Spencer

Having now been in Kenya for 6 days I feel that some reflection is in order. Most of the things
that the group has done has been recorded, but not how these activities have impacted some of us.
As I write this in Taylor and I's hotel room in Nakuru some of us are feeling guilty. We arrived here,
and were treated with cool towels and juice as soon as we got out of our vans. The opulance of this resort
is staggering next to what memories we carry of just a few days ago.

Monday morning we all went to the IU hospitol in Eldoret. We thought that we were just going to go to
the sally test center and see children and maybe look around a bit. However, we were given a full tour of
the hospitol compound by Sara ellen. We did start and end in the sally test center, which was just as fun
as we had hoped, but between however was what we had not prepared for. The Hospitol itself is not what is
important, the people are. The look of fear, worry, pain, and somehow hope in those we saw shook me. Anne
read a passage that morning that said 'To meet people as you are' (I am paraphrasing quite a bit). That,
combined with the Idea of the Inner Light from Quaker teachings and a passage from 'Sidhartha' about the
enternal truth of Atman being within us all, had me looking at people, not just those in the hospitol, in a
different way. I didn't see a face, or eyes, or a body, but instead started seeing a history. Friends, Family,
Teachers, Laughs, Smiles, Pain, Fear, Hopes, Dreams, Worry, and Love. All of this seen in everyone. I was
Broken, and angery at the world that could cause such pain.

The next day we went with Social workers to see families of orphans and speek to their guardians to record
their story and take notes on how they lived. We were not in the Eldoret a white person goes to alone, or at
night,But an Eldoret, and a Kenya, that thousands if not millions live in.
I spent a lot of time talking with my Heath worker Aisiai about
politics, religion, Kenya, and America. I answered many of his questions, including 'Why do Americans complain
about the economy so much? We see them and think they have much, while we have so little.' I thought about it
and they only answer I could come up with was Ignorance.

We have been sent here to see and record and remember, so that when we return we might say to the world what
good is being done here and how much more is possible. Whether or not we understand that now, we have much to wrestle
with and contemplate. It is hard for us now in this hotel, not even being home with our friends and family. As we
try to have a good time, and we are, it is still difficult. There is much to think about. Our ignorace is gone.