We are here now in the city and after being in Nakuru this place is busy! I am enjoying the hustle and the bustle though. We met the second group the other day and they are, of course, very nice! It is a larger group and they are older than most of us, but they are still having fun learning what we can teach them.

The photography group went out on a walk today. We went to the slums where the Constant Gardener was filmed. I havent seen the movie yet, but I do plan to when I get home. It was interesting to see how these people live. Almost one million people live there and it is a huge slum.

The people that we saw there was nice but stand offish. The children ran up to us and took our hands and the adults smiled and some just looked at us. We met a pharmasist that talked to us very breifly, but let us take his picture.

The one thing that stuck out the most about the slum was thier water situation. They have small streams of bathroom water and cooking water and waste water that just flow out of thier homes and down to the river, then on the other side of town people collect thier water from the same river. A lot of people get sick from the water becuase there are so many germs in it.

The people here also dont really have a garbage system. The is garbage all over the sides of the road and in some places people collect them into piles and burn them, but in the slums the garbage just sits there. I saw one child going through the garbage to look for things. I cant imagine living like they do and it is so nice to see that they are still loving life and are smiling all the time!

At the center, where we are working with the group, I met a new friend. She is a small little girl and I dont even know her name. I think that she is a cousin of someone in the group, but she is so sweet and so much fun. We were playing and holding hands yesterday. She would run away from me and I would go find her around the corner and we would just laugh. I saw her again today but I didnt have time to play with her. She is so cute and I love her smile! The best thing was yesterday we were playing and I looked down at her feet and her shoes were on the wrong feet and she didnt seem to notice or care! She was running around playing with no cares in the world.

Time is really flying by and I am sad that we are almost done working with the group. I am also excited to go on safari though! We have, I think, two more days with this group and then we go off into the wilderness!!! I am excited to see THE five! I will take pictures but who knows when they will be posted. We are running out of time to edit the photos and get them to the cyber cafe to upload.

Kenya is an amazing place with amazing people. It is so amazing to see people with all different lives still smiling and laughing no matter what has happened earlier that day. Well we are off to eat Jamacian food tonight for dinner so until next blog-Aloha from Kenya

Wow! Time really does fly when you are having fun! This week has gone by so fast, but we have accomplished so much already! I am finally getting better and I am able to do things with the groups. It feels like forever ago I posted a blog,

Well-Saturday night was an interesting one! We were out and about during the day. Part of the group went hiking and the other sickly people, such as me, stayed back. Afterwards we all met up and had dinner together and it was delicious! We all sat down and talked around a big table and got to know each other some more.

After dinner we were all VERY tired and went back to the hotel. We had forgotten that Saturday night was cultural night at the club at the hotel. It was cool we could hear the music and all of the people were nice, even the tipsy ones walking around. But then at around 11 pm things started getting a little crazy. Bailey and I were watching a movie in my room and all of a sudden a siren started wailing! I guess when things get out of control the siren goes off! It didn’t really freak me out but Bailey said that she saw people with sticks hitting other “bad” people! It just reminded me that we were not at home anymore! I made Bailey stay in my room and then we asked Andrew to sleep in there too. The siren only went off one more time that night so it was ok. My room in on the club side and I didn’t want anyone tapping on my window in the middle of the night so Andrew could lay the smack down if they did. But nothing happened after that.

Bailey and I shared a bed and I am saying right now that I will never do that again! She likes to elbow people in her sleep!

Yesterday was our last day with the Nakuru group. We worked all day and finished everything that we wanted. I even got my hair braided by Ashley! Ill put pictures up later, I promise. It was really cool it was just a few in front.

We all went out to dinner again and I had the best steak ever! At dinner we all started passing notes about how much we were going to miss each other. It was all very sad but we had a lot of fun together this week. It is truly amazing to meet a group of people that are so open and kind to all of us and welcome us into their lives and even their homes. I am so glad that I am here because I am able to make amazing friendships with people that I know I will keep in touch with for a long time.

Well today we are leaving Nakuru to go to the lake to see all of the animals except for elephants. I guess we will see enough of them on safari. Then we are making our way to our new hotel and celebrating Aria’s birthday! So until next blog- Aloha from Kenya.

It is official- I’m sick. And because I am sick I got to go to the doctor here in Kenya. The office reminded me of Kauai Medical Clinic. The doctor was really nice and I got my meds and I have been trying to sleep off this crapy feeling. Because I went to the doctor I didn’t have the chance to go to the dump with the rest of the group. I saw pictures though.

Yesterday afternoon I did go with the rest of the group to meet with the other JUMP group. I am in the photography group and Stan took us around to look at some different places to take pictures of.

We went to the crater, which Stand says is the second largest crater in the world. It was so BEAUTIFUL! You could look at the way down into it and see animals roaming and if you looked into the sky you could see a rainbow. Kenya is so beautiful!

Tonight the rest of the group is going to eat dinner with the kids at their homes. I am not going though because I am sick. I will be in my own bed at the hotel trying to sleep this sickness off. Until next blog- Aloha from Kenya!

Well I’m here! It took many long flights but we all made it! Some of us got sick on the plane but we are all doing ok. I still cant believe that I am here in Africa, but seeing zebras on the side of the road reminds me that I did come all this way. Kenya is a beautiful place and is so different from Kauai.

One of the main things that is different from Kauai is the driving. Of course people here drive on the left side of the road, but it’s more than just that. They don’t always stick to their side! People pass each other all the time and people drive at all different speeds. I don’t think that I have seen a speed limit sign anywhere yet. Also they have a lot of round abouts and don’t always have smooth roads! My neck is soar from riding three hours to our first destination.

Being able to see exotic animals on the side of the road is such a cool experience! We have seen flamingos down by the lake and zebras. When we go on safari we will see a lot more like lions, giraffes and elephants. We have also seen donkeys, goats, and cows just roaming the streets. Everything is so free here.

Yesterday we meet the first African JUMP group and all of them are so excited to work with us. We started to brainstorm ideas of what each one of them wanted to do. They are all so nice and are ready to work. Also yesterday we meet a group of adult actors that are doing small skits and songs within the community to spread awareness. They brought us back to their theater and talked with us and showed us around.

All of the people here are so kind and thoughtful. Our guides for the week, Stan and Dense, have only been hospitable. They have kept us happy and excited. They are a lot of fun to talk to and are interested in what we are thinking.

Overall I am very excited to be here and help out the other teens. I can’t wait to meet the other groups and get to know them. Until next blog- Aloha from Kenya

On June 30th a group of 11 students from Kauai are going to Kenya to create media projects about AIDS and how it has affected the people of Kenya. I am one of the 11 students that are going. I am very excited about this trip but I dont know if I am going to be prepared for it. I have never been to Africa and this will be a new expericence for me. It is a different life style than I have seen before and I am excited to learn about thier culture. If you are interested in finding more about J.U.M.P. visit our website at www.jumptochangetheworld.org