Day 7- Bomet

On this day, with a little sadness, we left the cultural center on the Mara.  I really loved it here! 

Saying goodbye to the Masaai Mara

 We drove for a few hours to get to Bomet.  It was so interesting to watch the landscape change from desert to more lush and green.  There is such variety in Kenya!

Bomet is a beautiful place, and I soon found it was full of beautiful people,too.  After we got checked in to our hotel, we drove to the training center, which is next to the home of Anita Byegon, who is on the 100 humanitarians Kenyan team.  She leads the community there in Bomet, and has been working hard for several years to provide garden towers, water tanks and feminine hygiene supplies to her community.  There is a sewing center there, where women are employed to sew the garden towers and feminine hygiene kits.  

On this day, several families who have been growing garden towers, were gathered to receive rainwater collection tanks, and chickens to start enterprises with. They were so friendly and cheerful, and of course there was singing and dancing.   I got to help give out the water tanks and chickens (my first time holding chickens).  They gave us gifts as well, some beautiful bags they sewed. 

Giving out the chickens

Recieving a gift, a hug and a song

Anita is a wonderful leader.  She was recently elected as a county government representative - one of the first women to do that in the area! I believe people trust her because she does so much good in her community. Here’s a video interview with her: https://youtu.be/rGoUJC4aEso

Making friends with some of the kids and their moms 

We brought bubbles with us in the jeep - always a hit with the kids!

The families with their new water tanks

I met some people there who share my same faith - these ladies are new members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  They are in the process of starting a branch there and they currently meet at the training center.  They are so excited about their faith and wanted us to come to church with them.  We couldn’t since we were only there for the day, but I loved meeting them!

Birthday buddies 

Brenda is Anita’s sister in law, and such a fun and delightful person! We found out we share a birthday, and she shared her birthday cake with us at lunch. They made a delicious meal with the yummiest mangos and the best homemade guacamole ever, with chapati.

After lunch, we spent several hours discussing the projects with Anita, and I also was able to walk around the grounds and see the chicken projects and beehives.  The young men who are in charge of caretaking those projects were very proud of them and excited to show us their progress and answer questions. 

Even though we were only in Bomet for one day, I made some wonderful friends there and fell in love with this place too.