Safari Goes Home
After 10 months and 14 operations, Safari has returned to Kenya. ADRA-Australia director David Syme was there as he was welcomed home.
Safari had arrived in Australia on January 21, 2001, after a long flight from Nairobi, Kenya. Now, after 10 months, he was going home.
Lesley Coverdale had first seen Safari for just a few seconds when, perhaps providentially, she’d become lost in the Kenyan bush. Safari had been badly burned and infected after rolling into a cooking fire in his hut (see article in Signs September 2001). As she watched him, it was obvious he needed help.
Back in Sydney, her holiday ended, she couldn’t forget his forlorn, disfigured image. She approached Dr David Pennington, who heads the Plastics and Reconstructive Unit at Sydney’s RPA Hospital, her friends, members of her church and Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA)– Australia, to raise the funds and volunteer services to bring seven-year-old Safari to Sydney for reconstructive surgery. If Safari’s face could be rebuilt and repaired, so could his life.
With Australia-wide publicity generated by Channel 9’s R PA program, the hospital donated its time and facilities without cost. Safari became something of a TV personality. The show generated huge public interest and attracted more donations. With each successive operation (14, eight major) Safari’s face and future was reinstated, through surgical and nursing excellence, as good as any to be found.
Just before Christmas 2001, Safari Kimanzi went home. After a 20-hour plane ride and a 256-kilometre drive in an ADRA–Kenya 4WD, Australia’s little African battler was driven into Kasaala, his village located in south-east Kenya.
He was welcomed as if he were royalty. Around him thronged sisters and aunts, while Kamba music filled the air in celebration. Safari was swept off his feet and into his mother’s arms, his 10-month journey at an end.
Safari stood transfixed, his eyes glistening, then slowly he began to nuzzle his forehead into his mother’s face. It was an emotional conclusion to a drama in which many people had a part.
I looked on, teary eyed, reflecting: I’d travelled to Kenya in advance of Safari and his helpers. We felt it would be important to meet with his parents and family to prepare them for the return of their son who had become used to Western living and the Australian lifestyle. Not only was he returning with an incredible physical reconstruction of his body, his mind and intellect had also expanded, absorbing a culture vastly different from his family’s.
Under a baobab tree, I sat with John and Anne Kimanzi, his parents, updating his progress and gently probing their expectations concerning his future.
John spoke first. “When Safari left, I never expected to see him again,” John admitted. “It all seemed too difficult. I cannot wait to see him again.” “What are your hopes for his future, John?” I asked.
“Education is really important. There are many good schools in Kenya, but not here in Kasaala. I hope he can attend one of them. But I am but a poor man and I can’t afford to pay the fees.” I turned to Safari’s mother, “Mamma Anne, how have you felt while Safari has been away?” “Safari, is my last-born son,” she began.
“Not a day or night has passed when I have not prayed for him and longed to have him in my arms again.” That would be sooner than she thought.
It was thrilling to be able to assure John and Anne that because of the generosity of Australians, Safari would go to an excellent school, and that when he was fully grown, that ADRA and Dr Pennington had promised to return him to Australia to complete his facial reconstruction.
But, How would Safari adapt back into his village after Australia? we all thought.
The homecoming was being filmed by a Channel 9 crew for a documentary,* so I was going to miss little if, for the moment, I stepped back and merely watched.
Initially there was a little hesitancy as “dancing mammas” surrounded our vehicle. But as his parents met him and the group proceeded to the shelter where seating had been prepared for the guests, it was as though a switch had been thrown.
His father greeted him home with waving arms and a smile that said it all. His mother, a little more reserved, welcomed him with a hug. Safari and his best friend, Amin, resumed their friendship as if he’d only been gone for just the weekend.
For more than four hours Safari sat with his mother and younger sister, Damaris, watching and listening to the speeches, the songs and dances prepared for the occasion.
I was amazed; the lad couldn’t sit still for even two minutes in my Sydney office! By evening, as we prepared to leave, Safari was excitedly playing with his friends, brothers and sisters. As we walked to our vehicle, he passed us in a hurry: “See ya, David,” was all he uttered.
“OK, Safari. I’ll see ya!” I responded as he disappeared into the falling darkness.
“I’ll come and see you tomorrow,” I called through the gloom, but he had already gone.
As we drove back along the muddy road to the ADRA–Kenya office and guesthouse at Ikutha, each of us was emotional as we reflected on the day’s events and those leading up to it. It was hard to let go of this mere boy who’d in different ways become part of our lives.
In addition to the logistical and financial assistance given by so many via ADRA, there were many people to thank for this African Safari: there’s Lesley, whose compassion initiated the project; Dr David “Daktari” Pennington, whose skill and dedication made Safari’s future a reality; Frank Scaysbrook, Janet and Kate Seath, who in reality gave a year of their lives to the cause of Safari, caring for him as if he were their own; and, Channel 9’s R PA producers, Danny, Chris and Tony, who so sensitively brought the story into our living rooms, winning hearts and opening pockets in support of Safari’s cause.
As we drove off, I’m sure each one of us wondered over all we’d observed that day: Memories of almost bogged vehicles ploughing through mud; the joy-filled dancing and singing; the local hospitality and welcome; the storytelling and speeches . . . the speeches . . . “This young boy, Safari, has gone to Australia, and has been our ambassador,” began the district chief to the assembly.
“Because of him and the people who have helped him, our community is now known to people in Australia. Most Kenyans do not know Kasaala, but in Australia they do. This story about our youngest ambassador is a story that every Kenyan boy and girl should know,” he concluded.
“Safari has a wonderfully optimistic outlook and the enviable ability to live and enjoy the moment,” said Mrs Coverdale. “In Australia, I’d guarded my emotions, as I knew he would be going back, but it was still a very emotional moment when it came time to say goodbye. But he was very happy back in the loving embrace of his community.” Safari’s story has been a wonderful journey for me, but it’s been possible only because of the generosity of others. So I’d like to say thank you to the many who contributed to making Safari’s life better through direct donations and in purchasing Let the Journey Begin , Safari’s Story .
ADRA won’t be forgetting Safari or his people. It is in the process of implementing a number of specific projects in his village (see advertisement, previous page) to enable more people to benefit from the long, painful journey of Africa’s Littlest Ambassador.
* Screened on Channel 9’s RPA in late 2002.
Safari Articles:
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Articles of interest:
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This is an extract from August 2002
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