So you may notice that we missed day 5.  It’s not that we didn’t do anything important; we did.  Unfortunately the camera stopped working for that day.  We’ve been able to get it to work off an on, so it’s still alive-ish, but it’s deffinitely giving us problems.  So we shot all of day 5 on film which we’ll share with you later.

Day 6 was our final full day in Nyeri with Kiini and we spent a good bit of it enjoying the town and relaxing a little.  We finished all of our interviews with the Kiini staff first, and then we headed to Aberdare National Park for a game ride (i.e. safari).  It was a lot of fun and we saw all sorts of wildlife including Jessi’s favorite, elephants!

We’re wrapping up one last shoot this morning and then heading back to Nairobi for a few days of work with a Bishop there.  If we have internet you can expect continued updates on the blog…and if not we’ll be back before you know it!

Thanks for following our progress and stay tuned in the coming months as the Kiini project comes together!

Philip, one of the of the Kiini staff members.

Kennedy, one of the of the Kiini staff members.

Boniface, one of the of the Kiini staff members.

The Kiini staff in the office in Nyeri, Kenya.

Animal Skulls at the entrance to Aberdare Park.

The rest of these were shot during our ‘game ride’ through Aberdare Park;  Waterbuck.

Water Buffalo

Elephant

Jessi and Stephen during the game ride at Aberdare Park.

Hyena

The flooded river due to the recent heavy rains

Jessi searching for elephants on foot

Sam, Stephen and the Father on the 4×4 during our game ride.

We started off today visiting a woman who has benefited from the micro-credit loans through Kiini. She now owns her property and runs a chicken farm as well as a few dairy cows. Now she’s able to buy and sell chickens, chicken eggs and cow milk. All of this was possible because of her loans and the help through Kiini.

An hour drive down the road and we were at a special goat project that Kiini has helped to initiate. There are a lot of goat projects here in Nyeri, many of which Kiini is a part of, but this one stood out because they had saved up the money to purchase a goat of good pedigree which they are now breeding with the local goats to improve their breed here.

The goats were in an area near where Kennedy and Philip grew up, so after finishing that project they took us to a beautiful waterfall near their homes and then we joined their families for a traditional Kikuyu (their tribe) meal at their homes.

We finished off the day at the 3rd member of Kiini, Boniface’s home for coffee and snacks with his family. It was a great (and muddy!) day. The trip is beginning to wind down as we head out today for our last full day of work. Then, Sunday we’ll be spending the morning at one of the national parks here before watching a soccer match and having dinner with everyone. Then Monday it’s back to Nairobi and on to the next project!

Stay tuned…more to come!

Chickens at the chicken farm that we visited.

Some of the boys who live at the chicken farm.

One of the women in the group that runs the chicken farm.

The owner of the chicken farm.

Philip’s niece, Joyce.  She was watching as we photographed the goats (they thought it was very funny that we were taking photos of goats).

Goat.

Philip’s younger brother and Kennedy showing us some of the new hybrid goat kids.

The man who cares for the goats on the goat farm.

Joyce had a really beautiful smile that never left the whole time we were with her.

The waterfall near Philip and Kennedy’s homes.

Sam and Kennedy drinking some natural mineral water from the rocks near the waterfall.

Us hanging out by the waterfall…photo by our good friend and driver, Sam (seen above).

Philip’s grandmother who lives with them.  She is paralyzed on the entire right side of her body.

Stephen enjoying a traditional Kikuyu meal with Philip and Kennedy’s families.

Jessi was going to take Teddy home to America with her!

Philip’s nieces and nephews.

The view near Philip and Kennedy’s homes.

Jessi and Sam getting in the car in pitch darkness and lots of mud after having coffee at Boniface’s home.

Here’s our first field video from our time in Nyeri with Kiini…enjoy!

(don’t forget to check out today’s photos in the post below!)