Eldama Ravine, Kenya (August 2013)

I know, I know!  Eldama Ravine AGAIN?  Well, yes. 🙂

I was scheduled to build in Kenya in March of 2013, but unfortunately that trip was cancelled due to uncertainty around the upcoming Presidential elections.  You may recall that in 2008, there were riots following the December 2007 elections, which led to a humanitarian crisis.  Habitat for Humanity made the difficult decision to cancel our scheduled trip based on an analysis of safety.  Thankfully, those concerns turned out to be for naught as the elections were relatively peaceful.  Nevertheless, it left me without a trip!

Around this same time, the folks at Habitat for Humanity Kenya were reevaluating their program and were planning to put hosting of international volunteer programs on hold in order to focus their efforts in other ways.  When I learned that it might be some time before teams would be returning to Kenya, I quickly found one of the remaining teams and joined what turned out to be the last team of the year!

This time we worked in a different area of town relative to my first two trips, so the experience was new for us all.  We met Dinah John, an elderly woman who cared for her orphaned grandchildren when there were not attending boarding school.  Over the course of a week, we laughed, cried, danced and sang with our new community.  Simon and Stanley, with the help of occasional translation and usual jokes from Eric, taught us to mix mortar, lay bricks and plumb corners of the house.  We chatted and played with the kids and ate delicious meals (ugali! chapati! mandazi!) prepared by the women of the community.

What a team.  What a country!

Exploring and learning while enjoying life and doing my part. Here, there and everywhere…