dawn: adventures of a journeywoman

So the safari adventure is past and I am moving on to life in western Kenya. I'm attempting to upload some pictures from my encounters with Kenyan wildlife, but we'll see how this goes on the also primitive internet services available. I met the other 9 interns that will also be working with the Foundation for Sustainable Development this summer. We are placed in various internships: orphanages for children of HIV/AIDS, schools that have 1000 students with only 5 paid and 5 unpaid teachers, microfinance organizations to help alieve the 80% unemployment rate, or clinics and hospitals. I will spend 8 weeks (starting on Sunday) as an intern at Shikokho Medical Clinic, a small facility with a retired nurse, a lab technician, and 2 nurse's aides. More on that later...Now we're finally settling down with electricity and (some running water) as we do some intense Swahili lessons and get used to life here. My favorite part of Kenyan life is the "boda boda". This is a bicycle that has a padded seat over the rear wheel for passengers to ride. However wearing a long skirt, carrying my bag, and just being a white "mzungu" is a funny sight to see. When I'm zooming past, everyone stops to stare. Braver members who can stop laughing yell out "Mzungu!" and the children call out "How are you? How are you?" Apparantly, the one English phrase used in schools to begin the day is "How are you?" At first the children's chorus seemed pretty funny until I realized my best swahili phrases are also "Hujambo/Habari/Shikamoo" which have the same meaning. Interestingly enough, the children only know to reply fine and I can only reply, "nzuri/salama" (also meaning fine). So we are all on the same page and in our limited language abilities there is no such thing as not feeling fine. Slowly getting to know the people of Kenya, I have been struck by the fact that to know a person more, we can learn much by knowing the people in their life-their family, their friends, and their coworkers. Similarly in seeking God, we can know God more completely by getting to know the people that are God's family and friends. In this new continent, I am meeting more of God's creations and in learning more about them, I am in turn learning more about God.