Home Sweet Home

I remember the first day I left Kajiado to travel to Nairobi. That two-hour bus ride felt scary, exciting, and long! But after all of my travels, the bus ride from Nairobi back to Kajiado felt like a piece of cake. It was so interesting how much perspective I had gained during my travels. One of the things I appreciated the most is that I felt much more competent…like I could take care of myself and deal with any situation that came my way. In many ways, I wasn’t so scared anymore. I feel very comfortable and at peace in this part of the world…in many ways I felt like I was travelling home! I am so thankful for the amazing people that have entered into my life and created this home for me halfway around the world.

As soon as I stepped into the Children’s Home, some of the young girls came running screaming my name! It was incredible to see that they had missed me as much as I had missed them! I also was able to meet my new roommate! Her name is Diana and she is right around my age. Diana will be volunteering for the month of July at the Kajiado Children’s Home. Diana is an incredible young woman who actually grew up in Kenya and is an orphan herself. She is so strong and has so much to offer the children. I am honored to spend the next month learning from her!

I went to go see Emily and Lucy and it was like I was reunited with my two African sisters! I told them all about my travels and they caught me up on everything I had missed while I was gone. I spent the rest of the night catching up with the children and trying to prepare myself to go back to work. I think I gave out thousands of hugs that night hahah and I was able to share stories and pictures with the children. I also just sat for a while and tried to figure out in my head how I bring everything I have learned from my travels into my work with MGEF. Yes, I had an incredible time travelling, but I also learned a lot. I experienced more of African culture, met people with diverse perspectives, and got to spend some time with various NGOs. I wanted to bring all of this to MGEF…to use it to make a greater impact for these Maasai girls who are fighting hard to receive an education. Images of my travels flashed through my mind…standing in the slums of Kibera, crying at the Nyamata Memorial in Rwanda, discussing politics with my motorbike driver in Uganda. Amazing memories, so many lessons learned…now it is time to bring it all together and do something with the experiences I have gathered.