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
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment