June 24th - The Grandmothers of Bumala


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Africa » Kenya » Nyanza Province » Kisumu
June 28th 2008
Published: June 28th 2008
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The front desk told me that I should come down in the morning and they would "arrange something" for me in terms of having a shower. I had left a request for a 7:00 am wake-up call. They were pretty close. The phone rang at 6:00 am to ensure that I was up.

I stumbled down to the front desk with my "Bill Murray" morning hair, showering apparatus in hand. They told me to go back to my room and they would call me as soon as their "special arrangement" was ready. I trudged back up to my bar room, shower equipment in tow. At 7:00 am they called me again to tell me they were ready for me (hmmm, I think I could have slept until 7:00 am in the first place....). I slothed back down to the stairs and they led me up a hallway to one of the hotel rooms. Something seemed fishy here.........

The attendant unlocked the door and let me in, instructing me to go ahead and use this room to have my shower in. He abruptly closed the door and left. As I scanned the room, I noticed that it was quite messy and first thought someone had checked out and that i was in here before the cleaning lady. On the shelf, however, I spotted a suitcase. A crumpled newspaper was on the nightstand, the bed unmade, and the bathroom strewn with razors, aftershave, toothbrush and paste and many other personal items.

I realized immediately that I was in someone else's OCCUPIED room! The bathroom was still a little steamy and I could smell fresh aftershave. The current tenant had obviously just left the room, maybe for breakfast downstairs, maybe for their day's business, maybe just for five minutes. What if they came back in the room and discovered me there? I ruminated over the incredible invasion of privacy this was and I wondered if the hotel had cleared this with the guest?!? I thought how it might feel if I were to come back to me room to find a complete stranger showering there amongst my things. Oivey!!

I showered quickly, almost wit my eyes closed so as to somehow preserve the privacy of the individual who's room this was. It was an interesting way to start my day! Only in Africa....! 😊

I purchased 8 bottle of water, placed them in my back pack, and set out for the school. I also had one luggage bag filled with items for the school. Computers, skip ropes, microscopes, art supplies, and more. I received a lot of interesting looks as I ambled through the main street of Bumala toward the school. About a 1/2 kilometer from the school I could see the children waiting for me already, waving and jumping up and down on the top of the hill. I entered the school yard to swarms of children, laughing and giggling and skipping in circles around me. I took the opportunity to walk around the school more and and video document the surroundings. Charles and Pius arrived at about 9:00 am and we began our journey for the day. I had been given $200 (10,000 shillings) by Professor Mar Peter-Raoul at the Marist College in the USA to distribute to some of our grandmothers on behalf of the "Beatrice Project". We decided to present 1000 shillings each to 10 grandmothers.

It was a long day walking in the hot equatorial sun and you'll have to see the video I took for more details, but it was an incredible experience to got through this process wit each of the grandmothers. Each of their stories was unique and vivid. One grandmother had lost her home to fire in the recent post-election violence, yet took the time to hand weave two baskets for me in appreciation for the donation. Godliver's grandmother (Godliver is one of our brightest and most talented students) makes "illicit brew" to earn an income to care for the children. The new funds would go toward starting a new business enterprise that would eventually allow her to stop making the brew. She also gave us a chicken to add to our flock back at the school. It is humbling to see such generosity in the face of such poverty. Another grandmother who Cristelle and I had visited last time, and who had also given us a chicken then, would not let us leave until we had some boiled corn-on-the-cob with her.

Half way through the day, Pius looked up at the clear blue sky, cocked his head a little sideways, then announced that it was going to rain soon. I'm sure he knows something that I certainly could not see....

We ended up back at the school and unpacked all of the items that I had brought in the suitcase. Then Charles, Pius and I went back to my bar room again to relax over more waters. We then went over how to do financial records, which was a very positive experience. We discussed a lot of business, including the expected expenditures and projects for the year. As many of you know, I have been concerned about the "impending global economic collapse" and the effect that this will have on our donations and ability to provide funds for the school. In fact, a major bank analyst at the Royal Bank of Scotland recently issued a warning of an impending global stock market collapse and credit market collapse within the next three months! Therefore, we have taken the position of trying to develop a strong self-sustainable situation for Mercy Children Centre. I know that they will be much better off with the new gardens that have been providing food for the children.

We finally ended our meeting at 6:00 pm as the sun goes down here at about 6:30 pm. I re-packed a few things and prepared for the great surprise event planned for tomorrow. At 9:00 om, I stepped out onto my balcony to smell the cool breeze which carried the raw, smoky Kenyan air. A few drops of water struck my face and soon massive sheets of rain shredded the atmosphere and washed the red soil. I guess Pius DID know what he was talking about..... 😊








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