Marich IC Trip

This year, I chose to forgo the ritual of the Senior Trip, a week at the coast, and return to Marich, in Northern Kenya. I have gone on the Marich IC trip for three years in a row now. I am very active in the Friends of Marich club, which raises money to implement small-scale sustainable community projects in the area. Last year, we built a bridge. This year, we built a second one. This one was incredibly special because it was built in memory of Sharon and Margaux Brown, a former teacher/librarian from ISK and her daughter. She was the founder of the Students for the Environment club, setting me on a path towards eco-consciousness. We used to argue about the TV show Lost and the book the Phantom Tollbooth. She recommended books that changed my life. ISK has never been the same after her passing. This bridge is an amazing way to honor her memory.

Marich holds my heart in a way that no other place can. I chose it as my 10th grade intercultural trip for the clear skies and filled schedules, but I was unprepared. Everything is dichotomous. Sweat during the day; shivers at night. Blatant poverty; the carefree attitudes of the people subjected to it. I remember the cry of a child who lost his mother to the unforgiving rapids. And the singular smile of a boy whose whole community is welcoming him into adolescence. After the trip, some friends and I founded Friends of Marich, implementing community-based projects in this beautiful, harsh place. Last year, we built a bridge to connect the community to markets, healthcare and schools beyond the treacherous river. This January, we will build another. The work required to achieve this presents another contrast. Despite all the painful persistence, the sound of another potential corporate sponsor hanging up, all I remember is the reward, the joyous singing of the community as we cut the ribbon.

The community welcomed us, as always, as if we were honored guests. We weren’t outsiders. We belonged, in the playful jangle of beads, in the rhythmic stomping of feet, in the cool air and the smell of neem and smoke. The people of Marich smile with more than their teeth, they see with more than their eyes. They live through so much pain and hardship. The fact that we could alleviate any part of that, through this bridge, made all the hard work worth it. Working on the bridge, too, was an amazing experience. Harmon Parker, CNN Hero and founder of Bridging the Gap, taught me the fascinating physics of bridge building. He showed me how to measure wire angles and place a foundation. I learned the invaluable skills of hammering nails (I can still barely do it. It takes me 60 quick hits to sink the nail. The experts do it in 3, tops), laying boards, and setting wire along the bridge boundaries. The physical labor was exhausting.

I wouldn’t trade this trip for any other.