Karibu!

Karibu! Karibu! Karibu! After twenty one hours of time in the air, I have finally arrived to Kenya alongside my partners, Brian and Matthew, and we can all agree that Kenya is the most welcoming place on God’s green earth. “Karibu” translates to “welcome” and I have heard this word one hundred and thirty one times (I’ve counted) in my first five days here. Our living quarters are only fifteen kilometers away from the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. Giraffes, elephants, baboons, wildebeests, tortoises and other amazing creatures live among us here in Kenya and the various sights continue to take my breath away daily. Given the setting I have described here already, it is easy to forget that the community here in Kimana is in vital need of clean water, basic infrastructure, and other necessary resources.

Our hope here is to advance the timetables on the solutions that have already been set into place by Just One Africa, a nonprofit that seeks to create sustainable solutions for orphans and vulnerable children by addressing the clean water crisis and creating hope through care, education and community development. Our team will be performing research concerning the sawyer and uzima water filters that are being distributed to local communities, teaching primary school students in math, computers, and dance, and building necessary infrastructure such as animal pens and a new dormitory for Lenkai Christian School.

Kimana is our home for the next ten weeks and we would not have it any other way.