Advertisement
Published: June 22nd 2007
Kids of Kawangware
The kids of Kawangware welcome us with dance Hello Everyone,
Before I begin, I should remind everyone that you can subscribe to our blog and receive an email reminder every time we post a message to this site. I highly recommend you do this to ensure you don't miss out on any of the news.
Okay.....wow.....big day!
Cristelle and I both slept for about 12 hours or so, to offset the 48 hours of non-sleep that we had experienced previous to that. Surprisingly, we both felt completely rested and survived a very long day today to prove it.
It is 1:00 AM in the morning on the 23rd of June, so I may not write too much. I spent some time on Lili and Lew's computer this evening trying to download some images but their computer would not recognize my camera, so I will keep trying another time.
Moraa, our representative "Agent" here in Nairobi, picked us up at 9:00 am. Lili came along as well, and Lew headed off to his work with the UN. We went straight to the Dagoretti House, which is an orphanage for abandoned babies. It was started by "Feed The Children", which is a nonprofit organisation that
Happy Girl
Some of the kids demonstrate a real joy in seeing our arrival. some of you may be aware. The toured us through theri facilities for a couple of hours and we learned a great deal about their program. Surprisingly, we discoveed that they are working in partnership with the WFP (World Food Program) sponsored by USAID (the American equivalent to CIDA). Lili has recently applied to their program to supply food to the Kawangware school, although she applied to the main office which is a bit bureaucratic and seemed to dissappear into a sort of black hole. We met one of the program directors and he suggested we re-send the application to him and he would see what he could do. So this was a great potential breakthrough for us and may result in an approval to receive food for 120 children for a year from the program. That was great synchronicity for us.
At the end of our tour we went into a little area where "graduates" of the orphanage were building African jewellery (neckalaces, bracelets, pouches, purses, cards, etc). It was amazingly beautiful well-crafted art and so we purchased a great variety of things for our silent auction in the Spring. You will ALL want to come next year
Cristelle
Cristelle receives her honorary wreath to welcome her to get your hands on this stuff!
Then we left and drove to the Kawangware slum, to see our school there (remember, there are two schools, one here and ne in Bumala which we will visit later this week and which is where we are building the new school). As we entered the slum and drove deeper and deeper into it, the conditions appeared worse and worse. Finally, after leaving pavement and driving for some time in the slum on rough potholed roads, we turned off into an allyway of sorts that was so pitted with lrage bumps, heaves and potholes that it became quickly impassable by car (perhaps even a bit of a challenge for a four wheel drive). We abandoned the car and began walking up what was now a rough trail. About 60 yards up this trail we began to hear the ever-increasing sound of African drums and singing. A real energy charged the atmosphere and the sounds became louder and louder as we approached. We finally came upon an opening in the corrogated tin walls that lined the allyway and as we entered that area we came upon noe of the most joyous and thrilling images that is hard to remove from my mind even now as I write. An assault of visual color with arms flailing and hips swaying, voices singing out in ancient rythym, drums sticks pounding on animals skins, the tempoed clank of an iron bar against a heavy iron ring, and 120 children dancing in the most wild and provocative way so as to make you want to instantly drop your belonging and join in. It was magnetic and paralyzing at the same time. A stampede of children with a cloud of red dust billowing up under the clutter of their footsteps. We moved into the throng of pounding hoof beats and were absorbed into the miasm. It was something just to stand in the midst of this event. Some children glanced up repeatedly at us to see our repsonse and catch a glimpse of pleasure on our faces. Others remained fixated on thier own movements and feet, deeply engrossed in their performances.
We were led to the main school room which measured about 12' X 40' long, and were greeted by a group of students who presented us with an honorary wreath made of glittery christmas tree garland, an item that was no doubt both creative and expensive for them to make (it was presented to us in the same way that an Hawaiian lei is placed upon your shoulders when you bow in front of them to receive it). As honored visoitors, then, we were led to chairs that had been placed aginst the wall on one end of the room, up on a slightly raised podium, that had a small table in front of us. In front of our seating area, feeling like kings and queens, a small area about 12' X 12' provided for a performance area with the 120 student and 9 staff seated beyond that facing us.
Then, one by one, starting with the youngest, each grade in turn presented to us a poem or song, or dance that they had practiced for us. It was incredible to watch and their engagement and confidence in doing it was well beyond the ur expectations. The performance rounded out with the oldest grade performing an African folk song and dance. The teachers, then, individually approached the front table and introduced themselves to us and told us what grade they taught. Charles then spoke some more about the value that his teachers give to the school and that they are all working for little or no pay, but volunteering their time. The dedication to learning and teaching was something that was held truly sacred in this school and these are all very special individuals who have given enormous amounts of time without any compensation. The school is truly built on love and dedication to the children. In fact, it was explained to us that they have recently taken in a gruop conprising about 20 percent of the student body, who can afford to pay. They came in to this school becasue the reputation of this little school in the slum is spreading far and wide, and that the quality of teaching has become known as one of the best in Nairobi! Yet, for lack of funds (translating as lack of space for more children or food to feed them) they cannot take in too many more students at this time. It was a very humbling experience for me to see the incredible dedication and hard work that these people have made.
Finally, Charles asked us each in turn to get up and say something to the students and staff. It was very moving for all of us and Cristelle and I were repeating the same thoughts to the group that we were so overwhelmed with their success and achievements.
Following this were taken outside and chairs were placed alongside the school for us to sit while the children performed a play for us outside (the younger children were taken inside and fed their lunch of beans and rice). The play was about witchcraft and how it has been banned in Kenya. So they told the story of the perils of witchcaft through actions and words. It was very good, humorous, exciting and inspiring! :-)
We played with the children for a little while and then had them line up all together so that we could get a group picture (hard to fit them all in my lens!). Then Cristelle and I presented themwith a 14' skip rope that Tim and Dayna had sent along for the kids. The girls immediately took it and launched into a round house of movements and skills in skipping the rope.
Charles walked us back to the main road again but not before Cristelle imitated teh Pied Piper and nearly led the whole entire troop of children out with her. Pius (Charles' partner in the orphanage) had to shoo them back into the school yard, but I am sure cristelle would have taken them all home with her if she could have! Charles led us a few blocks away to where they have rented two apartments to house about 20 children. These are the poorest of the poor children, with no parents or support in the world. Charles has rescued these poor souls (some boys and some girls, of all ages). Some of the girls have been brought ut of situations where they had to negotiate their bodies for survival, while some of the younger ones are still innocent. Charles pays a rent for these apartments and also has a matron (house mother) to care for the boys and girls. It is our hope that if we can build the school in Bumala then we can close down the apratments and move those 20 children out to Bumala where it is much safer. That will mean we can save that amount every month and perhaps even pay some small amounts to the teachers. Everything is a priority for the expense of money, but some things have more priority over others and the daily decisions involve the saving of lives every day. Even King Soloman would have had some indecisions in these circumstances......
We returned to our vehicle then left the slum for a light lunch with Moraa and Lili, although it was already 3:00 or 4:00 pm by then. The time disappears so quickly. We eventually met with Lew at the Java Hut(?) which is something like a Starbucks with food. I had my first veggie burger in Nairobi, and Cristelle had one as well. We both checked each other while we were ordering. I had told her earlier about being careful about food and reminded her of the undesirability of having salad when she first ordered it. She changed her order to a veggie burger as well. ThenI pronptly order my burger with all the fixings, including lettuce, which she reminded me nto to have. It is so easy to eat a wrong thing and one realizes just how much we take these things for granted back home. Eating a washed salad in Nairobi is a sure ticket for our naive stomachs to give extreme grief for about 3-4 days afterward!
By 6:00 pm we stopped off at a shopping market and bought some munchies for the evening. We then went home and picked up Charles and Pius on the way. We arrived and then sat down for a full evening of contract reading. I went through every paragraph of the latest contract with them, that we will use for the new school project. They were VERY pleased with everything and we really had the experience that we were deeply committed to the welfare of the children and were all "on the same page", as the saying goes. Everything looks like a really positive "GO" from here on in. We discussed some of the limitations and cautions that we need to be aware of, as well as the individual responsibilities that we have. It was an extremely productive and encouraging meeting for us all.
To end the evening, we clarified some of our plans for Bumala (next Tuesday) and I showed Charles and Pius the Sun Oven that we brought. He was very impressed and we discussed the possibility of what it might take to build a larger version of it for the orphanage. That was a few hours ago now since they went home, and I am just writing this blog for everyone to read. It is 2:30 in the morning so I better gets some sleep now. Moraa will be here at 9:00 am to take us to see another orpahange called the Nyumbani House, which is a very successful project. After that, we are going to meet with her political party which she started in order to run for parliament in the December elections. Following that we will have more business meetings with her and she will then take us to a new location, a Kenya host family, to stay the next two night.
We don't know how our email access will be for the next two days, so stay tuned. After that, we will be staying in tyhe Utalii Hotel for one night before we go to Bumala. They have a 24-hour business Internet room, which is like heaven for me. I took over digital 450 images in the slum today and would like to download some of them for you to see (we also audio and video recorded the entire performance in school today!).
Just for a note of anticipation, Charles recently purchased two acres of land in Bumala on which to buld the orphanage. There are all the simialr things to such a deal, including surveying, lawyers, contracts, deeds, council approvals, etc. However, the deal is not REALLY sealed until you kill a goat in celebration and share it with the community. I understand that there may be over 125 people coming to the goat feast. You will want to tune in through the week to find out how that one goes! Also, we have arranged to rent a school bus to take some of the children at the Bumala school out on an educational field trip to the Kakamega rainforest This is the last remaining eastermost portion of the Congolese rain forestm and it is an incredible sight to see. I am sure we are going to have a incredible time out there with the children.
Okay, it is time for me to turn in now. I will speak to you all when I can. Remember to subscribe to our BLOG so that we can see that people are following our trip. Hopefull pictures will come soon, as well.
Warmest wishes to all,
The Great Wuzungu ("big whitey", in Swahili)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.361s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 6; qc: 43; dbt: 0.1338s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
hélène audet
non-member comment
Chapeau!