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Day 7 The Meaning of Ubuntu

By Jordan Ferguson

This morning, the team woke up well rested from our early night last night after a long day yesterday. Today, was the end of our stay in Nakuru. Upon checking out of the beautiful Sarova Woodlands hotel we visited our favorite cafe, Java House, which is a popular restaurant found throughout the country, selling everything from pastries, coffee and to delicious smoothie combinations. We also visited the local grocery store to replenish on snacks and items. Ryan and I snagged our favorite apple juice that we were served by Kenya Airlines on our way here. Once we had our signature orders from Java House we hit the road and were able to catch some Z’s before we continued our itinerary.

By noon we made our first visit to Thika Cloth Mills where we were able to see where the fabrics for a biggest partner, Ubuntu, were sourced, which completed our view of their value chain. At Thika there was a large grassy area, so we took the opportunity to get our cardio in by playing with the soccer balls we had with us. After playing with the balls we worked up an appetite and picniced at the Nairobi campus of American University. It was in a very beautiful field where we continued to play with soccer balls. Later in the afternoon, we returned to the Home Care Retreat where we were kindly greeted by our gracious host/house mom, Irene, who we all missed dearly.

Once we returned, some took the free time we had to nap and others decided to explore the beautiful property in which we were staying. While outside Adam, Cassandra, Tanner, Nolen and I had an impromptu yoga session with Tage while getting some much needed vitamin D.

For the rest of the evening the team showered, ate, and took advantage of the much needed downtime, after a week in Kenya. At around 7 p.m. the team came together to debrief and reflect on what we’ve experienced during the bulk of our planned visits for the trip. During this time, we shared our most meaningful moments that we’ve experienced thus far, with laughs of course. Then we had our last dinner at Home Care prepared by the talented Chef Catherine. This final meal was a hit as the staff planned a somewhat familiar menu with a Kenyan twist, including quesadillas, homemade fries and lasagna. Before our nightly meeting, the team continued bonding by trying to get a rather large moth from Emma and Gianna’s room, watching Ryan and Emma learn to juggle (with oranges from our picnic), and trying to recover Ryan’s playing cards (which were bonded together from his open water bottle in his bag).

By the end of the day the team realized the true meaning of Ubuntu, “I am because we are.”

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