The eyecare team arrived safely this evening. They were of course stopped at customs and questioned profusely about the 27 pieces of luggage, some of the boxes being HUGE. They were told they should've gone through the Ministry of Health to request permission to bring the equipment in, to which Dr. Fitzgerald just kept saying, "We're so sorry. Now, what can we do? Is there someone else I can talk to?" The officer was adament that he is it. He could march them around Nairobi to various offices, but it's night time, so really, what could he do? (Other than keep all the stuff there till Monday!) He didn't ask for a bribe, nor have them pay taxes. After about 20 minutes of discussion, he simply said, "You can go."
They're all upstairs at Mayfield, trying to get over the fact that THEY'RE IN AFRICA.
And that the airplane had to circle before landing because there was livestock on the runway... (The international airport is right next to Nairobi National Park.)
Tomorrow morning, two vehicles will come to collect their luggage and take it to Eldoret by road. I'll take them to the Giraffe Center, then catch the new afternoon flight to Eldoret.
By 4 pm tomorrow, they'll be welcomed home by 100 children... They don't know this, of course, so it'll be fun to see their response to this moving welcome.
technorati tags:eyecare, Kenya, customs
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