After 25 hours of traveling, fighting a head cold, and 4 hours of sleep, I finally made it to Nairobi, Kenya to start my fellowship. I am excited to be working with Stella and her daughter Zawadi, along with the women from Shield of Faith, in their composting project for the summer. The main goals that we have identified while I am here are:

1. Create a social media presence to increase international and community support for the project
2. Expand the current composting project to bring in 10 new women by the end of 2024

When departing from my plane in Nairobi, I was met with a beautiful sunrise that reminded me of the ones from back home, and I immediately felt a little more at peace. My first day in Kenya, I got to meet Stella who made my arrival so much smoother. The first day I was experiencing jet lag for the first time and the lack of sleep was really making me miss home, but Stella and Zawadi were so welcoming that getting to spend time with them made me feel so much better afterwards.

My first week was full of administration activities such as getting my eSIM and MPESA set up, but after the third day, Stella and I had officially got it all figured out. Over the weekend I got the opportunity to go into the city with Zawadi where I got to see other parts of Nairobi, and it was a culture shock to say the least. The cars drive on the opposite side of the street, and I never thought that crossing the road could be so hard but when there are very little crosswalks and red lights seem like a suggestion to drivers, making it difficult to know when you can and cannot cross. Thankfully for Zawadi she led the way and made sure I did not walk into oncoming traffic.