The Last Hurrah at Kwacha Afrika

March 19.

That ominous day has arrived. From the beginning, the date was meant as the end of our on-project work. When it comes to the day though, things were not always as they seem. Photos galore were snapped to and fro about the Kwacha Compound. And despite the levity with the poses and smiles, there were tears and hugs and genuine emotions of regret at having to leave and being left.

Before embarking on my safari, I thought I would post some pictures of a few of the faces of Kwacha Afrika during the closing days of our sojourn here. By no means do these select few photos single out the meaningful people from my stay here. There is just only so much bandwidth I have to post pictures, otherwise I would have to wait all night for photos to upload.

DJ Havire works the turntables at the Kwacha Afrika compound. Havire is a mainstay of the Kwacha community outreaches. Typically, he takes charge of the sound systems and music for these large events. You can always tell he enjoys getting the crowds engaged via his disc changers.


Seen here are Evan Trippel (left) and Charles Kangeri (right). Charles was a close friend of the Canadian volunteers at Kwacha. His constant jokes and distinctive laugh always meant a fun conversation was about to happen. He even was kind enough to invite Evan and myself to his rural home one weekend to meet his mother and brothers. His mother's gift of homemade tea is one of the best things I will be bringing back from Kenya. One of the premier people I've met on this trip.


Georgina has been a steadfast friend of the Canadian volunteers from beginning to end. Though quiet in group settings, set her on-stage with a microphone in hand and she can whip up the positive emotions and attentions of a host of people in heartbeat. Always constructive in her approaches to things, Gina is somebody who I greatly admire and will miss.


I caught this photo of Amina (left) and Angela (right) at the farewell get-together today. Amina is one of the most energetic volunteers out there, which she does while raising two kids of her own.


Here are the four roommates from my homestay, plus the son of our homestay hosts, the Kalus. Clockwise from the upper-right are Evan Trippel (New Brunswick), Rebecca Berman(Montreal), Melissa Walters (London), Myself, and Mike Kalu. Mike and Ihad instant brotherhood over our same names and our love of soccer. He comes home every night to eat dinner with us and chat with us about everything you can imagine. Mike is also one of the executives of Kwacha and does a lot to plan the group's activities. Without him and his jokes around, the Canadian volunteers would have had a much more boring experience. Unfortunately, he likes Manchester United (just kidding).

So there you go. My path is paved for next week's safari. This could be my last blog post before Canada. See you on the other side and I'll make sure to avoid the lions.