Africa in March: Update #2

Well, we made it.  We arrived Friday morning (instead of Thursday night), ate a late breakfast, got some rest, and then had some planning meetings in the afternoon.  But wait, that's only what we thought we were going do.  After our rest period, it turned out that we would get to go to the BCC and see the kids for a short while.  I must say, we were all more than excited.  After all, the kids are why we came.

We loaded up into vans and made the 90-minute drive through Nairobi to the BCC.  Since this is the strictly narrative part of the post, I'll refrain from expounding on what an almost other-wordly experience it can be to drive through Nairobi.  Suffice to say, it isn't something you ever really get used to, and it can be a very exciting, thrilling and heart-breaking part of the experience.  More to come.

As we hit a few last potholes, jostled over a few last mind-jarring bumps, we finally turned into the BCC.  All of us were simply giddy with excite, let me assure you.  Traveling those thousands of miles, enduring the delays and missed flights, grinding though 11 long hours in the London airport, wearing the same clothes for 2 solid days...all of these things vanished in the breeze.  We were finally there, the place we had all been (literally) dreaming about - with the kids.  (As I'm still trying to keep this a timetable narrative, I'll move on.)

We spent a couple of hours at the BCC.  Tony Wenani, the BCC supervisor/preacher/main man, took many of us around and gave a quick tour of the facility and grounds.  He also talked at length about the program, the surrounding community, and about some future plans.  It doesn't take long being around Tony to see that 1) he is uniquely gifted and passionate individual, and 2) he loves these kids!  After the tour, we were able to spend some time visiting with the kids, letting them see who we were and starting the process of getting to know them.  The kids are a bit shy at first, but they do like it when we come and, even though they may not talk too much initially, they enjoy our company.

After a bit of time visiting, it was time to leave.  It wasn't much fun getting back into the van after such a short time of visiting, but we were thrilled to have had the serendipitious opportunity of coming out and were excited beyond words knowing we'd be back in the morning.

We again made the trek through Nairobi, returning at the Methodist Guest House around 6:30 pm.  After dinner, we spent some time planning the next day's Sports Camp, organizing our supplies, and talking about the experience.  Our day over, we all headed to our rooms and crashed into some very deep sleep!