I arrived in Nairobi and spent a few days getting organized and spending time with our rescue pup, Bahati. He is now a year old. He’s a handsome boy but still a pup. Mary has taught him to sit, stay, shake hands, down, stay out of the kitchen and go to your bed!
I arrived, this trip, at a time of great rains and flash flooding…..I left in a severe drought where crops failed and herd stock and wildlife were dying. 600 tourists and staff had to be evacuated from the northern Samburu area and they lost everything left behind. The lodges are badly damaged. The rains continued and now for the last couple days it is hot, hot, hot again… so the rains may be behind us again.
Tuesday Susan and her cousin Simon, a taxi driver, picked me up before 8am. We had a lot to get done this first day back north. On our agenda first was to check on a new girl in the program, 16 yr old Freyda. She’s in Form 2 (sophomore) in Boarding school in Naivasha. I assumed about a half hour detour on the way to Gilgil. Turns out 4 1/2 hours later round trip over terrible roads and we only got to spend 15 minutes with her!! Thank goodness we got there close to tea break or they wouldn’t have let us see her at all. Although Susan had met Freyda before I had not so this was a nice opportunity to meet her and tell her more about Wana Duma. Her school is hidden in the hills on your way to the Aberdare Mountains. She is doing well in school and we look forward to her joining us during spring break in April.
We continued on to Gilgil by early afternoon, stopped at our house, unpacked the car and immediately went to check on our little 5 1/2 yr old Lucy. Lucy is HIV positive just out of the hospital after contracting TB and pneumonia. We almost lost her! She is so tiny – she’s lost a lot of weight and has a painful protruding stomach, a result of TB medicine. She never talks, just looks at you with her big brown eyes. Lucy moved into town from her Cu-cu’s place and now lives in a 6 x 8 foot room with her older sister Miriam (21) and her other siblings Grace, Daniel, Sarah and 88 yr old Cu-cu. They all slept in this tiny room with sewage ditch just outside the front door! Boy, do we need our Children’s Home built and soon! We left vitamins, food, clothes, shoes, treats and smiles.
As it was getting late we had to move on to check on Cu-cu Kagure (87) the great-grandmother of one of our girls. When I left three months ago she wasn’t well. After consulting with the Pharmacist we left her with the equivalent of Tylenol and re-hydrants. As we approached her hut she was sitting out in the sun shelling peas and jumped up so happy to see her muzungus again! She considers both Susan and I her daughters and loves when we visit.
Tired but happy we headed home to unpack and get sorted before dark PLUS check on Momma dog and 11 puppies delivered 6 weeks ago. Since dogs aren’t well cared for by Africans I was worried about their condition. I found Momma dog skin and bones…the pups looked well. So packing had to wait as we cooked up some healthy food for Momma………
