Safari Scars

Rubbing a thin stick briskly between his palms, smoke begins to rise indicating it has reached optimum heat. He puts it to my skin branding me with my first Masai burn. I bite my lip but try not to let them sense my pain.

His arm reaches across my face as he heats the stick up for a second time. His upper arm is covered in circular scars; a sign of bravery within his tribe.

When the stick touches my arm for the second time, he holds it down longer than he first. It has burnt through multiple layers leaving me with a perfectly round weeping memory of my visit.

You know it is a bad burn when a Masai man, someone who has killed a lion with his bare hands, grimaces at the sight. The Masai men congregate around me, all examining my markings. They speak amongst themselves and then one translates for me in broken English.

He points to my first burn, which has now formed a welt. 'This one very good,' he says and then points to the seconds before pausing, 'this one...it's ok,' and they all begin to laugh. It is infectious and I am soon joining them, quickly forgetting about the searing pain.

The Masai are such a beautiful tribe, wrapped in brightly colored shuka and wrists full of beaded jewelery. Their earlobes sag, stretched by the years.

High-fiving me, I am told I am welcome back to their village any time, pointing to my burns, 'you are Masai now.'

Hello to everyone,

I just wanted to update you on how everything is. Today your donations helped to feed a small group of women and can I just say how proud I am of your selflessness at allowing this to happen.

I have ceased work at the school in Naivasha and today I began work in Nairobi where I will be working with HIV sufferers for the next two weeks.

I was supposed to head out to the IDP camp in Gilgil though I think I have informed you all that the government is beginning relocation so we have put our ideas to commence self sustainable projects on hold. As I was intending to work on a project out at the IDP and it has fallen through I have since decided on a new project for your donated funds - child sponsorship.

At Monica Memorial, the school I was just working at, there are four grades ranging from 4 years to 12 years. In the older class there are several students who will have to cease education next year as Monica's only hosts children of a certain age and then they must attend government schools. The problem with this however is all of our kids at Monica's are orphans and are thus not in the financial position to continue with their education.

This absolutely breaks my heart.

There is one boy in particular, his name is Samson, he is about 12 years old and next year he has to finish at Monica's because his guardians do not have the funds to send him to school, and thus he must go and work in the fields. He is the brightest little kid and is incredibly kind.

Once my volunteer stint is over I have one week until my journalism placement begins. I will be returning to Monica Memorial on my own and will begin to make profiles of the children who need sponsorship. With the remainder of the available funds, I will use this to sponsor those I am able, but I will also be beginning my own project. This project will hopefully see these children having continuous sponsorship so they may see through their education into the future.