KENYA REUNION TOUR TRAVEL REPORT – DAY 6
October 26, 2021
KENYA REUNION TOUR TRAVEL REPORT – DAY 8
October 28, 2021
Veroni Family and Friends –
Today was a busy day per the usual! We started off by going to visit the Boyani Primary School. Boyani is the farthest school we are visiting from where we are staying, a two hour drive each way. Boyani Primary school is also the most impoverished school we go visit. After being met with songs and dances, we sat down to watch performances done by the children and their parents. Some of the noteworthy parts were poems written by and presented by students and alumni, many of which expressed immense gratitude to Burt, and all that Grant Victor Cares has done for them over the last few years. They then expressed how dire their needs are. At many schools we have been to, they have asked for more supplies or more classrooms. This school differed as they said their biggest needs were food and water for the students. They went on to explain how academic performance has dropped recently. Lack of rainfall has led to nonexistent crop yields. This drought has gone on for roughly a year. This trip we have not seen any stocks of corn, while in past years there has been fields full of it. This has led to parents seeking work in other areas, and most people in the village being hungry. One meal a day has become standard. Hearing this saddened our hearts, but in addition to expressing these needs they were obviously overcome with gratitude for our presence and all that the company had done for them in the past.
After the program, we divided up into our small groups for teaching. Everyone got to give their lessons again and it was amazing to see how creative and engaging everyone got with their classes. It was a lot of fun! After the lessons we did some dancing, played beachball, and passed out sweets. As we were wrapping up, we found out that Burt, Steve, and Jeff had ordered two trucks to come with big tanks of water to fill the water cistern. In addition to this, they purchased roughly 300 pounds of corn and beans for the school to feed the 500 students this coming week. It was heartwarming to see how the three of them jumped to address this schools needs in what Steve called “impromptu acts” and what I’d call incredible generosity. It was such a special moment, and as we left, we knew that soon the kids would see the trucks arrive and be surprised. It was amazing!
We also went to the Chilodi Dispensary build by Koins for Kenya and named after the man who donated the land. He recently passed away. They had a lot of supplies, including incubators for babies. The problem is that they are lacking stable power to supply them. We are hopeful that the county will provide this as they promised they would, and Koins is planning on reaching out to them on this matter. Once again, we gave them masks, gloves, medicine, as well as a bunch of Days For Girls hygiene kits.
On our way home, we passed a soccer field where earlier in the day we had given them a soccer ball. In the field there were a group of women who play together regularly for exercise. We got to talking to them and they mentioned that they have a team name, Black Lions, but don’t have uniforms. Burt challenged them to a game and promised that if they won, we would buy them uniforms. They accepted. We named ourselves the White Simbas, we got to playing and it was quickly tied so we went in to a shootout. After some strategic bad kicks on our part and some purposeful times we missed blocking a goal, they won. They were thrilled and we began preparations for ordering them uniforms. It was another fantastic day to be in Kenya!
Sending our love,
Kate and the Kenya 2021 Team
Today’s Special Shoutout: Brooklyn and Lexi! Brooklyn (age 11) and Lexie (age 18) are two of the three youth on this year’s trip and have done an absolutely amazing job interacting with the people we meet. Every time we see them, they are surrounded by kids. They are always singing and dancing with them as well as holding them on their laps and holding hands. The kids love them! They are so kind and patient even when large crowds overwhelm them, or their personal space is filled with excited children. They are a great example to us all and have done an amazing job showing love and service to everyone we meet. Thank you!
