As my first foray into exploration, I partnered with a non-profit organization to travel across Kenya and assist in providing medical care to some of its most remote villages. Not being a licensed medical professional myself, I focused on logistics, triage, and documentation of the team’s work through photography. During the journey, my aim was simple—to understand the depth and complexity of launching a service-oriented mission across a foreign country. Closely observing and coordinating with the trip leads, I had the chance to learn firsthand what it takes to use exploration for service while navigating an unfamiliar environment. More importantly, I connected with the people of Kenya, helped my team care for those in need, and created friendships that persist to this day.
Our journey across western Kenya spanned three regions: Webuye (the dry lowlands), Bomet (the wet highlands), and Maasai Mara (the savannah wilderness). In Webuye and Bomet, we set up medical clinics in a different nearby village each day, providing care to an average of 500 patients daily. Clinical treatment ranged from wound care, to cold-and-flu, to chronic illness. At the conclusion of our medical work, we traveled through the remote villages of the Maasai to embark on a safari across the African savannah at the Tanzanian border.
Webuye and Bomet showed me the heart of Kenya’s people (many of which I still speak to today) while the Maasai Mara displayed the soul of its wildlife, from zebras to leopards to wildabeast. As my first experience traveling across the world, it left a lasting mark, revealing that the people on the other side of the planet were not remarkably different from myself. More importantly, it instilled in me a voracious desire to always lead with service, knowing that all else—the logistics, supplies, funding, and even luck—would follow. To this day, I believe the only work worth pursuing and the only actions “with teeth” are those which lift up your neighbor.