We finally have electricity back at the orphanage! Who knows how long it will last, but we should be able to keep in touch with everyone at bit easier now.Its been a long time since we gave an update and there has been a lot going on since we arrived just 2 weeks ago – including the addition of my all-too-clichéd travelers facial hair!
As we are staying at the orphanage we are basically working 7 days a week – whereas other volunteers have the weekend off, for us it is the busiest time, as all of the kids are around and need amusement.It is amazing to see how little the children here have compared to kids back in America or the UK.Not only do they not have computer games, but they don’t even have basic toys like a ball, or coloring books.Some of the girls play “tea-party”, but instead of little plastic plates or cutlery, they use old bottle tops, twigs, mud, old bits of vegetables etc to play with.Instead of a football, they use rolled up socks or a ball of plastic bags secured with some tape.Yet you never hear one of them whine about their situation, or complain that they are bored – they just get on with it and amuse themselves.
Our first Saturday here we got out the crayons and pens we had brought with us, gave the kids some paper and had them draw for a couple of hours.It was great to see them all occupied with something - and fun to see what drawings they came up with.The following Monday we made the long trip into Nairobi to get some more supplies for them.We bought a real leather soccer/football as well as a mini bowling (skittles) set, which we had to teach them how to use – not as easy as it sounds when you only speak a couple of words of Swahilli and all the kids want to do is throw the ball as hard as possible at the pins!Its great to see how happy these relatively simple things make them.
Last Sunday we had our first experience of church in Africa.It was not at all like I was expecting.There is a Pastor living just down the road from the orphanage, and he is the unofficial “guardian” of the house – Pastor John.His church is located quite a distance away, but he has a sister church a bit closer so the kids go there.However, this is a very new church.In addition to our 30 kids there were only about 4 other people at the church – and two of those were related to the pastor!The church itself was basically just a hut, with a lectern and some benches.The “service” consisted of a welcome, some songs, a bit of prayer, more songs, a reading from the bible (in English) followed be a sermon in Swahilli (thank goodness we read the bible passage in English so we at least had some knowledge of what was going on), and finally some more songs.As the congregation was 90% under 16 it felt a little more like Sunday-School then a regular church service, so we are looking forward to going to Pastor John’s church soon to see a more authentic Kenyan church service.
The children walk 45 mins each way to get to the church, and at the end of the service the older girls swept and mopped the church before we left.It is amazing to see how hard these kids work, and how far they walk, even the little 5 & 6 year olds, without any complaints!It makes us shut up when we think about how tiring a 45 minute walk in the midday sun is!
After church, we had been invited to Pastor John’s home for lunch.He lives in a mud hut, which is, as it sounds, basically just a wooden structure with dried mud, cow dung, and urine holding it together.They have a separate bedroom and kitchen and a main living/dining space.
Lunch at the Pastor’s was the first time we had meat since we had arrived in Kenya (well, for me at least…the meat here is nothing like you would expect from home and Emily couldn’t even stomach a bite!), and peas too!What a treat after a week of beans and corn! In his mud hut they have 4 sofas, and a little black and white TV, running from a car battery.The pastor himself was immaculately dressed in a crisply ironed shirt and tie.Kenyans are very proud and are usually very well turned out – even if they have no electricity, running water and live in a mud hut.It makes me feel pretty bad, walking around in my dusty clothes, having not bathed for two days and sporting my unsightly facial hair just because I don’t want to shave in cold water!Clearly the excuse of being in a third world country is a very Western one.
It was really good to have lunch with the Pastor’s family, not only to eat great food (and some fruit!)but also to hear more about the orphanage and to speak with his family about life in Kenya.The Pastor raised 5 children here, after being displaced from another town in the clashes of the early 1980’s in Kenya.As a Kikuyu, he is a member of the tribe that was attacked after the 2007 presidential election.He was not affected in 2007, but in the 1980s he was forced out of his home by similar clashes.To put it in very simple terms, the Kikuyu are the largest tribe, at about 45% of the population, and they are spread all over Kenya.
As the largest tribe (and the tribe of the President) they are blamed for many problems and accused of ignoring the needs of the minority tribes.In 2007, the minorities got together in areas where Kikuyu’s were spread thinly and forced them out of their homes – murdering males and burning homes.The people who fled are now housed in camps around Kenya called IDP Camps (internally displaced people).Some of the stories we have heard are horrific – of neighbors turning on each other, and even families, simply because of tribal loyalties.No majority should be allowed to oppress a minority, but hearing of the conditions in the IDP camps and the stories of those who fled, the clashes are indefensible.The NGO we are working with does some work at the IDP camps so we are planning to spend a weekend helping out at one during our stay here.
Our first weekend really gave us the opportunity to learn more about the kids and about life here in Kenya.We were very tired by the end of it and I started to realize just how much energy it takes living with 32 kids! Lots more to come soon, including many more pictures (especially of Emily, due to high demand!)
Hi! We only have a few minutes but wanted to say a quick hi! We are sitting in a town called Kikuyu, which is about 10 miles from 'home.' We were unable to write sooner because we have had no electricity or running water for over a week now! Apparently the oil for the transformer was stolen and the local council is so angry that they are taking their sweet time in replacing it. But, in this last week, we have learned many things - we have hand washed all our clothes, taken many splash baths, repeatedly lugged a bucket of water up stairs to fill the toilet after every flush, as well going to bed by 9 because we can see absolutely nothing!
We have been up to quite a lot, such as going to church, having lunch with a pastor and his family in their mud hut, and spending a full day at the primary school acting as the children's 'parents' for Prize Giving Day (we will be teaching 2 days a week soon!). We'll fill you in more later, but right now we need to go catch our ride to the Maasai Mara where we are going on a 4 day safari!!!
We love Africa! We have been here for just about 3 days now, and we have already experienced and seen so much! We are being introduced to a new way of life - one much slower, fully self-sufficient and 100% hard-working. We are sleeping and working within an orphanage called Maddison House, which is the home of 32 wonderful children/young adults (ages 1 1/2 - 17) and 2 unbelievably strong and dedicated house mothers, Betty and Wambui. The orphanage is about 22km NW of Nairobi in a district called Limuru. It is in a very rural location which is why this has been our first chance to find Internet.
There is already so much that we could tell you, but since we're worn out from our long day we'll just mention a few of the highlights!
Let us introduce you to our new life at Maddison House. The orphanage was once a grand house owned by an engineer and his family. There are 6 bedrooms in the main house. We have our own room with a bunk bed and one additional twin. We have of course crammed ourselves onto the single bed! We have what used to be the master bedroom with an entirely pink full bathroom. Now let me clarify what we mean by 'full bathroom' - we have a toilet that we must fill with water every time we want to flush. Now this water is not from the tap since there is rarely running water, so we collect our toilet water from the tank outside. We have not properly bathed yet, so we cannot tell you about that, but we know the routine is to boil some water on the open fire outside, pour that into a bucket, take it to the bathroom and splash it all over you. We have been planning an awesome water fight for our first time!
The same fire used to heat our bath water is used to cook all the meals. There are a number of enormous cast iron pots that are constantly rotating upon the fire, cooking the staple foods - potatoes, rice, beans, cabbage, and ugali (tastes like grits for you Americans - with no butter, salt, or jelly). So far, all of our meals have consisted of one or more of these - often 4 or 5 of them!
Daily routine: We wake to our alarm at 6:30am (yes, earlier than we used to get up for work), whine and complain to one another for about 15 mins and then finally roll out of bed. If there is water in the taps, we splash it on our faces and brush our teeth, avoiding swallowing even a little water. We proceed to go downstairs, eat cold pancakes, and drink chai tea (heated fresh cows milk and tea leaves). We then sweep the entire orphanage, followed by a hefty mopping where one of us scrubs the floor with a soapy rag and the other follows behind drying. For Emily, there has been no better site then watching Simon bend over in the impressive way all Kenyan women do - right at the hip - and scrub those darn floors! The rest of our day consists of helping Betty and Wambui prepare meals. Lunch is cooked all morning and then the fun starts...we take a large bucket filled with piping hot corn and beans and carry it 2 miles to the children's school where we sit with them in the grass as they eat and then carry the dirty dishes back home. If any of you are wondering if a bucket of corn and beans for thirty kids is a lot, let us tell you that it is extraordinarily HOT and HEAVY and therefore very difficult to carry - especially in the Kenyan Sun! Of course Betty and Wambui effortlessly carry the bucket to and fro on their heads, we are yet to master that - not that we haven't tried!
We are only just starting to get to know the kids and in some ways it is more difficult with the younger ones as they know little English. However, they are a lively bunch and love to dance and play with us. They have been fascinated by our camera, as well as Simon's leg hair which the spent this evening stroking! LOL. One of the older boys, James (15yrs) sat with us the other evening and told us about his experiences living on the streets of Nairobi for many years of his life. He was approached by a pastor not long ago and asked if he wanted to go back to school. Since his answer was yes, the pastor found an orphanage for him and in April he moved here. He still struggles with the structure here, and the lack of freedom and money, but is very thankful for the education he is receiving. He also asked Simon about circumcision in the UK and revealed that he had the painful procedure just 4 weeks ago and was still experiencing a lot of discomfort from it. Just sitting with James for 10 mins and hearing his story has already made a lasting impact on us.
We are off to sleep now... another early morning tomorrow! We hope we will have the opportunity to write more and upload some pictures soon.
Simon's awesome friends Karen and Vinay surprised us with these t-shirts at our going away party last night! How freakin' cute is that!?
On a not so fun note, I was also told last night by Lucy, who lived in Kenya for 4 months, that we would gain weight! GAIN WEIGHT!?!? Apparently all the food is so yucky that you just eat piles of heavy white loaves of bread! :(
Either way, we are sooo excited to finally be going! We feel like we've been planning this for so long, and now it's finally happening! We leave from London Gatwick at 9pm, have a layover in Dubai, and then arrive in Kenya around 2pm on Monday. We'll be taken to a hotel in Nairobi for the night and the next morning will go to an all-day orientation where we will find out where we will be placed. We'll be sure to wear our t-shirts all day!
Ok, we're off! Love to all our family and friends.
Here's a quick update on what we have been doing for the past week and a bit.
After a quick 24 hours in Birmingham we packed up again and headed to the North of England, to Northumberland, for a week-long vacation with my parents and some of their friends to celebrate my Dad's 60th Birthday. We were staying in a huge house in a little place called Seahouses, about half way between Newcastle and Scotland. Very pretty area, in the countryside and by the coast - all very English with stone walls and little villages. After our busy last few weeks in New York it was quite a change of pace and it took me a few days to relax and get acclimatised to the slower way of life.
There are lots of castles in that part of the world so Emily got a good fill of some historic Britain (back in the days when we had an Empire) and I made sure she experienced some proper British traditions like eating Fish & Chips on the beach, drinking in a local village pub, and getting drenched in the torrential rain and winds that so often come with a British summer vacation! It was a fun week and a good celebration for my Dad, which continued when we got back where we had ANOTHER party back in Birmingham on Saturday (well i guess you are only 60 once!)
So we are now back at my parents house in Birmingham finalising everything before we head off on our trip. We are already missing New York and all the sights, sounds, and smells of living in the city - although Emily is loving the cooler temperatures on this side of the pond. We are going down to London on Wednesday to catch up with friends before a leaving party on Saturday, and then Sunday evening we fly to Nairobi. It has been great to be home and spend some time with my family and for Emily to get to know them better, but we are both now very ready to start the next stage of this adventure.
We finally have electricity back at the orphanage! Who knows how long it will last, but we should be able to keep in touch with everyone at bit easier now. Its been a long time since we gave an update and there has been a lot going on since we arrived just 2 weeks ago – including the addition of my all-too-clichéd travelers facial hair!
