Goats, Shopping, Eating, Dancing, and Underwear Modelling - ooh la la!

Goats, Shopping, Eating, Dancing, and Underwear Modelling - ooh la la!    What a busy weekend!

Our day started with a goat giveaway in Kibera. The event was a great success, with thirty goats going to girls in Faraj’s home community in recognition of his contributions to the work of Tumaini Afrika and his role as a boots-on-the-ground Tumaini member. They were well prepared with ropes to lead the goats away but when four rather sickly ones were discovered, their replacements arrived via motorcycle - no helmets required. 

It was a little crazy and very hot and some of the girls were a bit timid around the goats, but they were all happy to pose for photos and sport their Canada flag pins.

 You might see some men with the goats - hakuna matata - their daughters were in class and joined them at recess. Everyone was so excited, and Faraj was inundated with messages of thanks all day.

We then joined Faraj, his wife, Fatima, his mother, Asha, and two of Faraj’s three children at their home in Kibera. Fatima prepared us a delicious lunch and we had some time to relax before heading out for a frenzy of shopping in the fabric district. 

We found beautiful kitenge and even the elusive PUL for the Superior Shields, but we are still working on sourcing dark shades of flannel for liners. Where there’s a will . . . .

Gabi was on a mission to stock up on girls’ underwear for the kits, and the young woman in the shop was phenomenal. She had other workers running to sister stores and checking the warehouse for supplies. 

In the meantime, Sheree and Lois, our tour facilitator, might accidentally have purchased a few dresses during the chaos. Through all the mayhem, Faraj worked hard to chase us up and down the street to track our whereabouts and only a few times allowed his exasperation to show. He just loves shopping! 😉

After three tries, Gabi was finally shut in to the van and we headed back to Kijiji with a brief stop for ice cream and to put in an order for some wish list items at the Masai market - yet another photo op. 

On Sunday morning, we were excited to return to mass at Resurrection Garden because we’d arranged to meet Sister Jane for a return visit to the Cardinal Maurice Otunga Girls Empowerment Centre. 

The girls, who had led the procession at church with Kenyan dance, entertained us with more dance routines - a few traditional, and a few to show they are truly modern young women. 

Then Gabi entertained - well, technically, she was instructing, but it was definitely entertaining. 

The girls had a great time practising how to fit the feminine hygiene pads and both Sister Jane and Sister Monica joined in the fun, providing lots of encouragement and exemplifying the normalization of menstruation. The students and the nuns were very interested in learning how to sew the shields, as they have a sewing and tailoring class. The show over, we had a tour of the facility, the girls prepared our lunch of lentils, rice, and salad, and we posed for more photos. The students have so much potential and enthusiasm, we’re looking forward to seeing how they use the shield sewing instruction Gabi and Linda are delivering next week. 

It was a weekend of positives to conclude our first full week in Kenya. Stay tuned for more good news in the days to come.