Through the Rift Valley into Kisii

where to even begin . . .

we did a short spin around nairobi to see historical areas and famous buildings and then we were on our way down the tarmac to kisii. everywhere we went we were met with smiles and stares at the wasunga - that is white people in swahili. We are riding in style in simon’s 4 cylinder diesel van that we affectionately named the white rhino. Man, can that guy miss potholes and oncoming traffic like a seasoned professional.

It is hard to put into words what the 6 hour journey elicited from us. One moment you would pass beautiful, lush, crayola-green tea farms and the next minute you would see women lugging 80 lbs of coal for heating and cooking - like 90% of Kenya does daily. For us wasungas, the overcrowding and lack of resources of any kind were somewhat disheartening. However it reminds us of why we are here. There are more than 1 million orphans living in Kenya and with one out of every 18 Kenyan adults tested HIV positive, it is up to us to have each one of these beautiful kids to have a meaningful life.

So we are rambling on and heading off to the leader of the Okari School in Kisii to have dinner and discuss the urgency of the matter before us.

BTW if you are tuning into this blog, please check out worldwidewaldens.org and take a look at the Youth Summit that we will be taking part in later this week. In the spirit of Thoreau and our experience this afternoon, we leave you with one of his quotes: “Be not merely good, be good for something.”