Adventures of the Heart

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Getting So Close!

Second Adventure... Twice the Impact!

My dream to return to Africa in 2014!

100% of my Goal for Flying Kites Orphanage is met!! Thank you!

and
I am at 92% of my goal for Africa Yoga Project!
DONATE to my service with Africa Yoga Project here

Thursday, August 1, 2013

In Swahili, Asante sana means "thank you very much," which is exactly what I want to say to you! If you have arrived on my blog, chances are you supported me either financially or with prayers and words of encouragement. For this I am truly grateful and I hope this blog will give you a little taste of what I experienced during the two and a half weeks I spent in Nairobi. Many of you I don't see on a regular basis, and yet I want you to know exactly what you supported when you donated money to my Africa Yoga Project fund.

However, before you go off reading I have the most important story of the whole trip to share with you. At dinner one evening, my roommate Sandy and I were sitting with James and Patrick (two teachers for the Africa Yoga Project and our Rafikis that you will read about). We were started asking them if they had always been interested in yoga.... at which they laughed quite hysterically! They divulged further that when Paige Elenson, co-founder and extraordinary leader of the Africa Yoga Project, asked them to come to yoga teacher training they were not at all interested.... until they found out it was happening on the Coast of Kenya. One week on the beach, where typically only the wealthy travel was enough for them to decide they could do whatever this yoga training was about. As they tell it, they had no idea what they were in store for and after a day of less than engaged participants the training was almost canceled. However, they chose to stay and discovered the power of their own transformation. Now, they are employed (through AYP) and teach outreach yoga classes in the communities of Nairobi in slums, orphanages, schools, and prisons). They are able to support their families financially and most of all they are empowered. This, my friends is what the Africa Yoga Project is all about. Yes, it involves yoga, but that is just the tool. It is about empowerment, service, community, opportunity, and personal transformation.

That evening, James and Patrick assured us that if we met them in the slums two years ago we would not have recognized them. Their lifestyle was completely different and yet, today they are shining stars- living authentically from their hearts and giving to their own community! So, thank you for your donation to the Africa Yoga Project- this is what you are supporting.

The best way to read this blog is to scroll all the way back to my first post entitled Dreams Come True (from June 15th). This will start you from the beginning of my travels. From there, read one or read them all and feel free to comment on any of the posts! And once again, if you are reading this, please know the gratitude and love I have for you! Asante sana!

Tree House Orphanage

Of all the outreach visits we did, going to the Tree House Orphanage stirred my heart the deepest. And yet, I don't think I have words to describe why.... the whole visit just stuck with me and I feel like I am still processing it today.

When I heard we were going to an orphanage the picture I got in my mind was a building with lots of children living inside. I guess I watched the movie Annie quite a few times while growing up. The scenes outside our bus window as we drove there were my first indicator that the place we were heading might not look how I imagined. No, orphanages in informal settlements (i.e.- slums) are not two-story buildings with all the necessaties to take care of a large group of children.

We met several of the young girls who lived there who immediately wanted to show us the room where they slept. After entering I saw why. Someone donated paint and their rooms were colorful, bright and cheery with prayers and other positive messages on the walls. They were so proud of their rooms and I felt just as grateful that they were able to make the room "their own."

Many of the children living there became orphans when parents died of HIV/AIDS, alcoholism or anther illness. However, some have a parent who is still alive but just too ill to care for them. Instead of being left on the streets they were brought to live here. Currently, only nine of them attended school since that is all they had funds to send.

After touring around, Jodi led a yoga class for 9-13 year-olds (with some younger ones sneaking in as well). They seemed to really enjoy it and at the end Jodi asked everyone to share one word with the group. Hearing the words; love, thankful, happy, and joy among others brought tears to my eyes. As with most of this trip, we came hoping to give something to the children and they gave us far more in return.

Doorway leaving the orphanage

The Orphanage- the girl's rooms are on the right and the room for yoga is on the left.

Yoga Time!

Beautiful girls who live at the Orphanage

Having some fun with the "breathing ball."

Inside one of the bedrooms

Wall Paintings in the Bedroom

The Poultry Project- chickens were donated as a way to provide eggs to eat.

After a great need for food they started their own garden

Langata Women's Prison

The only pictures you will see below are those of the sweet, joy-filled children we worked with at the Women's Prison as Kenyan laws do not allow pictures of buildings or anything else on the campus. These children live at the prison where their mother's are incarcerated. According to a Kenyan friend, some are able to leave at times to be with other family members, but majority of them live here at the prison. During the day, they attend a nursery school on the campus. I will admit that when I heard we were going here I thought the children would be really sad or even angry, after all they are growing up in a prison. However, they completely showed me a new way of being, no matter what circumstances are around. They live with such joy-filled hearts. I suppose many people might say that is because they don't know they are in a prison as most have not experienced otherwise. On one hand I agree that no, they don't know a different life. But at the same time I know how perceptive and intuitive children are to the people and things around them. So, while they may not understand exactly what their circumstances are I am sure they sense that things are not okay with their mothers. And yet, I say all this because they don't live as though they are in prison. They live, as children naturally do, in the present moment whether that means laughing at a friend or crying because they fell down. They are not caught up in the circumstances even if they are impacted by them. Such a reminder to me that the only prisons that really exist are those in our minds- joy is always a choice.

When we arrived the children were finishing lunch. I felt the frustration of speaking another language as they started talking to me in Swahili and I couldn't respond!

Let's do some yoga together! These children only speak Swahili and were still loving kid's yoga taught in English!

Jodi reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear - The children's books that I brought are a part of the generous Thrivent Grant I received and will be read with children here and in other outreach settings (i.e.- orphanages, schools)

Two of my little friends! After yoga we brought out a cake to share with them. It is a custom to smear frosting on each other's foreheads, which you see here!

Nairobi

While we were fortunate enough to stay at one of the nicer hotels we still witnessed the extreme poverty that is prevalent in this growing city. Even at our hotel we took many cold showers and had frequent power outages. I think some of this is due to just how fast the city is developing. Considering it was a swamp land until it was founded by the British in 1899 and is now the country's capitol with over 3 million people, that is incredible growth for 100 years! Unfortunately, the divide between the wealthy and poor is quite obvious in this city.

There are extremely wealthy areas and extremely poor areas, but they are separated from each other. This is similar to the U.S., however I can recall many times when i lived in New York City seeing homeless people on the streets of wealthier areas. This is not the case, at all in Nairobi. While we did drive through some of the middle and upper-class parts of the city, most of our time was spent in the poverty-stricken areas. After a day or two, seeing people along the side of the street selling things or cooking over fires was just "the norm." Some of the people in our group who have done extensive world traveling mentioned that even with the poverty, Nairobi is extremely clean. I agree with this as there was not a lot of garbage or animal droppings along side the roads (with the exception of one large pile we saw with a pig sitting on top!)

One of most fascinating things to me was the traffic in Nairobi. Most of the areas we drove in had NO traffic lights, stop signs, pedestrian crossings, etc. This was absolutely amazing to me that a city the size of Los Angelos could function without these things, but the astounding part was it did! I certainly would not consider myself qualified to drive down these roads as it takes quite some skill to weave in and out of traffic and know when to push your way through or when to wait. Our entire time there we only saw three accidents, which I found impressive. Now, I would not recommend this system of traffic as we literally sat for hours at times, however, it was quite intriguing (and we quickly learned that you always go to the bathroom before getting on the bus.)

One more story about the traffic in Nairobi. Since cars were stopped a lot, it was not uncommon for people to walk in between them selling their goods. However, my favorite moment was when we drove by a pineapple stand and one of our Rafikis yelled out to the bus, "Does anyone want some pineapple?" And sure, enough, we pulled over and bought 3 pineapples from the bus window. Now, this is "fast food" I am actually willing to eat!

A typical thing to see on the side of the road. People set up to sell whatever goods they have.

Lots of construction everywhere- it is definitely a developing city!

Apartments

Picture of an Informal Settlement (slum) out my bus window.

Yaya Center- A shopping center near our hotel. We discovered a health food store and smoothie place so we walked here whenever we had the chance! The Masaii Market is also held here on the roof each Sunday.

Masaii Market (on the roof of Yaya) where I learned to bargain for deals. (and not be fooled by "lady, you my first customer, bad luck to lose first customer!)

Pineapple Drive-through

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Elephant Orphanage and Giraffe Center

On our last full day in Nairobi we did some touristy things. First, we went to the Elephant Orphanage where they rescue young elephants who are orphaned due to poaching, parent death or any other reason. If left alone in the wild at such a young age the baby elephants would not survive. So, they are cared for at the orphanage until they are about 2 or 3 years old and then reintroduced to the wild.

In order to create an authentic environment for the elephants the orphanage is only open for one hour each week. This is when people can come watch during a feeding time. It was so fun to watch the baby elephants come down from the hill in anticipation of their feeding! They were like little children- they knew exactly where they were going and what was about to happen. They each ran to their "spot" where a caretaker was waiting with 2 bottles. In many cases if the bottle was not at their mouth fast enough they started to grunt and groan! After they had their bottles we watched them munch on leaves, play with each other and drink water using their trunks.

Here is a short video clip if you want to see more. It is so interesting to hear how because elephants are so intelligent the caretakers must help them heal from the trauma they experienced.

Coming for their food!!!

Baby Elephant!! This little one was the youngest in the group. He or she is only about 2 months old.

The workers are so gentle and sweet with the baby elephants! They feed, wash and even sleep with the babies, just as their mothers would do.

Baby Bottles- they each get two at feeding time!

Play time!

The other place we visited was a Giraffe Center where they care for giraffes. It is not an orphanage like with the elephants, but was instead established to protect endangered giraffes. The giraffes have a huge open space to roam and are not shy about coming over to be fed by visitors.

Their tongues feel very rough!

Ron feeding the giraffe.

Amboselli National Park

After six hours on bumpy, dirt roads we arrived at beautiful Amboseli Lodge for the night. Many of us felt very spoiled staying at such a luxurious resort, and at the same time a hot shower and dinner other than lentils and rice, were very welcomed! There were amazing views of the Savanah throughout the Lodge, but the best part were the game rides. At 5:30 that evening and then again at 7:00 the next morning we set out in our Safari vans to look for some wildlife. In South Dakota we have deer that just wander about (and cows), but it was so amazing to see elephants, zebras and giraffes just meandering across the plains. We were lucky enough to spot two lions, which according to my Kenyan friends is quite lucky. And while they were far enough away that I didn't get a good picture, I was able to watch them play, well mostly LAY together through the binoculars (we think they were brothers).

Driving into the lodge we saw a giraffe but didn't stop to take pictures since we were sure we would see another - well we didn't, but I am glad we at least saw one. However, the animal I am most fascinated by is the elephant.... I could sit and watch them all day, I think. Some random fun facts courtesy of our driver and friends are:

-Female elephants gestation period is 22 months- almost 2 years of being pregnant!

-Elephants are born without tusks, then they lose one set before getting their adult tusks (much like our teeth!)

-Elephants only sleep a few hours a day because they need to spend so much time eating. It takes a lot of greens to support their large size!

-They use their large ears as fans to stay cool and are surrounded by birds who eat the flies off of them.

And one other thing that I love about elephants is that they symbolize strength and wisdom!

Going on Safari!!

What will we see?

Monkeys!

Zebras!

Elephants!

So Beautiful and Majestic!

Water Buffalo!

Rhino!

There is a lion in this one - but you could only see him with the binoculars!!

New Friends!

I didn't have any doubts that the people I would meet on this journey would be AMAZING!! I just didn't have any clue HOW amazing. Here's the thing, I went with a team I had never met and joined with over 50 Kenyan Yoga Teachers, and yet, within minutes they felt like family. Not only that, but most of the Kenyans I met were so open, friendly, and loving that it was quite humbling. They literally embraced me without any second thoughts as to who I was or where I came from (and they have the BEST hugs!). My heart was opened a thousand times over AND I realized that this is how I want to live. Their relationships with others are the most important thing. They have community and connection that are so much more valuable than any material thing we could imagine in the Western world. This is one of the greatest gifts I received on this trip - the feeling of being loved with authenticity. And, something I am much more intentional about now that I have returned to the United States. Keeping what I value most- community, compassion, love and connection- at the center of my daily interactions.

Teacher Training Break!

My sweet friend Fredrick who brought me a coat to keep for the week because I was so cold one day! (it was winter there- so low 70's and I did not pack enough warm clothes!)