Kamanzi Kenya

This begins a series of articles on Kamanzi Kenya. Kamanzi is approximately 40 miles west-southwest of Nairobi Kenya. For the past 4 years My church has been in partnership with the Ia-Itune (e´ah e tune´a) African Brotherhood Church. Our partnership includes building a school and supporting the community through medical supplies, teacher training, and working (and playing) with the children. For the past 2 years I have been fortunate to go on these trips with the team from my church. I have taken a lot of pictures and have had a lot of experiences. Most notably for me I received my African name on my first trip to Kamanzi. The people in Kamanzi are of the Kamba tribe which is one of the Bantu tribes. Their language is Kikamba although most also speak Swahili and many also speak English. Kamanzi is nestled in rolling hills in Kangundo Province near Kivaani. Getting to Kamanzi is a challenge (at least from the perspective of Americans) because there are no paved roads. Heading to Kamanzi via Mombasa Road there is a point where you leave the paved road and there is nothing but dirt roads the rest of the way. The village of Kamanzi has no electricity, no running water, and no sewers.

Although it lacks many of the “conveniences” we enjoy in the US, the village of Kamanzi is, in many ways, more civilized than many places I have been in the U.S. In future articles I will try to impart some of what I experienced during my times in Kamanzi.