for the 'Love of Africa' : Oct 5, 2009

Monday, October 5, 2009

A Great Day

Today was great day! We met with the broker and the owner of the land, who is a Mesai and lives in a mud hut. Things are moving alot faster with this land deal then I thought they would for `This is Africa` TIA. We looked at land, negotiated, made the deal, had the documents drawn up, then 12 of us met for the final meeting and the signing of the documents...all in 2 days! After the signing and the papers were handed over to Rehema we had a traditional African celebration. We had Kookoo (chicken) and cow (not beef) on a BBQ spit roasted over a fire and Ugali (a thick cornmeal rolled into little balls with your hands) We had no utensils, no plates...ate with our hands. We prayed, sang, and laughed alot. The broker, who we thought looked like Morgan Freeman, was quite the character and made us laugh the entire meal. The principal of the school where the children go, also a director of Karim Orphanage, said this broker was a wise old man and was very respected by the community. He stood up during the meal and said how amazing it was that we had come all the way from Canada to help the Orphanage; yesterday we did not know each other and today we are all together sharing a meal, laughing and now we are Friends! I almost started crying! So, today we bought land, tomorrow they are stacking out the property lines and we are meeting with a company who design the orphanage and hopefully in a few short weeks...we will start contruction on the New Home for Karim Orphanage! Thank you to all of you who helped make this possible!