On Sunday we went to Mfangano - its an island only accessible by boat and its about as remote as you can get. When we got to the place to get on the boat, all we could smell was fish! The boat we were going on was supposed to be for 20 people and our supplies. Mfangano is where the roof blew off the school so we had lots of school supplies for them. Well, they showed us to our boat and it was more of an oversized canoe and it was taking on water. It took a little deliberating but we decided to take two boats as opposed to canceling altogether. I am so glad we did because Mfangano was probably my favorite experience of the trip. It was also why we raised all that money at Buffalo Wild Wings so I really wanted to meet the people that would be receiving the money and supplies. I wanted to be able to see their faces and bring back pictures so people could actually see what they had done. I also wanted to be there to show them how much people care about them.
Anyway, so we made it there and it was one of the best days ever. We arrived to children singing to welcome us. It was so moving and of course I cried.
If you can't understand the words, they're singing "welcome, welcome our visitors. Happy to see you, happy to see you. Welcome, welcome our (two syllables) visitors."
Anyway, here are the pictures from that day with captions so you kinda get what's going on.
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| This is where we got on the boat - there are many fishermen there. |
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In case you were wondering or worried, I showed the turtle face to every kid I met! They thought it was so funny and I couldn't get enough of watching them try to do it back! These cuties hung onto our boat until we pulled away.
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| Doing dishes and laundry |
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| My roomie and me on our boat |
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| Meet Abbas - I have more to post about this guy! This was his first boat ride and he was so brave! |
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| This was my view if I looked to my right on the way to Mfangano... |
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| This was my view from my left - a guy came with our "captain" to help bail water out of the boat! haha |
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| We walked through this maize field to get to the school |
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| Our arrival - they really did so much preparation for us. It was truly humbling. |
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| Meet George - he is the director of St. James Community School. He's pretty remarkable. |
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| Inside one of the classrooms |
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| The school takes in around 100 orphans each day, feeds them, and gives them an education. There are more orphans that would come but the resources aren't there. Yet. |
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| George showed us their new school. They are renting the school they are currently in and hope to finish the new school soon. |
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| George had the whole day planned for us. He typed his speech for us so we could take home a copy - may not seem like a big deal until you consider he took the ferry two hours one way into town to an internet cafe to do this. |
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| The teachers |
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| This guy was not as captivated as we were ;) |
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| These girls recited a poem for us! |
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| Darren speaking to the kids |
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| This is the only toy I saw the whole time I was in Africa, other than the soccer balls that we took |
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| The feast they prepared for us...they cooked enough food to last them about a month just because we were coming |
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| While I did not partake, Teddy told us that the chicken head is the best part of a chicken! |
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| Going through the shoes we delivered |
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| Giving some of the school supplies to George |
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| Eating a dum dum :) |
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| Darren announcing to everyone that we were giving the school $1,000. The roof had been repaired by the time we got there. Someone had loaned the money for the repairs and since they could not have school without a roof, the repairs were made as quickly as possible. The repairs were done on the rental school so the money we raised will be used to complete the floor in the new school. Darren is very smart about giving out money - the entire community was present ensuring accountability. We came on Sunday and by Tuesday, George already had the concrete on its way to complete the floors. There is no better feeling than helping people who truly work hard, deserve the help, and are gracious recipients. |
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| My favorite - the kiddos. I could eat them up! |
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| We had to leave by 3 because the lake gets pretty rough after that - the ride home was much rougher than on the way there and I was thankful we left when we did. I was so sad to go though! |
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| Some of the art painted on the sides of the boats. |
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| Back to Rusinga! |
*I could never describe how wonderful this experience was and how sweet these people are. I fell in love with the people at Mfangano. They really want a better life for their children and are committed to their goals as a community. They had representatives from the government there to meet us as well as parents and council members. I feel honored to have met them. George devotes his life to these kids, and I admire his resolve for change. We aren't done with our work on Mfangano. I dream of helping them further so stay tuned*
