Welcome to the next several Blog posts to follow our journey as a friendship trip to the beautiful country of Kenya. To learn about the God’s Green Resourceful Earth partnership’s background and mission, please read recent posts on the Inhabiting Eden blog written by Trisha Tull HERE. Presbyterians for Earth Care has been a supporter of the partnership since its inception in 2016, and now both PEC Treasurer Jo Randolph and PEC Coordinator Mindy Hidenfelter have joined the group of six traveling to Nairobi and then on to Kisumu, the location of the conservation projects carried out by the staff of GGRE.
Monday & Tuesday (Sept. 2-3) : Nairobi
Our week began with breakfast and our daily devotion. Trisha read to us from Psalm 139 and suggested that we come to the country of Kenya with receptivity, as everyone we we will meet is “fearfully and wonderfully made” and a gift to us in friendship. This set the tone for our stay in a culturally rich nation whose past includes the unfortunate influences of the paternalistic intentions of colonialism. Rev. Tom Ochuka and his wife Damar would be our gracious hosts during our stay in their country.
Our first stop was a visit at the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF). We learned from the staff of very friendly and accommodating experts of fascinating work being done in agroforestry gene banking, soil analysis, and conservation. A “Food Trees” project, developing portfolios of trees and crops for farmers for year-round fruit production, has proven to be especially successful. The “champions” are the extension workers who work directly with farmers throughout Kenya. These individuals are supported by non-government organizations, not the national government.
The next day was full of unique Kenyan wildlife and cultural experiences. At the Nairobi National Park, we spent our morning enjoying a visit to the Elephant Nursery, where orphaned baby black rhinos and baby elephants are cared for until they are ready to be returned to the wild.
Afterwards, a quick visit to the Giraffe Center allowed us to experience a close-up view of the Rothschild giraffes which are cared for as part of a species breeding program.
We rounded out our second day in Nairobi as a group with a cultural experience at Bomas of Kenya. A series of traditional dances from the many ethnic communities throughout all the regions of Kenya, from the coast to the western parts, were performed to the beat of live drums. Each dance was explained to us in interpretation of traditional lives of Kenyans
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