Mum is finally here......

Well she’s here, my mum is here!! The first 3 days have been brilliant!

I simply cannot believe the amount of stuff mum managed to bring and it’s all perfect! Thank you from every part of my heart to those of you from the tiny town Karoonda (and surrounding areas) who found the spare clothes and money to donate, it will make a very big difference to the IDP families. I can’t wait to take her with them and give it all out! It makes me both excited and emotional just thinking about it! I promise to take plenty of photos.

The 'taxi' that took me to the airport to collect mum was the first host family I stayed with in Kenya and they now have a 2 month old girl, Anna. Mum held her the whole way home - so in love. The African babies are so incredibly gorgeous, you find every excuse not to put them down.

The video is of a snippet of mum’s first 30 min in Kenya in the taxi ride from the airport. She just witnessed the fine art in which the Kenya people cram into the back of Ute’s or mini Lorries to save themselves a 20 cent Matatu ride. They were literally running after the moving vehicle and launching themselves onto the back. Watching her experiencing such new, random things was absolutely hilarious, I’m still in stitches reliving it!!! Mum had her mouth open the entire taxi ride. Simple things I take for granted now like women carrying things on their heads, masses of people jammed in the back of a utes, no seatbelts, babies in the front seats on their mothers laps, locals selling things from peanuts to pillows and even love birds in between the traffic jams and Muslim families dressed full kit – this really is a culture shock for her!!! It seriously had me re-appreciating the life I have been immersed in for more than 3 months now.

Fellow volunteers and locals remind me every hour what a courageous thing mum has done in uprooting her comfortable life to join me here for what I am sure will be a life changing experience. It absolutely means the world to me, thank you so very much mum!

I am learning to chill out a bit, but I feel sooooo protective. I swear I will be kicking the arse of anyone who tries to rip her off or come near her in the slums! I’m also terrified Dad would kill me! :-)

I am both surprised and impressed by the way mum has been handling everything so far, especially the driving!! You literally risk your life every time you step into a vehicle or even cross or walk alongside the roads. There are next to no road rules here!

Since arriving, we’ve basically been exploring the streets of Kawangware (the slum in which we live) and sampling the local foods of Kenya – yummo!

Oooohhh, Mum just made her famous scones and once again has them branded ‘the best scones in the world!’ We ate them straight out of the oven and smothered them in jam and whipped cream – sensational!

Tomorrow we are heading for the camps, starting with a medical camp for the school kids – we are concentrating on testing them all for HIV as a priority. We have a further 16 volunteers joining us which is excellent as we will be busy testing more than 200 children.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, the day before mum arrived, I not only saw my third baby being born, but I actually helped deliver it - the mother was having trouble delivering her child beyond the head so I pushed on her tummy and felt, heard and saw it come out - incredible!

Must shoot but will update again soon – so much to write about.