Back in North Dakota

Well the trip is done and I am back in North Dakota once again. Sorry it has taken me so long to finish writing about the trip on the blog. I am going to blame it on jet-lag. Here is a little bit about what happened in my last week in Kenya:
It was very sad to leave our friends and what had become our home in Chogoria. We had a wonderful send-off dinner with staff of both the hospital and school, compete with gifts of traditional Maasi wraps. It was followed by fun with the students with whom we had become good friends.

The trip back to Nairobi included two stops. The first was a preschool/orphanage for children with parents affected by HIV/AIDS. The place was still very new, but had already made a big difference in the lives of these children. They were learning a lot and were provided with some stability and certainty in their lives. The second place was a daycare center associated with the preschool we had visited. It was started by a nurse at the hospital in Chogoria. She saw a need for children in the area who were not old enough to attend the preschool. Unfortunately a few days before our visit it was robbed. The lady who ran it found out her mother had become very sick. In her haste to leave she left the building unlocked. The entire place was cleaned out so they had been unable to be open since. We were all able to donate a small amount of money so the daycare could buy mattresses and reopen again.

We were unable to get in contact with the school we were suppose to visit on Friday so instead we were able to spend 2 days at a place called Ngong Road Children Association. On Friday we had the opportunity to shadow the case workers on their visits to the homes of the children in the program. The children in this program all live in the slums of Nairobi and have been affect by HIV/AIDS in some way (either their parents have it or have died from it). It was a very eye opening experience to see up close the living conditions in the in slums. Every Saturday Ngong Road puts on a Saturday Program for all the kids. We were lucky that it fit perfectly in our schedule to attend. It was a lot of fun to be able to play and interact with the children. During the day, they read, get lunch, play team building games, and a lot of other fun things.

The Dahl family (Steve, Candace, Daniel, Charlie and I) have sponsored a child through this organization. So I had to incredible opportunity to meet this wonderful child. His name in Brillion John and he is 9 years old. I took him and a case worker out for lunch followed by a trip to the store to buy him a new pair of shoes and some food for his family. Ngong Road is an incredible organization that is doing a lot of good for the lives and futures of these children. For more information on this organization and to find out how you can sponsor a child you can visit their website http://ngongroad.org/.

We were fortunate enough to be able to end our trip with a safari in the Maasi Mara which is the Kenya portion of the Serengeti. To get there we passed through the Rift Valley.

A synopsis of the animals we saw were elephants, zebra, wildebeest, water buffalo, giraffes, kudu, ostriches, and probably more I am forgetting.

The highlights were definetly the glimpse we got of a cheetah and the "abundance" of black rhino we saw (they are very rare, but we were very luck and saw 5 all together).

After about 2 days on safari we headed back to Nairobi for our flight home. We arrived safely in Fargo after 4 different flights totaling about 20 hours in the air. Although some of our luggage (including both of my checked bags) were left behind in Detroit. Luckily they arrived the next day with no damage. Since I arrived home I have been spending the last few days recovering from jet-lag, sleeping, catching up, and relaxing. Overall it was a wonderful and eye-opening experience that I will never forget!
Thanks everyone for your love and support throughout my preparation and trip. I am so lucky to have so many people that love and care about me :)

Crossing the Atlantic

Janelle has had some great experiences since her Mt Kenya post. I have been able to talk to her on the phone, but I have not been around to post until tonight (I was able to take my own little trip to occupy our last weekend apart!) I will let her tell stories and share pictures since she will be home tomorrow!

Mt. Kenya

Sorry I have not updated in a while, but here is an synopsis of what I have been up to lately. On Thursday I was able to see the birth of a beautiful baby boy. That was a wonderful experience. On Saturday we climbed not Mt Kenya, but a hill right next to it to a beautiful lake. Unfortunately it rained shortly after we arrived and quickly had to leave. It was a lot of fun anyway.
Of course I couldn't make it the whole trip without getting sick, so I did a lot of sleeping and resting Sunday after church and Monday morning, but I am feeling much better now. Tuesday was a nice and relaxing day where we could do laundry ( by hand of course) and enjoy the beautiful weather. In the evening we met with a wonderful man who grew up in the Kenya, made it to the US for college and became a lawyer. After a number of years he felt the call to come back and help the community he grew up in. So he has spent the last few years starting an organization called Village Hope Corp which gives loans and training to groups to start their own businesses. Today was a hot and busy day. We traveled to two very remote schools on the equator where we brought books and other supplies we collected back in the states. We also traveled to a technical school where they taught building, woodworking and sewing. In all three places it was amazing to see how much they do with the little they have. At one of the schools the parents hand dug a pit to collect water during the rainy season since the nearest was 5 km away. Tomorrow we leave Chogoria. We will be sad to leave all of the friends we have made here, but we are all excited for all that we have left during our trip. I am not sure if/when i will have internet access for the rest of the trp. If I am unable to get to a computer I will update the rest of my trip when I get home.
Miss you all!
P.S. I tried to upload more pictures, but the computer was too slow today. Sorry!!

Chogoria Update

Janelle was hoping to post before they made the trip to Mt Kenya (which they will be climbing while we sleep tonight.) I got a quick email from her and she was able to observe some very interesting surgeries during this weeks rotation and was hoping the timing would work out for a birth. She was glad to get a break from rice and beans when they went out for chicken and chips and will probably get to eat touristy food at Mt Kenya (I assume).

Check out some views of and from Mt Kenya http://www.mountkenya.org/mtkenya.htm

Charlie

P.S. Yes, she does miss me a little!

Waterfall and Church

Well the rain cleared on Saturday afternoon so we were able to go to the waterfall after all. It was a lot of fun to get out and do some walking. It was so muddy, but I guess that is better than dusty. The photo is of some of us and some of the Chogoria nursing students. On the way back we saw two cars stuck in the mud. Think being stuck in the snow, but you don't ahve solid ground underneath to dig to get out.  On Sunday we went out to a rural church that its the sister church of the Presbyterian church in Jamestown. Their church building is currently wood boards, but they have started to build a more permanent church. It was long, but very nice. Today was back to the hospital, but our day was interrupted for a welcoming ceremony for an organization called village hope corp which gives loans to mostly women to start business in Chogoria and the surrounding area. Hope all is well at home and feel free to post comments so I can find out what everyone is up to back home!

Janelle

First post in Chogoria!

Hi everyone! Sorry I have not been able to post before now. I have been pretty busy though. We arrived Tuesday night Kenya time only to find out that our guest house booking was lost and they were full. However after an hour of negotiating we found another place to stay. The next day we made a couple of stops to exchange money, get water, and lunch. Then we had to make our way though Nairobi which was a trip in itself. The traffic there is CRAZY even in the middle of the day. After was made it out and had made a stop to get equipment for the Chogoria nursing school and received our permits to practice as student nurses in Kenya we were off to Chogoria. The 200 Kilometer trip took about 4 hours due mostly to what our driver termed "sleeping police men" (aka speed bumps). We arrive in the dark, but we were all exhausted so it didn't matter that we didn't get to explore Chogoria yet. The next day we dived right in the next day working in the hospital. My first rotation was in community health along with two of the others from my group. The first day we stayed in the clinic and saw a lot of pregnant women and "well baby" check ups. The nurses here do a LOT more than we do in the US. In fact I never saw a doctor the whole day. The next day we were able to go out into the community. We went with a nurse who visits the commercial sex workers in the community (it is legal here). What an eye opening experience. Most of them were very open with us about their lives and answered many of the questions we had. We walked in many parts of the city that we would not have otherwise known about or dared to enter alone. Since we were with a nurse that knew the people really well, we felt safe an welcomed everywhere we went. Today (Saturday) we were suppose to go on a hike with some of the nursing students to a nearby waterfall and caves. Unfortunately we woke up to a downpour during the Kenya dry season. It have been raining ever since. I am really bummed, but I finally have a chance to update the blog and do some reading. I hope everyone is doing wonderfully back in the states. I miss you all and love you all.
Love,
Janelle :)

Fun Fact for Wednesday

No news from Janelle today, but for checking out the blog enjoy this fun fact from buzzle.com

DID YOU KNOW…
Kenya, formerly known as British East Africa, became independent in 1963 and a republic in 1964.

Bonus fact: Janelle is currently reading (and may have finished on the trip over)
Imperial Reckoning The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya by Caroline Elkins.