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Published: June 25th 2007
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Soccer ball
The kids get a new soccer ball!! Hello Everyone! I am itching to give you news from Kenya! Todd and I have had a busy couple of days and we finally have some down time.
On Saturday morning, we met our Kenyan host family. They have been very generous sharing their time, food, and space with us. It was interesting to have a glimpse into their day-to-day life and customs. Then off to a well-established orphanage in Nairobi called Nyumbani Orphanage. It is strictly for HIV positive children of all ages. They use an interesting format where they have children of different ages stay together in the same cottage to promote sisterly and brotherly bonding. The facility provide different services to the children, including weekly visits by a physician, on site social workers who provide guidance and counselling (good to hear!) and a lab for blood testing. One intersting thing I did not know is the status of HIV positive babies can, on occasion, be reversed to negative if they don't drink their mother's milk.
I will fast-forward to today, Monday morning. We made our way for a second visit to the Mercy Children's Centre orphanage in Kawangware to spend some quality time with the
Superman
If only he knew! children and see them in their school environment with their teachers. Charles also encouraged us to go with him into the homes of several of the children to see how they live.
Upon arriving at the orphanage, we are asked to wait for Charles at "his office" -- an outdoor desk with a couple of dusty chairs located at the end of the school yard. As we make our way to his desk, we hear small children reciting the days of the week and teachers giving lessons in other clasrooms. I suspect the children saw us walk by because they charmingly started yelling out the days of the week three times louder!!
While waiting for Charles, we meet a toddler from the neighbourhood who is hanging out in the school yard. His clothes are filthy, but I remember him from the last visit -- at least this time he is wearing pants. His shirt sleeves dangle to his knees. There is a Superman logo on his shirt and I wonder if he understands who that is. No matter. I have found myself a new little hero.
Charles and Pius take us to each of the classroms, from
Mother
This is the first mother we met on our excursion into the slum, whose child Charles took into the orphanage when she became too sick to care for her child. This mother has AIDS and barely survives on what she can scrape together. She found real hope in our visit. baby class (preschool to Westerners) to grade 6. The teachers stood proudly at the front of the class as Charles explained everything to us, from curriculum to standardized testing to meet the standards of Kenya education. We enter one class that is learning about plant pollination. The teacher asks a student a question. She bashfully stands up but is speechless. Perhaps too shy to respond in front of the visitors?
I found the children so polite in class, with admirable self-discipline and resolve. I sensed they really wanted to be there.
After visiting the classrooms, Charles and Pius took us to three of the children's homes. Each home was headed by a woman. As we entered each home, the four of us were invited to have a seat in a room that was probably 8 feet by 10 feet, with a bed sheet partitioning two other equally small rooms (bedroom and kitchen). Rent usually goes for 1000 shillings (about $18CAD).
Charles introduced us to the first woman and asked her to tell us her story, which he translated for us. The woman is elderly and HIV positive. She shows us an offical-looking card that indicates her status,
Teachers
We said our final goodbyes today, to the teachers at Kawangware. They are a very special group of people. as well as a passport-type of booklet with her anti-retroviral treament schedule. We learned that she recieved food from the World Food Program -- a 1 kg bag of orange lentils that is to last her the month. After that, she will need to find a new food source as she hasn't enough money and may not be successful in her next application to the WFP.
We learn that the second woman is the older sister of one of the boys who goes to Charles' orphanage. She is the head of a mixed household of siblings, a nephew, a cousin -- all of whom stay with her. It was a short visit, but we take notice that her home is about 4 feet away from the sewage (as are the subsequent two homes we visit).
The next woman tells us she has 7 children and has been unable to take care of them all since her husband died. That is when Charles took one of her children under his wing. She describes the hardships of generating income from perishable products. The only type of product available to her at this point is flour. When she is unable to sell the goods she makes with the flour, she must throw it out once it spoils. So essentially she is throwing out her only source of income... She explains to us that although her husband died of AIDS, he was formally diagnosed as TB positive. We learn that tuberculosis is a less shameful diagnosis often used to disguise one's HIV positive status. One must wonder the implications for receiving treatment...
Finally, we meet a frail older woman. She shows us her anti-retroviral medication. She also has a son at the school. Given her fragility, I have a hard time picturing her caring for her son who attends Charles' school. She recounts that her husband, who had three wives, died in the 1998 bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi. The other two wives were compensated and able to move on with their lives. However, because she hadn't yet given birth to any of his children, she was not eligible for this compensation.
With Charles' approval, Todd discretely gives each woman a small token for having us in their home, 200 shillings each (about $3.50CAD). They appeared genuinely greatful. We suspect it could cover 1 or 2 week's worth of food for them.
We returned to the schoolyard to find some of the boys playing soccer. The soccer ball is literally falling apart -- almost split in two but still serving its purpose...bearly. As luck would have it, a soccer ball was one of the gifts we had brought for the children. Todd introduced them to the new soccer ball and the boys were quick to inaugurate it by heading it to one another -- certainly something they couldn't do with the old ball...
We say our goodbyes. The teachers hung out in a group around us, thanking us for our visit. Many asked when we will return. We had to tell them we weren't sure when we could return and, for several different reasons, that it would be difficult to return within the year.
"So then you will keep in touch and you will write us?", they asked.
"Yes, we will keep in touch and write!"
"Ok. Will you do it soon?"
"Yes."
I felt as though they did not want to be forgotten.
As we headed back to the car for our departure, Charles' parting words to me were, "Prepare yourself for worse in Bumala."
I don't know what could possibly be worse than what I saw today...
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hélène audet
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Orphelinat Kamangwarw.
So nice nice to fallow your journey. Thank you for keeping us up to date. Ce ne sont pas les besoins qui manquent, comme vous devez resentir un certain degré d'impuissance. Incroyable comment ces gens peuvent être démunis. Can't hardly wait to ear from Bumala. Je crois que le choc sera encore plus grand quisque vous serez étroitement reliés à la cause et aurez un poids sur les épaules à vouloir remédier rapidement à améliorer la vie de ces orphelins. Get ready Cristelle! Il y a toujours mieux, mais... toujours pire aussi. Sachez que seulement votre présence en ces lieux apporte un réconfort et beaucoup d'espoirs à ces gens démunis de tout. Suis près, près de vous par pensé. Prudence en tout! Love You all Hélène.