GUILFORD — Once we arrived in the village, we were greeted by the women and were taken into a traditional Kenyan dance. Feeling very welcomed, some went on a walk to the sacred stream that never dries up. It is said that the water heals. Everyone then went to the dispensary to hand out medical supplies such as the new otoscope.
Next, we went to the sacred tree with the benches. Happily to say, the benches are still in great condition, and the place is still shining. After that, we drove up to the school and were engrossed into the Exam ceremony. We then ate dinner under the stars. -Alice Slater-Roy, 15
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On our fourth day in Kenya, we visited two coffee factories, went to church, gave t-shirts to the orphans, and had an intriguing cultural talk.
To start, one of the coffee factories was a big factory below the church area. It had a huge area of drying rows, stretching down the hills. There were workers under a long roof sorting the beans and grading them accordingly.
The other coffee factory was neglected and below the village of Kaiguchu. There were trees growing around some ingrown grass. There was a short downhill walk leading to the factory, where other trees were sprawling out.
We handed out t-shirts to orphans whose parent(s) had died from AIDS and took a picture of kids. All the kids had bright faces as we gave them their shirts. A few of our group members recognized some of the children from the last trip. It was really great to see their growth.
Later in the day, we had an entertaining session with some of the village women. They danced and danced, and then...took us dancing! We all got up and joined the loud, exciting dances. After that, we had a cultural talk, which was really interesting and helpful to get a deeper understanding of their lifestyle. We talked about their marriage rituals and their history.-Tim Salter-Roy, 14
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All of us were in awe as we watched the school come into view. We even saw some of the students and their families waiting for registration to begin. Principal Grace and Gideon gave us a tour of the facilities. All of it looked quite amazing.
Then we greeted the students who had arrived, and we talked about the school and their lives. Once we had introduced ourselves to one another, we all planted trees near the dormitories. Some of the students teamed up with a youth group member and showed them how to plant a tree. Each child was given the responsibility to care for that tree until they graduate high school.
Before dinner that night, we were informed of one strange thing: that a guard, when we're outside of our rooms, must accompany us. We were all so curious about such a strange rule. The answer: wild hippos roam the facilities at night, and you should be careful to not be eaten or trampled by an angry hippo. -Payton Lawrence, 15
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The long journey from Naivasha to Maasai Mara Game Reserve took up most of the day, as did two stops for shopping and refreshments. In the car that I was in, the conversation consisted mainly of Payton's and Lise's constant inquiries and quizzes as to the Swahili names of animals we were seeing along the roadside, including mbuzi (goats), kondoo (sheep), and punda milia (zebras, or “striped donkeys”).
Before entering the wildlife park, we took a small stop for a tour of a Maasai homestead. We got to see traditional jumping dances, demonstrations of how to make fire with two kinds of wood, and a tour of a seemingly small yet surprisingly spacious house.
We entered the game reserve and were immediately bombarded with sightings of giraffes (twiga), elephants (tembo), assorted varieties of birds (ndege), and countless other beautiful wild creatures.
After a beautiful sunset we arrived at our lodge inside the park, where the hippo danger is just as real as last night, as proven by several sightings by members of the group, including myself. Don't mess with hippos. -Rhys Glennon, 15