Holiday Party at Buddukiro

On December 19, we brought the kids from Nyendo and Masaka together for a holiday party. A good time was had by all! Some of the highlights:

- The kids drew some holiday pictures to decorate the drop in center(see below).
- They also prepared a song and skit about being safe while on the streets.
- There was a talk with the agency nurse Justine on safety and HIV/AIDS prevention.
- They were also encouraged to plan for their futures as 2009 approaches, rather than just thinking about day to day life on the street.
- There were prizes for some of the boys, such as most punctual, most clean, most helpful.
- We all drank soda, ate meat, and enjoyed some holiday sweets.

**Many thanks to the supporter whose donation helped to make this party possible!

Hakuna Matata part deux: Mombasa and Lamu

Here’s a few pics from our trip to the coast. So this is what this side of the Indian Ocean looks like!



This is looking out from Mombasa. It was an interesting town- very different vibe from Nairobi, and much more hot and humid, with lots of cool colonial architecture. On our way out of Mombasa at the end of the trip, we enjoyed some AMAZING pizza and ice cream. There was also a street kid that went a little ballistic on us when we wouldn’t give him money- going on and on about how Kenya is his country, not ours, and how he would beat us if we ever returned to that neighborhood. No problem kiddo- I doubt I will ever again be in that section of Mombasa!






Lamu Island is a World heritage site. It has really narrow winding alleys, no cars but lots of donkeys and donkey droppings, and lots of ladies in muslim garb. In fact, Hagar and I were the only ladies on the boat ride over not wearing it! Here’s a few pics, including one of donkey races for the occasion of muslim new year!







I also stuck in one bonus pic with my good friend Karen, who we got to see while she was visiting from DC (her family is in Nairobi.) Kenya was definitely kind to us, and we arrived back in Uganda refreshed and ready to greet 2009!

Hakuna Matata in Kenya!

Over Christmas, Brock, Hagar and I toured around Kenya. It took about 13 hours by Akamba bus to go from Kampala to Nairobi. With the right book and sufficient snacks, not at all a bad time!

One tricky part was the border crossing though. Akamba is basically obsessed with being on time, which is mostly a good thing. However, we pulled up to the customs office, and the driver said, "10 minutes." 10 minutes for a full busload of people to exit Uganda, run way down the road to the Kenyan border office, get visas, and reboard?! Brock and I were running behind, and literally just stepped back on the bus as it pulled away. I think they did actually leave someone behind!

Right over the border, we could immediately see a lot of differences between Kenya and Uganda, including that it is much drier, and there are much fewer trucks full of matooke going by! We arrived in Nairobi around 9pm after seeing some beautiful countryside. We were a bit lost at first, and nervous since even the guidebook calls the city, "Nairobbery." However, it didn't take long before things just all started to fall in place amazingly easily! We found a nice guesthouse, and Dorcas, who works there, was able to immediately arrange a three day safari for us at a good price.

Here’s a few pics from our trip to Kenya, ‘wild things’ safari segment, including the ‘big five’ of the game park! More to follow on the trip to the coast.

Leopard - One of the 'big five.' We were so lucky our driver got a hot tip on the first day of the safari, and we sped over in time to see him lounging in the tree. They are very rare to see!

Lion - Another of the big five. We got to see several of these guys, always looking very chill. It must be nice to be at the top f the food chain!








Elephants and Rhino (baby ones!)- On our last day in Kenya we visited an elephant orphanage where baby and adolescent elephants stay until they are old enough to fend for themselves in one of the parks. Their trainers do everything they can to mimic parent-child relations between elephants, including actually take turns sleeping where they sleep. Because elephants have good memories, they said that if they are a bit older when they are orphaned, they go through a long grieving process similar to what we go through! We also finally got to see a two-week old adorable baby rhino (the last of the 'big five'! He was found alone, and because he was born blind and would therefore be unable to defend himself in the wild, he will likely hang out at the orphanage for quite some time!










The Masai - us Muzungus dancing with some of the Masai villagers. They have found a very lucrative market for their very distinctive culture among safari goers!

Besides these guys we saw: ostriches, crested cranes, lots of hippos, lots of elephants and zebras, antelopey things, buffaloes, wildebeasts, and many varieties of birds.