The Kick-Off Begins!

It is mid-afternoon of Day 4 and we have finally arrived in Sereolipi. We make a quick right off the main road and head directly for the school, to try and find my mentee Thomas. We do. He hears the car (there is only one "community car" in Sereolipi, used mostly for medical emergencies, so it is easy to identify) and comes strolling out of the computer lab, his hands in his pockets.

This comes as a surprise to me, but it is a truly extraordinary moment, to meet someone in person with whom you have been communicating over email. Thomas and I had discussed so many things in the first four months (our family histories, our aspirations for the future, our daily routines) that finally meeting him in-person is something special...

...Learning what is great about iMentor, all over again.

Since it would be difficult (and costly!) to meet iMentor's benchmark of 5 in-person meetings between October and June, Thomas and I will be spending the next 6 days together. Over the course of that time we will tour Sereolipi and the school, talk with the students, I will sleep in Thomas' Samburu Manyatta and we will travel together to Ndonyo Wasin, the real "bush village," where I will get to meet Thomas' mother, his two brothers and his two sisters.

We jump right in...