KITENGWANI & BENGON – REPORT 3
September 24, 2024
KITENGWANI & BENGON – REPORT 5
October 1, 2024
Day 4- Kithengwani Dedication Ceremony and Burt’s Birthday Parties!
We are a day late sending this email due to getting back to camp late and leaving early the next morning.
Furaha ya kuzaliwa kwa Burt! (Hapy Birthday Burt in Swahili)
Whew what another jaw dropping day…I know I say “amazing” and “awe-inspiring” and “wonderful” over and over and I mean it every time- if I could find a more powerful word in my exhausted brain, I would use THOSE over and over! This experience has truly been so meaningful and what better memory is having a birthday in Kenya! 2 team members have had this pleasure so far with Samantha at the beginning of the trip and Burt was today! It began with a song in his honor before it was time to move the party back to Kithengwani village for the dedication ceremony. It is very important for the people of the village as they do not consider the building theirs until it is officially handed over to them via the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Before heading to the village, the team stopped at another local medical clinic (Dispensary) to drop off a load of supplies to a new area. This one was a little larger and just a little less busy than our first dispensary however they are staffed with only 1 or 2 nurses at a time. We asked what they treat the most in their clinic and they both said Respiratory Tract infections and gut issues usually caused by the stagnant water that remains unmoved until the rainy seasons. Skin conditions a close 3rd and the clinic today was completely out of all ointments, so we were all too glad to restock them. Another round of sweets were passed to all patients and staff and off we went to begin our day of dancing.
The women and children gladly greeted us in a large crowd just outside the village entrance. I will never tire of being approached with such joy and excitement, it’s infectious. We danced our way to our chairs at the podium as we were greeted as guests of honor once again. The village put on a wonderful display of their talents through the power of words with the most gracious and heart felt speeches. Children danced and sang their traditional songs and we were all called out to join them. The parents weren’t going to take this sitting down and they ALSO put on a song and dance and pulled us by the hands to come shake a tailfeather with them as well. All of our legs may be Jello now, but once the muscles heal, we’ll be entering the Crossfit Games with our newfound strength. 😉
After the speeches and presentations, it was time to officially hand over the school classrooms and new toilet block over to the people it was made for. Myself (Lindsey) and Aaron had the honor to cut the ribbons on the classrooms and the girls- Samantha, Alyssa, Riley and Julia had the highest privilege bestowed upon them with opening the 4 new toilet blocks for the village! Everyone shouted and cheered for joy but after all the excitement- all parties needed some sustenance to gear up for the next big event- breaking off into our teaching groups for the final time! This being a new village made the experience completely different than the first. Many groups were either more tame than the last while others experienced pure chaos! Both are equally rewarding, and the teachers told us the kids will never forget this day where they were each handed 4 slices of bread and a milk carton and had wild lessons shown to them! It was much like our “tv being rolled into the classroom” for us older Americans. We realized how much we take for granted when we see how the other parts of the world live and inspires us to grow and be better as a whole.
With our final goodbyes said and kisses blown to the kids, we set off back home to prepare for a very very early morning the next day when we head to our safari! On the route home to Mama Kamoti’s, we stopped by a shopping area with humble stalls made of nothing but pieces of rotting wood and rusted/holey sheet metal. The group needed some cold beverages to get them through the final stretch of the day. It’s was so wonderful to walk amongst the locals and wave and greet everyone as we passed. We stuck out juuuust a little bit 😉 Our dinner at home was top tier as always- I couldn’t tell you the correct names of the food but as a Texan, it was very much like a tortilla with minced meat/ vegetables and the most delicious coconut rice. Basically what we call a beef burrito!
The evening couldn’t be closed without Burt getting in a dance party and swinging a few children around; the speaker blasted the Kamoti children’s favorite songs (Waka Waka and Honey) and we all joined in on the festivities. The mamas and a few children snuck away from “club Burt” long enough to surprise him with a delicious vanilla cake! A very big tradition is sharing the cake and having the birthday person feed each person a bit of their cake. The children performed a folk song and dance for us all and the mothers also had to show the kids how it’s done. After shimmying our last shake, we were all ready to get to bed ASAP since a 6:15 am departure is pretty much criminal 😊
With love,
The Kenya Service Team
