Kikuyu and Nairobi

7/3/09
We got up at the hostel and were stuffed still. They had laid out breakfast for us, so we ate, so as not to waste food.

Julias and Beatrice picked us up at 1030am and we went to see the nursery school. It was a small 2 room school with about 25 students in K and 1st grade. The rooms were colorful, and it seemed that they were doing what all kids that age would do in America. Beatrice runs the school, and there were 2 teachers. She feeds them 2 meals, to ensure they get something to eat, because its not clear whether the parents have enough to feed them properly.

From there we went to the David Sheldrick Elephant orphanage. They go into the wild and find baby elephants who's parents have been poached (and try to break the snares from poachers). There we're about 10 there, and it was quite interesting to see. They bring them out for the public to see for 1 hour a day. Also, the workers sleep with the elephants, so they can be fed every 3 hours, and kept covered, so they don't catch pnemonia. Pretty amazing. The caretakers are definately treated like mothers by the elephants.

They also had a baby rhino...crazy little guy, definately ran all oveer the place! He was 6 months old.

Also, there was a 6 year old rhino too. Whenever there are no people, they allow that rhino to roam back into the wild (the orphanage is in Niarobi national park). He always seems to come back after a while, since he was raised there (and gets food easily).

J and B had never been, so it was an experience that they enjoyed with us.

We went to the giraffe center after that where they are breeding Rothchild giraffes, which is one type. It was fun, we fed the giraffes...anna and karen did a giraffe kiss...I didn't...haha

We stopped at a gas station/fast food place to eat...pizza inn and galito's chicken. We had bean salad which had 5 beans in it, veggie pizza, and peri peri (hot hot) chips (fries)...quite good!

From there we went into NBO...lots of traffic, very vibrant...people all over...just like a busy city anywhere!

We passed through a lot of the city including the "embassy row"...a very nice area...both the buildings themselves, and the houses...very wealthy folks lived there. We went to the "village market"...in the parking lot they had a craft bazaar, very fun...we bargained a lot. J and B helped us, which was great. My best was 3500 to 1100 shillings!
Inside the "market" was a mall on par with anything in the US! Apparently, indians in kenya had invested a lot into this mall. It was filled with ex-pats, and the rich. There also seemed to be folks who probably shouldn't shop there...but as in the US...used credit cards to buy stuff...and rack up debt...

From here we went to the orphanage and Church, which are together (with the school). The church was a solid building, but nothing fancy of course. J told us of the plans for building it into a community center, with guest rooms. J told us that the best part of the church is that some people have used it to clean un their lives and be productive members of society. Also, they want to make a bigger facility for the children, so they could handle 50, and have some workshops, for them to learn trades. Plans are there, but they are looking for $ of course. The orphanage has a open center area with about 6 rooms around it. There is a dining/study area, 3-4 rooms with bunk beds/lockers for the kids, one room for Nancy (she works there full time), and a storage area. J told us that it costs about $1k/mo, but it wasn't clear where the funds come from. They manage, is what he told us.

J and B had us to their home to eat dinner. It was in a village across the main road, about 1km away. They live in a nice little ranch house...not rich, but not poor either. They have 4 kids, and have adopted another...pretty amazing, considering all else that they do! All the kids were very nice, that we met. The oldest is in Boston studying. Faith, the 3rd oldest has downs syndrome and is growing up well. Jane, the 2nd oldest is adopted and in school to be a teacher. Ester was very nice, and she's the 2nd youngest...we didn't get to talk to her much, but she's in the 8th grade. Baraka is the youngest, 8, and the most energetic. She's a sweet kid who spends a lot of her time with the orphange kids.

They gave us a regular meal for them...chappati's (like big roti/bakri), mashed potatoes/greens/corn, and a mixed veggies dish, highlited by spinach. The veggies were mostly gorwn in their garden! They also made a special fish dish for us. It was delicious food, and they were so nice to make it for us.
J and B are truly amazing people. They raise their kids and the kids in the orphange as the same. The run a church, and the nursery school, and share all that they have.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry