Hello everyone!
It has been a whirlwind few days here in Kenya. As I sit here typing to update you jet lag has the best of Natalie and I as we are wide awake and do not know the time, we simply know it is far too early to be awake because the sky is dark and the sun is not in sight. But, that's fine as we begin to adjust...
First, things are wonderful. We all are loving it here and we have been very, very active. Yesterday alone we hiked over 6 miles in two expeditions. Phillip and Natalie are making tons of new friends and no one believes that Marquite is from the U.S. - literally they don't believe it, they keep saying that she must be from a nearby village.
The trip was long- from door to door it was about 44 hours. When we arrived in Nairobi James, Joab, and Titus were there to pick us up. We went to the giraffe orphanage immediately following the airport and that was awesome! Many of us were kissed by giraffes (on the lips) and I was even able to hug one. It was a great first experience. From there we visited the laboratory of Flexi-Biogas and met Dominic the founder and creator of the Flexi systems. I found out about Dominic via his Ted talk and then studied his idea and researched his business while in the US and was excited to meet him. His system takes cow dung and any other organic material, processes it, harvests the methane for clean cooking (and so much more), and produces top rated fertilizer. This system will cost $1,000 and we really want to put one at the IV. After that we drive home and our friend Joab whom was driving the vehicle with our baggage was at a police checkpoint when a motorbike struck his van, wiped out, ditched the motorbike and ran away. The officers at the checkpoint pursued on foot but were unable to locate the driver. The van is knocked up pretty good but Joab is good. When finally arriving at the IV we were greeted by a large group of our friends and neighbors singing and greeting us, it was a perfect welcome. After that, with a of us exhausted, we ate our first meal prepared by our chef Fred, and went to bed.
On Saturday, we awoke just a bit before sunrise and watched it rise over the hills of Lake Nakuru from our front porch. Had a family devotion together and ate breakfast (pancakes, omeletes, sausages) with local coffee and local honey- it was awesome! After that we organized for a bit before going on our first hike to No Man's Land and then visiting our friend Titus house. There we visited his mum Eunice and sister Isabel. For anyone that has visited you know the amount of children that accompany us on our walks, this was no exception - by the time we arrived at Their home our group had grown from 9 to over 40. After visiting a while we walked home, said goodbye to the large group and rested a bit. Natalie and Phillip played Legos and created art with Titus and Isabel, Marquite journaled and napped, and Jodie organized and napped as we waited for lunch. Lunch was Samosas and Bhajia and it again was superb! After lunch we organized some more and then went on our second hike to Soar-Kenya Academy and James Yegons home where we toured the school and had tea with James and his wife Sharon and two children Elvis (7) and Mary (3). Jodie, Phillip, and Natalie took a ride home from James as they were both tired and Natalie had fallen and scraped her knee. Keyta and I walked back with Titus and our groups of friends. Dinner was spaghetti, roast potatoes, spinach, chapati, and katchumbari. Immediately after everyone crashed it was about 7:15.
The biggest challenge so far has been the lack of electricity. There is a problem in the area that the Kenyan Power and Light team is trying to fix but it has kept us from any hot showers, lights in the evening, dependable wifi, and charging of our devices. In the past, I have experienced many blackouts that last a few hours but never one that has lasted days. This has been a challenge mostly with my parents and Seths breathing machines that they use to sleep. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as that is an uncomfortable challenge.
Other than that I have met with the fundi and we are hoping to start building our house in Wednesday!
Our cows and chickens are doing well.
The IV staff and our friends are so helpful, loving, and happy we are here.
The weather is absolutely perfect.
And we are very happy to be together on this journey.
Sorry it was so long! The roosters are crowing but I still do not see the sun...
With lots of love :)
Phill and the Klamm fam
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