African Adventures!

This is an adventure that was not only eye opening and life changing, but exciting. Almost everyday I journaled about the experiences I was having, the people I was meeting, and the stories I was hearing, and everyday I thought about Austin. I journaled as if I was telling a story to someone and that someone was him. In fact, I know he would be so excited to read it all cause one of the last things we talked about was this trip. He was so happy for me and thankfully this trip was everything I hoped and he assured me it would be.

Rogers, one of the adorable kids at the orphanage

Although don’t be fooled going to Africa is not the easiest of adventures. It took 3,000$, 10 shots, 48 hours of travel (round trip), possible permanent neck damage due to the severely bumpy dirt roads, and a lot of bug spray! But it was completely worth it. Most my days there consisted of working at a children’s home and spending time with lots of kids. I, along with the team I went with, also spoke at a few churches and lead bible studies. For the most part the work was exciting stuff! One day we fixed the playground equipment for the kids, we added a zip line and some swings and just played with them. Other days the work was gardening, helping plant dozens of passion fruit trees or grafting different types of fruit together. But we also spent quite a few days just doing simple stuff like painting dorm rooms for the kids coming home from high school, or fixing the rain gutters. It wasn’t anything too adventurous, but no matter what we did we always talked to people. In Kenya, the people take great pride in community. They look after one another, care for each other, and they listen.  I care for a lot of people in my life, but sometimes in America it’s all just going to fast.

the kids loved my Austin bracelet :)

This country prides itself on productivity and getting there first. Kenya is a little slower. I had meals where we sat and talked for three hours and the other person never once checked their phone or Facebook (yes they do have those). They were genuinely interested to hear your story and your thoughts and I loved it. I think that would have been Austin’s favorite part, to hear people’s stories. Some of the stories I heard were crazy! I met a guy who killed a leopard, got cut by a poisoned arrow and had his leg nearly chopped off with a machete! Talk about epic! I met an Olympic runner who just ran in the marathon in London and took bronze for Kenya! And I talked to kids whose parents died and left them, or were alcoholics and didn’t care about them, but they were smiling and thankful for all they have (two pairs of clothes and one pair of shoes). These people are amazing, their stories are unbelievable, and their hearts are full of love. And the story I got to share was epic because Austin was apart of it. And just how Austin taught me and is teaching me to value relationships and time, so did the Kenyans. A productive day to them is being with people you love and getting to know new people to love.

Lions lunch instead of me

Masi Warriors!!! And my Austin shirt of course!

I got to experience working hard in Kenya, but I also go to play hard. The last three days I was there we went on a safari in the Masi Mara and let me tell you lion king is a great portrayal, but definitely nothing compared to the real thing. I think I saw literally a million zebra, a pride of lions (mating and hunting included), a baby cheetah and a baby lion, and even a giraffe! But the sounds of safari are probably my favorite. Hearing a lion roar twenty feet from your face gives you goose bumps, and I couldn’t help laugh every time I heard a hippo (which lived in the river literally right outside my luxury tent) give a “satisfied grunt” as our tour guide called it. I tried to squeeze in a few outrageous activities like chasing after a pack of zebra on 

foot, and standing on the roof of the safari vehicle for a picture without the driver knowing…. then he started to drive and I literally almost fell off and became lion’s lunch. I even met some Masi warriors who live there year round, have killed lions with their bare hands, and look fabulous doing it. (They were these shukas, which are like big colorful sheets and have lots of beaded jewelry) All together it was an experience I will never forget and one I couldn’t wait to share with Austin. But I could feel him there then and everyday now teaching me new things and reminding me of the things I sometimes forget.  <3 Chelsea