This week has been rather full of celebrations, and I even managed to make a brief three hour excursion off the compound.
The celebrations were mostly Wednesday, which was Mashujaa, or Heroes, Day, formerly called Kenyatta Day. Jomo Kenyatta was Kenya's first president and a major leader during the fight for independence from British colonial control. However, as part of the new constitution passed this past August, the name was changed to include other independence and contemporary heroes.
For us here at Hope, the day meant no school, watching the national celebrations on TV, and feasting on one of our pigs. The national celebrations reminded me a little of watching the constitution promulgation on TV back in Nairobi, although with less speeches. Rather, it had a big military parade, and then different musical song and dance acts to follow(which was what reminded me of constitution day). It was fun although a little long. Meanwhile, while watching the celebrations, I kept half an eye on the last minutes of our supper as they were butchering the pig out the dining hall window. Honestly, it is nice to eat the meat of an animal that you know had a good life, and even one where you saw it alive(and being butchered) that very same day. And one that is so very appreciated as we do not have a lot of meat in our diet.
Then, on Thursday we had a going away celebration for one of the young men who finished form four last November and will be joining the Kenya army on Monday. Unlike back home, where with our military habits we always seem to need more soldiers, it is quite an honor to be accepted to the military here as well as being a very good job. In our district, 1000 youth applied, and only three were admitted. They accept people based off of a combination of their academic performance as well as their physical performance. He is quite excited, and I hope it is all he hopes and more. The Mennonite side of me made a face the first time I heard, being on the pacifist end of things, but like I said, he is excited and I am sure will do well for himself. For the celebratory meal, we had one of our sheep. All in all, it was a good week for eating.
Then, as for the brief excursion off compound, it really was brief and a whirlwind from beginning to end. Around quarter to nine this morning, the other volunteer and myself were told to be ready by 9, we were going to Naivasha, the nearest bigger town. We were ready by nine, probably actually left by 9:30, and took the very bumpy road there. We were asked what errands we needed to run(aka told we could go to the supermarket) and were given at tops thirty minutes. Thankfully, I finished my shopping quickly, because within fifteen minutes, we were being urged back to the van. Madam had an errand to run, but also needed to be back here at Hope as there were visitors coming from Nairobi. However, we were a little delayed on our way back to Hope as on the very bumpy road one of our tires went flat. Thankfully, we had a spare, and the driver and the young man joining the army were able to change the tire very quickly.
Then, back to Hope where we met the visitors, who were an MCC service worker, one of the country reps, and some MCC partners who run schools in Nairobi slums. They had heard good reports about Hope, and wanted to meet with the teachers and Lucy to hear how she kept up morale and made things work. I was allowed to join them for their Q&A and lunch, which was pretty interesting, and reminded me again really how amazing Lucy is. She is driven by a vision and a passion, and nothing is really allowed to get in the way, which can be intimidating at times, but also really is probably the only way she is able to do all that she does. It was a good reminder to remember the bigger picture outside of myself; the bigger picture here at Hope, with all of MCC Kenya's partners, and of people doing this week all around the world. It made me excited for all the opportunities in the week ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment