Back for More!

After a whirlwind trip to the States to attend my brother's wedding followed by a great 4-day conference in Nairobi I'm finally back in Gatura! Thank you so much to all of you who sent donations back with me. We are in the process of organizing and planning for their use and I will post pictures in the next few weeks as we start sharing them with the community. We are still missing a few things from our list so anyone who missed the deadline but still wants to donate is welcome to pledge money and I can do the purchasing. Just send me an e-mail with the amount and I'll let you know what it can be used for.

Collins "reads" a book about Canada that Stephen donated to the library.

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I can't believe I have only 1 month left! There is still so much to do but I'm working on finding a replacement volunteer so he/she can continue building the capacity of GKHBC as there is so much potential yet untapped. This month will be incredibly busy and I'm looking forward to it. We are opening our library next week, beginning a free tutoring program for orphans the week after, organizing a community event with free HIV testing, and continuing to improve our HIV/AIDS support programs.

When I'm not at work everyone is busy stuffing me with food since I'll be leaving soon. Everyone I've met thus far wants me to come visit and at every home I have to eat until I'm too full to move and then I'm sent home with a bag of food. Tonight I left work early as there was no power again and went to a former co-worker's grandmother's house where I was given 3 manazi (like a giant puffy glazed doughnut without the glaze), an arrowroot, and 2 sweet potatoes. I couldn't finish it all and I was sent home with 2 manazi and 5 sweet potatoes. I've been invited to another person's house for the day tomorrow so I won't be able to eat my leftovers plus I'll come home too stuffed to do anything but sleep with another bag of food again!

I feel a bit overfed but really the hospitality is simply amazing. The honor that is given to visitors is touching and people truly appreciate your willingness to travel to see them. Here that often involves matatu rides, long walks through the mud, and/or extremely long days but it's a sacrifice of something anywhere you live so I have learned to truly appreciate all visitors and I think I'll be a much better hostess when I return home. So anyone who wants to travel to Vancouver get ready for some Kenyan hospitality that will knock your socks off!

The woman I visited today is "60 something", has 13 children, many grandchildren and a few great-grandchildren and no wrinkles?! She spent all day in the tea fields in the pouring rain and then hiked 1 hour home to cook dinner for me in a smokehouse kitchen. Her floor is made of mud, ash and cow dung and she has to hike down to the river to fetch water daily. I don't think I could handle all that at 60...could you?