In Mtito Andei

Hello! Yesterday morning after Travis, Jen and I had breakfast we left with Eddie and Joseph to Mtito Andei. The drive took about 4 hours.

Tsavo Inn is absolutely gorgeous from the outside. There are many different types of trees, and flowers covering many of them: orange, magenta, bright red and yellow flowers. I hear foreign birdcalls outside my window often and hear Islamic chanting over a loudspeaker every time there is prayer.

Tsavo Inn is confusing. I say this because we are the only guests here (it kind of feels like I’m in a bad slasher movie, haha). It is so odd to be the only people in a room with 15 other tables at dinner. We all wonder how this place is able to stay in business.

This morning we met Rosina! She is incredibly kind and loving and brimming with happiness. It is impossible not to smile being around her. Her English is very good but she always talks very fast so sometimes it is hard to understand her. We also met some of her friends/colleagues/local community member volunteers for her orphans. Rosina and I talked about a place that I could teach and she mentioned a primary school just a short walk from Tsavo Inn where I could teach. Rosina also mentioned today that Mtito Andei means “Forrest of Vultures.” Interesting! After we talked with them Rosina left to attend to her father who was ill, and we left with her friends to go to their church.

I was honored to be invited to their church, but I have to admit, it was very awkward at first walking in! The service had already started so we were late, and on top of that, we are three very foreign looking people walking into a tiny country church. I could feel everyone’s eyes in the entire church on us as we sat in the empty seats in the front! The church consisted of a very bare room with wooden benches and a small stage. There was no piano, or banners or even a cross. The people who we came with seemed to be high members of the church, so they introduced us, and made each of us come up to the front and say hello and our name. I felt very embarrassed to get up in front of the entire church and speak in English, a language that most did not understand! The music was definitely my favorite part of the service. It was absolutely beautiful; only their voices in harmony, a drum and occasionally clapping.

After church we left for Rosina’s main headquarters. She has a few centers for the children in different places throughout the community, yet this was described as headquarters. It consisted of a building that was halfway done being built with no roof, a small office that had a roof (tin metal and the ground of the office was just dirt), and some projects that had been started (fish farm pond, unbuilt chicken coop, outhouse). We were speaking with Rosina’s colleagues about this and we mentioned that a woman from Global Roots (Hong) is planning on starting a library and that this building would be good for that. The people thought that this sounded great. They also mentioned that they had originally thought that this building would be a rescue house for the orphans. Meaning that when the orphans come to Rosina to say they have been abused she has some place to put them. We were thinking that when the building is finished, they will be able to use it for both; have the books along the walls and beds in the middle.

Later in the day for lunch we ate at a little roadside stop/restaurant near Tsavo Inn. I had pilau (I think that is how you spell it), which is rice cooked with spices and herbs and small chunks of meat. Travis had ugali which I tasted. Ugali is made out of ground corn and is the texture of sticky bread. Kind of like a play-dough texture actually! You eat it with your hands by taking chunks off and dipping it into a sauce (usually a meat based sauce). Without the sauce ugali is very bland.

After dinner Jen and I played cards for a long time and later Travis joined us. It was a nice relaxing evening. Later for dinner we had chicken curry and chapatti, a flat bread cooked with a few spices, fairly similar to tortillas but a little crunchy and with a different taste because of the spices. Dinner was extremely tasty.

Overall my time here in Mtito Andei has been very good! We are meeting with Rosina tomorrow again and have a full day’s work ahead of us.

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