From sunrise to sunset, amazing sights

Today was the final early start of our trip with a departure for a game ride before the sunrise at about 6:40AM this morning. Conditions were perfect and we raced to get access to a view point in time for sunrise.

Sunrise over the Eastern hills in the Mara

Throughout the morning ride, we encountered many surprises and returned to the lodge in time for a late, but welcome breakfast. Many traveled to a nearby Masaai village to learn a bit about how the Masaai live.

Cheetah on the move

In the afternoon, we left again for more viewing and this time we had great success including seeing many herds of zebra and wildebeest, traveling elephant and giraffe, a cheetah beginning a hunt, and two lions that had just completed a hunt and were enjoying their meal of a wildebeest just brought down.

Elephant and giraffe

The sights have been beautiful, but soon we too will return home.

Masasi Mara is a special place and we are fortunate to have such great guides in Paul, Evans, and Mambo.

                                                               - Christopher Bell

Memories of Moses

Back from an all-day safari today and we were greeted by the little monkeys that hang out around the lodge. The zebras will be coming onto the grounds as soon as it gets dark to graze in the yard. This trip has filled my cup with so many wonderful things. And, I am thinking of Moses tonight, the 3 1/2 year old HIV-positive boy I was honored to hold and love on from Nyumbani. His mother hasn't seen him in 7 months--I just cannot imagine. I only know I fell in love with him and I am in love with Kenya, and I thank God for this opportunity.

                                                                               - Paula Andersen

Nyumbani: Watoto wa Mungu (Home: Children of God)

On the savannah

Yesterday and today our pilgrimage moved from Nairobi/Dandora to the Masai Mara. The vastness of the savannah is a welcome respite from the congestion of the two cities we spent 8 days visiting. I miss the children we have visited, but am awestruck by the beauty and peace of the safari. We have been so close to so many different species and its wonderful watching the migration of wildebeest, zebra, elephants, giraffes, and so many gazelles, topis, and birds. This trip has been a blessing for Cameron and me and we have received more than we could ever possibly give to these wonderful people.

                                                                               - Patricia Summers

Lilac Breasted Roller

Wrapping up our immersion experience

This is the most challenging thing I have ever done and yet the most rewarding. I am filled with a lot of different feelings. The people here are extending such hospitality, warmth, and love to us. I also see such gratitude in their eyes for everything they have. Listening to the praise and worship in the church makes me cry with joy. We are so blessed in our country we take so much for granted. We need to do a better job teaching our children gratitude, respect, and love…gracious behavior. Why is it the children here who have so little act like they have so much and the children at home who have so much act like they have so little? I hate to say it but….we need to look at ourselves…..

Our American culture is disheartening in so many ways…..

Monsignor snuck away and went golfing today…after celebrating two Masses…..!!!!!  He never stops!! The people here love him as much as our Saint Monica’s Community does! I was glad he had some him time J He loves each one of us and demonstrates it constantly. I like how he keeps asking me how I am! I am glad to be cared about by this great Father.

I am grateful for my shepherd Arthur. . . .  He’s been wonderful!

                                                                    - Katherine Chrisman Halfenberg

Kids in Dandora live near or even on the trash dump site.

Children at the Boma Rescue Centre were grateful to receive
clothing funded by last year's St Monica pilgrims, as well as
new and used sports equipment.  Stickers handed out made for
an extra bit of silly fun!

Celebrating two Masses on Sunday

Today we had the pleasure of celebrating Mass in two communities. After the Mass at St. James we were presented with gifts, I received this beautiful dress made with African designed cloth. The students in the sewing class at St James School made all the people from Santa Monica Parish a magnificent custom made dress or shirt. We were so grateful for their love and affection for us.

                                                                                - Barbara Sandusky

Exploring more of Kenya: safari on Masai Mara

We began our longest trek outside of Nairobi yesterday with a drive through the Great Rift Valley to the Masai Mara National Reserve. The reserve is the Kenya portion of the Serengeti ecosystem that stretches south far into Tanzania.

Zebras on the Mara

With a route that includes a stretch of road that our guides refer to as an African massage, we drove deeper and deeper into the reserve and began to see the lead animals in the great migration. Growing numbers of wildebeest and zebra along with giraffe, elephants, topi, impala, numerous birds, and even several lion were spotted on our first drive.

Lion taking in the view

The matter-of-fact sight of so many different and varied animals all in the same area is amazing to see.

                                                               - Christopher Bell

The children of Boma Rescue Centre

Because of the amazing hospitality of our friends and the incredible resilience of the Kenyan people, it can be easy to forget that there is profound suffering in Dandora. On Monday at the Boma Rescue Center, we received a clear reminder in the simple words and actions of a child.

Felicia, a young girl in the program at the Centre this year wanted to a share with her visitors the story of so many found living on the dump and now coming to Boma. She began so strong with a few props to reenact the search for recyclables or other items of some value in the raw garbage dumped each day. With alternating verses in English and Swahili, she presented a story of a single parent, unable or unwilling to work sending out the child to pick through the dump to find enough to earn enough for some food. She spoke of the hunger, the call first to try anything to push down that hunger--usually sniffing glue, and then the addiction that quickly follows. She spoke of the risks and violence and then as suddenly as she had started, she collapsed into tears--her props dropped, shoulders heaving, and her strong voice suddenly quiet.

Felicia with Monsignor

This is not a bit of fiction--just some sad story--to her, but instead the story from someone who has lived immense pain.

While now in a better situation because of Boma, the children there have help in breaking their addictions, regular meals, and help in working on a pathway into proper foster homes and back into school, but the experiences these children have already had to bear in their young lives is almost impossible to contemplate.

Boma itself is a hardscrabble place--a small plot right on the edge of the active dump site. It provides a place  of safety and community for children who are usually found living full time on the dump. Over the course of a year, they are aided, coaxed, and cajoled to spend their days at Boma. They are fed, they learn a few basic skills, and whenever possible, they are placed with supportive family or a foster family, and they are lead back to school.

Our brief visits to Boma are usually greeted with a lot of joy because the kids embrace the new clothing and toys that we bring along with the opportunity to simply be with an adult who is focused, if only for a moment, on one person, but Felicia helped us remember what's important.

                                                               - Christopher Bell

The children smile almost unaware of the poverty surrounding them

I am so honored to be a part of this experience and to have gotten to know my fellow travelers.  And I am so proud of the work my cousin, Father Bob Dowd, has done towards helping the wonderful people of Holy Cross by bridging the gap between them and America via St. Monica’s.  It was very surreal seeing people pick through the endless mountains of garbage alongside the pigs and goats, yet not appearing to stand in judgment of each other.  Another lesson in judgment was the children in their school uniforms, some of their shoes barely had soles, yet their joy and laughter were the most stable foundation any of us could possibly hope for.

                                                               - Paula Andersen, Louisville, KY 

Arthur (medical researcher) and Paula (registered nurse) give medical supplies
to the staff of the Br Andre Dispensary.

Reflection on Kibera experience

Thank you to the leaders of our group for planning a wonderful day filled with love and inspiration.  Fr Bob began the day offering a mass for us with the Sisters of Charity. Later on in the day we had the opportunity to walk the main street in the slum of Kibera. There are 800,000 or more people who live there, 400,000 of whom are children.  They reside in small spaces with no electricity or plumbing.  As we walked to our destination, we were greeted with smiling faces from the children along the way.  It was a magnificent day of learning for me.

                                                                                       - Barbara Sandusky

Barbara and Peter embrace as we leave Kibera.