UTU

Notre Dame a pris feu et les pompiers ont fait de leur mieux pour sauver ce qu’ils pouvaient. Je reviens vers vous assez rapidement pour vous raconter les faits, et vous donner mon point de vue ......

Notre Dame was ablaze and the fire fighters did their best and salvaged what they could.  I, of course, came here to pen something small, because like I said, Notre Dame was my first tourist site, not by choice but by convenience, not that it matters! The point is that it has a special place in my heart. Now I can't tell you what I was thinking, I must admit I was just at that, the present, "Oh my gosh, it is burning; I this” and “I that” and “I whatever.” I didn't pause to think of its future. Then President Macron came up and said it would be rebuilt, and again I was like,” Oh great, new lease of life.” Again, I didn't think much about it. Now before I get lost, I am thinking of two things, Change and New Lease. Rebuilding Notre Dame The news came out. I went to work; of course, my students and I spoke about it. Some didn’t care, some were moved, the usual. Then I read that some French billionaires have pledged about 600 million euros for its recons...

The plan was to write something about the Gem project chapter 1 , share pictures and updates. That was the plan but then Notre Dame happened. Notre Dame and I have a story, a long one or so I believe. It was the first or among the first places i visited when i moved to France.    I came to France in 2001, I was a young naïve innocent girl, only one thing has changed, I will let you decide which one it is. Basically, I went to boarding school in high school, it was typical for most teens but times they are a changing , today, parents don’t trust boarding schools that much! My boarding school experience was an easy one. Despite what some perceive, I am quite the unconfident and reserved girl who loves to be in a crowd because it is easy to hide in crowds. I went to high school and had to work on my social skills, because my siblings and by siblings, I mean family and neighbors weren’t there to shield me and speak for me! according to my schoolmates I did such a ...

It took a while, but I'm back!   I haven't abandoned the project. Sincere apologies; i had a lot to deal with. But as they say, better late than never... First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone who participated in whichever way or form. I wouldn't make it without you! Asante! Shukran! Thank you! Merci! Ero kamano! It was a roller coaster ride; I had a lot to do and while the cups were easy to get since people either donated them or sent me money and all I had to do was drive to the nearest supermarket and buy them, the reusable pads were another tale altogether! I delayed in sending in the order. The seller was kind enough to not only send them by bus (this is so convenient and affordable) but to also throw in a few as a donation too! They didn't get to Nairobi in time; they travelled roughly 686kms from Mtwapa to Kisumu, then we picked them up and got them to GEM (pronounced like g for goat but we truly are gems 😉 ). The original pla...

Where did it all start from? Was it that conversation with my mother? Could be. I really don’t know. The conversation. I had called my mother to inform her that I would be visiting her soon, usually I ask her what she’d like for me to bring to her just before reminding her that I have a zillion loans to pay and that my paycheck isn’t that great! Anyway, she asked me to try and carry some sanitary towels for my cousin. Pause! wait! See sometimes we take things for granted and simply forget that not everyone has it easy. Having it easy here refers to not worrying about sanitary towels. I asked her to expound and she informed me that tampons were out of stock, no I am not joking, and that sanitary towels cost an arm and a leg when you have no proper income. I should mention that my cousin is my agemate and she lost her parents ages ago. Her mother,my aunt, whom I share a name with was disabled and back then (we have made very little progress) being disabled meant not getti...

Sincere apologies for taking so long to update, it definitely wasn't intentional, but life kept throwing me curve balls, and then there's been this other thing...fear! I am an amateur in this thing right? and i really really wanted to do it well and ...you know almost like a pro. So i started to knock doors asking for help for this or that, don't judge me, i'm nervous plus i am putting myself out here and the interwebs can be intimidating, not that i need much to feel intimidated! My quest for perfection or near perfection , plus work and other things have resulted in delays upon delays which then turned into self doubt etc. I realise again, that people have a lot going on, they may want to help but you know...so i didn't get most of what i wanted but i guess you will not judge me too harshly for poor presentation will you? it is the content/ thought that matters, yes? no? I have decided to just dive in, because the perfect time, the perfect words, pictures, ...

The Cups’ journey vs the pads’ journey So, the cups claim that they had a long journey. I had decided to put them all in one suitcase together with the toys and some books. Unfortunately, I had to leave some bulky toys and the books I had put aside, because it wasn’t going to be easy maneuvering in the train stations and airport with lots of luggage. The journey didn’t begin well. First, I realized that I had too many bags; the issue was the number of reliable hands versus the number of suitcases. Some stuff had to be left out last minute. Clothes, reusable pads, toys and books, anything I could get on site was left. I carried 3 outfits; my sisters would lend me clothes. Cups deserved the suitcase space and they got it first. I put them in this big red suitcase and off we went. Come morning, 5 am when we needed to leave and were busy trying to change this or that and get the sleepy kids out, my lovely neighbor knocked on my door to complain. We were up at 5 disrupting his s...