A.C.W.W. FIFTEENTH TRIENNIAL CONFERENCE AND SAFARI — NAIROBI, KENYA OCTOBER 1-22, 1977

By MARY B. MacLEAN

On Saturday morning, Oct. 1, 1977 Ken and I took the Air Canada flight to Montreal where we joined other Canadian delegates and our tour leaders, Ellen McLean and Herman Vellinga, on our way to Nairobi, Kenya via London, England and arrived in Africa at 8 AM. on Monday, Oct. 3 local time which was 6 hours ahead of Atlantic Daylight Time. The New Stanley Hotel was the headquarters for most of the Canadians while in Nairobi and we were glad of a chance to sleep after flying for two nights.

On Tuesday morning accompanied by Ellen and Herman, 48 Canadians set off on Safari through the Great Rift Valley in 10 mini buses with native drivers as guides and at night stayed at different game lodges. We visited a number of National Park Game Reserves where the Rangers attempted to protect the wild life against poachers, particularly the elephant with the price of ivory having increased 100096.

We saw the migration of millions of wilde beests Uganda across Kenya to Tanzania. Among these herds were zebras, giraffes, elephants, lions, gizelles, topis, etc. as well as hyenas, jackals and buzzards who followed along to clean-up after a kill.

We visited a tea plantation and factory, saw thousands of flamingoes, coffee fields, an inactive volcano and saw the sunset over Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain. We visited a Masai Village, saw the Nomads dressed in red, herding their cattle, saw women carry- ing water or carrying huge loads of twigs for firewood on their backs. Once we saw a woman carrying a mattress on her back and a man, walk- ing beside her, empty handed.

Sunday evening, Oct. 9 we returned to Nairobi to get rested and ready for registration of delegates to the 15th Triennial Conference of The Associated Women of the World on Oct. 10—11.

On Oct. 11 at 1:30 Mrs. Olive Farquharson, ACWW President, welcomed the delegates to the first Council Meeting and introduced the officers and Area Vice-Presidents. This was followed by regular Council business. In reporting the UNICEF Executive Board Meeting, Mrs. Aroti Dutt, Past President of ACWW, said that Asia has one-half of the world’s population 40% of whom are children who grow up in deprivation and malnutrition. Education is a basic requirement. She stressed the need for understanding. There is need for community cooperation in order for projects to survive. A very large number of children die before the age of 5 years - only 10% of children are immunized. Mothers must be educated. In 1979, the International Year of the Child, let us make every child a happy child.

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