We Made It!

For those of you following along on Facebook have probably seen by now that we have successfully made it to our destination at Tenwek Hospital in Bomet. After 24 hours of travel, three plane rides, and the world’s most impressive (and disgusting) diaper blow out (that occurred somewhere over the Atlantic DURING dinner) we arrived in Nairobi.

This was our first flight (Allentown to Atlanta). Poor Noah had to sit by himself in the row in front of us.

Amazingly we started with 18 checked bags (which increased by three in Atlanta) and only lost one. It apparently felt like an extra night in Amsterdam was in order. Thankfully it was located and reunited with the remainder of his brothers and sisters. Even more surprising was that we made it with the same four children that we started out with (which is shocking considering the distance we had to travel through the airport in Atlanta and the number of carry-ons/personal items we were carrying). Once we made it to Nairobi, claimed all of our luggage, located our driver from Samaritan’s Purse we were taken to The Mennonite Guest House.

The kids took to tree climbing immediately. So far no major injuries…so far.

This little oasis (www.mghkenya.com) was a great place for us to relax and try to adjust our internal clocks to the change in time. Buffet meals were provide three times/day plus two tea times. The boys had an absolute blast running, climbing, digging, and exploring. They even made friends with children of other missionaries who were passing through. Steph spent an entire day in Nairobi shopping in preparation for our departure to Bomet (which I’m sure she will blog about). When the time came for us to pack up and take off, the boys begged for us to just live there instead. (I guess they really enjoyed it!)

There are several dogs on the compound which has made Levi and Hannah soooooo happy. This is Walker. Pretty sure Levi wants to adopt him!

Hannah loves playing in the grass. I may be biased but she is the prettiest little girl!!

We are having the boys keep picture journals of our time in Kenya. Jacob drew/had help drawing his tuwtle that he smells. This was his favorite part of the Mennonite Guest House.

Noah has spent at least 25% of his time in Kenya in a tree. I don’t know what we are going to do when we return to the states…in the middle of winter.

The drive from Nairobi to Bomet was fairly uneventful (i.e. no major traffic accidents). While we did not see any giraffes or baboons we did see a few gazelle in the distance and we saw a herd of zebra (in addition to a ton of cattle, sheep, and goats). Since arriving here, Steph and I have been busy getting the house set up. At this point we have everything unpacked and cleaned (most of the cleaning has been thanks to our wonderful househelp…also something I’ll let Steph go into in more detail). We have been blessed to have many lunches and dinners provided for us up to this point in both the guest house as well as in the homes of some of the long term missionaries. I have also had the opportunity to tour Tenwek Hospital. It will be interesting to see how I fit in and what I can offer as time progresses.

Overall, we are adjusting well to our new home and surroundings. Kenya is a beautiful country with so much to offer. It is our hope that we will continue to find ways to engage in the community and make a lasting difference. Thank you again for your prayers and support. We never could have made it to this point without them. I’ll be sure to update again once I begin working in casualty (the Kenyan version of an emergency department). This will probably occur in the next several days.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Aaron Kelley

Latest posts by Aaron Kelley (see all)

• Changing Seasons - September 4, 2016
• Well Done Good And Faithful Servants - May 2, 2016
• Looking Back….Looking Ahead - March 14, 2016