Today was Fun Day at Camp 53! We started with breakfast and a devotional before boarding a big bus for the drive into Kisumu. The bus was borrowed from a nearby Catholic school, and has seating for 66 people, so it was just right for our group when we added one of the Land Cruisers.
We drove to the Kenya Wildlife Service Kisumu Impala Sanctuary. This place was originally established to protect a small habitat of Impala from human conflict and later to protect hippos that live in the lake. It has grown into a small animal orphanage as well, where they provide care for orphaned wild animals that were injured and had to be rehabilitated, and could be returned to the wild.
The KWS people were really helpful and nice. The divided us into three groups and gave us a tour of the place, explaining where each animal came from and what circumstances brought them here. There were warthogs, ostrich, tortoises, a leopard, two cheetahs, six lion, and a baby giraffe. Although they were in enclosures like a zoo, it was good to be able to get so close to them. Benedict, our guide, knew each animal by name and all of their history.
As we finished the tour and waited for lunch, I was not sure how best to fill the time. I walked out to our vehicle and along the way, passed an ice cream vendor in the parking stand. She had enough for all of us, so I got her in and everyone queued up for ice cream. Thanks God, for providing just what we needed.
I had asked Thomas and Francis to go and make a booking at a local place, the Hangover Restaurant, that he had taken orphans to before. They did, and we drove over there. At restaurant in Kenya is a bit different from Chili’s in the US. They are small, cramped affairs, with lots of staff, and a limited menu, (chicken, fish, beef, ugali, chips.) When we arrived, the 100 seat dining room was packed full and there was no room at all for us. The staff assured us they would work it out, and though I was stressing about it, they finally managed to add enough chairs and tables and cajole the patrons to finish quickly, to accommodate us. The food was excellent, and despite the sides of raw beef hanging in the open closet in the dining room, we all enjoyed the experience.
Afterwards, we loaded back into the bus and went to the Nakumatt Mega City, a Super Wal-Mart type place with an attached mall. This kids were happy to be able to window shop for a while, and some of them even had a few shillings for personal items and other small purchases. Then we loaded for home.
Francis, Thomas, Stephen, Cherie and I were following the bus in the land cruiser. We were about a15 minutes from home, when we spotted the bus stopped on the road with it’s hazard lights flashing. As we approached, we saw a motorcycle, laying on the shoulder and a man writhing in pain on the ground. I had an icy ball in the pit of my stomach. I feared the bus had hit the bike and killed the man. But in fact it was the car ahead that hit the bike, but our counselors in the bus witnessed it. The rider was not badly hurt, just a leg injury, and the car that hit him was taking him to the hospital. Not a great situation, but not a disaster I had feared. We reache home without further incident.
Now this may seem like a fairly simple little day outing to you, but it was the highlight of the entire year for most of our students. Many of them had never been to Kisumu, had never seen wild animals, and never eaten food as good as that. They were all very happy.
After supper, we had a great time of prayer and worship. Ryan led them through prayer stations, joel led reflective songs, and Mbuvi brought the heat! We finished late, tired by very satisfied.
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