#15 Kenya: Addendum
This will be the last posting under this thread. It’s currently June 14th and I’m sitting in James’ living-room prepping this blog.
Yesterday was horrible. I truly hate goodbyes. I couldn’t sleep the whole night and then got up just past 6am to say goodbye to all the highschool kids who would not be coming back for lunch and whom I wouldn’t see again. I sat on their beds as they got ready for school, hugged them, took some last photos and shed some tears. I’m not the one to cry easily, but some of them were teary-eyed. I tried to go back to sleep after that but gave up on that idea very quickly. Instead I got up and headed into the library where I locked myself in and began writing notes to the kids.
Some of the had written me goodbye letters and I really wanted to leave something behind for them as well so I began with a few for the ones with whom I’ve become most attached. At 9am Steve finally came and we hammered the holes and nailed the shelf to the wall. I arranged all the books, cleaned everything up and returned to my letter writing. By then I had concluded that it would be unfair to leave letters behind for just a couple of the kids but not for the others so I continued my scribbling. By lunch time I had 35 letters done and 20 more to write.
The kids clustered around me as we were eating our last meal (ugali and kale). I also managed to get some last portrait shots of kids that I had realized I was missing and then it was time for the final goodbyes. I walked the kids up the road towards their school. Mary, Joyce and Caroline were sobbing; the others were bravely trying to keep it in. It truly sucks when there is nothing you can say to cheer them up. They probably realize that there is very little chance that we will meet again – or at least not for a long time. So my promises to come back sounded really hollow – but there was nothing else that I could say.
After that I had to get myself together and finish the last letters. By then, having been writing for probably close to 6 hours, my hand was sore, the letters were becoming shorter and shorter, and as the names were sounding more unfamiliar each letter slowly became less and less personal. By the end I knew I just had to get it done. It was nearly 3pm and I still hadn’t packed and my original plan was to be on the road by 3pm at the latest. Well, finally all of them were completed. I folded them up into little squares and pinned them to the cork-board in the library for them to discover at a later time.
Packing went quite quickly and then it was time for my last walk up to the road. With all the older kids still at school I was accompanied just by the tiny ones, each wrestling to be able to hold my hand. With me only having two hands and there being about 10 of them created a lot of havoc until Phyllis (the teacher) forbade any of them to hold my hand. From the matatu I waved goodbye to Phyllis, Peter and the little ones and left Kirengero behind me. By this time it was 4pm and since the matatu was nearly empty, we ended up waiting in every town on the way to Nakuru in an attempt to fill it up.
I got into Nakuru after 5pm, hunted around for a 10 person matatu (rather than the usual 14), but couldn’t find on so finally settled on one that seemed to be pretty much full. Nevertheless we didn’t leave Nakuru until close to 6pm and you should keep in mind that it gets dark around 6:30-7:00 pm and the general advise is not to travel after dark. Well... there was nothing that I could do about it. The ride, however, went smoothly and just past 8pm the matatu dropped me off on the side of the road across from the Total Petro station by James’s house. I was a bit nervous at first making my way alone in the dark with all my bags, but after crossing the highway and getting into the gated residential area I felt completely at ease.
One thing I haven’t mentioned before is the security in this city. It’s mind-boggling and exceeds any of my expectations. Residential areas tend to have security posts and gates at their entrances. Then each house has a massive wall around it with gigantic gates. As I approached James’ house I realized that there was no buzzer on his gate and grew concerned that no one would hear me to let me in. However, after a decent amount of banging someone finally showed up and let me. Then as you walk up the driveway to the front door there is another gate right on the veranda. This one too is locked with about three deadbolts and then there’s the door itself.
I was happy to have finally arrived, although sad to have left Kirengero. Julita was to arrive at 6:30am so after watching some football I headed to bed for yet another restless night.
Today I woke up early and patiently listened to hear whether Julita had arrived. At 7:30am I finally got up and waited in the living room, but by 9am I started getting concerned. Finally round 9:30am James came down to tell me that they’ve been paging Julita at the airport since her flight arrived, but that no one had shown. I brief panic attack sent me racing to a nearby internet café where the internet didn’t want to work. All I could do is open the main page of my hotmail account where I saw a message from Julita entitled “EMERGENCY” but couldn’t open it. Finally, after about half an hour of trying I got into it to find out that she had missed her flight and would be arriving in the evening instead.
So that’s where we are now. I’m waiting for James to get up to head into town with him. I’ll probably just stroll around, maybe go watch the Davinci Code and then in the evening, after Julita is picked up at the airport, head home to James’ with her.
Oh - and I had forgotten to include the website address for the new blog and pictures:
BLOG: http://postvolunteeradventures.blogspot.com/
PICTURES: http://photojourneyafrica.blogspot.com
Kasia
PS: Robin - all the kids pass on their love to you as does the entire James Njaaga household.
PS: I'm coming down with a cold! My head is killing me - as is my throat! sucks - right before my safari!
Yesterday was horrible. I truly hate goodbyes. I couldn’t sleep the whole night and then got up just past 6am to say goodbye to all the highschool kids who would not be coming back for lunch and whom I wouldn’t see again. I sat on their beds as they got ready for school, hugged them, took some last photos and shed some tears. I’m not the one to cry easily, but some of them were teary-eyed. I tried to go back to sleep after that but gave up on that idea very quickly. Instead I got up and headed into the library where I locked myself in and began writing notes to the kids.
Some of the had written me goodbye letters and I really wanted to leave something behind for them as well so I began with a few for the ones with whom I’ve become most attached. At 9am Steve finally came and we hammered the holes and nailed the shelf to the wall. I arranged all the books, cleaned everything up and returned to my letter writing. By then I had concluded that it would be unfair to leave letters behind for just a couple of the kids but not for the others so I continued my scribbling. By lunch time I had 35 letters done and 20 more to write.
The kids clustered around me as we were eating our last meal (ugali and kale). I also managed to get some last portrait shots of kids that I had realized I was missing and then it was time for the final goodbyes. I walked the kids up the road towards their school. Mary, Joyce and Caroline were sobbing; the others were bravely trying to keep it in. It truly sucks when there is nothing you can say to cheer them up. They probably realize that there is very little chance that we will meet again – or at least not for a long time. So my promises to come back sounded really hollow – but there was nothing else that I could say.
After that I had to get myself together and finish the last letters. By then, having been writing for probably close to 6 hours, my hand was sore, the letters were becoming shorter and shorter, and as the names were sounding more unfamiliar each letter slowly became less and less personal. By the end I knew I just had to get it done. It was nearly 3pm and I still hadn’t packed and my original plan was to be on the road by 3pm at the latest. Well, finally all of them were completed. I folded them up into little squares and pinned them to the cork-board in the library for them to discover at a later time.
Packing went quite quickly and then it was time for my last walk up to the road. With all the older kids still at school I was accompanied just by the tiny ones, each wrestling to be able to hold my hand. With me only having two hands and there being about 10 of them created a lot of havoc until Phyllis (the teacher) forbade any of them to hold my hand. From the matatu I waved goodbye to Phyllis, Peter and the little ones and left Kirengero behind me. By this time it was 4pm and since the matatu was nearly empty, we ended up waiting in every town on the way to Nakuru in an attempt to fill it up.
I got into Nakuru after 5pm, hunted around for a 10 person matatu (rather than the usual 14), but couldn’t find on so finally settled on one that seemed to be pretty much full. Nevertheless we didn’t leave Nakuru until close to 6pm and you should keep in mind that it gets dark around 6:30-7:00 pm and the general advise is not to travel after dark. Well... there was nothing that I could do about it. The ride, however, went smoothly and just past 8pm the matatu dropped me off on the side of the road across from the Total Petro station by James’s house. I was a bit nervous at first making my way alone in the dark with all my bags, but after crossing the highway and getting into the gated residential area I felt completely at ease.
One thing I haven’t mentioned before is the security in this city. It’s mind-boggling and exceeds any of my expectations. Residential areas tend to have security posts and gates at their entrances. Then each house has a massive wall around it with gigantic gates. As I approached James’ house I realized that there was no buzzer on his gate and grew concerned that no one would hear me to let me in. However, after a decent amount of banging someone finally showed up and let me. Then as you walk up the driveway to the front door there is another gate right on the veranda. This one too is locked with about three deadbolts and then there’s the door itself.
I was happy to have finally arrived, although sad to have left Kirengero. Julita was to arrive at 6:30am so after watching some football I headed to bed for yet another restless night.
Today I woke up early and patiently listened to hear whether Julita had arrived. At 7:30am I finally got up and waited in the living room, but by 9am I started getting concerned. Finally round 9:30am James came down to tell me that they’ve been paging Julita at the airport since her flight arrived, but that no one had shown. I brief panic attack sent me racing to a nearby internet café where the internet didn’t want to work. All I could do is open the main page of my hotmail account where I saw a message from Julita entitled “EMERGENCY” but couldn’t open it. Finally, after about half an hour of trying I got into it to find out that she had missed her flight and would be arriving in the evening instead.
So that’s where we are now. I’m waiting for James to get up to head into town with him. I’ll probably just stroll around, maybe go watch the Davinci Code and then in the evening, after Julita is picked up at the airport, head home to James’ with her.
Oh - and I had forgotten to include the website address for the new blog and pictures:
BLOG: http://postvolunteeradventures.blogspot.com/
PICTURES: http://photojourneyafrica.blogspot.com
Kasia
PS: Robin - all the kids pass on their love to you as does the entire James Njaaga household.
PS: I'm coming down with a cold! My head is killing me - as is my throat! sucks - right before my safari!
posted by Kasia Koltunska at 7:11 AM
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