Kenya Pictures 2007, Part 1

These are some pictures from our trip so far. Because picture taking is limited in the slums and homes for street children, I must get them from those who took them, so they will be up sometime later when I get a chance. I hope you enjoy these now though.

This is a mural from the Kenya Youth For Christ organization building, an organization that in partnership with World Vision has sent groups of 18-24 year olds into over 90 high schools in Kenya to talk about abstinence and character development in order to prevent HIV and unplanned pregnancy. It was a great experience.

These are zebras from the Safari we went on. We also saw lions, giraffes, elephants, buffalo, hippos, jackels, baboons, gazelle, and many other types of animals. The lions (10 of them were) all eating a zebra like this one, pictures that I will put up later when I get access to them.

This is a kid from the Masai Village in Western Kenya that captured my heart. He had flies all over his face and raw skin under his nose from them residing on him so much. The Masai had an amazing culture and this kid will surely grow up into a great warrior.

This is a typical Masai hut made out of cow dung and sticks (very stable) with some of the older women sitting around outside it. This particular village had 75 people and 175 cattle.

These are some of the Masai women performing a dance for our group after entering the village. The girls from our group later joined them for the end of their dance.

Me, Patrick (the Masai guy), and a lions neck that Patrick had killed and wore as a trophy of his accomplishment - the most highly regarded accomplishment in the Masai culture.

This was one of the dances the Masai men performed for us before entering their village. The Masai take turns jumping and whoever jumps the highest gets the most women - I later tried my luck at this too - though was not as strong in the calf region.

At one of the Koinonia projects, they have a wood shop where men like this carve out beautiful carvings that they sell at fair trade shops. The carving on the left is an example of what this man had done.

This is me with my two new friends Victor and Newton (our guides from Shalom House) and my new authentic African shirt. The picture was taken at a organization that makes prosthetics for men, women, and children that lost limbs through war, disease, or lack of medicine.

This is me feeding Betty and Laura - not my mom and sister but two Giraffes from the Giraffe house we visited earlier in the trip. These are an amazing animal!

Alright, I know this is disgusting, but an amazing site none the less. This was taken of a young elephant at a home for orphaned elephants that one day will be put back in the wild but were separated from their parents due to poaching for their parents tusks and ivory. If you can avoid buying ivory, please do, as it endangers elephants like these.