Jumbo! - Hello from Kenya
We were smiling as we departed Detroit Airport. All of our suitcases … heavy with supplies and low on clothing … made it just under the 50-pound limit for international travel. This included the duffle bag with FIVE donated trombones for the BLISS high school band. Greg Hulbert cleverly removed the mouthpieces and carried them in his briefcase to make the weight limit on that bag. When we got to Nairobi, it was Greg's other suitcase with a donated trumpet and a flute in it that got pulled out for inspection. The inspector insisted on seeing the trumpet. She asked if he played. His response was, "poorly." By this point I think they assumed we were nuts for hauling all this … or were some sort of crazy American brass band. They waved us through. Whew.
We got some sleep and then loaded up the vans for the daylong ride up to Meru on the far side of Mount Kenya. The roads are much improved over the past few years, but there are no posted speed limits in Kenya. They rely on speed bumps … big ones … and lots of them. It makes for a pretty exciting ride especially when you throw in cattle, goats and sheep crazing along both sides of the pavement most of the route. Most family plots are too small to grow grass for their animals, so they happily graze along the roadsides.
We arrived at the Thiiri Centre in Meru to find old friends including Bishop Lawi Imathiu. At 86 he has been asked by the Kenyan President to be one of fourteen delegates holding talks in very section of Kenya to insure its peace and tranquility. It is easy to see why.
Good Night from Kenya
Vic Adamo, Marco Bacelis, Greg Hulbert, Kathy Macdonald & Margaret Punch
