It has been a long trip so far but sooooooooo far so great. We left the house at 4am in Rochester and caught our first flight to JFK a quick 2 hour layover and a 9 hour flight to Doha, Qatar. Another 2 hour layover and a 6 hour flight to Nairobi. We landed around 3pm here (we are 8 hours ahead) and with all of our luggage – well almost. Our personal items for the two weeks are in our backpacks. The other suitcases are filled with the many donations of clothes and other items needed for both the children and the staff. One of the items that the staff asked for was over the counter painkiller drugs, Downey unstoppables washer freshener and coffee creamer. Tom also has packed computers that are going to Tanzania, an assortment of tools for handyman work and even a WiFi booster. The only item that did not make it was two bottles of French Vanilla Coffee Mate and that was kept by security in Rochester. They said it tested for traces of chemicals – well isn’t that what it is? We say a lot of folks wearing masks and the smell of Purel. They did check our temperature as we debarked off the plane other then that it was fairly normal.

In Nairobi we were met by two of the missionaries that work at Rehema Home Nairobi – Mark and Michelle. Mark is from Lima, NY and Michelle is from the Bronx. They are married and have lived here working as full time missionaries for 9 years. They took us to a place to exchange our money (101 shillings to $1US) get a SIM card and a bite to eat. They were so helpful in giving us some interesting facts about Nairobi (English is a native language) guidance about cultural differences, and eating dos and don’ts.

We finally got to the Guest House at 7pm where we need to get some sleep and back up at 4am for our flight over Lake Victoria to Bukura where our mission begins.