Back from our Nairobi side trip...

We're "home" - to Brackenhurst, that is. We had a wonderful side trip to Nairobi beginning on Sunday morning. We went to an African church (service lasted over 3 hours!), visited with the pastor, and then went to the Serare School where my friend, Rachel, is the principal. The Serare School is a very nice boarding school. Girls from all over Kenya attend and it has an excellent reputation. It is a very nice school (by Kenyan standards), and they have recently added guest quarters. We were the first guests to stay there and they completely spoiled us - anticipating our every need and preparing wonderful meals. Today they sent us off with a barbecue lunch under a tent in the beautiful garden.

When we arrived at Serare School Sunday evening, we were greeted by Rachel and Rose (the director). We had dinner and visited. Monday morning we left for the 2 hour drive (very bumpy drive!) into Maasailand where the Masai people live. Rachel is half Masai so she took us to visit her family. I've written about the Masai in previous posts, but as a reminder, they are a nomadic, cattle-farming tribe who still live in the way they've lived for thousands of years... it's huts made of cow dung, living off the land, with no real modern conveniences (but they do have cell phones with solar chargers). We had a wonderful visit with her family. Her late uncle had four wives - we met all of them and their children and grandchildren. They prepared a large meal for us (roasted goat, rice, stew, vegetables, flatbread). We visited and ate together. Then, they sang and danced for us and we had to sing a song in return. Then we presented them with small gifts and they gave us some of their beautiful beadwork. It was very different than my previous visit to a Masai village because it was like being welcomed into the home of a friend rather than visiting a tourist attraction. Wonderful day. We came home dirty, hot, and exhausted, enjoyed dinner, and went to bed early.

Today, we briefly toured Rachel's school and the three youngest members of the team (Grace, Bailey, and Kimberly) met with the senior girls to visit. Then, we left for Kibera. As always, Kibera is a hard place to describe. It's the largest slum in Kenya. There is extreme poverty and pretty terrible living conditions. But, many local people are doing what they can to make a difference - especially with educating children so they can escape the cycle of poverty.

After Kibera, we returned to the Serare School to pack up and enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the garden. We then went to shop for souvenirs in Nairobi and just returned home.

We have a wonderful team of seven now (Bailey joined us Sunday night) and are having an amazing time reconnecting with old friends and making a few new ones. I appreciate the thoughts and prayers that you are sending my way!