Nairobi
I felt great when I landed in Nairobi at 7 am thanks to the "No Jet Lag" remedy I picked up at Santa Monica Homeopathic Pharmacy. Lucas was waiting for me just outside baggage claim. Stepping out of the baggage hall is always exhilarating - even with limited sleep my senses all perked up to the sights, sounds and smells of Africa. As we made our way through the parking lot I could not tell who was more excited to see the new truck. We celebrated our new wheels all the way into Nairobi as we fought morning traffic which didn't bother us because we were in our NEW TRUCK!!! Through the years, transportation has always posed an enormous challenge for our little organization so the truck is a significant milestone for The Samburu Project.
Our day was filled with meetings, but first we went to the NGO Coordination Bureau to check in on our NGO status. Did you know that The Samburu Project is a US nonprofit, a Kenyan NGO and a Kenyan CBO? These are all great things for good reasons, but each requires attention to stay in compliance. Just a few of the glamorous details we have to handle in order to run an international organization.
We met for hours with Kariuki, our hydrogeologist and Ajay, our well driller. It's so fun to sit down with people who are as passionate about water and love doing it as much as we are. We shared ideas about ways to better our work. In the end we set a schedule for our 2013 Well Drill. Now, I just have to be sure that all of our funding comes in by June 30th!
Afterwards I had the chance to meet Duncan who has just begun to consult with us on our Kenyan accounting and financials. He too was full of ideas and gave me hope that we may not always be bogged down in the paperwork.
After a long day in Nairobi we are headed to Samburu. Stay tuned!