Day 7 - Kenya Trip

On this day 7 (Monday, July 2) of our pilgrimage, we report that we are all blessed, touched, inspired, healthy, and safe. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts. There has been great care for us from our sister parish and from HCAM's trip leadership, with our safety being the highest priority.

We are all sad to hear about the attacks on two churches in Northern Kenya (near the Somalia boarder) on Sunday (July 1). We pray for those who died and those who were injured, and for peace and security in Kenya. Please know that we are in Nairobi, far away from the boarder. Nairobi and we are fine.

We cannot believe that today was our last day at Holy Cross Parish Dandora. It was another blessed day.

We started the day by visiting the Boma Rescue Mission. The Mission rescues children from the massive garbage dump in Dandora and neighboring estates. The Mission attempts to rehabilitate 80 children each year. The Mission attempts to reunite children with their families or find a home for them if reunification is not possible. After the one year program, the Mission attempts to place the children in schools or vocational training. Monsignor Torgerson and Fr. Andrew presided at a beautiful mass with the kids, with chickens walking nearby. The kids sang and danced, SING ALLELUIA! Monsignor described the Mission as a life saving station. Fabias (the Director) gave a talk about the Mission. Then we presented each child with a new outfit, and gave the children new balls and jump ropes.

We then enjoyed a lunch presentation by Karibo, an attorney from the Human Rights Office at our sister parish. She presented summary findings from recent interviews with Dandora residents. She presented what is bad in Dandora, what is good, and the action plans of her office. As we had seen in previous days, Karibo praised the parish Small Christian Communities and volunteer health workers.

We ended the day with faith sharing and a farwell dinner at the renowned Tamambo Karen Blixen Restaurant in Karen, a very nice part of Nairobi. We shared about our days in Dandora. We took lots of pictures with each other. We ate and drank.

Everyone looks to have developed great relationships within the travelers, but also with our brothers and sisters in Dandora. As we talked in our faith sharing meeting, we remembered the preparation meetings at St. Monica's when we first met. We remembered in gratitude Peter and Delis for all their work for our trip. We called Delis and wished her a happy birthday! We love you Delis!

On behalf of the Summer 2012 Pilgrims,

Love, Blessings, and Peace,


Trevor and Anna Rodrigues