Mambo? Poa!

Hello everyone, hope all is well in your big super rich, comfortable, luxurious homes back in the states! We toured the biggest slum in Thika yesterday, it's called Kiundutu and is just a mile or so outside the town center. About 100,000 people call this place "home" and the houses probably aren't fit for animals back in the states. Pretty bad is an understatement. No water, no electricity, no sewage, just stick and mud huts built from scraps that go on and on. muddy streets with human waste all over... and kids, soooo many kids, everywhere (oh yeah, we were told that this is the cleanest slum in Kenya actually, wow!)

People here live on like $1 a day. So don't yall be complaining about life back in the states ok? :-) We've been learning about the local organizations that are working to help the people and vulnerable children living in the communities in these slums. Most of the effort is done by volunteers as the program cannot afford to pay very many staff (they have 2 people).

We're heading back to Nairobi tomorrow morning (way too early though) for a weekend safari through the Masai Mara and then Lake Nakuru. Don't know if we'll have internet access for a few days... it's pretty spotty right here in town. Yall take care and we'll be in touch!

P.S. This was Nic's first official post on the blog...didn't he do a good job? :) P.P.S. Moms, we will try to call you on Mother's Day, but since we haven't figured out exactly how to do that and may not even have electricity or running water on safari, we may not be able to....so, an early HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to you!!!!! 

Greetings from Thika!

Hey, everyone! Sorry about the double post. The computers here are from the 1980s and the Internet isn't that reliable. :) That's also why we will not be posting any pictures until we make it to South Africa (hopefully).

We're still here in Thika. We start our volunteer project tomorrow, since there was a slight change with our placement. We will be out in the community working with AIDS victims in their homes. We will also be working with a community group that plays drums and puts on plays for kids teaching them about AIDS.

The water here in Thika is good, so despite all of the warnings from the states (and many of you), we are drinking it (well, we haven't convinced Katie to drink it yet) and haven't had any problems. Everyone can relax because we have an Aussie doctor living in the bunk below Nic. :)

Yesterday we fed some kids and took a walk around town. We saw Thika's "mansions" which are about the size of the average home in the States. We saw our first white couple, and found ourselves pointing and calling them wazungu. We started laughing because that's how everyone else reacts when they see us. :)

Tonight is our night to cook (we will do it once a week) "American food," so we are making tacos. They'll be slightly different since we are having a hard time finding all the correct ingredients, but it should be an experience for our family. :)

Other than that, it's hot and sweaty and the people are super friendly. :) I hope everyone is doing well, and we'll try to write again soon!

They are alive! Again!

Danette here.  Cassi sent me the following and asked me to post it.  Most information seems similar to her previous post, but being the dutiful sister that I am, I will post it anyway.  Can't get enough of Cassi and Nic, right?  :)  And now a few words (although many are repeated) from Cassi:

Okay, so I have now spent 30 minutes typing up a blog post three different times, but either it won't post or my Internet closes itself. I'm really sorry I can't give you more of an update...maybe in a few days.

 

We spent our first night in Kenya in a Nairobi slum. We weren't really able to go out, but had a great time getting to know some of the other volunteers. Friday we went to volunteer orientation and found out what our placements would be. We then did a bit of shopping, and were split into groups and were sent to our placement.

 

We are in Thika for the next two weeks (about an hour outside of Nairobi) doing our volunteer work (supposed to be HIV/AIDS at a hospital, but we may also work in a school for severely handicapped children). I am attempting to get used to all of the critters (mice, misquitos, spiders, and cockroaches), but we really did get a great house (we have a shower...some didn't have running water or electricity!!!) and host family (Ann and her daughters Maggie and Lucy). The girls took us to our first Kenyan club last night which was fun, too. We were quite the hot commodity since we were the only white people, and my favorite pickup line was "you are different...wanna dance?"  LOL  Luckily, I had Nic there to fend them all off.  :)

 

We have only seen one other white person in this city of a million, and Nic and I are loving the diversity. Our favorite looks are from the little kids who don't quite know what to think (most of them haven't seen a white person outside of Nairobi), so they just stare. :)

 

Anyway, my time is up.  :(  Next time I will try to find a more reliable computer.

 

Hope everyone is doing well!

We are alive!

Well, we are alive! I just spent 20 minutes typing up a post of everything going on, but this computer shut itself down. :(

Now I'm running out of Internet time. Here are some of the highlights:
-We spent our first night in a house in one of the Nairobi slums. We couldn't really go out, but enjoyed meeting a bunch of the other volunteers.
-Driving here is INSANE! No lanes painted on the roads, so it's just up to 3 or 4 lanes of traffic driving wherever they can fit.
-We were taken to our placement in Thika. We are staying with a great family and we are lucky enough to get a house with a shower (some didn't have electricity or running water).
-We are settling in, although I'm having to get used to lots of critters (mice, misquitos, spiders, and cockroaches). It'll be a great home for the next two weeks, though.
-Ann, our house mother is really great. Her daughters, Lucy and Maggie, are a lot of fun. They took us to our first Kenyan club last night, which was a lot of fun although we got a lot of looks because we are white. The best pickup line was a guy who walked up and said, "you are different...wanna dance?" LOL
-We have only seen one other white person in this city of a million people. We love the diversity, and all the looks from the locals are pretty good, too (most of them don't ever see white people unless they go into Nairobi, an hour away). :)
-We are planning to attend a Kenyan church tomorrow, which we hear is really cool.
-We start our volunteer work on Monday. We are supposed to be doing HIV/AIDS work in a hospital, but may switch over to working in a school for handicapped kids...we're thinking of trying to do half of each.

I sincerely apologize for how short this is, especially since I have no idea when the next chance I will get to write will be. We also had pictures ready to upload, but these computers don't have USB ports to do that with. Oh well, that's life in Kenya. :) Once we hit South Africa in a couple of weeks, it should be better. :) I hope everyone is well!

We Made It!

Well, we made it to Johannesburg after only 26 hours of traveling. Tomorrow morning we will fly to Kenya. We would write more, but we've had about 4 hours of sleep in the past 50 hours, and it's time to go to bed (yay, a real bed instead of a plane seat).

And....

...we're off!

(well, we will be at 4:45 tomorrow morning, but you didn't really think I'd wake up even earlier to blog, did you?)

kwa heri, baadaye!! [goodbye, later!]