Sunday, October 5, 2014

A Weekend Away...

This past weekend (Oct. 4 and 5) we had our first overnight excursion for the program. We loaded our van, with our favorite driver Evans, early Saturday and made our way to Kitui County, where we would be visiting Nyumbani Village. Some brief background on Nyumbani, before I delve into the weekend of excitement and amazement.

Nyumbani Village is a one-thousand acre plot of land that was donated from the Government. It is a community of 100 “grandmas” and 1000 children. The children are all orphans, many of whom have been impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the “grandmas” are older individuals who have lost children or grandchildren. At Nyumbani these children are then paired with the “grandmothers” and given homes. These grandmothers serve was the role models, and parents to these children and these children are able to help the grandmothers around the house with chores and other thing. Each group has a need and that need is met by the other group. Truly a sustainable way of living. Beyond the home piece of Nyumbani, there are also schools including a primary, secondary, and high school as well as a technical school where students are taught trades. During their teaching they use these skills to create items to be used around the village, or assist in creating pieces for a new structure. Nyumbani also collects rainwater, and is utilizing solar power, has a huge farm, and the women there craft (I bought two gorgeous hand-made baskets and the money goes right to the women who made them, I also bought honey-yum). They also feature a health clinic which is free to community members and low cost to those from the surrounding area. This community is dedicated to sustainable living and better the community around them.

Now, back to the drive. This was our first real time leaving Nairobi, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Although we hit traffic at first (at which point motorists started using the shoulder, then the side of the road to pass), it opened up not too long after. There is a link to pictures at the bottom of this blog, and you’ll see the first bit being blue. This is not only because it was especially cloudy, but because I couldn’t help myself from capturing scenes out the window. From the mountains in the distant, to the beautiful clouds, to the villages we passed everything was absolutely gorgeous. The four-and-a-half hours flew by, and we knew we were close when we exited the road onto nothing but dirt. I, being the cool kid that I am, sat in the back of the bus and I think I got more airtime on those bumps then I have in my entire life combined. We arrived at Nyumbani and were greeted with a huge number of stares and waves – a van of wazungus (mzunugu is the term for a white person, wazungu is plural) pulling up something was definitely happening. We arrived and met Maggie, the Volunteer Coordinator who is spending the year at Nyumbani with Princeton in Africa. We then jumped right into lunch, which was absolutely delicious. It was rice, and a bean type stew, with greens. So, so, so, so good. My type of food too. We were then shown to our arrangements for the night: gorgeous little rooms (brand new, we were the first group to stay there) with showers and toilets (pit-latrines). We tossed our bags down, lathered up in sunscreen, and were off for our tour.

We toured around Nyumbani, visiting clusters of homes, meeting the residents, and then seeing the schools, the greenhouses and the clinic. When we stopped at the clinic I asked a few questions (any doctors [no], is there a dispensary here [yes], where does there water come from etc.). This is when I was given my newest nickname! Victor said I should come and be the doctor and everyone will ask to see Dr. Peter Wyatt. Dr. Peter Wyatt, I kind of like the way that sounds! It was incredibly interesting to see this local health facility, a type of facility we learn so much about in Community Health. Once our tour was over (and we were thoroughly tired, from the walking and the sun) we rested briefly then decided we wanted to get out and meet more of the kids. We made our way towards the main field, and thanks to Sarah Snead we had a Frisbee! We jumped right in and started playing. Before long, there were many kids playing and just having a good time. They enjoyed holding our hands, playing with our cameras, and just hanging out with us. Now, this scenery was even more breathtaking.

As we are sitting there looking over the field, we see people playing soccer and Frisbee (the faces are indistinguishable because of the rolling dust), a few trees, and a sunset with mountains on each side. This was truly a breathtaking view, and an incredibly special moment. A piece of scenery I will never forget.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner, amazing conversation, then grabbed some wood and headed back to our accommodations to start a bit of a bon-fire. The fire got going and so did we. We all circled up and did “roses, thrones, and buds”, something good, something bad, and something we were looking forward to. It was great to hear everyone and have a bit of sharing time before our fire was extinguished. Although we were all pretty tired we could help but stay up star-gazing. The moon and stars were like nothing I’d ever seen. We were miles and miles and miles from the nearest city and nothing nearby us created significant light pollution. It was absolutely stunning.

Eventually, we headed to bed, I wrestled with shutting the generator off (well actually Victor finally got it), closed our mosquito nets and dozed off.

The next morning, Sunday, I awoke earlier than others tossed on some clothes and went for an early morning walk. This walk was again, absolutely stellar. It was nearly silent out, no cars, no people, just the sounds of the birds, the wind, and the rain. Although a bicycle rode by, it was one of the most peaceful moments of my life.

We eventually worked our way to breakfast, where we chowed down on some mandazi’s (I’m seriously digging this food!) and then a cohort of us trekked over to Sunday mass. Mass was conducted in primarily the local language, but there were bits of English. The music was great, there dancing was fun, and the large auditorium quickly became standing-room only as nearly all of Nyumbani was there.

One of the most touching, and admittedly emotional, moments for me was offering. A few of us walked up to contribute, then I looked around. Everyone was contributing. Every person in the building walked up and placed something in the offering basket. Everyone. It was absolutely incredible. This community, living in what we would consider poverty, was rich in spirit and gave everything they could  back to their community and church. It was so amazing to see.

After about 2.5 hours we ducked out of the service, rejoined our group for a little Frisbee and then an early lunch. We waited for the keys (although Victor ended up breaking the lock) to the basket room and honey room where we all picked up a few things as both souvenirs and things we can use here!


This weekend was truly incredible in so many ways, and I can’t help but be grateful that it fell so close to my birthday. As if these memory’s weren’t strong enough, this weekend just topped it off.

Pictures: Click Here

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