Karen Plains/Twiga Park

On Friday 19, 2010 we had our first day off. There were visitors from Holland; Fr. Harry and Ludo. They were checking out our place because they will return in July with a group of 15, including themselves, for a week long mission trip. They will then travel to Uganda for a month. Fr. Sebastian, our director, asked if we would like to tag along on their day of adventure. We first went to a slum in Nairobi, our first trip to the city. It is called Kariwa (we forget the spelling) but is one of the first missions the Salesians had in all of Kenya.

Later in the day we were on our way to a Twiga (Giraffe) Park. While we were leaving the school a girl named Poline was waiting outside deciding how she would get home. Fr. Sebastian offered her a ride so she jumped in with us. On the way we started driving on a dirt road. It is full of rocks, divots, and is the furthest from paved. It really made us feel very blessed to have what we have. The road alone was only a quarter of a mile but took us around 6 minutes to drive through, each way. It makes me think of one pot hole on an American street, how people complain about it, but how they don't realize how lucky they are to have paved streets....

Anyways we get to this large open area called Karen Plains. It is in a the city of Karen, a rich muzungu "white person" town. Just on the other side of the trees surrounding this area, are million dollar homes. It's amazing how there is so much poverty where this girl Poline lives and how much wealth surrounds it. From Poline's home (which is 10'/12') there is a million dollar home maybe MAYBE a hundred yards away surrounded with 10' tall walls. Poline's home is made of metal sheets and mud. Six people live in that particular home. There is a twin sized bed where 4 people sleep and the other two on the dirt ground. Pat originally thought she was the oldest to live there with smaller children. Poline though is around 14, and is the 2nd youngest to live in that home/shack/hut.

There are other homes in this area which are smaller, built cheaper, and are fully constructed of dry mud. It is difficult for them to live during the rainy season. Her people are called the Masai Tribe. They are traditionally a nomadic people, whom pride themselves in herding cattle, but have been stationed in Karen Plains for a while now. The area also has a native name "Manyatta" which means Messiah's House.

A large majority of the children from this area go to Bosco Boys or Kuwinda Pre-Primary School (kindergarten). We were welcomed with many smiles and open arms because the Salesians are on good terms with these people. We were invited into their homes/shacks/huts, played with the children, and conversed with their people.

We then left Karen Plains for the Twiga Park. On the way there Pat took a picture of a boy sitting on the side of the road. His mother, we're guessing, runs a fruit stand. It is pretty normal to see these here.

The Twiga Park at 6:30pm have the twiga's cross the road from the park to the wilderness reserve daily. We got there a little before they did this so we couldn't see that. We were lucky enough though to have some twiga's come up to us by the gate for a photo session. THEY'RE HUGE!

It was a nice day because we were able to get out of Bosco Boys and see new things. It may have also been the first real dose of reality of the streets and poverty of Nairobi and it's surrounding cities. We had been to a local slum but to be exposed to even more slums, let alone ones next to million dollar homes, was...tough. It's hard to imagine what life would be like living in places like this. For example, Pat had a tree house in Seattle as a child. The homes here remind him of the materials he used for his tree house. Amazing.














Boy on the side of the road.








This is Ludo from Amsterdam, Holland. He and Fr. Harry (below) are a part of the same organization as Anna (our fellow volunteer). Katie loves Ludo's name because it reminds her of the monster in the movie Labyrinth (starring David Bowie).


Just a quick story, this has to do with roads also. Earlier in the day on the way to the slum in Nairobi our driver was driving quickly and went over a speed bump. Fr. Harry and Patrick were sitting in the back seat of the van. When we went over the bump everyone popped up but since Fr. is a bit older he hit his head pretty hard against the ceiling. He cut his forehead (as you can see in the picture). Moral of the story, we are lucky to have lines over speed humps/bumps and signs saying "you are approaching a speed bump".


Fr. Sebastian





After our travels for the day we stopped at the local shopping center, sat down, rested, and enjoyed a cappuccino. The cappuccino cost around 200 schilling (around 3 American dollars). Fr. Sebastian informed us the tuition they charge the children yearly is 200 schillings. To think that one cup of coffee could have sent a child to school, fed him through the year, gave him shelter for the year, and supplied him with a uniform. AND some can't even afford it. It blew our minds.... we are so blessed.