Goat intestines and driving in Kenya

28th September, 2009 - Posted by Camille Cotton -

Matt and Cheryl took part in a goat roast last week. Matt has participated in several goat roasts in Kenya before, but this was the first one for Cheryl. Matt told Cheryl that goat tasted like lamb, but after tasting the goat meat, Cheryl described the meat tasting something like an old sheep. At this particular goat roast, the cooks also offered goat intestines, which neither Matt nor Cheryl had ever tasted before. Matt decided to be the brave one (or the foolish one depending on your perspective), and partake of the goat intestines through the encouragement of one of the Kenyan house parents. In fact, Matt was the only muzungu (white person) to eat the goat intestines. They actually tasted better than Matt expected, but they had a strong after taste which left one’s mouth tasting like a goat smells. It is highly unlikely Matt or Cheryl will ever have goat intestines again.

Matt has been running this week around the neighborhood. He was inspired by a few Kenyan runners who visited the village earlier this week. Thinking Matt could start a conversation with one person who looked a little older and shorter than many of the Kenyan runners, he met Moses and tried to impress Moses with the fact that he was actually trying to run in Eldoret. While muzungus running in Eldoret might be a little bit less common, it turned out that Moses Tanui was not entirely impressed with the length or speed of Matt’s running accomplishments in the past week. Having won the Boston Marathon twice, and having been the first person in the world to run a half marathon in under an hour, Moses Tanui was one of many current and former Kenyan runners that Matt and Cheryl met that day.

Having gained some confidence in running through the streets of Eldoret, Matt decided to upgrade to driving through the streets of Kenya. The first time seemed fairly successful as Matt drove out to the Village. No goats, chickens, cows, bicyclists, pedestrians, or other drivers were harmed during the incident, but Matt’s blood pressure rose significantly. On the second attempt driving, Matt once again succeeded in driving to the Village without harming any animals or bicyclists, but Cheryl’s blood pressure rose significantly as she sat in the front seat and watched Matt narrowly avoid all of the above and more. Lots of horn honking, swerving, and girl’s screaming (including Cheryl, Ruth, Renee, Rachel, and three babies in the back seat), but all arrived safely to their destination.

One day this week, Matt and Cheryl helped with an Open Arms medical clinic at Kambi Teso in the slums of Eldoret. They spent most of the morning packing up medical supplies, gathering food for the feeding program, and setting up the tent. Shortly after lunch nearly one hundred people were already lined up to receive treatment from the clinic. Matt continued sorting and setting up supplies, while Cheryl began to assist as a pharmacist with no medical background whatsoever. Fortunately, Rachel was able to supervise Cheryl and the other volunteers who were in the same boat to make sure that they were giving out the proper dosages. By the end of the day, they had fed over one hundred children, treated and served over two hundred adults and children and all were exhausted.

On Thursday, Matt and Cheryl and the rest of the Open Arms staff spent the day at Poa Place, Eldoret’s version of a zoo/amusement park. The children loved playing in the playground and seeing a variety of monkeys, snakes, and ostriches. On Friday, Matt and Cheryl went back to reality, cleaning and sorting the garage to place things back in order from the medical camp, do some policy and curriculum writing for the OAI school, and reorganizing the bedroom. They had ordered a bedroom dresser and a book shelf from a local store so they wouldn’t have to live out of a suitcase, and the dresser arrived a week late (nothing is really late here, it just arrives or occurs whenever). Matt and Cheryl were both very excited to regain some sense of order and normalcy in their bedroom (although the book shelf has still not arrived). Goodbye until next time!

Blessings,

Matt and Cheryl