My days here at GSF are so full of work and general busyness, that sometimes I need to take some time to relax. So, I took that seriously-and went to KENYA! And not only did I get to travel to Kenya, but I got to spend the whole time with my very dear friend Solome Jaromo!
We left at the end of her work day on Wednesday, picked up some things in town and relaxed at a friend's house until it was time to leave for our bus at 8:30pm. When we got to the bus station (or the dirt spot on the side of the road), found out our bus wasn't leaving until 10pm. Oh well-allowed for some good talk time!
The trip there was looooong. Apparently, there was a strike for public transport in Kampala that day, so once we crossed the boarder and were a few hours in, we waited two hours for another bus to come and take us the remainder of the way to Nairobi. The bus we ended up on was a dinosaur! We were moving at a glacial pace especially climbing out of the Rift Valley. The ride took us 17 hours to complete!
But we arrived safely in Nairobi! It took some time and lots of asking questions to find our way around, but we safely arrived at Little Sisters of Saint Francis, where we stayed alongside the InterVarsity Kenya Global Project team. It was great to meet the team, and so fun to introduce Solome to them! She was introduced as my sister :) Our accommodations were homey and relaxing. Each night Solome and I sat together and read from the Bible, book of 2 Corinthians. I cannot express how encouraging it was to be with her those few days.
While we were with the team I had the great pleasure of spending time with the directors of the team (who are the same people who also led me to Kenya in 2005 and 2007!) Brian and Debbie Lee, as well as Julie Helwig (IV staff member I've worked with a little) and Kacie Wohlfeil (sister to one of my dear friends, Brittni Davenport) and many many students I recognized from University of Montana during college retreats.
We got the opportunity to join with the team on some of their outreaches. We went to Sanctuary of Hope home for children from Methare Valley, one of the largest slums in East Africa. There we played with the kids, sang and shared devotions together, and finished the night with a wonderful meal. We went to Methare Valley to partner with a church there to paint their sanctuary, build a fence, and conduct a clinic for some of the school kids. We also turned the bus into a balloon animal making factory, and handed out loads of balloon creations to the mob of kids outside. We went to Nairobi Chapel, a huge church! And our last "event" was the Masai market where Solome and I bought a few gifts for people in Uganda, and "Friendship Tags" for the two of us-beautiful twisted wire bracelets.
The Lord was with us and we got the last two seats remaining on the bus to come home. The bus was timely, and we made the trip in a much more bearable 12 hours in an overnight, trans-boarder commute. Upon our arrival in Jinja, we spent the day running some errands, sitting and talking over tea, and booked a room for the night where we watched a movie and ordered in pizza. A satisfying way to end an amazing trip.
