Billeting with a director

On Thursday night I had the opportunity to stay with Joyce and Joseph Maina. Joyce is one of the directors at the Mukurwe-ini Wakulima Dairy. She is one of three formidable women that sit on the council which runs the dairy. She also runs a large dairy farm currently milking 4 cows, 2 dry, 3 heifers and a few calves, along with goats and coffee among other things. Her husband is a retired teacher that worked in the national school in Nairobi. Their three daughters have grown and live away from home, one of their daughters living as far as Germany.

Joseph and I talked about the education system which was a real treat for me as a former teacher. (I’ll talk more about the school system in a later post as we’ve visited a local school).

The evening included learning how to make ugali, getting to taste a traditional bean and corn dish, watching some soap operas and discussing the work of a Kenya to have the rights of transgender recognized (following the news report on the victory). I must admit that the highlight of the evening was finding out that I would not have to use a choo (said “cho” which you would know as an outhouse) as the house had a running toilet. Unfortunetaly I did not get a picture of their home or one of them, hopefully I’ll get a chance to before heading home.

It was very nice to get a chance to have a Kenyan night with a very welcoming family.


PS. You might have noticed their last name. Yup, my furry northern girl has a common name here in Kenya.