How to contact us in Kenya

If you need to reach us in Kenya, the main Kenyan cell phone for the group will be: 011 254 729 730 738. We will also have an American phone that you can call with one of the chaperones -- 703 593 3095. Check back here for we will publish another number once we are settled in Nairobi.

Here is a link to the Rosa Mystica Spiritual Center, where we will be staying during our time in Nairobi. The landline number there is 011 254 020 3874981 or 011 254 020 3870094

The cell phone there is: 011 254 726 769 961

When we travel on safari, we will stay at and can be reached at the Masai Mara Sopa Lodge, phone number 011 254 23 750 235

We will also visit the Rift Valley and stay at the Lake Nakuru Lodge for one night. The number there is 011 254 51 850518

Send-Off Dinner

Nearly our entire travel group assembled for the first time this evening (a few folks are still in transit getting to DC). Our group of travelers -- and parents of travelers -- met at the Bernsetin's house in Washington, DC, for a send-off dinner that included great conversation and delicious food.

Here's a picture of Ken speaking to the group, explaining some of the details of the trip:




We leave for Kenya tomorrow (Weds) evening and we'll be meeting at the airport in the afternoon. We'll all be wearing tan t-shirts that say "Children of Kibera" -- the name of the non-profit Ken set up to help the Children of Kibera.

Check out the Children of Kibera website for more details about that organization, and watch this blog for pictures of us all wearing the same t-shirts as we make our way through the DC, Heathrow, and Nairobi airports.

The next post will be our contact information in Kenya. After that, there probably will not be another blog post until we've settled in to our lodging at the Rosa Mystica Guest House in Nairobi.

A few more pictures

These pictures are sort of out of order -- Anna is brushing up on her Swahili at RDU; then we had lunch; then we unloaded the bus; then we posed in front of the bus with our "driver," teacher Sarah Coste from the Potomac School.

Cary Academy group arrives in DC

This will be less exciting news for the students from the DC area, but the five members of the Cary Academy (CA) team have arrived safely at Dulles Airport.

Nothing much has happened -- we got some lunch (see pic below) and went to The Potomac School to pack items such as computers and pens and such -- but I'm interested in testing the blog, so here are a few pictures:

The group at the RDU airport.

Useful posts from the trip in 2007

Here is a link to two videos that give cultural tips from the 2007 trip Ken suggests that people look at.

And folks might also want to look over the entries from the 2007 blog from April and May of 2007 as well to see if entries there are of interest. Sorry there is not a direct way to link to that section of the blog... but the archives are pretty easy to scroll through.

We'll be posting more here in the next few days.

Overview of Kenya's History

Leaving in less than two weeks

Less than two weeks from now, on July 1, we will be traveling to Kenya for the adventure of a lifetime. "We" are a group of 17 people -- 13 students and four adults.

Eight students come from DC-area schools (six from The Potomac School, one from Sidwell Friends, one from Georgetown Prep), four come from Cary Academy in North Carolina, and one student comes from Dana Hall in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

The four adults are Ken Okoth, a native of Kibera, Kenya, Steve Goldberg, a history teacher who has been on a similar trip to Ethiopia in 2006 and is helping facilitate this blog (I'm writing this entry), Sarah Coste, a teacher at Potomac, and Mary Howard, a parent of one of the Potomac students traveling to Kenya.

In the coming week, on the trip itself (July 1-20), and when we get back and reflect, members of the group will be writing their thoughts and reflections on this blog.

This is also a place for people to post pre-trip questions and thoughts.

Once we're in Kenya, this blog will include the day-to-day activities and photos (maybe video as well).

Welcome to our blog. The first few posts are from Ken, and they serve as useful background.