Flip Flops galore

Today was our last day at Reach-Out – but I must first update you on the Orange Palace (aka the Impala Resort) that has been our home while in Kisumu. Jeanne & Meg are sharing a bedroom that opens directly onto a community living room and Frank & I are in a room that opens directly from the other side. We’ve realized that the “living room” is not only used by hotel guests, but that it also serves as a hang-out for “locals”. Groups of men have gathered with beers to watch soccer matches on the TV in the room…. sometimes until late into the night. This morning we woke up to find a woman sleeping on the sofa there… and shortly afterward, a man joined her – and they had breakfast together, she had eggs; he had a Tusker beer (this was all before 8 am). Dogs in the next compound bark viciously and loudly at night. Meghan killed a two pound roach yesterday in her room – we were all in awe of her bravery. We have been approached by everyone on the staff for money (including the manager!). And as I write tonight, there are about 6 men in the room just outside our door drinking and watching TV. I can’t believe we have been in this place for five days.

So back to our day… we found the Kisumu church this morning – about 30 people who worship in a school building inside one of the slum areas on the south side of the city. As we have become so accustomed to, the people were wonderfully kind and welcoming. They sang some songs familiar to us, but also sang traditional songs, complete with drums, whistles and shouts – really wonderful to listen to, even though we could understand nothing.

In the travels to & from church, we passed through downtown Kisumu and saw a number of buildings that had been destroyed or damaged by the post-election violence last year. This was an area that had been particularly hard hit by the unrest and it sounds like the area is still ethnically unsettled in many ways.

Then to Reach-Out… the families had been told to come to the center on Sunday afternoon – and by the time we arrived shortly after noon, the compound was teeming with children. No school uniforms today – many were in “Sunday clothes”, some native dresses, other in dirty play clothes. We blew up four of our eight beach balls and Frank (ever the camp counselor), quickly had two large circles of children playing keep-away with double balls. I just loved the sounds of laughter and fun!

While the balls were in motion, Jeanne, Meg & I set out the flip flops in one of the classrooms – and generally grouped them by sizes. We had about 200 pairs to give away, plus just a dozen or so sneakers. We also bought “biscuits” (cookies) and soda for all the children. I’m not sure that was the best choice, nutritionally, but today was meant to be a day of fun & celebration and Hezekiah suggested it. When it became too hot to continue the ball games, we got out bottles and bottles of bubbles – again, so much fun! Once the flip flops, biscuits and sodas were in place, Isaac (who is among the first three Reach-Out orphans who graduated from Form 4 and will begin at the university in the fall) called out the households by name/number. In a somewhat orderly fashion, Meghan, Frank, Maureen (the social worker), and later Rachel (another Reach-Out orphan & graduate who will begin at a technical school this fall) helped each child find appropriate shoes… then Jeanne & Peggy took photos to update all our US records… and I passed out the biscuits, cut the tags off the shoes and sent the children back out the door.

The flip flop distribution took about three hours… after all the children in the Reach-Out community had been served, we still had a few pairs of shoes & lots of biscuits left, so we let some other children from outside the community into the room to select shoes. One little boy of about 7 or 8 came in with such a sad face…barefoot, so dusty and dirty, and with an odd outfit of threadbare and torn clothing. I found shoes for him, and then remembered we had a small amount of clothing we had planned to give Hezekiah for distribution at his discretion (since there was not enough for a general distribution). I found the little boy two shirts (including a red Georgia Bulldog shirt) and a pair of shorts, then gave him a double portion of biscuits. So sadly, he never smiled, never responded to a touch… and I was unable to get his name. I can only hope that he remembers Reach-Out as a place that welcomed & helped him and that he comes back again. He was such a lost little soul.

It was early evening when we made our last trip to Mama Grace’s house… this time to redeliver shoes (in correct sizes) and to give Mama Grace her new dress… and say our goodbyes. Lots of hugs and smiles as the girls put on their shoes, Mama Grace put on her new green dress (which she put on right over top of her current clothing). She mentioned something the day before about how old she was getting (finally learned yesterday that she is 75… ancient for this part of Africa). I was so glad that Frank reassured her that we would continue to look out after the girls – I know that eased her fears for their well-being after she was gone.

We said many, many goodbyes as evening approached… to Mama Grace and the girls, to all the secondary school girls (in their dorm), to the kitchen staff, to the headmaster of the primary school and to the principal of the secondary school, to Maureen & Isaac… and to Hezekiah. Four days – completely packed with children, visits, and planning for the future. A deeply rewarding and wonderfully satisfying time… we could have stayed so much longer – but what we had and did seemed just right.

From Reach-Out, we went for a quick view of Lake Victoria (at Kiboko Bay - the same place we went on our first trip, for those who were with us…) – a beautiful view of the lake and the big islands in the center… Uganda lay just beyond. We didn’t stay for dinner, but had drinks on an outside table and celebrated a great time at Reach-Out.

We should have ended the evening on that very positive note, but instead returned to the Impala Resort for dinner, which we had ordered that morning. Very marginal dinner on a number of fronts… and by the end we were in tears laughing at our stay here. In general, we decided that Africa isn’t for sissies… and for a final time, went to bed in our orange rooms with our orange bathing buckets – with all the men just outside our doors, watching TV.