Saturday was reunion day!! Frank, Meg, Jeanne and Peggy arrived just a little late – right at the same time flights from Dar Salaam and Entebbe came in (this was not Charlotte-Douglas Airport!). I spotted Frank first – in a red baseball cap, Meghan with her red hair and a green shirt, Jeanne in polka dots and Peggy… in a wheel chair. Peggy broke her foot the day before leaving and decided she could still come – my hero! The wheelchair ended up being a real plus for the group – they got VIP treatment, including by-passing the long visa line at the entry into the country! The ride home was filled with laughter and everyone talking over one another in excitement – it’s so good to have them here. We checked into the Heron Court (such luxury compared to Kenya Comfort) and had a late, light dinner (mostly soups). After dinner, Frank, Meg and I came back to our room to celebrate in style – Mbugua, one of the HOPE drivers, has a sweet wife who works at the Nakumatt; she made a chocolate cake for Frank & Meg with their names and a welcome note on the cake. After a long plane flight and an evening of reunion, we all settled into bed (although in a moment of despair, I discovered there was no hot water even at the Heron Court!... maybe I'll have a warm shower tomorrow).
Sunday was a blur especially to the jetlagged crew. We headed to church early for a 2 ½ hour women’s service. Afterwards, Meg and I went to the “terrace” which was an old wood grandstand in front of a soccer field behind the Railway Club (where the church meets). Carol Mukenya had again asked that I speak to all the mothers in the church about parenting. As I began the lesson Carol interrupted to ask Meghan to move to the other side of the stadium along with all the teen moms and unexpectedly asked Meghan to speak to both the teen moms and later to the teens. I didn’t get to hear Meghan, but I’m sure she did a great job! After church we all joined Malinda and Tewolde, Dagi and Hope for lunch at the Ethiopian restaurant that I wanted the family to experience. It was also Malinda’s birthday, so in Ethiopian tradition we had popcorn with candies (not candles) on top to celebrate at the end of our meal.
Monday was back to Dandora! I was so eager for my family to see the world that I had been living in for the past month.
From Meghan (we have much to catch up on... my writer Meg, is helping me write!)
We left Monday morning around 9:30 for Dandora. The hour drive took us through downtown Nairobi and other familiar parts of the city. I knew however that I had reached Dandora when the cement buildings became three pieces of tin put together, the trash covered the streets with pigs scavenging through it and a blanket of dust covered the sky. Since I have been in Kenya on Friday I felt so comfortable and almost sad that I wasn’t shocked anymore by the sights and sounds of Africa. Kenya had become my home, but the first time, as we entered Dandora, I felt uncomfortable and uneasy. We arrived at the OVC center were Charles took us to St. Elizabeth School where we were a part of a filming of a documentary about building self esteem in children who have experienced psychosocial trauma. After that we went to Rosebella’s school to see the Kid’s Club in action. The Kid’s Club is for any of the children in the area, but the orphans and vulnerable children have special support groups. We were greeted by the eleven year old chairman of the Kid’s Club board, Tasha, who showed us around the school and began a business meeting with us. We saw how the students made soap, shampoo, necklaces, eco-friendly rope and sold solar lights to raise money for the food for the club and for the orphans. Tasha was an amazing and intellectual girl; she could run any major corporation right now! The teachers told us that Tasha first came to the school very shy, insecure and withdrawn because her dad had died of AIDS and her mother had abandoned her. Since coming to the Kid’s Club she had come alive and a spark was lit in her. She has become passionate about taking care of the children in the club and had found pride in her projects. Rosebella was also a remarkable woman. She taught in Kenyan public school s for many years and now just does this as volunteer work and also takes care of most of the orphan children in the school. It was amazing to see how creative, intellectual and proud these orphan and vulnerable children had become because of the Kid’s Club.
Back to me: (thanks for your help, Meg!)
After spending the morning visiting the two primary schools and Kids Clubs, we went back to the main HOPE office, and then walked to Velma’s for “tea and chapatti’s”. I was so pleased to have my family there – and think Velma was equaled pleased. It took a few moments to arrange the seating. We moved one table back to the couch, arranged chairs on the other side (some chairs had backs, others were broken off), and then we balanced a second table on the dirt floor and moved benches and chairs around it. Our small crowd overwhelmed the little place. Baka was there, so he joined us – Frank, Meg, Jeanne, Peggy, Lawrence, Charles, Baka and me. Then out came our “tea” – first the assorted cups, then the thermoses of tea & milk, then chapatti’s – both plain and ones with green specks (herbs, Velma said) and then mandazi’s (little fried dough) – both plain & cinnamon flavored. Jeanne had been inspecting the cooking area & asking questions about the food in all the pots… and before we knew it, Velma started sending plates of food out – rice, beans, cabbage, green grams, stew, carrots, a “salad” of chopped tomatoes & peppers…. Plate after plate … we hardly knew where to begin (on several levels!) … fortunately, Lawrence, Charles & Baka were more than happy to eat more than their share of the food. I presented Velma with the three bright, stainless steel Oneida cooking spoons that Frank had brought from home for me. I think she was extremely pleased with the new utensils – and also with the bow on the spoons (a big pink & purple bow that came from some flowers I was given Sunday). She quickly tied the purple and pink bow to the top of the post adjacent to her countertop. I wouldn’t be surprised if that bow isn’t still there on any return trip I make!
After tea, which actually became lunch, we went back to the office to meet Siata. She had brought a mother & special needs child to the HOPE office for an interview with me and inclusion on our special needs list. After the interview, I presented Siata with the materials that Priscilla had send from her own special needs collection. Priscilla, I can’t tell you how wonderfully the things you sent were received! I don’t think I had ever seen such a beautiful smile on her face. She made a touching comment… she said many people have come through Dandora and have talked about help, but your gift of school supplies was the first tangible things she had actually been given. She and Makena will sort though all the materials and then deliver the materials later this week to the special unit at Ronald Ngara School. P.S. the Obama inauguration magazine was a REAL HIT with all the HOPE staff! Not sure who actually went home that treasure!
After meeting with Siata, we made a final home visit (Frank, Meg, Jeanne , Charles & Zaire and me) – this time to deliver food and a blanket (your last hand-made one, Lori!) to the family I had met last week (elderly granny caring for a 15 deaf granddaughter – who is a total orphan – and who has a four month old baby. I gave Zaire a single bill worth about $15 and we stopped at a little market en route to the granny’s home – I couldn’t believe how much food that small amount of money purchased! And I couldn’t count the number of “asante sanas” (thank you very much) the granny exclaimed. I learned later that the granny told Zaire they had not eaten since yesterday and didn’t know where food was coming from today… perfect timing; I bet the granny had been praying. As I walked with Zaire back to the office, she told me that she had taken several agency heads to that particular home... but that no one has ever provided tangible help. An echo of Siata’s statements….Zaire was thrilled and I was so glad we could help… at least for the day.
Today (Tuesday) has been another whirlwind – spent the morning at the HOPE main office in Kilileshua, where the gang got the tour of all the agencies within HOPE and then I presented a summary of my work for the summer. After that, we played! Off to the Giraffe Park (I do think giraffes are my favorite African animal) where we fed the giraffes, saw real wart hogs (so completely ugly that they are adorable!) and where I was able to get more of the carved wooden birds… one of my favorite Kenyan souvenirs – I brought home several last time, but gave them all away, without saving one for myself! Then to Kazuri beads (another favorite location)… history, economic empowerment for women… and exquisite beads made on site. I had forgotten that Kazuri means “small & beautiful”… such a perfect description of the work! And finally, a late dinner with both the Mwanza’s and Ondatto’s… some of our dearest friends here.
Tomorrow we leave for Kisumu and the Reach-Out program…. a six hour ride through the Rift Valley and Kenyan tea plantations. We may not have internet until next week, so don’t worry if you find nothing here for the next several days! We are well and happy!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Last night at Kenya Comfort
Note: I’ve had no internet for a day and a half… so was unable to post this last night. Here’s yesterday’s news... just a little late. Still waiting for Frank & Meg’s arrival!
Tonight is my last night at Kenya Comfort... while I still have two weeks left in Kenya, this seems like the beginning of the end. I don’t have too many sentimental attachments to this place (a little unusual for me)… the sporadic internet, lack of hot water and chronically clogged sink may have something to do with that. But I have been generally comfortable and felt safe and will miss the 5 a.m. chanting at a nearby mosque, the sounds of roosters throughout the day, and the laugher and chatter of the village below at night. I have loved the real noises of this place – they are not the result of a TV or radio… but are the genuine sounds of life.
So a final update on the village below. The Coke cooler chest has disappeared! In fact it was missing the morning following the day I had spotted it – really strange since I had both gone to bed quite last and gotten up quite early. I wondered if it had been moved inside the market during the night (can’t imagine how it fit through the doorway!), was stolen… or was just something I imagined. Now in place of the Coke cooler is a “new” white round plastic table and six white plastic chairs… a little outdoor café-look! The new bins for produce have been filled, people are eating and talking around the new table, and for the first time tonight, there were 3 lights in the market at night… up until tonight there have always been only two.
Funny thing about the two areas outside my window. The nicer apartment building to the right of the fence is landscaped with grass and flowers, has a paved parking lot and is filled with nice cars (Mercedes, SUVs)… however, I rarely see a person on that side of the wall. In contrast, the village on the left side of the wall is a bee-hive of activity – Mr. Clean was actually dancing today to Kiswahili music he was playing on the radio of a big gold Mercedes he was washing. The men at the pool hall started early today ( the pool hall actually just has a very limited framework of small trees that form the stick frame around it… there may or may not be plans to actually enclose the area… a silver tarp serves as the roof). I watched Mr. Clean go over to the pool hall frame and pull bark off the trees, which he then used to start a fire at his home… I guess it was like borrowing a cup of sugar from a neighbor, except that he didn’t ask permission! The market has a constant stream of visitors & customers and I have realized the area (around the corner from the market) where women sit each morning on the upholstered swivel stools to shred greens and sort beans & corn is actually a “restaurant”. Since I worked from home today, I could see people being arriving late morning to sit and eat at the big table. The contrast between the apartment house and the village is so stark…. affluence vs poverty … but the village seems so much more alive with people living, working and playing in the open and nearly on top of one another… and always noises, including a songs every night (perhaps signaling a last round of drinks before a little pub (just beyond the market) closes at night?). Like Dandora, I love the sense of community I see!
As I write, it’s Friday afternoon for Frank and Meg ; they should be in the air between Charlotte and Newark, where I think they’ll meet Jeanne… Peggy will join them in Amsterdam tomorrow morning… Kate and Dave are in Viet Nam, probably asleep in some rustic farm house tonight after their 8 mile hike; it's already Saturday in their world… Chrissy & Kris are finishing their Fridays at work and will begin a relaxing weekend after a teen devotional tonight… It’s approaching midnight for me in Nairobi…so many different places and times we live in. I’m so glad that at least Frank & I will be living in the same world by tomorrow night – and so glad that Heron Court has hot showers!
Tonight is my last night at Kenya Comfort... while I still have two weeks left in Kenya, this seems like the beginning of the end. I don’t have too many sentimental attachments to this place (a little unusual for me)… the sporadic internet, lack of hot water and chronically clogged sink may have something to do with that. But I have been generally comfortable and felt safe and will miss the 5 a.m. chanting at a nearby mosque, the sounds of roosters throughout the day, and the laugher and chatter of the village below at night. I have loved the real noises of this place – they are not the result of a TV or radio… but are the genuine sounds of life.
So a final update on the village below. The Coke cooler chest has disappeared! In fact it was missing the morning following the day I had spotted it – really strange since I had both gone to bed quite last and gotten up quite early. I wondered if it had been moved inside the market during the night (can’t imagine how it fit through the doorway!), was stolen… or was just something I imagined. Now in place of the Coke cooler is a “new” white round plastic table and six white plastic chairs… a little outdoor café-look! The new bins for produce have been filled, people are eating and talking around the new table, and for the first time tonight, there were 3 lights in the market at night… up until tonight there have always been only two.
Funny thing about the two areas outside my window. The nicer apartment building to the right of the fence is landscaped with grass and flowers, has a paved parking lot and is filled with nice cars (Mercedes, SUVs)… however, I rarely see a person on that side of the wall. In contrast, the village on the left side of the wall is a bee-hive of activity – Mr. Clean was actually dancing today to Kiswahili music he was playing on the radio of a big gold Mercedes he was washing. The men at the pool hall started early today ( the pool hall actually just has a very limited framework of small trees that form the stick frame around it… there may or may not be plans to actually enclose the area… a silver tarp serves as the roof). I watched Mr. Clean go over to the pool hall frame and pull bark off the trees, which he then used to start a fire at his home… I guess it was like borrowing a cup of sugar from a neighbor, except that he didn’t ask permission! The market has a constant stream of visitors & customers and I have realized the area (around the corner from the market) where women sit each morning on the upholstered swivel stools to shred greens and sort beans & corn is actually a “restaurant”. Since I worked from home today, I could see people being arriving late morning to sit and eat at the big table. The contrast between the apartment house and the village is so stark…. affluence vs poverty … but the village seems so much more alive with people living, working and playing in the open and nearly on top of one another… and always noises, including a songs every night (perhaps signaling a last round of drinks before a little pub (just beyond the market) closes at night?). Like Dandora, I love the sense of community I see!
As I write, it’s Friday afternoon for Frank and Meg ; they should be in the air between Charlotte and Newark, where I think they’ll meet Jeanne… Peggy will join them in Amsterdam tomorrow morning… Kate and Dave are in Viet Nam, probably asleep in some rustic farm house tonight after their 8 mile hike; it's already Saturday in their world… Chrissy & Kris are finishing their Fridays at work and will begin a relaxing weekend after a teen devotional tonight… It’s approaching midnight for me in Nairobi…so many different places and times we live in. I’m so glad that at least Frank & I will be living in the same world by tomorrow night – and so glad that Heron Court has hot showers!
Friday, June 19, 2009
I belong
OK… a day of rest (kind of) and both my camera & I are recharged!
Yesterday was my last full day at Dandora – although I’m not really done yet. I’ll go back on Saturday for a half day, have a relatively full day on Monday (with my family with me! ), and will make a good-by visit after we return from Kisumu. The day was somewhat routine – visited three families in the morning, two of whom had special needs children, another family had multiple vulnerable children, but without support…a quick lunch (after a month of eating an avocado a day for lunch, how could I forget my knife and spoon? had to peel it and made a mess)… then went back out for more visits.
What was different about today was that I felt like I belonged here! I was walking down one narrow pathway and here came Siata (aka, Elizabeth)… she was on her way to see me to say she had found another special needs child and was urgent that I “document” this child as part of our project before I left (thus the Monday visit)…. Down another road, a woman walked up to me and gave me a big hug… I had met her Sunday at church! Who could have ever imagined that I would have found someone I “knew” in this massive slum of Dandora? I saw Farida, a care team member, near the pineapple stand and she stopped me to introduce me to her son. Then the man with the withered legs that I see each day on his hand-pedaled bike passed by with a wave. Next a quick stop at Velma’s to say hello to her husband & see what they were cooking for the day (Velma now shakes my hand each day with the same handshake she uses for her friends… I feel honored!). I passed the same little “pub” six times on Wednesday as we walked back & forth… and the same men call out “muzungu” (white man) each time. They no longer bother me. I know which shop has the best grains, who carries the sweetest bananas and where you can get the larger black avocados instead of the small green ones. I can walk by the Plexiglas boxes filled with cow entrails now without a second glance (& without gagging). I know which street sells dry goods (clothes, blankets, shoes) and which streets sell food and I know the side alleys where the furniture makers cut their wood, assemble the furniture, and paint or upholster it. I know the bad corner where the buses and matatu’s clash, fighting for riders and space… and I know they would just as soon run you over as steer around you – that’s an area that you pay attention as you walk! And I know how to avoid the dump and the pigs and I have found the Nairobi River. I also know that anytime I pass a schoolyard I will be surrounded by laughinging children wanting to shake my hand & I’ve learned that if I give “high fives” instead, they can’t grab onto me quite as easily. They think it is a “lucky thing” to touch a white man – if a simple hand-shake makes a child feel special or important, I will shake a thousand little hands! For all its filth and trash and hidden horror, Dandora Phase 4 is truly a community and is home for so many good people.
So in the continued contrast of world’s that I am trying to reconcile, tonight Anyima and Edward took me to dinner at a hotel that rivals any posh place in NYC… stunningly beautiful inside- marble and polished wood mixed with massive arrangements of bird of paradise flowers and African art, tables with white tablecloths and fresh flowers, and the food was beyond wonderful... mounds of shrimp, melons, avocados, mango chutney, delicious meats. Complete luxury… and I learned that it was at this hotel that Kofi Annin negotiated the settlement to the post-election violence in Kenya a year and a half ago. I honestly didn’t think there was anywhere in Kenya that was comparable to western standards… this place was certainly that and more. It felt odd coming back to my “hotel” where I will take a cold shower again tonight….but for now I am content in my little place with my roosters each morning and my little village below.
Yesterday was my last full day at Dandora – although I’m not really done yet. I’ll go back on Saturday for a half day, have a relatively full day on Monday (with my family with me! ), and will make a good-by visit after we return from Kisumu. The day was somewhat routine – visited three families in the morning, two of whom had special needs children, another family had multiple vulnerable children, but without support…a quick lunch (after a month of eating an avocado a day for lunch, how could I forget my knife and spoon? had to peel it and made a mess)… then went back out for more visits.
What was different about today was that I felt like I belonged here! I was walking down one narrow pathway and here came Siata (aka, Elizabeth)… she was on her way to see me to say she had found another special needs child and was urgent that I “document” this child as part of our project before I left (thus the Monday visit)…. Down another road, a woman walked up to me and gave me a big hug… I had met her Sunday at church! Who could have ever imagined that I would have found someone I “knew” in this massive slum of Dandora? I saw Farida, a care team member, near the pineapple stand and she stopped me to introduce me to her son. Then the man with the withered legs that I see each day on his hand-pedaled bike passed by with a wave. Next a quick stop at Velma’s to say hello to her husband & see what they were cooking for the day (Velma now shakes my hand each day with the same handshake she uses for her friends… I feel honored!). I passed the same little “pub” six times on Wednesday as we walked back & forth… and the same men call out “muzungu” (white man) each time. They no longer bother me. I know which shop has the best grains, who carries the sweetest bananas and where you can get the larger black avocados instead of the small green ones. I can walk by the Plexiglas boxes filled with cow entrails now without a second glance (& without gagging). I know which street sells dry goods (clothes, blankets, shoes) and which streets sell food and I know the side alleys where the furniture makers cut their wood, assemble the furniture, and paint or upholster it. I know the bad corner where the buses and matatu’s clash, fighting for riders and space… and I know they would just as soon run you over as steer around you – that’s an area that you pay attention as you walk! And I know how to avoid the dump and the pigs and I have found the Nairobi River. I also know that anytime I pass a schoolyard I will be surrounded by laughinging children wanting to shake my hand & I’ve learned that if I give “high fives” instead, they can’t grab onto me quite as easily. They think it is a “lucky thing” to touch a white man – if a simple hand-shake makes a child feel special or important, I will shake a thousand little hands! For all its filth and trash and hidden horror, Dandora Phase 4 is truly a community and is home for so many good people.
So in the continued contrast of world’s that I am trying to reconcile, tonight Anyima and Edward took me to dinner at a hotel that rivals any posh place in NYC… stunningly beautiful inside- marble and polished wood mixed with massive arrangements of bird of paradise flowers and African art, tables with white tablecloths and fresh flowers, and the food was beyond wonderful... mounds of shrimp, melons, avocados, mango chutney, delicious meats. Complete luxury… and I learned that it was at this hotel that Kofi Annin negotiated the settlement to the post-election violence in Kenya a year and a half ago. I honestly didn’t think there was anywhere in Kenya that was comparable to western standards… this place was certainly that and more. It felt odd coming back to my “hotel” where I will take a cold shower again tonight….but for now I am content in my little place with my roosters each morning and my little village below.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Battery Exhausted
I turned on my camera last night to download photos and the screen read “Battery exhausted”… my next thought was “I am too”.
There are so many things in this world I am living in that trouble me – my internet is constantly up and down and viewing/sharing pictures is just impossible; the electricity flickers a couple of times a night; I’ve had no hot (or even warm) water for four days now… transportation is so difficult and traffic jams eat up literally hours of each day; George and Anne have three little girls and have had no water in their middle class home for the last month; Mary M has malaria and Carol was in the hospital today with another illness they couldn’t really diagnose; Mary O turns off her refrigerator during the day to conserve electricity and thinks she got sick yesterday from spoiled food; a friend from church lost her baby at 7 months – was admitted to the hospital for a c-section to deliver the baby who had died & was sent home the same day with no information about her baby or the baby’s death; this past weekend an angry boyfriend burned down the home of one of the families I had met in Dandora last week… so those who already had nothing, now really have nothing; we think that the headmaster of a school serving special needs children is likely misdirecting or pocketing the government allowance for the children each year; today I watched children no more than 2-3 years old literally playing on (or eating from?) a huge heap of trash… no adults in sight…
Inconveniences, inefficiencies and injustices are everywhere... and yet, I meet people every day who are grateful for what they have and most have a very surrendered attitude toward the lives they are living. There is not a lot of the American-way of asking “why?” or “why not?”…or demanding change or insisting on rights. Perhaps that is why I am exhausted and those who are actually living the lives I am describing are not.
I’m not sure what to think about this – perhaps you who are reading this can help me make sense of it. When it is important to stir up a sense of discontent to bring about change – and when is acceptance the right path? Perhaps it’s the difference between a social vs a personal response.
In a very tender way, most of those women I have found in greatest need, look to God with no bitterness, but for comfort and strength. And today, we visited one of the poorest homes I have found in Dandora (back to levels of poverty… how far is the bottom?)… the father was so thankful we had made the trip to his home (which was quite a distance away and down many steep, narrow, muddy, rocky alleyways almost down to the Nairobi River which is polluted with filth) and that we offered the hope of some support for his family (4 children under 10, a fifth on the way, both parents HIV+) that he insisted we pray together before we left.. and he prayed a prayer of joy & thankfulness. To look at him, I can’t imagine he will be alive this time next year.
So yes, I feel exhausted, but maybe I need to follow the example of the father – and pray prayers of joy & thankfulness…but without forgetting some measure of moral indignation to all I am witnessing. Paul Farmer defines public health as “an applied form of social justice”… I really like that description.
Ok – so one bit of new news from the village below. Came home tonight and found that the market now has a big freezer chest in front with a Coke logo on it! I was really quite excited for the market – but I can’t imagine that they have electricity, so don’t think it could be a cooler… did some Coke distributor put the chest there just to store drinks? or was it salvaged from someone’s trash and will be used for an entirely different purpose? Hope I can figure this out before I leave! I am so impressed with the woman who owns this little market – she works from sun-up to sun-down, looks like she employees at least 2 other women and has a constant stream of customers. You go, little market girl!
There are so many things in this world I am living in that trouble me – my internet is constantly up and down and viewing/sharing pictures is just impossible; the electricity flickers a couple of times a night; I’ve had no hot (or even warm) water for four days now… transportation is so difficult and traffic jams eat up literally hours of each day; George and Anne have three little girls and have had no water in their middle class home for the last month; Mary M has malaria and Carol was in the hospital today with another illness they couldn’t really diagnose; Mary O turns off her refrigerator during the day to conserve electricity and thinks she got sick yesterday from spoiled food; a friend from church lost her baby at 7 months – was admitted to the hospital for a c-section to deliver the baby who had died & was sent home the same day with no information about her baby or the baby’s death; this past weekend an angry boyfriend burned down the home of one of the families I had met in Dandora last week… so those who already had nothing, now really have nothing; we think that the headmaster of a school serving special needs children is likely misdirecting or pocketing the government allowance for the children each year; today I watched children no more than 2-3 years old literally playing on (or eating from?) a huge heap of trash… no adults in sight…
Inconveniences, inefficiencies and injustices are everywhere... and yet, I meet people every day who are grateful for what they have and most have a very surrendered attitude toward the lives they are living. There is not a lot of the American-way of asking “why?” or “why not?”…or demanding change or insisting on rights. Perhaps that is why I am exhausted and those who are actually living the lives I am describing are not.
I’m not sure what to think about this – perhaps you who are reading this can help me make sense of it. When it is important to stir up a sense of discontent to bring about change – and when is acceptance the right path? Perhaps it’s the difference between a social vs a personal response.
In a very tender way, most of those women I have found in greatest need, look to God with no bitterness, but for comfort and strength. And today, we visited one of the poorest homes I have found in Dandora (back to levels of poverty… how far is the bottom?)… the father was so thankful we had made the trip to his home (which was quite a distance away and down many steep, narrow, muddy, rocky alleyways almost down to the Nairobi River which is polluted with filth) and that we offered the hope of some support for his family (4 children under 10, a fifth on the way, both parents HIV+) that he insisted we pray together before we left.. and he prayed a prayer of joy & thankfulness. To look at him, I can’t imagine he will be alive this time next year.
So yes, I feel exhausted, but maybe I need to follow the example of the father – and pray prayers of joy & thankfulness…but without forgetting some measure of moral indignation to all I am witnessing. Paul Farmer defines public health as “an applied form of social justice”… I really like that description.
Ok – so one bit of new news from the village below. Came home tonight and found that the market now has a big freezer chest in front with a Coke logo on it! I was really quite excited for the market – but I can’t imagine that they have electricity, so don’t think it could be a cooler… did some Coke distributor put the chest there just to store drinks? or was it salvaged from someone’s trash and will be used for an entirely different purpose? Hope I can figure this out before I leave! I am so impressed with the woman who owns this little market – she works from sun-up to sun-down, looks like she employees at least 2 other women and has a constant stream of customers. You go, little market girl!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
A long Sunday
Another full Sunday – I left at 7:30 this morning and got home at 8 this evening… Kenyan hospitality is so gracious… but always involves a lot of time! I met with the East region of the Nairobi church today and was so grateful for their warmth and many kindnesses. They meet (700+ adults and 300+ children) in an old YMCA. It was raining today and the roof was leaking in quite a number of places – it made for an interesting arrangement of the chairs (to avoid the all the drips). While the Central region (Steve & Carol) sings a mix of English and Kiswahili songs, today’s singing was almost all in Kiswahili or Kikuyu... both the language & the intricate clapping patterns escaped me! At least Anne was beside me and translated the songs. I got to visit all the children’s classes – so many bright faces! While they have a number of rooms, the children are still quite crowded. Their biggest challenge? – the site has no useable bathrooms. They have a new building now under construction and needless to say, they are so thrilled for the opportunity to worship in a place of their own – with bathrooms!, hopefully by the end of the year. A humbling fact – in this church of 700+ adults, there are only a handful of cars… most people walk (miles) or take matatu’s to get here.
I got to meet two very special groups of people today. There are probably 50 people from the church who live in Dandora! I got to meet two groups of women and found out they actually meet in the HOPE office (downstairs) for their midweek studies… I think I will stay late at work on Wednesday to meet with them and then go to the East midweek service a little late. That means I will be in Dandora after dark – I am not sure how comfortable I’ll be with that, but I think it will be worth it. I felt a special connection with these women because of my time in Dandora… I am sure each of them is a real light in that dark place.
The other special group I got to meet today was the KenyaKids children we have sponsored for several years. The children and their parents all found me on Sunday… I was so glad that I recognized each of the children from the photos I had and remembered each of their names! The family lives in Mukuru (a slum considered worse than Dandora - if you don’t count the dump issue), but the children are all in school, get food supplements each month and looked bright and healthy. I was so glad to put voices (and give hugs) to the pictures I had had for so long!
I spent the afternoon with George and Anne - a wonderful meal of rice, cabbage, stew, chicken and oranges… and was again reminded of the luxury of my own life. Water is being rationed in their neighborhood, so they have had little or no water in their home over the last month…. and somehow connected, they also have regular power outages. Such basics that I take for granted.
So, time for an update on my village below:
· Yesterday, amid the shacks and cars and pool table and little market, I saw a Maasai man walking – very straight, very tall, very dark and wearing only the typical red and blue checked blanket of the Maasai. Such a dignified presence in the little village.
· Yesterday, also saw a soldier walk thru the village – in full camouflage and carrying a rifle over his shoulder. I am sure the gun was real – just hope it wasn’t loaded, although something tells me it likely was…
· Sweeping dirt. I see so many of the women sweeping the areas around their homes – but they are just sweeping dirt areas. How do you know when your job is complete when you are sweeping dirt off dirt?
· I recently realized that the scenery on the roof top of the little market keeps changing – and with more careful watching, I have learned it is like an “open air attic”. On top of the roof (but within reach of someone on the ground) are pieces of wood, a hubcap, various baskets and plastic storage cartons, and other things too small for me to identify. Things move up to the attic and down, as they are needed. On rainy days, all the solid plastic pails come down to collect water!
Tonight for dinner I had a papaya, an avocado and a banana (all thanks to Mary M) – so wonderful!
I got to meet two very special groups of people today. There are probably 50 people from the church who live in Dandora! I got to meet two groups of women and found out they actually meet in the HOPE office (downstairs) for their midweek studies… I think I will stay late at work on Wednesday to meet with them and then go to the East midweek service a little late. That means I will be in Dandora after dark – I am not sure how comfortable I’ll be with that, but I think it will be worth it. I felt a special connection with these women because of my time in Dandora… I am sure each of them is a real light in that dark place.
The other special group I got to meet today was the KenyaKids children we have sponsored for several years. The children and their parents all found me on Sunday… I was so glad that I recognized each of the children from the photos I had and remembered each of their names! The family lives in Mukuru (a slum considered worse than Dandora - if you don’t count the dump issue), but the children are all in school, get food supplements each month and looked bright and healthy. I was so glad to put voices (and give hugs) to the pictures I had had for so long!
I spent the afternoon with George and Anne - a wonderful meal of rice, cabbage, stew, chicken and oranges… and was again reminded of the luxury of my own life. Water is being rationed in their neighborhood, so they have had little or no water in their home over the last month…. and somehow connected, they also have regular power outages. Such basics that I take for granted.
So, time for an update on my village below:
· Yesterday, amid the shacks and cars and pool table and little market, I saw a Maasai man walking – very straight, very tall, very dark and wearing only the typical red and blue checked blanket of the Maasai. Such a dignified presence in the little village.
· Yesterday, also saw a soldier walk thru the village – in full camouflage and carrying a rifle over his shoulder. I am sure the gun was real – just hope it wasn’t loaded, although something tells me it likely was…
· Sweeping dirt. I see so many of the women sweeping the areas around their homes – but they are just sweeping dirt areas. How do you know when your job is complete when you are sweeping dirt off dirt?
· I recently realized that the scenery on the roof top of the little market keeps changing – and with more careful watching, I have learned it is like an “open air attic”. On top of the roof (but within reach of someone on the ground) are pieces of wood, a hubcap, various baskets and plastic storage cartons, and other things too small for me to identify. Things move up to the attic and down, as they are needed. On rainy days, all the solid plastic pails come down to collect water!
Tonight for dinner I had a papaya, an avocado and a banana (all thanks to Mary M) – so wonderful!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Day of the African Child
The Day of the African Child… here is the history from the UNICEF website:
The Day of the African Child is celebrated on June 16 in recognition of the day when, in 1976, thousands of black school children in Soweto, South Africa, took to the streets to protest the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds of young boys and girls were shot; and in the two weeks of protest that followed, more than 100 people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured.
It’s truly a solemn day in many ways, but most countries use it to highlight some children’s issue each year and then to celebrate the future. HOPE decided to have their celebration on Saturday rather than the 16th so children would be out of school and able to participate. Weeks of planning predated the celebration… 1,000 children from all the HOPE Kids Clubs in Dandora were expected! The Day was held at the Ronald Ngara school yard – a huge field … mostly dirt & dust, a few small areas of grass, and no shade… but plenty of space for all the children…. Activities were everywhere – foot races, football matches (soccer), egg races, singing, dancing, drama & poetry. A thousand dusty children, most in school uniforms… curiously, many wearing sweaters despite the heat & scorching sun. I watched many of the “performances” – songs were fabulous… some were native songs and included sounds (squeals, clicks and cries) that I know my vocal cords couldn’t begin to make!… the poetry and drama was also very well done – so expressive (I think that the soft, Kenyan voices and personalities seem to come alive at such times!)… but the topics were painful (AIDS, orphanhood, abuse and exploitation).
A few issues made for some challenges for the day – the PA system did not work… so communication across the masses was difficult. In another one of those odd juxtapositions of life in Kenya, a man pulling a wooden cart arrived and loaded up all the non-functioning PA equipment (big speakers, microphones, etc) onto the wooden cart and walked away, pulling his load…No Rent-a-Center trucks here!
The bigger issue was food… an Indian company from downtown Nairobi had agreed to donate rice, bread and drinks for the 1,000 children – for lunch. They called late morning to say they had no way to transport the food to Dandora, so wouldn’t be bringing it. Makena and Velma moved quickly to Plan B… and scoured all the little kiosks in Dandora until they had purchased 1,000 small bags of milk and an equal number of biscuits, rolls, and “cakes”. This, for the children, seemed to be the most exciting part of the day. Minor confusion initially (since there was no PA system to communicate the plan), but relatively quickly the Kids Clubs were all seated by groups (the green gingham uniforms here, the blue & white over there, the pink and gray along the fence…) and the then the patrons of each group picked up the milk and bread for their respective groups. The final issue arose when it became clear that there were a number of extra children (like hundreds), not in Kids Clubs, who had come for the celebrations and also needed to be fed. The milk supply appeared to be exhausted (at least within reasonable walking distance)… so the other children got sodas and slices of bread from regular loaves. The scope of this day can only be communicated with pictures – of which I took many!! I think the most poignant picture I’ll keep mentally is the one with a mass of children from one Kids Club sitting on the ground, happily eating their bread & drinking milk from the bags… adjacent to the non-club kids, also sitting on the ground, patiently watching others eat & wondering if they were going to get anything, since they were not part of the “invited” – I was so glad that HOPE’s heart was big enough to accommodate all the children.
The Day of the African Child is celebrated on June 16 in recognition of the day when, in 1976, thousands of black school children in Soweto, South Africa, took to the streets to protest the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds of young boys and girls were shot; and in the two weeks of protest that followed, more than 100 people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured.
It’s truly a solemn day in many ways, but most countries use it to highlight some children’s issue each year and then to celebrate the future. HOPE decided to have their celebration on Saturday rather than the 16th so children would be out of school and able to participate. Weeks of planning predated the celebration… 1,000 children from all the HOPE Kids Clubs in Dandora were expected! The Day was held at the Ronald Ngara school yard – a huge field … mostly dirt & dust, a few small areas of grass, and no shade… but plenty of space for all the children…. Activities were everywhere – foot races, football matches (soccer), egg races, singing, dancing, drama & poetry. A thousand dusty children, most in school uniforms… curiously, many wearing sweaters despite the heat & scorching sun. I watched many of the “performances” – songs were fabulous… some were native songs and included sounds (squeals, clicks and cries) that I know my vocal cords couldn’t begin to make!… the poetry and drama was also very well done – so expressive (I think that the soft, Kenyan voices and personalities seem to come alive at such times!)… but the topics were painful (AIDS, orphanhood, abuse and exploitation).
A few issues made for some challenges for the day – the PA system did not work… so communication across the masses was difficult. In another one of those odd juxtapositions of life in Kenya, a man pulling a wooden cart arrived and loaded up all the non-functioning PA equipment (big speakers, microphones, etc) onto the wooden cart and walked away, pulling his load…No Rent-a-Center trucks here!
The bigger issue was food… an Indian company from downtown Nairobi had agreed to donate rice, bread and drinks for the 1,000 children – for lunch. They called late morning to say they had no way to transport the food to Dandora, so wouldn’t be bringing it. Makena and Velma moved quickly to Plan B… and scoured all the little kiosks in Dandora until they had purchased 1,000 small bags of milk and an equal number of biscuits, rolls, and “cakes”. This, for the children, seemed to be the most exciting part of the day. Minor confusion initially (since there was no PA system to communicate the plan), but relatively quickly the Kids Clubs were all seated by groups (the green gingham uniforms here, the blue & white over there, the pink and gray along the fence…) and the then the patrons of each group picked up the milk and bread for their respective groups. The final issue arose when it became clear that there were a number of extra children (like hundreds), not in Kids Clubs, who had come for the celebrations and also needed to be fed. The milk supply appeared to be exhausted (at least within reasonable walking distance)… so the other children got sodas and slices of bread from regular loaves. The scope of this day can only be communicated with pictures – of which I took many!! I think the most poignant picture I’ll keep mentally is the one with a mass of children from one Kids Club sitting on the ground, happily eating their bread & drinking milk from the bags… adjacent to the non-club kids, also sitting on the ground, patiently watching others eat & wondering if they were going to get anything, since they were not part of the “invited” – I was so glad that HOPE’s heart was big enough to accommodate all the children.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Courage & contradictions
Small victories are so precious… remember Agnes, whose boxer-husband was brain-damaged and had gone crazy… with the very sick little toddler we sent to the clinic and the older girl who was out of school and seemed so listless and sad? Joy (or maybe more appropriately, hope) has come to that home. The mother came by yesterday with the paperwork from her daughter’s school, describing the fees required to re-enroll (I was so glad that the mother was responsible enough to follow-through on this request!). Makena spoke with the school early this morning and got the headmaster to agree to re-enroll the child at no charge as long as she could come to school in a school uniform and could buy her own books and supplies (sometimes you just need an advocate!). Makena then found a “well-wisher” to buy the uniform and supplies (I wouldn’t be surprised if the well-wisher isn’t Makena herself). The girl will stop by Monday to pick up her uniform – then she’s off to school! In addition, the mother came by again today- this time with the toddler. He indeed, did have pneumonia, got two shots… and today was smiling, squirming and breathing normally. These are such small steps in the overwhelming scope of the problems of Dandora… but for this one family, their world, at least for this week, is a better one.
I traveled with a new volunteer today (another young man who has finished high school but can’t afford college yet) to make home visits and he made an interesting comment. He talked about how the government doesn’t really recognize Dandora’s existence and therefore provides no services to the community (other than a token and some say, corrupt police presence) and he commented that there is just so much dirt, trash, depression, hopelessness here… he said that he wished he could give the people of Dandora just one day of happiness, free from this world they lived in. He himself lives in Dandora.
I learned more about the history of HOPE in Dandora today and continue to be impressed by the level of commitment the staff has to their work. In 2004/5, HOPE targeted Dandora as their next site for a HOPE program. They began by mapping the community, connecting with key people in the community and identifying strengths, weakness, and greatest needs. The group realized quickly that safety was one of the biggest concerns in the community and that HOPE could not move into the area until the security issues had been addressed. The primary issue was the significant presence of the Mungiki in Dandora– a political-religious, secret sect known for their gangs, extortion and gruesome, violent, criminal acts. How in the world do you deal with that kind of barrier, I asked the young man telling the story! He along with two other male HOPE staffers (the Mungiki distain women) spoke with community leaders to identify some of the Mungiki leaders. The three HOPE workers approached these Mungiki leaders and spent months building a friendship and getting their buy-in for the presence of a HOPE site. Over the course of a year, HOPE gained the Mungiki’s acceptance and some Mungiki even left the group during that time. Mungiki now often serve as security for special HOPE programs. These young men literally risked their lives to get the HOPE program started in Dandora. Who knew public health could be quite so dangerous!
I hit my goal of 50 surveys today, but will continue to add to that number as I am able… and today made more home visits. The stories are so similar … father/mother died, greatest needs: food, school fees, capital to start a business (Kiva, the microfinance group, seems to have pulled out of Kenya completely - not sure if they lost the supporting groups or if there were too many defaults). HOPE sometimes has funding to offer start-up business capital to families, especially those who have completed any of their vocational training programs, but is not into significant microfinancing and the funds they do get are limited.
I am getting used to walking into pitch black homes... what troubles me though are the smells – not the garbage smell, but the smell of the cooking fuel, paraffin, charcoal…sometimes homes even smell like gasoline – whichever, its often a heavy oily scent that permeates the air- and I again wonder about the long-term health effects of breathing such polluted air – especially for the children.
There are so many no-win decisions a person living in Dandora must make – do you cook outside your home (meaning you live in a more open and insecure area) or do you cook inside your “safe” home & get used to the side effects of the cooking fuels inside your home? Recently Dandora residents were told the eggs from their chickens contained high levels of certain toxins because the chickens ate from the dump; the residents were encouraged to feed their chickens grains… if a family cannot afford food for its children, it cannot afford to purchase food for chickens… so children continue to eat tainted eggs. So why don’t people flee this toxic area? Many (especially the children) have never seen beyond the five phases of Dandora to even understand that life can be different… plus they don’t even have the fare for a matatu…
Tomorrow HOPE is celebrating “The Day of the African Child” – games & races, poetry & drama, and the finale – a football (soccer) match! Over 1000 children are expected… hopefully they can forget Dandora for a day & just be children!
I traveled with a new volunteer today (another young man who has finished high school but can’t afford college yet) to make home visits and he made an interesting comment. He talked about how the government doesn’t really recognize Dandora’s existence and therefore provides no services to the community (other than a token and some say, corrupt police presence) and he commented that there is just so much dirt, trash, depression, hopelessness here… he said that he wished he could give the people of Dandora just one day of happiness, free from this world they lived in. He himself lives in Dandora.
I learned more about the history of HOPE in Dandora today and continue to be impressed by the level of commitment the staff has to their work. In 2004/5, HOPE targeted Dandora as their next site for a HOPE program. They began by mapping the community, connecting with key people in the community and identifying strengths, weakness, and greatest needs. The group realized quickly that safety was one of the biggest concerns in the community and that HOPE could not move into the area until the security issues had been addressed. The primary issue was the significant presence of the Mungiki in Dandora– a political-religious, secret sect known for their gangs, extortion and gruesome, violent, criminal acts. How in the world do you deal with that kind of barrier, I asked the young man telling the story! He along with two other male HOPE staffers (the Mungiki distain women) spoke with community leaders to identify some of the Mungiki leaders. The three HOPE workers approached these Mungiki leaders and spent months building a friendship and getting their buy-in for the presence of a HOPE site. Over the course of a year, HOPE gained the Mungiki’s acceptance and some Mungiki even left the group during that time. Mungiki now often serve as security for special HOPE programs. These young men literally risked their lives to get the HOPE program started in Dandora. Who knew public health could be quite so dangerous!
I hit my goal of 50 surveys today, but will continue to add to that number as I am able… and today made more home visits. The stories are so similar … father/mother died, greatest needs: food, school fees, capital to start a business (Kiva, the microfinance group, seems to have pulled out of Kenya completely - not sure if they lost the supporting groups or if there were too many defaults). HOPE sometimes has funding to offer start-up business capital to families, especially those who have completed any of their vocational training programs, but is not into significant microfinancing and the funds they do get are limited.
I am getting used to walking into pitch black homes... what troubles me though are the smells – not the garbage smell, but the smell of the cooking fuel, paraffin, charcoal…sometimes homes even smell like gasoline – whichever, its often a heavy oily scent that permeates the air- and I again wonder about the long-term health effects of breathing such polluted air – especially for the children.
There are so many no-win decisions a person living in Dandora must make – do you cook outside your home (meaning you live in a more open and insecure area) or do you cook inside your “safe” home & get used to the side effects of the cooking fuels inside your home? Recently Dandora residents were told the eggs from their chickens contained high levels of certain toxins because the chickens ate from the dump; the residents were encouraged to feed their chickens grains… if a family cannot afford food for its children, it cannot afford to purchase food for chickens… so children continue to eat tainted eggs. So why don’t people flee this toxic area? Many (especially the children) have never seen beyond the five phases of Dandora to even understand that life can be different… plus they don’t even have the fare for a matatu…
Tomorrow HOPE is celebrating “The Day of the African Child” – games & races, poetry & drama, and the finale – a football (soccer) match! Over 1000 children are expected… hopefully they can forget Dandora for a day & just be children!
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