Following a very busy two weeks with our Compass kids, we planned some different activities.

Sheree and Micheline left at the crack of dawn with Faraj as guide, to head to the Mara for a safari weekend. The six-hour drive through the Rift Valley was sometimes breathtaking, sometimes heartstopping, and sometimes backbreaking. If you think Canadian potholes are bad! For Sheree, the first part of the trip was a reminder of TA’s three-day project in Namuncha in 2018 where we built a fence around their school and nearly destroyed the suspension in our vehicle - no roads that bad this time.

We passed through many Maasai towns, some holding their market day, so there were herds of goats and sheep and cows being driven down the sides of and sometimes across the highway. So much activity everywhere: we held our breath as Faraj dodged goats and dogs and motorbikes and potholes with barely a hint of impatience.

Of course, that’s what makes him a great game driver. We passed in to the Mara Game Reserve and paid our entry fee - $100 USD per night for non residents - they used to insist on crisp US bills but now demand credit cards, a very recent change which even surprised Faraj who’d been there just two weeks before. It is increasingly difficult to use cash anywhere in Kenya as mPesa (similar to e-transfer) is used by almost everyone. You need a phone and an mPesa account, which can be opened by foreigners, and you can purchase food from a street-side vendor, a goat from a Maasai herder, trinkets from a market or school supplies from a wholesaler. No room for luddites here - go mobile or go home!

As we drove past the gate, we were greeted by Maasai women selling tourist trinkets, but we declined. Soon, we saw zebra, a few giraffes, topi, and antelope grazing not far from the road, but the real excitement was still waiting. On our first drive, hadn’t even made it to the lodge, we saw a male leopard, sated and heavy from feasting on a warthog, lazing in a tree. Micheline captured some beautiful shots!

By the time we arrived at the lodge, we’d already seen elephants, lions, hippos, water buck, Cape buffalo, antelope, and jackals. Over the next four game drives, we saw massive hippos grazing far from the river and more submerging themselves in the fast-moving water only to emerge with loud snorts and wide mouthed yawns a few minutes later. Crocs lazed on the river’s edge or floated backwards with the current as they hunted for fish and displayed their toothy smiles. Three young male lions lounged on a lookout, a lone hyena sent out its haunting call as he marched past us, two cooperative vultures revealed the secret hiding place of some cheetahs who thought they’d hidden their kill from prying eyes, giraffes loped gracefully through the grasses and munched at the treetops, and elephants, so many beautiful elephants - single males wandering alone and whole family groups silently grazing through the savanna. If your children sound like a herd of elephants, they are being very quiet. 

While Sheree and Micheline lazed like indolent lions on the Mara, Gabi and Linda were on a different kind of safari led by the intrepid Edward and his trusty sidekick, Christine. Having found no game (fabric) at Diamond Plaza, they headed for the crowded warren of streets in the River Road district where it was rumoured good deals were there to be caught by skilled shoppers. And the hunt was successful. They bagged a good price on Kitenge cotton then encountered the elusive PUL, needed for making liners. 

When Christine had to report to class (she is studying tourism) Gabi used a screenshot she’d nabbed on an earlier hunt and Edward guided them to a shop they’d visited several days earlier. There, they laid the groundwork for Compass and Girls’ Empowerment to hunt down the endangered dark flannel which rarely makes an appearance in the deepest, darkest reaches of the fabric district of Nairobi. There are few photos of their adventures as they were hesitant to expose the tasty treat of a cell phone while on their mission.

On Sunday, while Mich and Sheree bounced around the Mara with Faraj, Gabi and Linda travelled to Citam Buro Buro. Citam is a chain or group of churches to which the name of the town is added. They were invited to attend by Florence, the main pastor’s wife and also the VP (equivalent) of procurement, marketing, and revitalization at Africa International University where we are staying. Her daughter, Hesed, was their guide ( the temporary church tent seats 2000) and they, along with three Sudanese ministers, were the day’s honoured guests. The service was presented in both English and Swahili and included musical accompaniment on sax, guitar, keyboard, and drums. There was lots of lively singing and clapping, as well as two sermons and a children’s choir performance. All together, the service lasted 2.5 hours! This was followed by a luncheon for the honoured guests that was prepared by the cooks of the school connected to the church. It was an interesting but exhausting day, and our two travellers were tucked up in their beds by 6:30 pm. 

                                 

It’s a good thing they were well rested because this dynamic duo set off early Monday to the Girls Empowerment Centre we’d all visited the week before. Their mission - they chose to accept it - was to teach the sewing teacher and the three tailoring students how to sew shields and liners. They made a good team, with Gabi teaching the whole group and Linda providing one-on-one assistance as needed. They came close to completing their assignment of having each new sewer produce 3 shields and 2 liners in one day.

When they broke for lunch at 1 pm they had an interesting discussion with Sister Jane regarding sustainability. She mentioned that they were saving to buy chickens and a “guaranteed pregnant” rabbit to help provide the girls a source of protein. Turns out that Gabi and Linda are now silent partners in a poultry and rabbit farming enterprise in Kenya 

After lunch, Sister Mary and the cook joined the girls and Sister Jane as a supply of larger underwear was distributed since our previous offering hadn’t quite “covered” their needs. Hilarity ensued as the group enjoyed striking ridiculous poses for the camera. 

                                                        

Then it was back to Kijiji to join Sheree and Micheline for a stay-at-home dinner with Lois and Flora. We had KFC because they deliver!

Today, Tuesday, was a total tourist day. We headed out to Kitengela Hot Glass to see the beautiful glass pieces shaped and blown using recycled pop, beer, and wine bottles. We watched as the glass blowers, sporting t-shirts that read “Kiss My Glass,” turned garbage into beauty. 

Their current big contract requires them to produce 200 750 mL bottles, four days a week, year round for a craft gin company called Procera. They also do online custom orders. We enjoyed browsing the shop and the grounds that were decorated with beautiful stained glass pieces. 

                                                

Then we were off on the bone-jarring road we’d travelled in on - how they manage to ship their wares without shattering them is a mystery - glass must be stronger than old lady bones. 

Faraj managed to navigate the ridges and potholes to get us safely to the restaurant he owns in partnership with his cousin in a Kibera. We all shared two large platters of traditional fare: fried whole tilapia, two types of rice, chapati, chicken in a tasty sauce, red onion and cabbage and cucumber and tomato washed down with our choice of hibiscus or passion fruit juice. Then it was off to the Maasai Market and Carrefour for some last minute purchases. 

We only had a few hours to rest up before a final farewell dinner with Lois and Mark who head home to Virginia a few hours before our flight leaves. They’ve had a stressful few weeks as their son and daughter-in-law have had to evacuate from Goma due to the M23 uprising. They are safe here in Kenya right now but their future is uncertain. Despite this stress; Lois has remained our dedicated and caring guide and support as we have worked with our Compass friends and learned by love and adventure over these last few weeks. 

Tomorrow will be a day of farewells and tears, but we are looking forward to being home, despite the weather reports. See you all soon!

Nairobi Safari Walk

Today was so much fun!

Thanks to a generous donation from two of our Tumaini Afrika community friends, we were able to join our grades five and six students, along with five teachers and head teacher Brian at the Nairobi Animal Orphanage operated by Kenya Wildlife Service. The students and most of their teachers had never had the opportunity to see their county’s wildlife live, and they were excited. Our tour guide and security guard were great with the kids and commented on how inquisitive and attentive the students were. 

They saw a Pygmy hippo, zebras, antelope, dikdiks, a friendly giraffe that accepted petting, a male and female lion that definitely did not accept petting, baboons, cheetahs, and safari ants which travelled up pants legs with amazing speed. The kids were so overjoyed to be there! We took loads of photos which really speak for themselves. Enjoy!

  

We finished the trip with a delicious lunch packed by Kijiji chef, Paul, bid our kids farewell with a promise to drop in on Wednesday before we leave, and that was it. 

Yet another shopping excursion followed; then we spent our first truly leisurely afternoon resting and recuperating. We ended the day at Que Pasa where we enjoyed pizza that could possibly (oh sacrilege!) rival any pizza in Sault Ste. Marie.

Tomorrow, Sheree and Mich head out for a much deserved Safari led by Faraj (poor guy - if he isn’t deaf by the end of it, he’ll be lucky) while Linda and Gabi have commandeered Edward to lead their Nairobi fabric hunt to the best wholesalers they can find. See you all on Monday!

Celebration Day

Let’s start with Thursday and work backwards. Not sure why, but it’s the writer’s prerogative .

Today’s trip to Brown’s Cheese was a huge change from our usual routine. Despite intermittent downpours throughout the day, we enjoyed cheese tasting, a tour through the Brown’s operations, and a delicious lunch where we were joined by two other Canadians who had come to visit their daughter, a journalist and humanitarian who had, inexplicably to them, moved to Kenya six year ago; a young couple (one from the Faro Islands and the other, a Kenyan-born Dane) who assured us that they were not interested in taking a certain president up on his offer. The final four included three fifth generation Indo-Kenyans and a granddaughter from Australia. 

We were all impressed with the fact that Brown’s collects 30000 litres of milk from local small operation farmers (3 or 4 cows) daily and processes it all by end of day. They focus on natural ingredients (fresh lavender, mint leaves, coffee beans, Tanzanian vanilla) to flavour their delicious ice cream( we tested everything), and prepare their own caramel, rocky road brownies, and chocolate brownies for three more flavours. Numerous local people are involved in all aspects of the production and the surrounding biodynamic regenerative garden is a peaceful oasis, even in a rainstorm. It was fun and informative and offered us a view of a different Kenya. It also left us breathless, situated as it was at an elevation of up to 2500 metres (over 8000 feet).

Sadly, this is an area most of our students at Compass will never see. Still, we are thrilled to be a part of Tumaini Afrika which works so hard to improve opportunities for our kids. Some of our past Compass kids are individually sponsored by TA members and friends. Last week, Sheree met with Kenneth, whose sponsorship she has continued on behalf of her late husband; Linda met with her Kenneth and his sister; one sponsored student, Joyce, dropped in to the Compass celebration to say hello; and Sheree met with Caroline who is in her fourth year of veterinary medicine at the University of Nairobi. 

Today was good, But yesterday far surpassed it in importance and joy. It was Community/School Celebration Day, a chance to meet the parents, publicly recognize the dedication of the staff and to share with parents and whole school community the history and extent of Tumaini Africa’s support of Compass School. 

We started the day scraping great gobs of red mud from our shoes after we’d squelched through the rain-soaked yard. Many parents were already present to greet us and the kids eagerly assisted in unloading cases of water, juice, cookies, and unknown treats from the van. They were so excited to see us, now comfortable enough to greet us with hugs and high fives.
In order to start at 10:15, head teacher Brian had invited parents to arrive at 8:30. Some were still arriving throughout the morning but we did pull off a 10:30 start. And the sun came out!

Teacher Peter greeted everyone and teacher Sarah opened the event with a prayer of thanksgiving followed by a lively and well- rehearsed musical presentation by the grade six class. 

All of the teachers were introduced and took the opportunity to speak to the crowd. 

Teacher Susan brought tears to our eyes speaking of her thanks to Tumaini and her love of teaching. The parents responded with nods of agreement and were very receptive to Brian’s and others’ invitations for them to become more involved in the school community. On behalf of the travellers and all of TA at home, Micheline addressed the crowd, first expressing how delighted and gratified we felt to have the opportunity to work with such dedicated students and staff - these are not just pretty words, you need to live it to truly understand - and then shared information about the many projects we supported at the school. Brian recognized the outstanding work led by Gabi and Linda to establish the sewing classroom and invited the parents to come and make use of the new facility. The final address was from a parent who very eloquently thanked us and urged parent involvement in the school. 

All of these speeches, delivered outdoors to a standing crowd, really warmed things up, or maybe it was the sun. In any case, when they ended, the real fun began. Parents, including many moms with babes in arms made a beeline for the water and biscuits, while the kids were over the moon about the lollipops donated by friend of TA and Compass, Kamal. These treats were topped off with a juice box and biscuits - nothing like sugar to liven up a party!

Many of the parents visited their children’s classrooms and chatted with the teachers while the kids had lunch before returning to class. 

Class!!
But why?

Because that’s where you get your gift bags filled. We were like Santa Claus filling stockings - each child received underwear, new uniform socks (the look of sheer delight on the faces of children receiving new socks is something never to be forgotten), souvenir lapel pins from Canada, Ontario, and the City of London, even more candy, and peanuts. Each also received a banana before heading home. 

Before leaving, there were more pictures to take. Teachers Peter and William had great fun posing with their “grandmothers” (Mich claims “Mama” but . . . ) and Sheree joined the three new spectacles models for a group photo. Brian made sure to join us for some final snaps, too. 

Too soon,it was time for us to say goodbye - lots of tearful farewells and those wonderful Kenyan hugs! We’ll see the fives and sixes one more time when we visit the game park on Friday, but we were sad to say goodbye to a place and people that had stolen our hearts. 
Later that evening, with Lois fulfilling other commitments, we enjoyed a relaxing dinner out with Faraj where we reflected on the day and enjoyed learning more about him, his culture, and his family. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.