February 2011 Trip: Away we go to Masai Mara

Yes, the elephant is sitting on a dead tree trunk!

We closed the medical camp yesterday after seeing a total of 1600 people. Everyone who had bought a ticket for 20 Kenyan shillings was seen. The five days in Ekerenyo were considered a success and seemed to go quite quickly!

People were truly grateful.

To celebrate the success, we shared a meal prepared by Peter's mother and sister in their home just up the hill from the library. Clement, Peter's brother, showed us the family garden - inclusive of pineapple, tea, coffee, and greens. This is how their parents made a living while they raised and educated all 9 children. Clement also showed us the safe water tank built for the village use. The next dream for this project is to have the piping go from the safe water tanks down the hill to the Riakong'a church and from there be available to the community of about 500 homes.

Today we left Ekerenyo early in the morning to drive to Masai Mara. We had a quick picnic lunch after a bit of souvenier shopping along the way. We arrived safely here and were welcomed by several elephants. Elizabeth had said to David, "show me elephants!" and he certainly delivered. One mother elephant gave us quite a show and scratched all of her itchy bits - back, behind, neck - on a fallen over tree trunk for us to watch and take endless photos of. The moral of this story is that sometimes you just have to scratch that itch.

In our travels we have seen some interesting sights. Many people carry all sorts of items on their head. We have seen a few carrying piles of bananas and even some transporting bricks for building - imagine what it would look like to put a lifesize jenga game on your head - this is what the latter looked like. No wonder they all came to the clinic with pain in their necks and backs.

We stopped off to visit a Masai village and had a chance to talk with the people there. Lynn asked a question that had been asked of her (think Roger Garrett) after a sermon, regarding the cow dung used to build huts... the answer is that 'no it does not smell after a rain! Once it is dried in the sun the smell is gone for good.' There you have it, from the mouth of a Masai himself :)