Project trip to Amboseli (Part 1)

Now that all the toilets and washing stations have been built, and the women's health project is off to a good start, it's time to visit our partner organization in Amboseli.

August 16, 2025

Before Franziska and Thomas head to Ildepen the next day, Mombasa invites them to linger for another day. The city walk from the hotel to the Makati Market in Old Town was on their to-do list. The streets were very busy and there was a lot of smog. As we later learned, this heavy traffic is also due to the holidays in Kenya. It was dusty and hot ~ a visit to the market on Saturday (the main market day) gives you a glimpse of the hustle and bustle of African markets. Until the evening, cars, buses, matatus, tuk-tuks, traks, and mopeds moved through the city alongside hard-working people pushing handcarts.

On August 17th, 2025 we took the Madaraka Express from Mombasa to Emali. The driver of our car was a long time coming and so there was the opportunity to talk to the locals at the train station. It was reported that many local people lost their jobs as a result of the deletion of US foreign aid. The nutrition programs, especially for children) are thankfully taken over by other help. However, the care of HIV-positive people has deteriorated drastically, since the previously free medicines now have to be bought themselves. However, these are unaffordable for most of the people here. All the medical advances that have been used to combat AIDS in recent decades have been extinguished with a hand snap. After an hour and a half, our driver was there to hand over to the car and finally we could go on to Amboseli.