Real world: Katangi

Hi !! This week was my rural week where all of us are taken into somewhere of rural kenya this time lynsey chose ukambani, the land full of Kamba people. The village I was placed in was Katangi,however before reaching our homestays we stayed the night in a place called "Nyumbani Village". Basically this was a village started by a Father (catholic) with the idea of providing a home for orphans who's parents died of HIV/AIDS and had no kin that would take them in. The basic structure is that they have these "grandma" who take care of 10 of these orphans, the children also all attend school, have normal chores etc so a normal life technically. Currently this villlage is dependent on AID money but hopes to be sustainable by 2018, it was also only started in 2006 so it is very hard to tell how it will go but they seem have to have many plans and i am excited to see how it goes. Then Monday we arrived at our homestays and I was greeted by a 5 monht old baby who was simply handed to me signaling that this was my place to stay. Zipporah was my momma, a business woman who runs a mandazi business or doughnut business and her daughter mary who is 20 and the mother of the baby i was handed raymond as well as Zipporah's 4 year old son Pestas otherwise known as "BC" and last thier farm hand who i am sorry I cannot understand how to say her name a mix between rudy and ruthie. A long week short, the first time was quite tough because it was the akward time of not knowing how to behave or partake in but by wednesday i knew i needed to step up my game and began making doughnuts in the morning iwth them then would go to the market everynight with Zipporah to collect the money and finally i found my niche. On friday we also visited a local school with the counselor of the area which was very interesting since we were the guests of honor (merely because we were university students the goal of the assembly was to encourage the students to work hard and go to college). Saturday we had our party for the families where we were able to give back to them and sunday we visited an acclaimed rock which sounds stupid but let me tell you was a sight to see. There is an old myth that if you walk around the rock 7 times you change genders, Lynsey wouldnt let us attempt because the rock is so big it would probably take the entire day.. Long story short I learned a lot this week, family is everything to these people they know their neighbors they depend on them and they help them. They may not have everything that we in the west have but they are very efficient and while I saw many areas that I would like to improve on its not really something has to change. The people are smart and they are motivated to make their lives all that they can be. I think I met some of the hardest working people I know that week and I was honored that they let me into their families. :)

The Rock we climbed, some of the girls sitting on the edge
Hey there! Standing on top of a rock
A view from the rock, we could also hear the church down below singing through their loud speakers I think they were trying to preach to the entire country of Kenya
The Rock!
Some of the Kyua Women dancing at the school we visited
Tess and Nadine on the motorcycles we came to know and love very well in rural kenya, stopping briefly for singing ladies crossing
The singing ladies who stopped traffic
The beautiful path that we took to the school which we rode on motorcycle to and it was very terrifying going downhill on a path full of rocks..
A view of the plateau and all of the terrace farming
Another view of ukambani
Another motorcycle shot (i loved these bikes)
My 4 year old brother!!
The Mandazi Shop where I spent my days with my family, mainly sitting and gossiping with the people passing by or them gossiping in swahili about me and me sitting and smiling
My family! Inside the home, Zipporah in the red skirt, Mary in the pants with her baby raymond and BC
Me and my Mama with the Kanga I brought her
Baby Raymond
Inside the Mandazi shop, cooking up some doughnuts
Their Shamba
The back of the house
The front yard
The front of the house
BC again! I love him
Mary and Raymond at night in front of the house
The Chicken shed in the front yard