Liza was our second introduction to "mainland hospitality". Our first was an infectiously happy driver named Jackson who retrieved us from the airport and single-handedly took care of executing every detail of our transition into the modern urban sprawl that is Nairobi, Kenya. With his genuine ear-to-ear smile and very hearty laugh (Kenyans LOVE to laugh from their souls) he answered every remaining question Kristen and I had about the last leg of our journey by just taking care of the details while setting the hospitality bar pretty high.
Liza came along by phone later that night and in person the next day and redefined that hospitality bar to new heights.
From Jackson's mobile phone and in the comfort of our new surroundings, Liza instructed us to make ourselves at home in her beautiful 3 bedroom, meticulously clean, and operationally decorated apartment and informed us she would be by at 11:30 am the next morning to scoop us up and show us a bit of the town.
Liza is the co-founder of Livewell and Carego Int. Along with our friend Steve their passion and drive is bringing a new level of health care to Africa on a business platform that has reaches into Africa, India, (and coming soon) Australia. Needless to say, she is a very busy woman and shouldn't be burdened with the dropping of a couple of ex-pat American tourists in her lap, but one would never guess that we were taking up any of her valuable time.
She took us to Ya Ya Centre and worked with the local merchants to secure us a phone, showed us how the currency exchange worked, brought us to a comforting "Americanized" lunch to baby step us into culture, and explained in detail the excitement and visions she has planned based on our time here.
The itinerary was clearly brought into focus detailing time to get acclimated, transfers to the clinic in a few days time, future community outreach programs that she wants Kristen to take place in "in country", ties to children organizations that Kristen can participate in, and of course my time helping to mold a physical operations manual to be used in current and future locations.
Our questions of "what will we be doing" were answered ten fold and our own imagination of our time here became defined on the foundation of excitement and self worth.
Upon dropping us off back at the apartment, she insisted that we join her for her families weekly Sunday Dinner following church in just a few days time. Talk about the cherry on top. Without knowing she was doing it, Liza gave us back the comfort of Sunday Dinner, and therefore a small taste of home.
Working with Liza is not only going to be easy, it will be a worldly delight.
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