Feb  2,3  Arrived in Nairobi on time, 9:30 pm.  Taken to Fairview hotel, 30 minutes. Guarded, closed gates protect hotel, and it is across from the Israeli embassy, said to be the safest place in Nairobi, if not Kenya.  Pass through two iron gates opened with room key and walk about 100 yards to the room.  Check in to room which is simple, adequate, a few mosquitoes.  Glad we started our anti-malarial drugs two days ago.  To sleep quick.   Next am, up about 9. Big buffet breakfast.  Helpful eager staff, good quality. Tour the grounds, complete with waterfalls, ponds, pools.  All staff with crisp clean uniforms.   Next, lunch with three of the girls who graduated from the BEADS program and are now in graduate school programs for medical doctor, nurse practitioner, and nutritionist.  Two of them arrive promptly at 2 pm. Third is missing.  One hour late.  Phones confirm she has gone to Fairmount hotel instead of Fairview.  Took two buses and has walked five miles over five hours!  Thank you for coming.  Another has only walked five miles. Menus arrive. Waiter returns for orders and there is long silence from the girls.  We ask waiter for more time.  Lots of looking at menu but no discussion.  Menu contains what we would consider standard fare – sandwiches, pizza etc.  Turns out these are ingredients and combinations completely unfamiliar to them.  Waiter returns and long silence.  I suggest pizza and an avocado/chicken sandwich and they say okay.  Food arrives and they pick up their forks. They are reassured that the acceptable way to eat these foods is with their hands. There has never been money in their budget for dining out!   I am curious about what lies ahead for Kenya’s best educated high school graduates.  Though these girls pay tuition and take out loans to pay for it, when they finish, the government assigns them where needed, anywhere in the country, arbitrarily.  These young women frequently end up in tiny clinics or hospitals in very remote areas, sometimes as the only health care providers.  Tasked with emergency deliveries and laceration repairs.  Nearest backup hours away.  And no friends, family, or social life.  Monthly starting salary for doctors 600 dollars/month.  Nurse practitioner, less.  Nutritionist , less.  These hand-picked girls chose to leave their huts and tribes and their families at young ages to pursue a special education far from home.  Then they end up in Nairobi, again with no money and little support, for four to six years. And they never know where they will end up!   They seemed undaunted and positive.  We discussed the upcoming elections, AIDS, and the details of their daily schedules.  Delightful and very brave girls in my book.