Humanitarian Trip Oct 20 – Nov 15, 2022

Our last day in Kenya. Started our trip from our hotel by boat to the Lamu Airport and then to Nairobi.  Had dinner and off to the airport to go to Calgary via Amsterdam.  Only three of us are now in Kenya, all at different locations I will leave tomorrow.

Thank you for following our trip. I am deeply grateful to all  the volunteers who made this trip meaningful

We arrived at the Lamu Special School for mentally challenged children by boat, then on the back of a pick up truck

We were pleased with our visit and the committed teachers. Children are doing well.  We visited the classrooms, danced with them, evaluated the progress and provided some snacks. Our meetings will continue tomorrow. We ended this wonderful day  with a sunset show trip and celebrated Kelvin’s birthday.

Mara to Lamu – from one favourite place to another.  Today we left Mara Serena and flew to Lamu Island.  Another long day of travel.

On arrival, we started another birthday celebration on the bow of a sail boat with Happy Birthday written on the sail.  It’s Kelvin Hills 65th. His children are here to celebrate with him. Tomorrow our work begins. Over 35C here today.

Today was the first day for our teams to take a day in 17 days. It was spent travelling to our next spot so we can fly to Lamu tomorrow. We said goodbye to Barb and Karen who will remain in Kenya for another week.  We also dropped off Ray and Deryl who are heading home to Alberta.

On the way we stopped to view some amazing wildlife, stopped for a bush lunch and arrived at the Serena Lodge for a night stay.  Stunning views of the Mara can be seen from this hotel.

After resting a bit we went to celebrate Mona’s Birthday. A sundown with drinks and appetizers on a hill that also has a great view of the sunset. Evenings are spent in meetings. Lawrence and Roland discuss building plans

A two hour drive on rough roads to a Masai community was well worth the trip. Today was an incredible day as the Niakarra community poured out their gratitude for the completely upgraded school for 1600 children.

Our next visit was to the Naikarra Health Centre to see the improvements and expansion in the last year. Most rewarding was to see a child take his first steps after rehabilitation.

We ended the day with a visit to the Maasai village. Some members danced with the Masai.

Today the dental team from Nakuru and the rehab team from Kendu Bay arrived in the Mara. Barb, our medical program coordinator has arrived in the Mara also.

On the way to Mara we had meetings with the County Medical Director to initiate rural dental clinics. We have a great partnership with the county on other medical programs. Chief Moses the area Chief in the Mara came to meet us.

We ended the cool evening around a fire with a Masai dance. Both teams will head out tomorrow to project sites.

Today in Nakuru we visited Suresh our barber. It has become a 15 year tradition to get a hair cut here whether we need it or not. It has also become the hub for contacts and humanitarian work.

Our day was spent in meetings to establish dental services to rural areas. Dr.  Kelvin Hill is the team lead.

We left Kendu Bay today towards Nakuru. The Physio team is remaining in Kendu Bay.

On the way to Nakuru we stopped and monitored completed projects and projects in progress. Roland Hill and engineer was dialoguing with our builder James.

We then visited Regina at her orphanage. We have been involved here for over 15 years. With 5 hours of driving and 5 hours of project visits it was a long day but with a lot of satisfaction.

We started the day by inspecting the bridge we had built.

What an incredible celebration as we opened the Professor Ken Hill Physiotherapy Centre today. Two of his children Kelvin and his family and Karen Leung were in attendance. Numerous friends from 32 years of work in the area had come for the opening. It was wonderful to see the hard work of all in Kendu Bay, Kenya.

After the ceremony we walked over to the building to cut the ribbon. Ken’s grandchildren Roland and Brianna along with Margaret in a wheel chair, cut the ribbon.

Today was planned as a long travel day to Kendu Bay. However, we decided to stop and see the Koige classrooms that were built this year.  Instead of just getting a tour we received an amazing welcome. We spend a few hours together.