Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The countdown has begun, in about 84 hours I’ll begin the journey home, I’m starting to get more homesick and ready to get back to the family, I think they are missing me a little more as well.

I picked up a little head cold on my trip back to Nairobi with Mwende the past few days. I don’t feel too bad today, but want to rest to make sure it doesn’t get worse, we have a lot to do yet in the last four days.

Speaking of Mwende, I had a great time with her and her mother and Esther in Nairobi. She was very excited, we went to the Animal Orphanage, did the Safari Walk, took her to the cinema to see “Night at the Museum,” the new one, then the National Museum and for a little boat ride in Uhuru Park.

Speaking of the cinema, it was in Westlands at a mall called Westgate which from what I’ve seen rivaled any mall I’ve been in in the world. Now, I haven’t been to the prime shopping places in Paris or Dubai or London, but this placed rivaled the Beverly Center, Water Tower in Chicago, etc. I always wondered where the rich and famous in Nairobi went to get their gear, now I know.

As for Mwende, as I said, I know she and her mother really enjoyed the time. However, one reason that I took her on this journey was to see if she was ready to come and visit us in the US and would be comfortable enough around me and in the culture that we have. As for now, I think the answer is no. It saddens me, but her English and maturity are just not there yet. I have talked to a Tumaini employee, Esther, who also accompanied us on the trip, and she said there are things we can do to get her English up to speed, but it may take a while. I think I am going to pay for her to get some English lessons and send her some books, which I am told will help. The accent seems to be the worse, but with practice she can get there. I think we are a year or two or maybe a little more away from that happening.

I also got some bad news as I took her back to her home. On the return, I was told that her mother and her younger brother are HIV positive. Mwende is not, thankfully, and both are responding well to treatment, but they are positive nonetheless.

Finally, I forgot to mention in a previous post that while last year I saw Kilimanjaro for the first time from the air, last week I got just an unbelievable view from the ground. We were traveling back from Babati to Arusha and I had fallen asleep. All of the sudden I awoke and looked out the window, and there it was. I don’t know if I’ve seen anything as impressive in my life. I can’t explain it, but the picture will be seared into my mind for the rest of my life.

1 comment:

JPN said...

She is one of our sponsored Tumaini children, we are hoping to have her come live with us and possibly go to school in the US.

Are you still in DC?