TheWayForward

6 June 2009

It is time to return to Nairobi. Neither Brett nor I had any idea how long it would take to get there. The roads were their usual bumpy, dusty selves and the track seemed as if it would never end. It was the first time I heard Brett complain about anything. He, like me, was tired of the amount of travel it takes to get anywhere. I also was really feeling it in my whole body, the weariness, the aches and pains of hard roads and endless travel. But the Mara spread out before us and the skies reminded us that when we returned to the States this broad expanse, this life changing trip would be over and we would slip back into the fast passed, technological lives we had left. Definitely a mixed bag.

We traveled a different way home, so instead of going through the Rift I got to see Central Kenya. We surely had seen a lot of different terrain. As we passed through the land of the Masai, past the Kisi and into Kikuyu land I had a good deal of time to think. I still couldn’t bring myself to grasp all that had happened. I couldn’t wrap myself around the joy and satisfaction of a job well done. I couldn’t quite see that all had been accomplished despite no real plan when we left. It is almost a week later now and I’m still perking all of it.

What I do know is that it has taken so many people to get to where we are. I received a lovely email from one of the committee members for the Harambee and I had to tell her, that if I succeeded it was that so many people were holding me up. This remarkable board who believes so strongly in what we are doing and are willing to work hard so that we can raise the money to move forward. All the countless folks who have donated small amounts of money, to the one donor who carried me for 4 years with his contribution of most of our budget kept me returning.. I think of boards past and their work, and the people in my church and the one totally clear thing I know is that it takes a village here to help a village there. We are truly One Village at a Time and we’re walking towards that endless sky that encompasses all of us and unites our humanity. I am grateful and proud of that.
And God said it is good.