Final Days in Bungoma

Saturday was a big day for a farewell celebration at the Manning Training Square where we donated the embroidery machine. It was quite the party. All of the volunteers joined us for the event. When we arrived we found that they had made farewell signs (with markersw and flipchart paper that Geri had given them) for the two of us. Once again the entire community came out to show support.

It is very remarkable to think what the embroidery machine means to them. Everyone made speeches about what the machine means in terms of the school and the livelihood of the students. Mike's (the director of the school) parents were there and spoke. Apparently his father had donated the land that the school sits on. If you don't remember from the last post, the school is literally in the middle of a huge area of sugar cane.

The band played music again and there was lots of dancing and celebration. We had to move the dancing outside because the heat inside the room was too much to bear. The food this time was even better than the first time around. Chicken, beef, chipatis, mashed bananas, cabbage, and other things I can't remember. Suffice it to say that we all went away stuffed.

Sunday morning was very sad as we said goodbye. Reuben drove us into town to catch the bus back to Nairobi. He started to cry as he said goodbye and that, of course, set Geri and me off as well. The work to be done in the area is so great and I'm glad that I was able to do at least part of it.

The ride back to Nairobi was a little over 8 hours. The roads are so bad in some spots that progress is very slow. It was strange to be back in Nairobi as it seemed like ages since we left in December. There is a big human/social rights conference going on so there are quite a few Europeans and other non-African people. It really is strange to see mzungus. In Bungoma we were truly part of a very small handful of non-Africans.

We will head out in an hour or so for the Masai Mara Game Reserve. It is an area that abuts Tanzania and the Serengetti. We'll be there for three days of safari and then back to Nairobi for one night and then on to the coast. We have just a week left in Kenya and I'm sure the time will fly by quickly.