To Kenya and Beyond...

Our visas expired at the three month mark which meant we would have to pay the entry and exit fees no matter what so we decided to take advantage of our predicament. So from the beginning of our Uganda experience we planned to go visit our friend Jared in Kenya during that period. A week and a half ago the 3 of us set off, along with Wilbroad and Violet, and 14 hours later we arrived in Nairobi safe and sound.

You guys remember Jared right? Our friend who got us settled in at the beginning of our trip? Jared has been over in Kenya for the past 16 months working for an organization called the Maasai Development Project (MDP). After he picked us up at the bus station, we spent the next few days at the MDP owner's guest house. We enjoyed warm showers and fri-chick, among other commodities. Sabbath morning, we made the 5 hour trek to Jared's project in Maasai Land.

The Maasai people are exactly what you picture when you think "African tribe". They worship their cows, and they eat only three things: 1) cow blood, 2) cow milk, and 3) cow meat. The men make the decisions and watch cows all day while the women cook, build the house, carry all the heavy objects, and take care of the children. At a certain age, both boys AND girls are circumcised in their journey to adulthood. For boys, the experience is miserable to say the least, but for girls the experience often leads to permanent pain, infection and sometimes death. Sexual promiscuity is so much a part of the culture that HIV/AIDS and other STDs are rampant. The Maasai Development Project was formed to both educate and reform some of these inevitably dangerous customs.

Two random Maasai women

The Jared's project land is fenced in with 11 strands of hot wire fencing. The fence keeps both the unwanted people and wild animals out. Just before we arrived, the fence battery had died and a lion had chased a zebra inside and had quite a feast. This area of Africa is so raw and exciting. Anyway, inside the fence is Jared's little shack along with his small kitchen building. On one side of his living accommodations is the guest house he is building for volunteers who come to work there in the future. On the other side lies the foundation for a girl's dormitory. Behind all of this is a giant water tank that runs on solar power, pumping water from a nearby stream from dusk until dawn.

Dawn at Jared's place

Right now there are 36 girls staying in a rented building that is about a 10 minute walk from Jared's place. A widow whose husband was killed by an elephant acts at the matron to the girls. Some of the children are partial or full orphans but the majority of these girls are ones who are taking a stand against their culture and refuse to be circumcised. They range in age from about 8-12 years old and being at the orphanage protects them from both circumcision and the marriage that would immediately follow.

The Matron

You hear all these things and you would expect the people to be harsh and unfriendly, maybe even a little bit savage if you're totally honest with where your thoughts go when you hear about such customs. But to the contrary, the Maasai people are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. The local pastor/social worker took us around to some of the huts in a nearby village. We met a young girl who had been circumcised just 2 days before. Everyone was so welcoming when we got to their hut. The hut was dark inside and the family was roasting a big cow's leg for the girl. They said she deserved some good food. I agreed wholeheartedly. I felt like adding that she deserved a lot of other things too - like the right to her own body - but I refrained from saying so. The social worker explained that he had been working on taking this girl to the orphanage but the family caught wind of it and when the girl came home from school one day, they grabbed her and did their deed. Dead flies, honey, ashes, and cows milk were placed in the incision for....good luck? You can google the whole process if you want more details but if you are under 18 years old, I would suggest having a parent in the room before you do so.

The social worker explained that when the girl healed, he would still take her to the orphanage because she was pledged to be married soon after and he knew she was too young. He jokingly told the girl that Krystin and I were there to take her away right then. She popped her head out from the bed she was resting in and excitedly asked when she could leave. We felt bad that we weren't taking her right then. This whole conversation took place in the hut, with the family right there. We asked the social worker how they were so relaxed about him coming and taking their children and he said that they were OK with it because they had already done what they wanted to do. On they way back to Jared's place we passed a man with some roasted cow parts on a plate in one hand and a mug full of cow blood in the other. He offered us some but we politely declined. The whole experience seemed so unreal.

The 3 of us and the girls

We stayed at Jared's for that whole week and had many adventures that included a waterfall expedition, his giant kite taking us for unexpected ventures 10 feet in the air, and a lot of quality time with the matron and girls at the orphanage. Some of the Maasai ladies made us belts from cow hide and jewelry from local beads. They helped us buy full Maasai garb and one day we all dressed up and walked the 3 miles to the local market. The Maasai people got a pretty big kick out of that.

Relaxing in the waterfalls

 Kristen receiving her belt

Sarah and me

Jared's uncle owns a luxury camp and non-governmental organization (NGO) across the Mara. For those of you that don't know, the Maasai Mara is a giant game park. It was a 3 hour drive from the project. Instead of paying the $60 fee to get in, Jared just got a transit license to pass along the edge the the reserve. To make a long story short, we got a little bit off track and found ourselves in the middle of the Mara. That is illegal for two reasons: 1) We didn't pay, and 2) We were sitting in the back of an open pick-up truck. On the bright side, we got to see almost all the safari animals on our list, minus the predators (thank God, I'm not sure what we would have done if a lion had come running towards us lol).

Volunteer side

View from the luxury side

We finally reached the camp, Mara West, and settled into our little huts. I had been to the camp 4 years ago but it has changed so much since then. There are now luxury cottages overlooking the Mara, amazing food, beautiful gardens, and friendly waiters. The luxury side of the camp is what makes the money and the other side of  camp (still really nice) is used for mission purposes. We met 3 other volunteers while we were there and spent a wonderful Sabbath hanging out with them. The work they are doing is inspiring.

The next day we got up to see the sun rise over the Mara and then headed back to Nairobi. We took Jared out for his birthday and caught a night bus back to Kampala, Uganda. All in all, the trip was incredible. We met so many good people who inspired us to come back and finish our last three weeks at L'esperance with energy and excitement.