My name is Viola Kamarwa and I am 20 years old. I came from Komolion, West Pokot. I recently completed by 4th form education and I am currently waiting to join University in September 2017. I am among 2 girls, who have managed to reach the level of education in my home area in the past 30 years.
This has been made possible by Noonkera Women and Family Support group through financial support from friends from America. They include Randall and Brenda, Sharyn Dowd and their friends. My sponsors in Kenya Daniel, Zippy and myself were recently invited to Texas, Waco on a mission to raise funds and create awareness of the challenges Pokot girls go through.
My visit to U.S.A was one of the most memorable moments in my life. Through the visit, I’m able to look at life from a different perceptive compared to before.
First of all being on a plan for the first time was such an honour and couldn’t imagine the way I felt. When the plane was taking off, I was a little bit scared since I could feel some butterflies in my stomach but later I was able to cope with the situation. I watched several movies and also listened to some music which made me busy hence forgetting about the fact that I was in the air because remembering that I was in air could make me feel scared.
At Randall and Brenda Bradley’s place (our host) in Texas, Waco USA, I was allocated a room in which I stayed for the time I was in Waco Texas. The room was so big and beautiful that I could not imagine that it was really me who was going to live there when I tried to compare with my small hut in Komolion, West Pokot, it was a big experience.
Being in Waco Texas really opened my eyes because since my childhood talking about America, I had the idea that America is a place full of tall buildings and didn’t know that there are rural areas in as well.
During the meetings we were attending and the places we were going to speak, I was able to make friends for instance our meeting with the board members of Baylor University Texas; I met Jenifer (one of the known judges and who also studied at Harvard University.) I mentioned about Jenifer because at first I didn’t know that she was a judge due to her humility and also being a kind-hearted person. I also met John the Dean at Baylor in social work during church attendance where the Bradleys’ attend church. We became friends with John and was able to give me his contacts in case I was interested in social work I could contact him.
On second of March 2017, we travelled to Atlanta in Georgia. There at Atlanta we were able to visit places taken along by Sharyn Dawn and our host Liz. We were able to see different types of trees including Magnolia trees. We were also able to visit a museum taken by Hannah Bradley, Liz and Sharyn Dawn. At the museum I was able to know about the first animal on earth to have eyes (Trilobites)
Still at Atlanta, we were able to go and see Egyptian’s mummies. We also visited National park and were able to know about Martin Luther king. We went to the house where Martin grew up and knew more about his life history.
After the visit to the National park we went to the Georgia Aquarium where we saw different types of sea creatures including sea otters which I found amazing. I also learnt about sea dragon, sea horses and so many sea creatures.
After our visit to Atlanta we went right a way to Alabama to visit Brenda and Randal’s mothers. Randal and Brenda was nice people to us. They really took care of us all through.
In conclusion, my visit to the U.S.A was the best experience that I could ever have.
