Thanks to Lisa Slater from contributing this blog post.
People say rain is good luck. If that is so, then the unusually heavy rain pouring down tonight, on the eve of the opening of Café UBUNTU bodes well for its future. The reason we are here, the completion of Café UBUNTU in time for its celebratory event, is nigh.
We have had four incredible weeks in Kenya, meeting and interacting with the phenomenally dedicated people of CTC International. Not only have we met and had riotous fun with the CTC team, but we have had the privilege of also meeting the community partners who make the work of CTC possible in areas where there is still suspicion, fear, ignorance, and social pressure. CTC staff and their community partners help their neighbors help themselves.
It is for these people that we have worked so hard. We see the impact they have on their community. Our work is in recognition, and an appreciation of their efforts.
We have completed and honored the work that one team dreamed and four previous teams worked on: we have painted walls, built berms, moved rocks, made walkways,
shoveled large gravel and small gravel; we have planted flowers, bushes, and trees. We have dug a seemingly endless amount of holes for all the plants, and then dug 12 more for a mini coffee estate to be planted tomorrow with coffee seedlings. We have washed toilets, chairs, and sinks; we have built stone steps and a cement ramp for wheelchair access; we have painted menu boards and signs, large and small on walls above the door, by the washrooms, and outside the doors; we have filled potholes with rocks; we have interviewed and hired staff; we have trained them in customer service and in coffee service; we have swept dust with traditional whisk brooms and regular brooms but never seem to get ahead of the game. In short, we have done what we came to do.