Hike, Clinic, Orphanage, AND Safari

All the students

Busy, busy, busy! I am emotionally and physically drained! Yesterday we went on a hike to the bottom of a beautiful waterfall! It reminded me of the Willamette Valley's lush foliage with moss and green everywhere! There were vines, banana slugs, and tons of rocks to climb downriver on. We had a grand adventure just playing around.

Next we went to an HIV/AIDS clinic in a neighboring town and that was very interesting to see from a health perspective. The Kenyan government provides free testing and treatment for those who qualify which is more than the States does! The clinic focused mostly on providing tests and being a source of support- both counseling and group support. It was nice to hear that people are becoming educated on both the prevention of HIV and how it is spread so there is not as much prejudice of those who have tested positive; the rate of those with HIV is also going down!

Then, after all of that, we went to a local orphanage. This orphanage focused on helping children become educated and being able to sustain themselves as adults in Kenya. They had never had an adoption. Some of the children still had families nearby, but the families could not care for them. There were about 50 girls and boys- I bonded immediately with Neema and Dina. Neema is a 13 year old girl who loves science. Dina was a little boy who didn’t speak very much English but help my hand almost the entire time.

The orphanage was very sad to see. There was a guest house with comfy couches, coffee tables, etc. It reminded me so much of the States! But where the kids slept was devastating. They slept four to a tiny room with bunk beds built into the walls. Their mosquito nets had giant gaping holes. It was cramped and dismal even though a volunteer group had obviously come through to paint the walls a nice aqua color. The paint was chipping. I was really upset that volunteers or donors had a nice house to stay in while the children were subjected to these conditions. I would not have felt comfortable staying in the guest house knowing how the children were sleeping. It was also very uncomfortable to know these children, especially Neema and Dina, were going to connect to me and then I would never see them again. It must be so hard to not live with your family and meet volunteers who never return. I can’t imagine. I cried when we left.

Today we went to Amboseli National Park to participate in a quaterly animal count of the entire park. We teamed up wih a few other groups and the KWS (Kenyan Wildlife Service) to ground count all of the animals in the park. This was split up via sector and we went off roading. Off roading is only done for these counts; quite a priviledge! We saw so many giraffes, wildebeest, zebras, elephants, and warthogs! It still amazes me that I am in Africa, that I am seeing these animals, and that my calculations will be part of the history of Wildlife Management in beautiful Kenya!

Sitting on top of the land crusier watching giraffes. Hakuna Mutata!