     When we were making our plans to return to Kenya this September, I’d told our hosts some of the things we wanted to do, places we wanted to see. There was, however, never a formulated plan. Each evening, our host, Marta, would say something like, maybe tomorrow you can do such and such. And we were like, sounds good, but we’d go to bed not knowing really what we were going to do or where we were going to go or who with, not even what time any of this might happen. And this was no one’s fault; that is just how they roll in Africa. And I’ve been there enough to know that I had to roll that way as well.
 The morning of our second day there, Thursday, after we’d gotten dressed, eaten breakfast and felt ready for the day, Marta asked us if we wanted to go to the hospital in Kikuyu to clean with some of the other volunteers. And could we meet them at the main drag in 45 minutes? Of course, my partner for the trip, Denise, and I got ourselves together and after a much longer than necessary hike out of our burg to the main road (I should have taken pictures), we arrived at the designated location with time to spare.
 Two matatu rides later, our group arrived at the Gichuru Dispensary in Kikuyu.  Not what any of us in the US would think of as a hospital – a series of dusty cement block and tin-sided buildings, with peeling paint, screenless windows hanging open and random garbage laying around.
 We washed the windows,  Picked up garbage,  And gave it our best effort at making the grounds presentable.  Until the male volunteers devised a curling match along one side of one of the buildings.  You gotta have fun sometimes, right?  Or at least make sure you come to the clinic dressed properly.  When we had done everything we could, we took a matatu back to Kikuyu town and several of us walked to Crave restaurant for lunch..   Let me zoom in to show you some of the menu. Choma is roasted meat and 1,000 KSH equals about $10.   After eating, we parted ways, so that Denise and I could get some cash at the ATM and some food supplies at Selfridges store.  Guess I'll show you a closeup of Selfridges too. It's a three-story Walmart, only with very narrow aisles and not a huge selection of brands, but it's adequate for anything we needed.   Didn’t go shopping in the Kikuyu market though. I’ve been into that market before and just – don’t know – rather shop in a real store.  We walked back to our neighborhood of Kidfarmaco and I once again got us lost. I just needed a short rest.  It was, I believe, the last day that we got lost, though, so I don’t think we did too bad.

Sept 18 – My Compassion Child

     Wednesday, September 18, was our first day in Kenya. In 2015, I had gone to visit the girl I sponsor through Compassion, and this time I asked that they bring her to Nairobi so that she could get out of her little, dusty village and see some of the land.
 Compassion’s office in Nairobi chose Stedmark Gardens and Animal Park. They met us at our house and we all drove to the park in a rented car. The park was very nice and we all enjoyed seeing (and holding!) the various animals.  Birds.
 Lots of them. I mean, lots!
 These are only a fraction of the pictures of them all.
 Then there were the snakes.
 Lots of them too.
 Probably too many.
 And of course, when asked who wanted to hold one, I jumped in.
 I insisted my Compassion child at least touch it. She just barely did.
 This little chameleon was much cuter, but his feet were sticky.
 Got to pet the female cheetah next.
 She was adorable wrapped around her little tree.
 The lions were not as exciting.
 Neither were the monkeys.
 I got yelled at for going into the wrong bathroom, even though I was just washing my hands.
 The view from where we ate our lunch.
 Finally time to hand out gifts.
 The extent of my creativity – typing her name on the cover of this sketchbook.
 Here’s where the talent shines – the quilt my church’s ladies aid donated to Mueni’s family.
 That’s all, Folks.
 God bless you, Mueni. I’ll always keep you in my prayers. Thank You, Lord, for allowing me this day with her.