Nairobi

It has been about two weeks since my last blog, so I thought I'd update you on the goings-on of me in Nairobi. As of Monday morning, before the crack of dawn, Veronica, my sister left Kenyatta airport after spending a week with me.
We went to the elephant orphanage where she was so in love with the baby elephants that she adopted one--some people adopt Kenyan children, and others-- elephants. geesh. The elephants were orphaned due to ivory poachers who have killed the mother. A team goes out into the bush looking for these abandoned baby elephants and brings them to Nairobi to restore their health and eventually ease them back into the wild.
We also went on a Safari walk (others call it a zoo) where we saw pygmy hippos, leopards, and got to pet a cheetah!

Today I received word that Veronica is safe back in Bowie after her long European/Nairobi tour. It was great having her here-- in the Motherland. :)

Yesterday I met with a fellow Bowie-ite who works in Nairobi. We have a mutual friend from Trinity Lutheran and weird enough, my mattress is currently residing in her house with the church members who are renting the place. We also have a marathon connection, and got to talk about the craziness of running on Ngong road. By the way, after the first day of running on Ngong road (one of the busiest roads) I felt as if I had emphazyma from the pollution. Although, today I only ran on Ngong road for the first 15 minutes and transferred myself to the less busy parallel road which has a wonderfully humongous hill. Anyway, it was a nice lunch at Java House yesterday!

Speaking of Bowie, while my sister was here I laughed with her about how much great training I had for coming here by living in Bowie. Anything that happens slowly here or goes wrong, I just think, "what's so weird about that?" I mean, in Bowie I have had to leave the movies because the projector caught on fire. The traffic, pollution, loud rap music playing in a place of business...just as much P.G. County as it is Africa. Heh, those from Bowie are laughing right now and those who aren't your really missing out.


On Monday I will go down to Nukuru for the AIDS and Children's conference. It's theme: Knowing God's Heart for the Least, Last, and the Lost. I made a wild and crazy banner out of African print fabric for the main hall. Carolyn has got me manning all things crafty. Rhonda and Sonya, sorry, I have become Martha Stewart instead of Andy Warhol. The funny thing is that I'm not really crafty at all. I stink at crafty-- that's why I had to quit graphic design and go into painting. Its okay though, I think the banner and the name tags look great. Next stop power points and paper animal chains. ha ha...oh brother.


I'm interested in the workshops for the confrence. There will be a counselor speaking on child resiliency for traumatic events like family members having AIDS. The participants and speakers are those who either work with AIDS patients and/or work with children. The overlap is so great here.

So that is all for now. You know now that I'm NOT taking an extended vacation until July. I think I have adjusted to Nairobi life, but I still miss my girls back in Ikotos a lot. Via Skype, I can communicate with one of my friends from an NGO there and she relays messages to Madeline at the borehole in the morning. The first thing I will do when I get home is figure out a way for her and Amuna to get school fees for secondary school. Madeline still has one more year, but both of them will need money to get to Uganda to sit for their primary 7 exit exams before going into secondary school. One snag, even if I do have donors, is how to get the money to them. I think I have an idea though, so if you're interested, I'll keep you posted about that.

Have a great week and pray for me because I have a wee cold. Thanks.