Dad asked if I would do a blog entry from my perspective on his site. Rather than copy and pasting it over here (our Internet keeps coming and going), you can go here to read it.
Tag Archives: travel
Kenya Week 2: I think I’ve been everywhere
We drove over 1600 km this week and visited 6 out of 8 provinces in Kenya. It was a crazy busy week, but pretty amazing.
Once again, there were two food distributions. This time, they were in two completely different areas of the country. In the first village we visited, the beneficiaries were quite adament that they would not accept food as a hand out. It was very important for them to be doing some sort of work to receive the food. In this area, all they needed was rain. It has been over four years since some parts of Kenya received the rain that they need to grow crops. As a result, crops have failed repeatedly and livestock are all dying. These villagers have all they need to survive, but if there is no rain, they have no food.
The next day was Canada Day. Dad had brought a few Canadian souviners with him which he gave out to some of the villagers. The main tribe we met here was the Turkana people, known forever because of National Geographic pictures of the woman with stacks upon stacks of beaded necklaces. One of the ladies, Elizabeth, sort of adopted me even though neither of us could really speak to the other. I did find out that she is a 41 year-old widow who has 8 or 9 children. She was quite excited when she found out that I work for an optometrist and wanted me to come back to fix her eyes (she looked to have some cataracts developing). It was hard to explain through an interpreter (a villager who spoke some English) that I am not the doctor, I just help the doctor…!
The villagers were very excited when we explained that it was Canada Day and proceeded to dance around and sing with the small flags we had. They even pulled Jen and I into the dancing for awhile! I felt like I was back in Polynesia or something with all the dancing going on. Except there was much less hip-swaying!
Somewhere along the way, we drove across the equator. Actually, we crossed it at least 6 times driving as the road winds a lot. I lost count. Either way, it was an exciting moment for me as I have now driven/walked, flown, and sailed across the equator. Crouching beside me in the picture is Chris. He is the National Relief Manager for the CRWRC here, so is technically Dad and Colleen’s boss I think. He knows everything about everything and has lots of great stories to tell.
The Great Rift Valley…
Chris took us to visit his village in Western Province. We met his mother and two of his brothers and many, many extended family members. I had fun with some of the kids and we were able to get an incredible picture of what life is like for a lot of Kenyans outside of the big cities. There is no electricity or running water in the village and life proceeds in a simple and traditional way, interrupted only by the ringing of a cell phone (not sure yet how those get charged when there is no electricity).
On our way back to Nairobi from Chris’ village, we drove through (and stayed the night in) Kisumu and took a peek at Lake Victoria. It looked… like a lake…! But there were some hippos off in the distance just barely sticking their snouts out of the water.
Now we are back to Nairobi for the weekend. Distributions are done for the month (that is, June) and don’t start up again until mid-July. Next week will be a brief holiday to the coast before Jen and I are left to our own devices in Nairobi!
Kenya: Week 1
The past week in Kenya has been a whirlwind!
The morning after we arrived, we were off driving down to the Rift Valley to take part in two food distributions in two different Maasai villages. We were warmly welcomed into both villages and greeted with Maasai blankets and jewelry. I think we’ve been adopted into their villages now! At each place, the neediest of the people were given 3L of oil, 50kg of maize and 10kg of beans. This will feed a family of around 8 for approximately 2 weeks. We witnessed some singing and dancing and took part in a discussion Dad and Colleen led with a small group of villagers discussing the need in the village and how they will cope when the distribution comes to an end in 2 months. It was moving to hear of how lives have been impacted by this seemingly small amount of food.
We also spent time walking around saying hi (“sopa”) to everyone and trying to communicate as best as we could. It is frustrating to have a language barrier with such warm people.
Here is Dad making friends with some of the men of the village. I took a picture of the one on the far left and then showed it to him. He adjusted his blanket and sat a little straighter and then motioned for me to take another!
Here, some of the women are singing just before the food distribution began. They wear the brightest colours and have beads all over.
All of the food received has to be carried home somehow. Most often on the back of the beneficiaries.
We’ve seen lots of crazy cool wildlife, including this giraffe which was ambling along the side of the road as we drove home last night.
Today we visited a women’s centre here in Nairobi. My friend Nancy spent some time here a few years ago and she made this mosaic! Everyone I met who knows her still speaks of her time there very highly.
En Route
I am on my way to Kenya! It only really sank in when I finished up most of my packing last night. After an obscenely early start this morning and two airplane flights later, I am currently in Montreal. Here I will rest and recover before leaving in less than 24 hours to Nairobi via Amsterdam. This will be the first big trip Jen and I have done together (others being an overnight bus trip to Quebec city and weekend road trip to London, ON) and I’m looking forward to travelling with her.
I’ll try and update as often as I can, although I don’t think that will be as often as you or I would like! To satiate your curiosity, and to find out just where I am going and what we will be participating in, you can check out my Dad’s blog. He posts once a week (on Saturday) but there are about 15 entries from their time there thus far. That will help give some sort of idea of where I’ll be in, oh, a day and a half!
I’ve been noticeably absent over the last week. I leave for Kenya on Monday and have been busy packing and getting in last minute appointments. Oh, and doing the regular day-to-day stuff like work and church stuff.
Don’t know how much I’ll be able to get online while I’m in Kenya, but I do intend to say hi at least once while I’m there!
I Went to Montreal and London and Now I’m Home
and Stratford, but apparently I didn’t take any photos with the family there.
Over the week, I…
Met week-and-a-half old baby Piper (she’s a cutie!) in Vancouver
Saw my sister graduate from her Masters at McGill in Montreal
Went to the exhibit commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Bed-In
Drove by the house I grew up in…
…and saw that the birch tree planted when I was born is still there
Drove by “The Weedpatch” – my Grandparent’s old house
Lost 10 years off of my life in rush hour on the 401 in Toronto. (There are 13 lanes in this photo. Thirteen. Count them. Egads!)
Witnessed the wedding of one of our oldest friends (not old as in he is old but old as in our families have been friends since before any of us kids were born)
Drove back on the 401 once more before flying home to beautiful BC over the Gulf Islands (points if anyone can identify any of these islands!)
Up and Coming Travels
This week will be a good week…
Tomorrow after work I’m off to Vancouver to stay the night with very good friends (and hopefully see the new baby of some other friends).
Tuesday morning I’m in the air to Montreal! Where I’ll have dinner that night with a bunch of family.
Wednesday my sister graduates from her Masters program at McGill.
Thursday will be a fun day…
Friday we drive to Stratford and hang out with my aunt, uncle, and cousin.
Saturday my god-brother is getting married in London.
Sunday morning we’ll hang out with my god-parents before driving back to Montreal.
Monday I fly home to Victoria!
Whew, I’m getting tired just writing that! There will be updates on the fly when I get a chance.
Thoughts about riding the bus
Love:
- Not having to drive anywhere
- Staying dry in the rain
- The view of the Olympics from the top floor of a double-decker as we go down Richmond
- That there are 3 bus routes to downtown leaving within 2 blocks of my house
- Express buses (when I can catch them)
Hate:
- The guy two rows in front who’s iPod is on full volume and drowns out the sound coming from mine
- The bus driver calling out every stop on the PA
- The preteens who cluster together around the door preventing anyone from leaving and who are completely oblivious to this
- People who talk in full volume on their cell phone
Filling out an application form:
Question: How do you handle isolation from familiar surroundings and/or people?
Answer: My first solo international travel experience was going, on my own, to live in a foreign country for a year to attend a school in a culture I was not familiar with. I have gone without seeing land for 35 days. I have had to shop for food for 40 people in a country where I did not speak the language, was not familiar with the currency, did not have any mode of transportation other than my feet, and where there were no grocery stores.
Conclusion: I’m still alive and fairly high functioning. I’d say I did reasonably well.
Home Sweet Home
I’ve made it back to Victoria and it took a record 6 hours. I probably could have flown across the country in that time period.
I got to the ferry in Vancouver with time to spare for the 1200 sailing. However the ferry for said sailing was not there, was not there, was not there. Finally, I went to find out what was going on just as they made an announcement that our ferry was arriving in the next five minutes. I turned just in time to see it leaving Berth 1 and maneuvering over to Berth 5, narrowly missing an incoming ferry… Good start.
Once on board, they made an announcement about high winds preventing them from getting there in time blah blah blah. I went and talked to the Chief Steward and found out the real reason was a faulty Berth 4 resulting in needing to be at Berth 1 which doesn’t have a connecting ramp and when they went to move to Berth 5, a faulty starboard engine was discovered. Slightly dodgy.
We arrived in Victoria nearly an hour late resulting in me missing the express bus to downtown. Milk run it was. I finally arrived home, two bus routes later, around 4:30pm, nearly six hours after leaving. Go-olly.
Welcome home.
gillian's island 