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The Children of Gachie

October 1, 2010 By Guy St. Clair

I have often remarked about how happy I am in Kenya, and particularly with the happiness that seems so evident among so many of the Kenyans I’ve come to know.

The situation is especially pleasant when visiting a typical Kenyan neighborhood. On these occasions, one is almost swept away by the beauty – and the joy of the children. There’s something about being around the little ones that brings much delight.

Such was the case when I visited Gechie – a village near Nairobi not far from where I live – last Saturday. I went – as I like to do – to have lunch with my driver. Readers of these posts know Charles well by now, and I love to go to his house where he fixes me good African food (and, yes, we eat it the African way, with out fingers – which I love to do!).

As we take Charles’s son Justine along with us on some of our safaris and day trips, Justine has become very adept with the camera (readers of these posts will recall some of Justine’s good work shared in previous blogs). So while Charles and I were planning to spend part of the afternoon working on the arrangements for our big December safari, I said to Justine and Charles’s cousin Steve Onpinta that they should feel welcome to take my camera outdoors and have some fun.

Look at what they did!

Delighted with the results, not only because Steve and Justine obviously exchanged the camera back and forth and got some splendid photographs (see them at Gachie Children). In doing so they captured some real beauty and happiness – as I noted above – that I as an visitor would never have been able to achieve.

I’m very grateful to Justine and Steve for giving me these photographs to share with my readers – these children are our real Kenyan friends (even if one little boy is kind of shy), and we’re so fortunate to have them for friends.

Filed Under: Personal History, Travel Tagged With: Kenya - children, Kenya - Gachie, Kenya - neighborhoods, Nairobi - neighborhoods

Guy St. Clair is a writer and editor living in New York City. In his blog, Sharing Guy’s Journey, he  writes about any subject that crosses his mind (some friends refer to the blog as “Guy’s online journal”).  In his professional life, Guy is the Series Editor for Knowledge Services, from De Gruyter Saur in Munich and Berlin. 

Comments

  1. Robin.Jourdan says

    October 2, 2010 at 1:03 pm

    Thanks for sharing these photos and the story behind them. Best to you, Charles and Justine.
    -Robin

    Reply
  2. Chris says

    October 8, 2010 at 12:54 pm

    Love these photos, Guy. What an amazing journey!

    Reply
  3. Guy St. Clair says

    October 8, 2010 at 6:44 pm

    Thanks, Robin and Chris. Yes, this is a wonderful experience I'm having, and it's being able to see things like this (even if I didn't take the photos myself – and in fact that a little better, isn't it?) that makes it all worthwhile.

    Another experience with Kenya nationals was last spring, the post in April when I visited Nyanguru Village (http://gstcjourney.blogspot.com/2010/04/western-kenya-safari-2-nyanguru-village.html). Quite an experience!

    Reply
  4. Guy St. Clair says

    October 8, 2010 at 6:52 pm

    P.S. Sorry I can't make the live links work for the comments. Just past the link in the post above onto the address line and it should work.

    Reply
  5. DStanley says

    October 14, 2010 at 1:28 am

    Thanks for sharing, Guy. I am particularly taken by the photo of the girl in the blue and white checked dress (#3504).

    Reply

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