Caroline & Lydia's Thoughts

Today we saw a picture of Caroline’s father… aka Bruce Lee. He was painted onto the side of a video store in the rural city slums of Eldoret Kenya. Fortunately Lydia wasn’t in charge of guiding us (Otherwise, we probably would’ve ended up in Uganda.) We were sent there by OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) to accompany a social worker making home visits. We were expected to converse and evaluate the family’s situation for the OVC’s records. Frankly, this was a surprise to the whole group, as we weren’t expecting to be responsible for serious field work. Also, we were a bit nervous because the evaluations completed would eventually be used for official record. However, we believed that the overall experience would be memorable and worthwhile.

We drove through the urban slums of Eldoret, and then were dropped off in the street to meet the social worker we would be shadowing. We met Margret and her daughter on a busy intersection surrounded by stalls selling everything from brightly colored produce and leather shoes to rainbow bicycle tires. There was loud music playing and we could barely hear Margret introduce herself and her daughter, Jane. In the coming hours we would really end up bonding with Jane, because coincidentally she was our age.

The first house visit of four began with a long walk through the slums. There was trash everywhere, in the gutters and ground into the dirt road. However, the colorful shops and many colored plastic bags created a juxtaposition of beauty rarely found in America. We arrived to a small one room hut, owned by a elderly grandmother of four orphans. The entire house was the size of a small bathroom, the only furniture was comprised of one chair and two stools. We sat and talked to the grandmother through Margret who had to translate to Swahili.

As the day went on we ended up bonding more with Jane than the families we visited. It was fascinating to talk to a Kenyan our age, and learn about their perception of us and our country. The only glitch came when we were invited to have porridge with them. Kenyan porridge resembles the consistency of mucus, and tastes even worse. It’s made with fermented grains mixed with boiled water… We were expected to drink an entire mug full before we continued on our journey. At the first sip it was apparent we would be in Kenya forever. In addition to that, the fermented barley gave us a bit of a buzz on. Luckily, we somehow managed to escape by diverting the diverting attention to exchanging emails to staying in contact. We took pictures with Margret and Jane and then strolled back to our pick up location.

Needless to say, it was a meaningful and unforgettable experience, and we were glad we decided to go. And hopefully next time we get a buzz in Kenya it will be from a sip of the Tusker beer… not from porridge.