more from the Moore's

Today I have not left the house. It feels quite good to do absolutely nothing for a whole day. The last week has been the exact opposite. Last Saturday morning, I left Nairobi with the fam on the bus. I had complained many times in the past about the bumpy ride from Nairobi to Kisumu, but it has gotten a little better and plus, I totally think everyone should experience it and appreciate how awesome our roads are at home. The ride started out pretty good. There were only a few places with some bumps. As we were about 2 hours outside of Kisumu we stopped for 30 mins and had to wait to see what had happened. There was a major traffic jam on the only two lane road across the country (figures). A bus had tipped over onto its side across the road leaving only room for one lane to pass by it. Needless to say we did a little off-roading on our huge coach bus and my mom almost had a panic attack haha. We arrived safe in Kisumu and took it easy the rest of the night. Sunday we went to the field near my house and Dad helpeddo a training session with 14-16 year-old boys. Kenz, Mom and I sat on the side and played with the little children around the area. That night we came to the place where I stayed and they experienced some local food (scrambled eggs!).

Monday morning we visited the street children organization HOVIC. In true Kenyan formal, they had a formal meeting with all the kids and staff and introduced us and made us formally present the gifts we brought to the team captains and staff. It was awkward and funny, but they were TOTALLY excited about the soccer balls, shin guards, cones and pinnies we brought. The kids love white visitors.

Tuesday we did a boat ride out on Lake Victoria. We went on a successful hippo search and saw quite a few (just their heads because their bodies are under water). The lake was pretty cool, but would be MUCH more fun if people could swim in it. Wednesday we visited a local nursery school where an American friend of mine works. It was cool for my mom to see a school and she even taught the kids “The Ittsy Bittsy Spider” and “I’m a little teapot.” That night we went to the well known sunset spot, Kiboko Bay and saw the sunset and had a great meal. You know it’s a good place when you can get mashed potatoes, lettuce, boneless meat and Heinz ketchup.

Thursday we spent the day at Pandipieri, one of the other organizations I’m volunteering with. We were given a tour of the whole compound including the clinic, nursery school, and street kids compound. We gave them tons of school supplies that my mom’s class and another class had collected and also soccer uniforms. They were all SO excited (including the staff members). Friday we spent resting and packing up all my parents stuff and they flew out of Kisumu Friday evening.

Now it’s just my sister and I hanging out here, but we won’t actually do a lot of sitting around because I start my job on Monday. Yes, that’s right… job. The organization I have been working with this time and when I was a student, KYFA, has offered me a management position. It’s called “Interim Management Reinforcement” so I will essentially be overseeing everyone and reporting to the director. I am so excited to have a more influential role in the organization. Hopefully, they will be able to learn from me, but I think it will be such a phenomenal learning experience for me and a great way to get experience in the exact field I want to go into. So that starts tomorrow. We’ll see how it goes with me being younger than everyone there, white and a female. Could be interesting….