Let go of your heart, let go of your head and feel it now

I don't even know where to begin. The last few days have been a whirlwind. After a short stint in London visiting my friend Daniel. We were headed to Kenya. This trip is so special to me because I have three friends with me. Cali works for CTC as our graphics artist and she is responsible for CTC's new look. Tammy has been my friend for over ten years and Natalie I met last year in a bar in Austin where I told her about CTC and she informed me that she would be coming to Kenya the next year.

We get to the airport in London with plenty of time to clear security and check our bags in. Before we know it, we are through security with an hour and a half to spare. The computer screen says they haven't listed our gate just yet. We then decide to grab a quick breakfast. Twenty minutes later we have finished and are heading to find our gate... our gate is in the next terminal. No problem we take the tram to the next terminal and arrive with 40 minutes for our flight but as the tram doors open we hear the most terrible alert on the intercom " LAST CALL FOR FLIGHT BA65 to Nairobi, doors will be closing". We panic.. running up two sets of escalators to the first floor where we make it to the counter and find that there are plenty of people still boarding. We were all holding our chests trying to catch our breath.

Next thing we know.. we are on a plane. Tammy is sitting with me and a little further back Natalie is sitting with Cali. The flight takes off and once we reach our cruising altitude I run to the back in my socks to tell the girls it's time to take your first anti-malaria pill.
I didn't sleep for the entire flight mostly because we were landing in Nairobi at 10pm and I wanted to get myself adjusted to the time there. I also stayed awake because I was so anxious to finally share this experience with friends.


Everything has gone so smoothly and we are all feeling at home here in Maai Mahiu as I knew that we would. We spent our first day touring the town and the next day working in the garden with the CTC soccer team. I wish that I could film the entire experience or put it into words but it is so amazing to be here. CTC is growing so fast and I am so impressed with all that has happened just since I was here last year.

Yesterday while working in the garden one of the soccer boys named Jamie,was working with me. I wish I could show you his amazing smile.. ok I will. He looked at me and said "Are you CTC?" and I said yes. He then replied " So am I ".I got chills because this is more proof that the fruits of our labor are right here in our face. CTC has changed the lives of many and I can't believe that I get to be a piece of that puzzle. Jamie is so inquisitive, he says " Minday, can I ask you a question" about every five minutes. I love that he has questions. My favorite question yesterday was " Minday.. Did you vote for McCain or Obama?". I couldn't believe that an 11 year old on the other side of the world knew so much about politics.

This town has always embraced me and I was so excited to see the Maliaka Mums and show them a recent video featuring their lovely faces. They screamed and cheered and as I was leaving the room two of the Mums grabbed me and hugged me and said "We love you".

I wish that all of you that have played a role in helping to get volunteers or needed supplies here or even just supporting a project could walk through this town and shake the hands of these people and see their smiles.

We are not handing out items here in Maai Mahiu but we are giving people the tools to feel empowered. this was the first summer for the soccer teams here in MM and you can see how much of an impact it has made on these children already.

This morning Jamie asked me if I would be at his soccer game this weekend. I can't wait to share that experience with you as well.


I hope to share a video of the last couple days tomorrow so stay tuned. :)

Mindy

So here I go again on my own...

It has been exactly one year since I touched this blog. I am not sure why I don't write. I have never been the kind of person to keep a diary or journal but as I get older I have an overwhelming sense that I should document some of this journey to share with others.

It's been almost a year and a half since I packed up my stuff and went splitzville will my favorite city in the world, San Diego. I moved to Austin to work full-time with the organization CTC International. Saying that, you should know that in Kenya we have over 40 employees but here in the states at this time last year there were two of us. That is right, two people running the stateside happenings trying to spread the word about our work in Kenya. We worked out of my apartment until about September of last year when we converted a garage into a pretty fancy pants office space.

Since last year, we have picked up several AMAZING interns.. hosted some pretty large events and as of about a month ago we were granted the money to start our very own HIV/AIDS clinic on the ground in Kenya. We have so much happening in Kenya that my head is spinning.


Here I am again with about 9 days before I journey back to Kenya. This time I have a flip camera and internet access and am hoping to share the story of my work there as well as introducing you to a place on the other side of the world that I love.


My team. The team headed with me is a team of people that have come to work with me on some environmental initiatives on the ground in Kenya. The team started out bigger and as the economy changed here in Austin, several people had to pull out of going on the team. So this leaves me with a team of three girls. I couldn't be happier because it just so happened to work out to be three of my girlfriends.

It's been a while I know

Well I am sorry to those of you that were keeping up with this blog but I fell behind.

Just to bring all of you up to speed. I am home from Kenya and it was an amazing time. I grew so close to the people that we work with in Kenya. I fall in love with that place over and over again. I thought I would throw some videos of from the trip.






Abi- She is the little one that can't go to school because she is missing an arm. :(


Ndjguna walking to Nate


Giant tree on the Mayers farm.. soo cool

Medical Prep and more

Yesterday was a busy day.Over the weekend we had local volunteers in the town take flyers around to their churches,schools and local hangouts. The flyers read that we would be hosting a FREE medical clinic in Maai Mahiu and the registration for an appointment was being held on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. With a team of well over 20 medical professionals or med students they would be able to see almost 700 people. We figured out how many people could be seen by the doctors and took appointments all day yesterday (Wednesday) and by the end of the day we had filled every spot. Which left those that show up today (Thursday) SOL. It was crazy to see 700 people come through the doors for everything from dental problems,need for eye care, to probably some serious diseases.

Although our medical system in the states isn't that great, the type of treatment that most people recieve here in Kenya is astonishing. It's insane to see medical professionals standing around biting their nails, chatting it up, and just generally ignoring their own patients and people.

Today is Thursday and I am at the office working and I just told the ladies that today and tomorrow will really be the last two days for us to work together. First of all they didn't believe me and thought that I was playing a joke on them but once they realized that I was serious they all got teary eyed adn asked why I was leaving. I got the look that I get everytime I am here from someone that I have grown close to. It's the "will you ever come back" and the look in their eyes that they get when I say yes that kind of says "yeah,sure". I don't know how many years I have to come back for these people to get it. I will always come back. I am trying to mentally prepare myself for saying goodbye to all of the kids and their caretakers Jane,Jane,Martha,Margaret,and Mama Peter. These ladies and kids are the highlight of this trip.

I will admit to being a tad bit homesick but once I leave I know that I will feel like I just left a piece of me behind. I know that it will take weeks to adjust but you never completely do. Atleast I don't. I decided to make a video with each lady today that I will share with you when I get home.I have tons of video that I will be posting by the way.

Anywho,it's kind of a bummer to go. I leave next Wednesday.

THIS IS KENYA- ALSO

I haven't written in a while. We have had two teams here in Maai Mahiu and so we have been pretty busy. Last week the Kansas College Team helped to build a new floor for one of the classrooms and part of the funds that they raised went to purchasing a brand new giant fuel efficient stove for Ngeya Primary! The week went well as the DWC team from Canada had a lighter week of working in the garden and then traveling to Good Shepard Orphanage to play with the kids. They wrapped up their week by having a bbq and slaughtering a goat here in town and then Sunday they all hiked Mt. Longonot!

Saturday we took the Kansas team to Nairobi where they would later catch their flight. Before we got there we stopped by an elephant sanctuary where there were bunches of orphaned baby elephants. We also got to check out a baby rhino! SO CUTE! Two of the girls from Kansas are staying on with us because they will be doing nutrition demonstrations during the free medical clinic next week in Maai Mahiu. We started preparing for the med teams arrival and tomorrow will begin our clinic appointment setting days to arrange appointments for the sick here in Maai Mahiu.

We figured before the madness begins we might as well have a mini vacation day. Mayers farm is about 20 minutes from Maai Mahiu which is shocking because they look like polar opposites. The Mayers farm has a natural spring on premises and that is where they bottle their water. They also have turned old farmhouses into houses that you can rent out for the night. We laid out in the sun, relaxed and then Nathan cooked us a pretty awesome dinner. Had a glass of wine and just chilled out by the fire and told jokes until we were all exhausted. It was a great way to chill before the upcoming weeks.

In other news, I have tried to change my plane ticket but it looks like I am shit out of luck. so i will be heading home next week. I am not sure how I feel about it, I will admit here and there I get a little home sick but I know that when I get home this is the only place that I will want to be. This trip has been so different from my previous trips because I got to live in the community and walk to work everyday. The office here is pretty sweet because most of the time you are mingling with the disabled children and you can hear them sing and laugh most of the day.
Ok I am getting weepy just thinking about leaving so I guess this time will be much harder than I thought. I have had more of a chance to take in Kenya and it will be a tearful goodbye.

P.S. You have no idea how amazing the feeling was to walk barefoot on grass. Something we really take for granted.

Postcards from the edge

Today I climbed Mt. Longonot here in Kenya. It was amazing and while I thought that I was going to die half way up the mountain , I did it. It says 9,000 feet and I felt every step of it. As you got closer to the top you would pass people headed down the mountain that would encourage you to keep going.. "Keep it up.. It's worth it". It was worth it.. Although half way up the view was already amazing enough .. the top of the volcano was the crater and it was the most awesome thing ever!!!

I was pretty impressed that I made it to the top because I suck at hiking.

We made it back in time to shower and hang out and because today was actually clear you can see the stars. I just sat out in a chair looking up at the stars and they are amazing here while listening to Across the Universe by The Beatles. It is days like this that I have to pinch myself and remind myself just how lucky I am to be here, to have this amazing job and experience this beautiful place!!!!!!!!

Here are some pics , ofcourse they won't do justice but you will get the point.

UH O

I think I might be getting sick. I'm starting to feel a little run down but that generally happens at some point when I am here.

In other news, the Kansas College Team has arrived and after spending the night in the London airport I was able to greet them at 6am on Thursday.The team was able to check in and spend the day fighting sleep so that they could beat their jetlag. Today the team is headed out into the town with our local volunteers. They will get a walking tour of Maai Mahiu and end the day by having tea with their volunteers in their homes.Tomorrow we are planning to hike Mt.Longonot so I am really hoping to get some rest so that I can join in on the fun. If you have ever hiked with me you know how much FUN it can be. ha

I moved down to Maai Mahiu which will be my new home away from home for the next couple of weeks and I am pretty happy to be down here.

Other than that.. all is good in the hood.
Here are some pics for you