When I wasn’t doing projects with the staff or the students at the school for orphans in Kenya, there were two places I’d go. The first one was the cyber cafe, where I paid 1 shilling/minute to use the internet. The second was the Rusinga Guest House, a hotel in town that lets you sit in their courtyard cafe and use their electrical outlets to charge your devices, provided you buy a drink or some food from them. The guest... Read more
Mama and Papa, the host couple I’m staying with in Kenya, have lots of visitors that drop by for tea in the late afternoon/early evening. Last week there was a man in his early 60’s, wearing a threadbare suit, with impeccable posture and a Bible under his arm, who dropped by. Mama and I went to the kitchen to brew a pot of tea and prepare a plate of sliced white bread (which is commonly served with tea) for our guest.... Read more
I spent most of the day Friday doing health screenings on 60 children who attend the school for orphans. I was happily surprised that most of them are up to date on their immunizations, are growing well and are getting adequate nutrition — mostly because the school makes it a priority to feed them healthy, nutritionally-dense foods. I walked back to the homestead in the late afternoon on Friday. I meant to lay down for a few minutes….but woke up... Read more
The first day I arrived at the homestead here in Kenya, I met the older couple I’d be staying with for the next three weeks. They invited me to call the Papa and Mama, and they began to call me “daughter.” We drank a lot of tea that evening and they told me about their 7 children, 6 of whom are married. They told me about my “brothers” and “sisters” and my “nieces” and “nephews”, the family members in Africa... Read more
When I left for Togo last year, it was shortly after the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and many people asked me, “Is it safe?” I usually answered, “I don’t know for sure that it’s safe, but I do know for sure that I’m supposed to go there.” When I left for Kenya last week, several people asked me the same question. “Is it safe?” Kenya borders South Sudan and Somalia, which have both had violence and unrest and Nairobi,... Read more
Lots of people have written asking how they can help the school for orphans where I’m currently serving in Kenya. For $12 you can feed 120 orphans breakfast and lunch for a day. Please give what you can so these kids can be well, think well and learn well! https://www.gofundme.com/22qvu3es https://www.gofundme.com/22qvu3es Read more
Today is my 4th day in Kenya. So far it’s been a great experience….very friendly people, a kind host family, fun kids and a very responsive staff. And yet, it has certainly been a stretching experience. I’ve only seen two other white people on the island so far. Francis said they’re with the Peace Corps, and they’ve been here for a few years. I haven’t had coffee since I got here because in this region, it isn’t a “thing.” You... Read more
On the ferry ride from the mainland to the island, Francis, the social worker who runs the school for orphans on Rusinga Island in western Kenya, told me more about his story. Rusinga Island is on Lake Victoria, which is the largest lake in Africa, measuring 28,000 square miles. It has 3,000 miles of shoreline, shared by Ugananda, Kenya and Tanzania. Because of the the size of the lake and the extent of the shoreline, the main occupation here is fishing.... Read more
I’m blogging from a small internet cafe on Rusinga Island, in Lake Victoria in western Kenya. I arrived here after two days of traveling….from Newark airport to Amsterdam to Nairobi to Kisumu. When I arrived in Kisumu, the orphanage social worker Francis picked me up at the airport with his 10-year-old son Paul, who had made me a greeting sign. They don’t own a car, so we took public transportation from Kisumu to Rusinga Island (about a 3 hour drive by... Read more
Yesterday, I checked out of my hotel in downtown Chicago. I had a few hours before I needed to catch a train to my parents’ place in Bloomington, so I sat at a table in the lobby with my laptop and decided to get some work done. There was a white man in his early 40’s at a table next to mine, and he struck up a conversation with me. After asking where I was from and how I liked... Read more
Sarah Thebarge
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In