Wema Children's Centre: Arrival

Hujambo na mwaka mpya mzuri! (Hello and happy New Year!)

After three flights spanning 15 hours, long layovers, and a two-and-a-half hour car ride, we have made it to Wema! Some of the students who have already been to Wema have remarked on how modern the new Kisumu airport is and how the roads have made the ride to Wema much better. A lot of progress has been made with infrastructure in Kisumu and Bungoma. Teresa and Steven, the directors, along with their children welcomed us last night with an amazing dinner. They had all our beds set up in the new quarters that Steven made with covers and bed nets. There are three bedrooms with bunk beds as well as a bathroom and shower room. I feel so spoiled by their hospitality!

This morning, we have explored Wema as we are waiting for the children to arrive back from vacation. They are working on making a high school next to the primary school so that the students can go right there after they graduate primary school. This would be incredible for the school of Wema called Highway Academy. On the 2011 exams, Highway Academy received the second highest scores out of the approximately 800 schools in Bungoma County and was 54 out of the 18,000 schools in Kenya. I also saw the new well set up. One of the volunteers Sara Hollis raised $60,000 through Envirocon and University of Texas. Living Water International has set it up, but the piping just needs to be finished, which will hopefully happen in the next week or two. Compared to the old well, which is contaminated as a result of being on the same line as the sewage, this well will be a huge improvement.