I slept well in the sweet apartment that Agnes’ friend Linda owns in Kisumu. Linda has made wonderful meals for us as well. I’ve even had almost enough mango juice to satisfy me for a while.

We went to Jacky’s house first thing. Jacky has been sewing for us for six years and we are always happy to see her when we come to Kenya. Three years ago, she had a baby girl and named her Ellie. I saw Ellie in 2020 when she was just three months old and now she is three years old. What a sweetie she is. I brought her a doll and she held it almost the entire time we were there, slowly working up her nerve to sit on my lap and play with my starfish necklace.

MCP Board Member, Agnes, has been working with several local women to expand the project in Kenya. Two of the women from the new sewing team (Josephine and Linda), along with Agnes, Jacky, Phoebe, Helen and myself spent several hours talking about this new venture to get our kits into the hands of more girls. What fun we had talking about all the challenges we will face and sharing our excitement for the future of MCP. I love the energy of these women and their devotion to keeping girls in school; especially those that live with poverty every day.

We gave Jacky some supplies and photographed the machines that the Albany District Links, Inc. donated to the new guild. Then we headed off to meet Bella and give her some supplies too. Bella is another new MCP tailor. We were able to visit her sewing room and to help her improve the space so as to make kit construction easier.

The delightful Bella served us a lovely lunch of veggie samosas with a lemon and tomato salsa, hard boiled eggs, and plenty of fresh fruit. She filled my glass with mango juice and kept filling it every time it was empty. I fairly floated out of there, but it was so delicious I couldn’t waste a drop. We met the pastor of the church where the new sewing room is located and also met Rachel, who will start another center 75 kilometers from Ahero. Tomorrow Bella will join us at a primary school to teach our curriculum and distribute kits.

Next, we decided to go watch the sunset over Lake Victoria and sat at a table overlooking the water while listening to a band play African dance music. Phoebe and Agnes had to move and ran to the dance floor to join the others who couldn’t sit still. The rest of us watched them as we sipped wine, beer and sodas.

As the sun went down over the water, I thought about how amazing it is that The MoonCatcher Project has brought all these lovely people together and how lucky I am to be here with them.

Later, at home, we wait for the water to come on. Once that happens and I will take a shower and settle in for the night.