Jambo!
It is Tuesday morning here and internet access is very challenging and very slow so no pics for these entries - they will follow shortly.
On Sunday morning we were escorted from Kakamega by the GM of the water project, his secretary and his driver on our trip to Kimu - about 30 kms south - or a 3 hr drive:) As luck would have it the truck broke down so what did we do - we grabbed one of our soccer balls and started playing with some kids in a nearby field - it is amazing how quickly soccer unites two groups. Upon arriving in Kimu we were greeted by our hosts Jesse and Julious who head of Kippepeo, a community outreach program that helps empower people living HIV positive, orphans and widows. Now, this town is a dirt patch with a couple of buildings however the buildings are built around these huge boulders - very cool. We had a 3 hr introductory meeting/orientation and those of you who know me know how much a like to sit down for such a long period of time. Formality is very important here - everyone always introduces themselves and restating the obvious is part of the everyday discussions:) They are good hosts and after the meeting we headed for our accommodation - which was a 3 km hike down a network of farmer's paths through some of the most gorgeous countryside you will see. We then headed to a project where orphans and widows are supported and were treated to 20 children doing native dancing and singing for us - most were under 10 years of age - they were very well behaved and once they got used to us were very curious to touch us, wear our sunglasses etc. This project is building a chicken coup to help provide income to these people so we thought that this was a great place to give the money several of you donated to - to help finish the chicken coup. The ladies who run this are all volunteers and wonderful people. You can feel very good as to where your money has gone.
That night we had a simple meal of rice and tea - there is no electricity and our sleeping quarters were on a floor of a mud hut that had roaches and other insects crawling all around. We loved our netting and sleeping bags this night:) - message here - we were missing our food and any comforts big time - but were so tired sleep came quickly.
