Asante Sana!

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