First visit to the Branches

The week improved, I'm happy to report. Last Friday we picked up an additional roommate, Jeremy. He's a Kiva fellow (their term, not mine) sent to do some follow-up work with Yehu for about 3 weeks. I waited for him at the office so I could then show him to the apartment. We ended up staying another 2 hours to help cut out dinner vouchers and wrap prizes for the annual meeting the next day.

Saturday was the annual meeting. Over 600 of the women with Yehu came into Mombasa where they heard from Adet (the CEO), Rita (a member of the board of trustees), had dancing and awards. It lasted all day and was pretty incredible. I am so glad I was here to attend. Most of it was in Swahili so I spent much of the day filling in my own interpretation of the events.

During all of this, I sat next to the cutest little girl you've ever seen (above). She saw me and just started smiling. I couldn't help but smile myself. I managed to ask in Swahili what her name was. Fatuma. I pulled out my camera and started taking pictures of her and then showing them to her. After a few minutes of this I helped her hold my camera and showed her how to push the button to take the picture. Her favorite subject was Brenton. She would let out a loud giggle every time she would turn the camera to him. After she started pushing all kinds of buttons I decided it was time for the camera to go away. That's when this adorable, quiet and well-behaved little girl started getting upset. She kept saying something quite forceful to me and reaching into my bag. I finally distracted her with stupid hand tricks. But it made me wonder if the people here aren't happy despite the things they don't have but BECAUSE of the things they don't have. This little girl was so content and would have sat next to me (and did) for hours on end without so much as a peep. But as soon as I put the camera in her hand and then eventually took it away, she was angry, sad and disappointed. Just a thought.

So, this week I visited two branches (there are 6 total). I went to Kisauni first, which is only about 10-15 minutes from the head office. It was so good to get out and visit with the branch staff. Friday I went to Tiribe which is 3-4 hours away. I woke up at 5am that morning so I could meet Sylvia (co-worker at Yehu) at another bus stop at 6am. I got up and was out of the house by 5:30. I started walking down the street to my normal bus stop. As I passed, a group of people came flooding out of the mosque after morning prayer. It was a beautiful morning. There was just a hint of daylight and a cool breeze. But I soon began to wonder if the buses even ran this early and how I was going to get to where I needed. I didn't even know if any boda boda (motorbike) drivers were out this early. I really could have planned this better, I thought. I quickly prayed that I'd be able to meet Sylvia in time. Immediately a car stopped. Inside was a man who was coming from the mosque. I'd say he was in his 60s. In the passenger seat was a man who appeared to be his father. "Sister, it isn't safe to be walking while it's dark." I had to admit he was right. He asked me where I was going and he offered to take me. Now I know I'm not supposed to take candy and/or rides from strangers but I could tell he was genuine and felt he was an answer to prayer. I had him take me to the end of the road to the bus stop. When he saw that nothing was coming he asked where I was meeting my friend and said he would just take me there. I was so grateful for his kindness. "It's okay, sister. Perhaps you will do the same for another Samaritan." He really left a strong impression on me. I won't ever forget it.

I met Sylvia from there and we caught our matatu to the ferry. The ferry is quite the experience. They load cars and people on these ferries that are crossing all day to and from Mombasa to Likoni. When the ferry empties it is literally a flood of people moving off of the boat.

(Because video and/or picture taking is prohibited I had to snag this picture of the ferry from the internet)

From the ferry we caught another bus that we rode for 2 1/2 hours until we got off at Tiribe. It was so beautiful. There were rolling hills of red dirt, palm trees and villages. After I did my interviews, Sylvia still had some material she needed to cover with the staff so I went outside to explore. I saw women walking their goats and children peeking at me around the corners of the houses. I started taking pictures of the kids and finally coaxed them to come over to see. My camera makes all sorts of friends! I took a picture of 3 kids and showed them. Then there were 5 then 10 then 15 kids all staring and smiling. We finally had to go. But it was a great day of work!