Jamii Moja

Being in Kenya was the most amazing experience i have ever had! I had the opportunity to travel with 18 other girls, one of them being my best friend Madison.

Going into the trip i was extremely nervous and excited, i had no idea what to expect. It was helpful getting the chance to talk to a few of my good friends who have been on a Me to We trip before, to make me feel more comfortable and help me pack.

While i was there we stayed in the village of Sikirrar. Our camp was right around the corner from the school, so we got to spend a lot of time bonding with the children. Everyone was so friendly and happy. I don't think i have ever meet such happy people like the people in kenya.

I was lucky to have such a small group because we all became very close so fast, we ended up coming up with the name "Jamii Moja" for our group which means "One Family" in swahili. We even came up with a cheer to go with out name. A week into the trip we really became one family and ill never forget the friends i made.

My group was extremely motivated on the build site. Our facilitators continued to tell us how shocked they were of how much we accomplished for just being a group of 19 girls. While in Sikirrar, we finished a school and watched the roof go up, we brook ground on the kitchen, and began to put up the walls on the teacher housing. Our goal was to reach 5 bricks high on the kitchen, and although we only got to 3, it was still an amazing feeling to know how much we achieved together.

Ill never forget the day Keilen and i were finishing the last trench before we could pour concrete. It had to be one of the hottest build days. We both never stopped, because we so determined to reach 5 bricks high. When we finally finished, Steven, one of the community members was standing at the fence watching, he got a little closer and said "This will never be forgotten". This one sentence made me realize how grateful the community members are, and how much all our hard work was paying off!

The water walk was a full day of emotions. We woke up had our breakfast and went the walk with two of the local mamas. Paired up with a partner we walked from the river to these mamas homes carrying this massive water jug on our heads. We got to spend time with the mamas family and then went home and had a long talk that night about water. That day i really released how important water is to our world
and how many people lack it.

There were so many amazing things about my trip to kenya, from John our massi warrior reading the cosmo magazine to touring kissaruni, and the countless hour put into the build site. Kenya will always be apart of me.