Week One in Kenya

On the Masaii Mara: This gal was watching a small herd of antelope. We were hopeful that she was going to spring into action, but she just eyed them, swished her tail, and lay down again with her cubs in the shade of a small bush.

We had three great days at a tented-camp style lodge with the warmest people you can imagine (the staff, not the other guests!). At the park gates is a Maasai school that Richard Branson of Virgin fame has funded. One evening we sat beside two teachers from the UK who were teaching there for two months and staying at the lodge. They said they always gave their box lunches to the Maasai teachers, who said, "Oh, chicken! I shouldn't eat it because I'm Maasai, but, oh well..."

On Feb. 11 we reached our first destination after a 6-hour bus ride, a 2-hour taxi, and a 30-minute ferry: Mbita, a fishing town on the shore of Lake Victoria--a Luo community in an area that has been very hard hit by the HIV/Aids epidemic. Five years ago, 38% of the population were infected. That number has dropped to 31% as a result of public education and the availability of free anti-retroviral drugs.

We met wonderful local people who work in their communities with widows, orphans and school-age children. One man began an eco-farm, another man helps "beach children" (like street kids, but they live on the beaches in the area), and two women began taking in abandoned children and others needing food and schooling. They are the most inspiring people.
We listened in as they spoke to the McGill students who are staying here in Mbita for a few days of their semester in Kenya and Uganda. (Our friend John Geddes from Kingston is their doctor for part of their term. The faculty ornithologist is named "Dr. Bird." Really. That's his name. We'll be doing a bird walk with him on Monday morning. This morning we saw ibis, kingfishers, fish eagles, hawks, and dozens of other birds from the shore beside the residence.)

Then two of the speakers, Mama Benta and Mama Esther, walked with us into town and through the market, where Benta asked for the vegetable cast-offs for her cow! We packed two sacks of stalks and stems, Ginny lugged a huge bag on her back to the delight of everyone watching (gales of laughter), and Benta hailed a motorbike (boda-boda) to carry them and her back to her school 20 minutes away!

Mama Esther helped us buy a cell phone (our first!) at a little stall and get it charged. These women are true forces of nature. We'll have pictures from their schools next week. Stay tuned!