The Last Day

We got to start the day by meeting up with the girl that Khari and his wife sponsor. Her name is Peris. She lives in a community not to far from Kiria.

She is an absolute doll! Side note, one thing that I absolutely loved about the 410 Bridge is that they bent over backwards so that every person on our trip that sponsors a child, four people, all had the chance to spend time with their kids. So, we picked up Peris and headed back to the community for the last time. On our way in we dropped of each group at the home that they visited the first time we did home visits. Muhmba was quite surprised to see us and was in a tizzy when he realized that he had not swept his dirt floor and had not wiped down his chairs for us. What a sweetheart. We made chapiti and chai tea again. We were experts since we had learned how to do this on Sunday. Since we are... "healthy" Americans we wanted to add sugar to the chapiti. It was delicious! Our Kiria friends even enjoyed the sweet treat. Our host had an apple tree. TO me the apple tasted like crab apples. Our translator told us that people always try to steal apples like this and that if they are caught they will be thrown in jail for a very long time. After hearing this I made sure to eat every bit of that sour apple. Its amazing to me that this would be worth stealing.

Headed to the school! As we pulled up Peris said to me, "this is the most beautiful school I have ever seen. The grass is so short and it is beautiful." What a humbling moment. To me, I saw a cracked and crumbling building with long grass. To her, beauty. I was full from all that we had just eaten, so, I gave Peris my lunch. Khari later told me that she ate half of her banana, wrapped it back up, and asked him multiple times if he would make sure that it was kept safe for her to eat later. Holy cow. Do I know any 10 year old that would save the last few bites of a banana. Would I save the last few bites of a banana and be so insistent on its safety.

It was tugging at my heart pretty hard knowing that this was the last time that I would spend with them for quite a long time. Once the rest of the team had finished lunch the nail polish was brought out. What a mess. Every child wanted their nails painted. Every woman too, but they were not as pushy! It was awesome to put lotion on their hands and to see their reaction and the feel and the smell of it. Everyone that had their nails done was ecstatic! It was a wonderful moment to be a part of. Time for the goodbyes. I was a snotting, teary mess before we even got there. The children sang us a few songs followed by the adults singing us a few songs. The leadership council presented us each with a beautiful handmade thank you card with our American name and our Kenyan name. This was very emotional for everyone. It was very difficult to say goodbye. Even though we were only there for a short period of time the lessons that the people of Kiria taught me, the impact of their service on me, and the relationships that were built made it so hard to say goodbye. I felt like I was there to serve, but left as the one being served. Kiria is full of beautiful people! I went out to play with my girls for the last time.