Jennifer enda

In Kiswahili “enda” means “go” so the term “Jennifer enda” is what was said with the kids today as I said bye to them. On Friday one of the moms told the children that I was leaving and I definitely shed some tears even though I didn’t know exactly what was being said. Today I went back to the orphanage to hang out with the kids one last time and say good-bye. Fred (age 4) asked me where I was going and I told him Tanzania. He asked where it was and I told him right below Kenya but one of the other volunteers would show him a map and point it out in class tomorrow. Later he asked me again where I was going and I told him Tanzania. This time he said he wanted to go to Tanzania.

It is certainly hard to say good-bye to Kenya after living here for three months. I have seen changes in the children. Mark (age 4) would never warm up to anyone, would never listen to the volunteers, etc. and now he is wanting to be held by us and giving us kisses. I often go into the children’s bedrooms and give them kisses before naptime. Anne (age 4) is a little slow and has some learning disabilities; she used to not understand the concept of kissing my cheek and would just touch cheeks. This week she gave me a real kiss and made a “muah” noise! It was so exciting.

I have grown incredibly attached to these children and will constantly be Emailing people at the home for updates on them and praying that they all find loving homes. Baby Jennifer has even grown so attached to me in the six weeks she has been there it’s so hard to let her go and everyone is interested to see how she will start to act without me around. As it is with me there she will cry if she sees me, and I am not with her. She will fuss if someone else tries to feed her while I am feeding another baby. Other people will try to hold her and she continues her cries. When I pick her up she immediately stops wailing and puts her head on my shoulder. I wish I could explain to you what it feels like but I think only those of you with children may be able to understand.

I have grown attached to this country and certainly feel as if I was living here and not just visiting for a short period. I have seen changes with people aside from the orphanage too. We took a new volunteer to the market yesterday, and I spent about an hour just standing with some guys that we have seen every time we go and chatted it up with them like we were old friends. On my way to work each day I always passed this group of seven or eight children playing and they used to simply yell “mazungu, mazungu” at me. Our interactions have developed and now they run up to me to exchange greetings and shake my hand before going about our seperate ways.

So needless to say this weekend was full of goodbyes. I use my taxi driver, Jimmy, one last time. I took one last ride with my favorite boda-boda driver, Joseph. There was a night out with the girls with a Kenyan volunteer from the home, Kaiza and her friends (where we were at a concert and I was interviewed by the news haha). We took a family picture as my host family has called me their “oldest daughter.” There have been many hugs, many kisses, and many times saying “nakupenda” (I love you) with people that will forever remain in my heart.

I want to leave you and my writing about Kenya with a few things I have learned from the past three months:
- one tube of toothpaste lasts exactly twelve weeks
- clean is a relative term
- a child laughing is one of the best sounds in the world
- having seven four-year-olds run at you yelling your name and knocking you
over with hugs is one of the best feelings in the world
- if you go into any situation with no expectations you will be pleasantly surprised
- things are much easier with a little common sense, a sense of humor, and a smile
- carrying toilet paper and hand sanitizer is a good idea no matter where you are
- the only way to drink Coke is in a cold glass bottle
- people in the U.S. (including myself) are incredibly wasteful
- growing up in the U.S. made me very sheltered from world news and knowing
things about other countries

So it is "kwaheri" Kenya for now. Tomorrow morning I will be boarding a bus very early to travel to Tanzania. I am excited to see more of the countries that way. I feel as though I am starting all over again but also that these next three months are going to fly by. I know I am going to have more wonderful experiences, meet more awesome people, and fall in love with many more children.