Matatu's and St.Dorcas Children's home

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Saturday was a very eventful day as it was my first time using matatus and also my first visit to the orphanage that I am going to be volunteering at. Sorry no photo's, took my camera but left my memory card at Julie's.

So first of all the matatus. A matatu is the main form of public transport in Nairobi. they are normally white Nissan minibuses which are only meant to carry max 14 people, have seatbelts and be roadworthy. on Saturday I took 6 different matatus and on none of them did I see a working seat belt. Yes there are 14 seats but on at least 3 of the matatus there were more than 14 people on them, on one of them there was 19, 2 hanging out the door and 3 seating in between the seats, one of them being me. As for being roadworthy, well lets just say in the UK they wouldn't even pass the most dodgy MOT test. On one of them I was seating in the front seat, the most comfortable but the most dangerous as no seat belt so a sudden stop and you can guess the rest...., the door couldn't shut properly due to an earlier crash, so there I was hanging on for dear life. On another one I was seating on the back seat, which moved backward and forward with the movement of the van. And then there is the driving, if you can call it that. They have no problem driving up the wrong side of the road, cutting other cars up, ignoring traffic signs and right of way. Having said all that it was I did enjoy it all and as it is the only way for me to get to and from the orphanage, well lets just say I’m glad I'm insured.

And now St.Dorcas Children's home. it is in the Kawangware slum, which is to the west of the city and is the 3rd biggest slum in Kenya. The conditions are extremely basic
There are two long tin buildings split into different rooms, some are used as classrooms and some are bedrooms. There are 75 kids that sleep there and about another 50 come each day to the school. There are 3 bedrooms, one for the girls, one for 5 to 12yr old boys and one for 13 to 18yr old boys. The beds are bunk beds, each bed sleeps about 2/3 kids so 4/6 per bunk. Each bed as a blanket which have all seen better days. The toilets are basically a hole in the ground.

My trip there on Saturday did affect me more than I thought it would of, had problems sleeping on Saturday night has couldn’t stop thinking about the conditions of the place. I start there on Thursday, so it is going to be interesting how I cope as I was only there for about 45 mins on Saturday but that was enough time to leave a lasting impression on me.

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Comments

[Hannah]

Just read your first blog this is so interesting i'd love to do work out there xx