Jambo Rafiki! It was a "glorious" day in Kenya today! The sun was shining and the weather was beautiful! Our hosts have been wonderful and the food has been amazing. We are so happy to be here and the people we have been seeing have shown us nothing but love and gratitude. We have seen quite a bit of wildlife so far just driving but this morning we were blessed from a visit by the local impalas.
Our group traveled into Mukuru slum today to visit two schools and bring them donations. This area has been hit hard by rains and flooding so the mud and sewage was really bad. Our vans weren't able to get all the way in to both schools so we did have to to walk a bit. The first school was one that has been blessed by the love and support of one of our own's parents for many years. Noelle's mother first visited the Glorious Land Academy and Secondary School on a mission trip and when she saw how much they were in need she decided to do something. Over the years the school has grown and is quite the testament to what can be done and how far they can go with the support they need. They teach over 500 primary and secondary school children ages 4 to 18 and many of them go on to get college degrees. Noelle was quite the celebrity at this school and we received a very special welcome and program put on by the children and teachers. Our Hope Without Borders group brought the Red Elephant packs to the girls there and handed out 170 packs! The girls were very thankful and many of them were so happy they said they wouldn't have to miss school for a week each month anymore! It is a great feeling to know we are helping them stay in school! Thank you for the support of the Rotary Club.
The second school is on the other side of the same slum unfortunately they are much less fortunate. It was shocking to see the difference and yet the children there are just as eager to learn as any of the others we have seen. Our guys brought the Blue Lion packs in for all the boys there which is a new program from Hope Without Borders (HWB). One of our team said the boys were so happy to have their own packs and it made them feel important. That really made our day! We also gave them new soccer balls and nets and candy for the kids. HWB also has a sewing co-op which makes the Red Elephant packs for HWB. They also sell scarves and beaded jewelry (which we all got to purchase!) to help support the school. We also got to do a home visit to check on a family who is using one of the HWB water purifiers. It is so surprising to see just how small the homes are, it was just one room and no bigger than 10'x10'. We had to walk through quite a bit of sewage and mud to get there.
Our time in Mukuru ended on a perfect note with our team leader Mama Julie teaching us all how to hypnotize a chicken! Yes...she really can!
Don't forget to follow our journey on Facebook as well!
Lala Salama...Maria & Sheila
Our group traveled into Mukuru slum today to visit two schools and bring them donations. This area has been hit hard by rains and flooding so the mud and sewage was really bad. Our vans weren't able to get all the way in to both schools so we did have to to walk a bit. The first school was one that has been blessed by the love and support of one of our own's parents for many years. Noelle's mother first visited the Glorious Land Academy and Secondary School on a mission trip and when she saw how much they were in need she decided to do something. Over the years the school has grown and is quite the testament to what can be done and how far they can go with the support they need. They teach over 500 primary and secondary school children ages 4 to 18 and many of them go on to get college degrees. Noelle was quite the celebrity at this school and we received a very special welcome and program put on by the children and teachers. Our Hope Without Borders group brought the Red Elephant packs to the girls there and handed out 170 packs! The girls were very thankful and many of them were so happy they said they wouldn't have to miss school for a week each month anymore! It is a great feeling to know we are helping them stay in school! Thank you for the support of the Rotary Club.
The second school is on the other side of the same slum unfortunately they are much less fortunate. It was shocking to see the difference and yet the children there are just as eager to learn as any of the others we have seen. Our guys brought the Blue Lion packs in for all the boys there which is a new program from Hope Without Borders (HWB). One of our team said the boys were so happy to have their own packs and it made them feel important. That really made our day! We also gave them new soccer balls and nets and candy for the kids. HWB also has a sewing co-op which makes the Red Elephant packs for HWB. They also sell scarves and beaded jewelry (which we all got to purchase!) to help support the school. We also got to do a home visit to check on a family who is using one of the HWB water purifiers. It is so surprising to see just how small the homes are, it was just one room and no bigger than 10'x10'. We had to walk through quite a bit of sewage and mud to get there.
Our time in Mukuru ended on a perfect note with our team leader Mama Julie teaching us all how to hypnotize a chicken! Yes...she really can!
Don't forget to follow our journey on Facebook as well!
Lala Salama...Maria & Sheila
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