Kenya GDIs arrive in Kayafungo
Letter from Managing Director, Lily Muldoon, in Kenya:
We have been a week in Kenya, although most GDIs will attest that it feels like a month.
From Nairobi we flew to Mombasa on two separate flights. One landed properly but the other hit a storm and was forced to turn back to Nairobi before landing. We waited on the runway for about an hour, laughed and joked to calm our nerves, and arrived safely in Mombasa - late but with no problems.
Kenya GDIs with their homestay moms
We spent the day touring Mombasa and the girls purchased khangas, colorful pieces of material they wear as skirts during their stay in Kayafungo (pictured on the right). Early Monday morning we departed for Mariakani, the highway city a 40-minute drive from the heart of Kayafungo where we will be spending the weekends showering, washing clothes and reflecting after the homestay experience.
On Monday we got our first glimpse of the community we will be working in for the next seven weeks. We piled into two vans and headed first to Gogoraruhe Primary School, a school ThinkImpact built last year.
Only a few yards from the school grounds, not one but both vans got stuck in the mud! Even with the assistance of 35 community members and two hours of pushing, pulling, and digging, one van could not be removed. Once nightfall emerged we left the van, piled into the other, and returned to our hotel in Mariakani.
The next day we toured more project sites, riding in vans and walking on small footpaths. While jumping across a small creek, Stephanie fell in the mud but shook it off with bellowing laughter.
Kenya GDIs in Kayafungo
The food so far is delicious and everyone is healthy. Patrick and Rachel G. had some episodes of nausea that we eventually determined was not from sickness but from taking their doxycycline (malaria prophylaxis) before eating. Thankfully this was a problem easily remedied!
The rural homestay experience started yesterday. The interns were partnered and met their homestay families. They will be living in different villages with the families until August and meeting Sunday through Tuesday in Mariakani. Pictured you will see Leslie, Meredith (team leader), Ari, Patrick and Xin with their homestay moms, Betty and Agnes enjoying fresh coconuts.
Overall, the trip is going great! Hope you are too!
