Day 3 - Nairobi

Gourd Sculpture

A day of work, adventure, and thinking . . .

Today I moved from my comfy, yet noisy, hotel in the city center to an apartment near the airport. It is more convient for the team to arrive here and rest prior to heading to up country. My first team member, Brooke, arrives tonight! (Brooke is a former student of mine and a recent graduate of Viterbo School of Nursing. She will be completing the medical exams of the students at HIP). Like all of my team members this is her first trip to East Africa.

Today's adventure did not involve a moto - it was a more sedate visit to the Kenyan National Museum, Snake House (came with the price of admission) and the Peace Walk Gardens. The Museum was amazing .... the holdings include one of the oldest human skulls (17 million years old) which was found on one of the islands in Lake Victoria. The sculptures, both inside and out, are exquisite. They also have a collection of all the birds from Kenya (stuffed).

The Snake House was full of every kind of venomous and non venomous snake in East Africa. Also crocodiles, other lizards and a plethora of tortoises.... there were also fish tanks with local fish.

My walk in the gardens was an oasis within the city. One could hear the rushing river, birds singing and the slight rustle of the trees; there was not a breeze but more from the movement of the birds. I had escorts on the walk - a onyx ibis and a type of bee eater.....

So where does the thinking come in . . . I have been reading "The Most Good You Can Do" by Peter Singer. The book references the role of effective altruism and living ethically. It is a wonderful book and causes one to think about how work, service and lifestyle effect the world around us... so the thinking part comes in as I ponder the efficacy of my work here vs perhaps work in the USA. There is no way to measure how one touches a life, either at home or abroad, but it causes me to think about my purpose as a servant leader, educator and person.

Main entrance  - with a Tree of Life sculpture

 

Oldest Human Scull - 18 Million years

Peace Garden

Tortoises

Onix Ibis showing me the trails . . .