Delicious Awesome God in hot pink

Wow – today marks the half way point of my Dandora internship… two weeks down, two weeks to go (then two final weeks in Kisumu). Home seems so far away, yet the days are flying by! Today was Saturday, but I went to work specifically to see one of the Saturday Kids Clubs (you can guess… this was Velma’s club & she wanted me to meet her group).

I spent the morning interviewing more “unserved” families, all of whom were eligible for some type of support… all I could promise, however, was a spot on the waiting list for the funding expected in September. I know many of these families had walked a distance (& then had to wait) for this interview, so I asked Velma to purchase a big bag of oranges to hand out – to thank them for coming in… and to make it not so bad that we really had nothing immediate to offer. The oranges were a big hit – wish I’d thought of that earlier (really better than candy – my usual give-away!). In the process of interviewing, I remembered a study in which the researchers used the answer to “when did you last eat a meal?” as a measure of someone’s poverty level… I asked that to several of the families and the answer was yesterday, the day before yesterday… I can’t even imagine. No wonder the oranges were so appreciated.

Velma’s Kids Club (the Terminus Kids Club… I thought the name was a little morbid, until I realized her section of Dandora was were all the buses & matatu’s terminated their routes…Terminus). There must have been 50 or more children there – just a big dingy hall below the HOPE office with the ever-present plastic chairs…. absolutely nothing else in the room or on the walls. We were “honored guests” and received a gracious welcome from the Club’s “chairman”, then were treated to songs & poetry recitations by the children – who must have ranged from about 3 to 17. The performances were wonderful… but the lyrics to most of the poetry were troubling – all about AIDS, losing parents & family members, loneliness. But AIDS is such a real & present part of these children’s lives – I am glad they have a forum in which they can share thoughts & emotions and be understood by their peers.

Small update on my “room with a view” village – I saw a white man sitting at a table outside a house tonight. I was surprised at how surprised I was by the site! I must look equally out of place. And the beautiful stone fireplace adjacent to the market is just gone today! The stones must have been needed elsewhere… seems a loss.

While matatu’s are still everywhere in Nairobi, a new larger bus line has also been added – kind of half way between the van-like matatu’s and a full sized bus. They are individually owned – and are marketed via their paint schemes – and they are wild!!! The buses are colors like hot pink, purple, & bright yellow, and then have airbrushed images on them of unimaginable creatures, celebrities and movie stars (I can’t imagine that Brittany Spears & Tyra Banks know they are on these buses!)… and then the names…Vaccine, Life is a School, Fiasco, Thank U Lord, Backlash, Dogg Father, Vision 2030 (guess he was hoping his paint job would last a really long time!), Youngest in Charge, Delicious Awesome God, Cheddar, Daily Dose, Emirates, DImples… so random, so crazy…. Some names unprintable. And like the matatu’s, they sometimes drive on the sidewalk if traffic is jammed.

Solomon, one of my regular drivers (& always in a very normal vehicle), brought me a guidebook for Kenya and a detailed street map of Nairobi this morning - Frank, you’ll be so proud that I am learning street names & directions.

I’m looking forward to Sunday & a day off from Dandora. I continue troubled in my heart by all I see and am unsure what next steps to take… glad I have another year in school to figure that out.