January 2012
16 posts
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In Kenya
Today marks me being in Kenya for 1 year.
One year ago, I arrived in Kenya pretty terrified, but excited for the year to come. It has flown by, while Kitale has slowly become my home. It’s going to be really hard to leave, but I leave knowing that this has been the best year of my life, an amazing staff is sticking behind to take things on their own and I have much to come back for,...
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Murakami's in Kenya, Family Vacation - Day 11, 12,...
Christmas Day! in Kenya
We didn’t quite finish the paint job the day before, so we made another trip to the ASH Wamuini Community Center on Christmas morning to finish.
Then, we took lunch at Dr. Lydia’s home, which was another amazing home-cooked Kenyan meal. Then, we finished off the home visits at Zach’s place. His wife couldn’t resist, and made us Kenyan style...
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Murakami's in Kenya, Family Vacation - Day 10
Our first full day in good ‘ol Kitale began with an early start as the plans for the day were jam packed!
It all began with a visit to the ASH Wamuini Community Center, where I’ve spent my working days for the past year. My family got to meet most of our wonderful staff, including Mama Sarah. Mama Sarah is the one who donated the buildings and grounds to ASH, and has been an amazing...
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Murakami's in Kenya, Family Vacation - Day 9
(sorry no pictures for today)
I was told by the shuttle company that I could just call to reserve a shuttle for my family back to Kitale. “Just call the day before. No problem”, she told me. WRONG. I called and she told me she can’t book in advance.. I have to go the morning of the departure at 5am to book. So I went.. at FIVE AM and they were sold out… at FIVE.A.M.!!
I...
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Murakami's in Kenya, Family Vacation - Day 8
Last day on safari
On the first part out, our AWESOME driver (Adan) found another cheetah with his eagle eyes. Seriously. It was so far out, but he managed to spot it without binoculars!
And as if that wasn’t enough, Adan found a leopard up in a tree! It’s super rare find b/c they spend most of their time up in the leafy parts of trees. But of course Eagle Eye Adan found him!...
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Murakami's in Kenya, Family Vacation - Day 7
More safari!
(for this post: promising less words, more pictures. HAPPY ria?!? rude)
Woke up early for a morning game drive… saw more animals
and more beautiful landscapes
Oh and we got stuck, again.. in this:
Went until 12 when we stopped for a visit to the Maasai tribe. The crazy hat is made from lion skin and is worn whenever someone kills a lion (next post has video of me...
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Murakami's in Kenya, Family Vacation - Day 6
The safari begins!
We got picked up from our nice ash hotel by Pollman’s, the safari company. It was so fancy - they sent a rep to first explain the itinerary and welcome us, then the driver actually picked us up for the 3-4hr ride down to the masai mara. Along the way, we stopped at a viewpoint of the great rift valley and got stuck twice in these sandy/swampy areas.
But we eventually...
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Murakami's in Kenya, Family Vacation - Day 5
My family and I were pretty ready to get out of Mombasa by the third day because of the intense heat and ridiculous humidity. So we did - flew back to Nairobi on Kenya’s main intra-national airline: Flight 540
They were pretty happy to get out of the humidity, as you can tell
Once we landed in Nairobi, wonderful Gina drove us to our hotel. Now, I’m a bit embarrassed to say this, but...
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Murakami's in Kenya, Family Vacation - Day 4
*CLARIFICATION: I’m not currently on this vacation. My family came for the holiday’s and have sadly already left. This is just a recap of what we did…
I had heard glowing reviews of the Diani Beach area on the south coast of Mombasa. So we jumped into a taxi for a day in Diani.
We drove through the main part of town, as our hotel is in the north coast, and boarded the insanely...
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Murakami's in Kenya, Family Vacation - Day 3
Even in the early morning, Mombasa was HOT and really humid.. 84%! So we decided to spend most of the early day juss chillin at the pool
After a relaxing late morning and lunch at the hotel, we checked out Haller Park. Did an 1.5 hr walking tour around the grounds where we saw a bunch of animals, tickled a tortoise, and fed giraffes!
Oh and btw, we forgot we made the hotel reservation with...
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Murakami's in Kenya, Family Vacation - Day 2
Woke up early Friday morning, checked out of the wonderful Wildebeest Camp, and had wonderful Gina take me to the Jomo-Kenyatta International Airport to meet my family.
They arrived on time (after enduring through a screaming baby on both plane rides) and we took off for a quick trip into Nairobi before our flight to Mombasa.
We visited the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, where we watched and...
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Murakami's in Kenya, Family Vacation - Day 1
The vacation teeechnically began with me travelling from Kitale to Nairobi, so I could meet my family early at the airport the next morning.
So, I took a typical shuttle that took about 6 hours travel time.
I slept for practically the entire ride, as I got only 3 hours of sleep two nights before (prepping for staff holiday party) and 2 hours the night before (packing for family vacation). I...
Blog ! Ambassadors for Sustained Health: One Week... →
weareash:
If you had one week to explore your neighborhood and make it count towards ASH, would you?
Sounds really simple, but now you can.
Between January 4-11, you can go to www.charitubl.com and look for something that you might already do every day. For example, you need food every day. Simply…
December 2011
7 posts
holiday travels
Wonderful family vacation (nairobi, mombasa, safari in masai mara, kitale) came to an end. More info and photos coming soon…
Just finished visit with Vanessa in beautiful and clean Rwanda. More info and photos coming soon also…
Now off to Kampala as I eventually make my way back to Kenya
*Very unusual Christmas and New Years indeed
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ASH Wamuini Holiday Party
Invitation.
Yesterday, we threw a holiday party for our ASH Wamuini staff and board members. I stressed over it pretty hard, trying to make sure they were properly appreciated for the amazing dedication they’ve committed to ASH over this past year.
I put together gifts for each them - homemade cookies (don’t laugh), CD of Christmas and Christian songs, and a card with greetings from...
Blog ! Ambassadors for Sustained Health: Tis the... →
weareash:
While everyone else is wearing and spending the greens, ASH is up to something green, too.
We are excited to announce the launch of 2012 “Root into ASH: A Greenhouse Campaign”. This is our newest project in addition to the continuation of our programs at the Community Center in Wamuini, Kenya.
The Greenhouse Campaign is great for a number of reasons- having a greenhouse will...
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Jamhuri Day (Kenya's Independence) →
“Jamhuri” - Swahili for “republic”. Jamhuri/Republic Day, considered Kenya’s most important holiday.
December 12, 1964.. the day Kenya officially became a republic, after gaining full independence from the UK a year before on Dec. 12th 1963.
but there’s still a lot of British remnants left behind:
currency is the kenyan “shilling”, even though the...
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Murakami's in Kenya
Family (dad, mom, and brother) come to Kenya in ONE WEEK! CAN.NOT.WAIT!!! Plans: Nairobi, Mombasa, Masai Mara (safari), then good ‘ol Kitale (my Kenyan “hometown”)
*btw - better blog posts coming soon…
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Only 2 more months
This year has flown by.
For as much as I miss home, two months seems like too little time. I’m not ready
November 2011
13 posts
God is SO good! He loves us SO much!
How was I reminded of this?
Evan Almighty. yup, the movie hahaha
Thanksgiving in Kenya
No yams or cranberries here. Biggest bummer. Those are my favorites (the candied and canned kind, respectively). And no turkey. Too expensive. But we got a good Thanksgiving dinner going. Pretty good for being in Kenya, I must say.
But despite no yams and being away from family, still got MUCH to be thankful for. Without the distraction of food, it’s easier to focus on the giving of thanks....
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Meet Christine
Christine was referred to the ASH vocational training program (sewing/tailoring course, and basic income management paired with entrepreneurial training) by the area Chief, who knew just where to send her when she heard of Christine’s tough situation.
Both of Christine’s parents fell ill a few years ago and sadly passed away, leaving Christine to fend for herself with almost no money, on top of...
Coming Soon
Good post coming tomorrow! promise
.. running low on battery and still waiting on replacement charger, so goodnight for today
Kids Graduation & M'm M'm Good
(Realized how weird and almost inappropriate that title sounds, but I thought it was funny so decided to keep it)
It’s graduation season in Kenya, as their school year ends in November. In joining the festivities, I attended the graduation ceremony for our nurse’s granddaughter. IT WAS SO EFFING ADORABLE! Each class performed a little song and/or dance
Then they held the graduation...
hellogoodbye
Yesterday, some our sewing class graduates came by to say hello, pick up some photos, and update us on their job search. It’s only been 5 days, but it was great seeing them again. It was like some sort of precious summer camp reunion.
The Biemeck’s are leaving for Nairobi today, to fly home to the states in a couple days. Never easy saying goodbye, and this probably means nothing to...
ASH Community Day!
This past Friday’s ASH Community Day started out a bit stressful with last minute preparations, lack of power, and people showing up late.
But the day eventually got off with a welcome note and introduction by Zach (ASH Wamuini Managing Director), introduction of our staff, song and dance by one of our sewing graduates and her children, and an explanation of our vocational training program...
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3 More Months
Drove for 1.5 hrs today from Kitale…
to Eldoret…
to renew my visa for the last 3 months I have left in Kenya.
I was worried about getting my visa renewed since the immigration guy at the Nairobi Airport told me, “I saw that you extended your visa last time. Just don’t do that this time.” .. buuut, I have too much to do in only 3 months. I need the 6.. and my...
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No extra hour
It’s obvious, but yesterday I was thinking “oh yay! I get an extra hour of sleep tomorrow! maybe I’ll actually wake up on time for the weekly video chat with my parents.” Then I realized where I was… No daylight savings in Kenya :( poop.
Little things like this that make me miss home a little. Guess this is what it feels like to live in Arizona or Hawaii, kind of.....
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Strenffh of my arms lenffh
Some background info:
Our health center is currently staffed with 1 nurse, 1 lab tech, and 1 nurse aid. If we are unable to effectively diagnose or treat a patient, our policy is to refer patients to more resourced facilities.
Mama Sarah is the wonderful woman who donated the buildings and land, which is now the ASH Wamuini Community Center. She also owns the building next to us and rents...
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October 2011
13 posts
Mzungu! Mzungu!
Walking down the street in Kitale, it’s common to hear “Mzungu!” or “Howah yu (how are you)” or “Chinese!” or “ching chong” or “Jackie Chan”. It was really difficult to cope with when I first got to Kenya. Back in the states, ethnicity has become another item under the tight grip of being politically correct. No one would ever call...
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Happy Health, Happy Living
“happy health, happy living” - this was the mantra our lab tech had the students of St. Joseph’s Primary say throughout yesterday’s school health talk.
We learned about proper washing of hands, brushing teeth, clothes cleanliness, food preparation, and vaccinations. One thing I took away from the talk: eat only 1 egg per serving and only 3 eggs within a week because too...
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Day in the life of the ASH Field Ambassador
This is my attempt, for the few months I have left in Kenya, to connect you to what I’ve had the privilege of experiencing in this beautiful place. I’ve been through the spectrum from “I hate it here, I want to go home” to “I could stay here forever”, and I plan to share enough to cover that spread. I also hope to share beyond myself, venturing into...
Not that anyone cares
I Promise. Starting Tuesday, more meaningful and Kenya/ASH relevant entries going up every 2-3 days.
Blog ! Ambassadors for Sustained Health: Stories... →
weareash:
Meet Brian.
When we first met him back in August, he was living with his father and older brother Denis. Zach, our CC manager, met the brothers while walking around nearby villages to promote the ASH-Wamuini CC and its services.
The first time Zach met Brian and Denis, he noticed…
ASH blog also got a nice, new facelift. Take a look at blog.weareash.org and share away!
Something worth posting: first successful vaccine... →
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had...”
– The Bible
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September 2011
6 posts
- work of Ji Lee