KCC slum

Last Friday, Simon, Hilary and I took time off from our normal workday to join a group of volunteers working in a slum in the town of Naivasha, about 1 hour North West of here. The KCC slum was established in 1972 as a short term solution to a housing crisis for nearby flower farmers. There are now over 6000 people living in the small, overcrowded area. Many of the houses are just about the size of your bedroom at home (unless you live in NYC!) and house anywhere from 5-10 people. There is no electricity or running water. Most families wash, bathe, drink, and cook with the filthy water from the nearby river.

A group of volunteers were first introduced to the KCC slum just a month or so ago – they were so taken aback by the dire living conditions that they chose to begin a feeding program for the neediest children. A short half mile from the houses, the volunteers were generously given a small piece of land from a local farm owner and have successfully built 3 structures that can be used for classrooms, dining, and kitchen. Most of the work was completed by residents of KCC, as a means to make a small income. The only other work opportunities for these people is working in the nearby farms, which pays only 100shs ($1.30) per day. As the majority of the families cannot afford the school fees, or uniforms for education, most children have received no education. Therefore, the plan for the program is to one day have a functioning and sustainable school, feeding program, and to provide daily clean drinking water. For now, a successful day is one where 70 children can visit, play, and receive free food. The meal takes 2-3 hours to prepare since the water (dirty brown from the river) needs to first be boiled, and then food prepared. The ‘tasty’ concoction is called Uge. It is basically porridge – for those of you in the Dirty Dirty, it looks a bit like mashed grits that somehow turned brown…For most of the children, this one meal is all they will eat for the whole day.

We were invited to the slum, in part, to donate some of our money to the program, but also to visit and play with the children. As soon as we arrived, 70 children came running at us, excitedly shaking our hands and asking the only thing they knew how to say in English, “how arree yoouuuu!?!?” It ended up being quite the fun day. I, of course, was in heaven since I was handed a baby within minutes of arriving and did not put him down until his little brother came to fetch him at the end of the day. There were 5 babies (~ 6 months), all of whom came on the backs of their older sibling (~8 yrs old) because their mothers were either no longer alive or were working the fields. These babies…oh the babies…not one of them had a diaper on. Most did not even have underwear. By the end of the day, ‘my’ baby peed on me twice, and I just considered myself lucky that nothing else happened! It was so sad to see.


Simon spent most of his time with little Simon (about 1 yrs), – in part because he was a cutie and in part because he loved that they both had name tags on that said Simon! LOL. Near the end of the day, little Simon squirmed out of big Simon’s arms, and in tears, hobbled over to one of the buildings and sat down. When Simon went to check on him, he found that he had pooped in his over-sized shorts. No underwear. An hour later, he was retrieved by his big brother to be taken home, still in tears, smelling of poop. None of the kids were in good condition – in comparison to the children here at Maddison they looked malnourished, dirty and overall unhealthy. It was apparent that most of their bellies were filled with worms and fungal infections had caused dry flaky skin all over their faces.

At mealtime, the children are each handed an enormous cup (for their little size) which is then filled to the brim with Uge. Little Simon, had already mastered the use of a big boy cup. For my little one, only a couple months old, I fed him with the same cup. Each time I tipped it towards him, his whole face got lost behind it. But he finished it all. I have never seen a baby eat so much in one sitting. But I’ve also never seen a baby so hungry and malnourished.


All in all, the day was wonderful. It touched our hearts in a different way than the children do here. I can only hope that some of those children will find their way to a home like Maddison, where they will be taken care of, well fed, and educated.

Kenyan Life: Aches & Pains

About two weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night, feeling decidedly unwell. After contemplating whether I really felt bad enough to untuck myself from my mosquito net, I eventually got up, just in time to reach the bathroom before my stomach decided to purge itself of the previous nights dinner. Fast forward a week, and as the alarm went off for another day, the now familiar feeling returned. Yes, it has happened, I finally got ill!

The first time I figured it was just something I ate, but vomiting again only one week later, accompanied by a 24-hour headache, in a country rife with malaria (two symptoms of which are vomiting and headaches), Emily and the house mothers decided it best I get checked out. So, on Thursday I headed off to the local Hospital in Kikuyu, along with Aunty Betty and two of the older boys who had also recently been ill. Going to the doctors or the hospital here was quite an experience. First you have to go to the “cashier” and pay 300sks (about $4) to get a file opened, then you go and register before going to sit outside a consultation room waiting to be called. Waiting, and waiting and waiting. There’s no fancy numbering system so you know how long it will be, no TV, no magazines, you just sit. And wait. After about two hours I finally got called in, where the young female doctor proceeded to get the giggles. There are lots of Simon’s in Kenya and I guess my last name was not different enough to tip her off that I would be a white person so mid-way through my explanation of symptoms she starts giggling, eventually explaining that she wasn’t expecting a “muzungu” to walk in today! She decided to test me for malaria, typhoid and stomach infections so sent me off to the lab. Before you can go to the lab though, you have to go back to the cashier and pay for your tests. At the lab they gave me a little brown paper bag containing a small plastic jar, with a kind of spoon attached to its lid – yes, I was going to have to give a stool sample! After that wonderful experience (I can’t even begin to explain the state of the toilet they directed me to use) they took blood and then told me to sit and wait. So I waited. And waited. And waited. After two hours of watching people be given brown paper bags and disappear into the toilet they finally called my name and handed me a piece of paper with my results on. No explanation though, so I then had to traipse back over to the doctor where, you guessed it, I had to wait again!

When I eventually saw this doctor he explained I have a stomach infection, caused by the amoeba parasite. This is very common here in Kenya - since we have been here 4 of the kids have gotten this infection – it can be picked up from dirty water and since all of the water used for cooking and cleaning here is taken from two large dirty tanks outside, it is not surprising so many of us have gotten sick. I thought I had been careful, but obviously not! He gave me a prescription for four different drugs and sent me off to the pharmacist, who writes down how much it costs, and then you go back to the cashier, pay, then go back to the pharmacist to hand in your prescription and wait for it to be filled! With no exaggeration I was there all day – I left the orphanage about 10.30am and was not back until about 5.30pm. I can’t believe I forgot to take my book to keep me occupied!!!

Obviously very glad I don’t have malaria, and the different medications they gave me (pills, dissolvable powder and syrup) seem to be working, but I am annoyed I got ill after being so careful. In the morning Emily had been very sympathetic – offering to come to the hospital with me, cleaning up after me etc etc. However, when I returned from my 7-hour visit to the hospital and I informed my betrothed of my serious infection, her response was simple. She laughed. And laughed. And took pictures of my huge pile of medication. Thanks, baby!! Since her father travels the world and is always the only one of his party who never gets sick, Em is convinced she has inherited a stomach of steal – im not so sure… we still have 7 weeks to go!!!


The inefficient system, where you have to keep going back and forth to the cashier before you do anything and the loooong wait was painful. However, I was really impressed by the fact they performed the tests there-and-then and I got the results back the same day. Even in the US, with their expensive system, I had to wait a couple of days for blood tests to come back. So as much as it was annoying to waste the day at the hospital, at least I found out what was wrong with me and it was interesting to see how a Kenyan hospital operates. I guess I just need to be more careful about what I eat from now on!

Emily has also needed medical treatment recently, although she had to settle for Dr.Simon & Nurse Hilary to look after her. Coming back from Kikuyu a couple of weeks ago on the back of Gitau’s motorbike (see previous Kenyan Life post) the motorbike tipped over as it was driving slowly up a hill. Although Em managed to jump clear, her leg caught the exhaust pipe and she got a pretty big and nasty burn on the lower inside of her leg. It blistered up nicely that day and she has had to keep it clean and re-dress it everyday, which is harder than it sounds, given our living conditions here. It is starting to get better now, and hopefully will not leave a permanent scar. However, it has put her off motorbikes for a while, so we are back to the more traditional Kenyan mode of walking to our matatu stage, which is much better for us anyway!


Aside from these few “aches and pains”, we are really loving our time here and cannot believe that we are nearly half way through!




 

Hilary

We can't believe we havnt done this sooner, but we want to introduce you to our wonderful new friend, Hilary! We met Hilary while on Safari a couple weeks back. The three of us ended up with the best seats in the house...the back of the safari truck... and bonded over the lions, tigers, and bea...err, i mean, the lions, elephants, and giraffes. Hil is at the ripe old age of 18 (omg, i know!!!), but might possibly be the most mature teen in the world! She is from (around) Burlington, Vermont, which, per my dad's report, is the only other place in the States he would LOVE to live, aside from Ithaca of course! Hilary was originally placed in Kisii (hours from here) but the placement was not ideal, so she has moved here with us. She is great - very much like a kid sister to us, and also a good friend.

I also know that Hilary has shared her blog with friends and family, so we wanted to say hello to all of you, and welcome you to our blog - the more the merrier! And don't worry, Hil is in good hands!

The Maddison House kids

Little 7 yr old Lucy wears a dress that was worn only once by a young American girl the day she wanted to dress as Pippy Long-Stocking for Halloween. For Lucy, this is one of 5 pieces of clothing she owns. The buttons on the back have long since come off and her bare back is forever exposed.

Lucy is one of the Maddison House kids. She is the older sister of Dennis Karaoke – the little 5 yr old that Simon and I fantasize about adopting. Their story: The neighbor to Lucy and Dennis heard crying from the house next door, for days on end. This was 2 years ago. When she finally stopped by, she found a deserted home, with little else other than Lucy and Dennis sitting on the floor in tears. The mother, a widow, with no means to support two children, had left them there and ran away.

These children are so amazing. With this last month behind us, I have had many chances to chat with Aunty Betty – both about herself and the children. “Aunty” as all the kids call her is 35 years old, grew up far from here in a small poverty-stricken village. She became pregnant at 16 and had a daughter named Gladys (now 19) who is in her final year of secondary school and visits Maddison on the weekends. She walks 2 hours to get here, and makes the same walk back on Sunday afternoon. Gladys spent her childhood with her grandmother until she moved to Nairobi with Betty while in her teens. Although Betty was not much of a mother to her own child until more recently, she is now the ‘mother’ of 32. And she is a GREAT one. Right now, Betty is potty training the youngest, Lydia, who is 2 years old. Little Lydia could not understand nor speak even a word when she came to Maddison a couple of months ago. Her mother, 21 yrs old, became paralyzed during childbirth and for the first year and a half of Lydia’s life, she spent it sitting on the mattress her mother was confined to.

Aunty Betty has become very close with all the children and most of them have confided in her the stories of how they came to Maddison. There are 3-4 older boys who came after an extended life on the streets (3-8 yrs). Many others have a single parent who was incapable of caring for them. Then there are the very sad stories like Lucy and Dennis. But even worse, is Audescia’s story. As much as we are not ‘supposed’ to have favorites, she is most certainly mine. Audescia has the most horrendous scars I have ever seen on anyone let alone an 8 yr old child. She has one large scar above her right eye, which travels a quarter of the way down her nose. She then has raised thick, painful looking scars that envelop her entire back. There are more that cover much of her clavicle and upper chest area. Two years ago, Audescia’s mother became angry with her and threw boiling hot water all over her unclothed body. This past week, Audescia’s father died. She was taken to her mother’s home in order to attend the funeral. When I was told where she was going and who she would be with, I cringed. But there was nothing I could say. In America, a child would never be sent back to a mother that had the capacity to do that – not even for a day. She returns Tuesday and I cannot wait to see her.

One Month at Maddison House

We have just completed our first month at Maddison House, and I thought this would be a good time to give an update on what we have been doing the past couple of weeks.

We have settled into life here very easily. Our routine of getting up, cleaning the floors, taking the lunch to school, cleaning the dishes, and playing with the children in the evening has become our new “9-5”, and has only been altered by the addition of two new mops (yay! - although one has already broken!), and one new volunteer – Hilary, from Vermont – who joined us here just after our safari trip. Each day we bond more and more with the kids and learn something new and it is a real pleasure to see them grow and change, particularly the youngest ones for whom a month is a long time in their development. When we arrived, Lydia, the 2 year old of the house was barely walking, not talking and hardly smiled. Now she is walking and running confidently, smiles all the time, and she can say “Emily” and has just about managed to call me “imo” on a few occasions, which I guess is close enough!

We took the kids on a trip out to the Nairobi International Show a couple of Saturdays ago. The trip was badly organised (not by us!) and needless to say, was nowhere near the high organizational standards set by our NYCares volunteer team leader back in New York (big props Christiana!). The show is a huge Agricultural show and also includes a number of stalls/exhibitions by Kenyan companies and government agencies, as well as amusement park rides. Although under different circumstances and with better planning, the outing may have been a success, the fairgrounds proved far too overwhelming for many of the children, was too expensive for them to thoroughly enjoy any aspect of it, and was WAY to crowded to ensure their safety. Given our close relationship with the organizers, we asked to be included in planning for all outings going forward. Fortunately, all of the kids returned safely, which is more than can be said for our camera, which was pick-pocketed from my shorts as we were leaving the ground. As frustrating and expensive as that is, I discovered that in a Nairobi crowd, it is impossible to protect two small children and your digital camera at the same time, and I’d rather come back with 32 kids and no camera, than 31…

The following day, we needed to go to the local market, in Kikuyu, to buy some more water, so we took two of the older boys with us, James and Sam as a treat. Once in the ‘supermarket’ we told them they could pick anything they wanted and we would buy it for them. It took us a long time to persuade them to actually pick something and that it was ok… totally different from what would happen with kids in the UK or US! They eventually chose some biscuits and some cologne and then we took them for lunch where they were treated to meat, and we treated ourselves to some fries! It was great to see how happy it made them, being taken out of the orphanage for a few hours and away from the younger kids, and buying them lunch and a couple of treats. As we are getting more and more settled here we are able to spend time building relationships with all of the different age groups. It is easy to play with the young cute ones who giggle hysterically when you tickle them or are occupied by a colouring pen and a piece of paper for an hour or two, but it is also very rewarding to be able to have an impact on the older ones. Sometimes making special time for them makes a huge difference.

This past weekend we headed back into Nairobi, primarily to purchase a new camera, but also to stock up on supplies. While there we went to the big Western mall – Nakumatt – where we had our first western meal in many weeks. Never has a burger tasted so good! :) While we were there we also bought supplies to make the kids pasta and tomato sauce. We cooked this for them on Sunday – boiling a huge pot of pasta on the open fire, and cutting up what felt like hundreds of tomatoes! The kids had quite a reaction to the pasta… many of them stared at these strange gooey objects on their plates, picking them up and wiggling them before tentatively putting them in their mouth. Probably about half of them realized what an amazing dish this is, while the other half were not so impressed... Luckily we also bought some meat to go with the pasta, which all of the kids love as they get it so rarely - so at least everyone was satisfied with some part of the meal. Despite the less than overwhelming success, it was good fun to be responsible for cooking and serving the dinner all on our own and to actually succeed at feeding 32 children!

Other things that have happened over the past two weeks; Em cut her hair (which fascinated the children), I still haven’t shaved, we have succeeded at building a fire from scratch, I have learned to eat Kenyan portions (HUGE amounts of rice, potato, and ugali!) and Em has impressed even Kenyan women with her own strength and stamina!


As many of you will have seen we have also started on a couple of projects for the house. Firstly we have been conducting a clothing inventory, the results of which have been quite depressing. Many children have only one or two pair of underwear and about the same number of t-shirts. We have had a great response to our emails so thank-you to everyone who has donated! (and this is a gentle reminder to those of you still meaning too…) At the beginning of November we will be heading to the market with the two house-mothers to purchase the necessary clothes and shoes for the kids to make sure they all have adequate outfits – not a day too soon! We have also been working on “Resident Profiles”, which will be a one-pager for each child with their picture, some biographical information and some fun facts about them. This will serve not only as a good record of who is here but will also help when fundraising for the home. Em is also working on some documentation for their medical histories and a way to keep records of doctor/hospital visits and medication. It is exciting to be working on these projects in addition to the daily chores as they will have an impact on the children and the home long after we have moved on.

Kenyan Life: Transport

We thought it would be fun to give short little updates about the way of life here in Kenya, since it differs so much from the UK or US. In true cheesy Simon/Emily style, we are branding this series, Kenyan Life.

The ‘car/taxi’ services around here are men riding motorcycles. We have gotten to know one of them, Gitau, who we now have on speed dial. I’ve never been the biggest fan of bikes, but with full trust, Simon and I have climbed on his bike many times and have loved every minute of it! The hilly, rocky, uneven dirt roads makes it all the more fun! Coming back one night after sunset, riding home on the back of the motorcycle in the pitch black of the night, Simon and I were awestruck by the thousands of stars that scattered the sky. It was a beautiful backdrop to our ride home!

For longer journeys, we take a matatu. The matatu, oh the matatu…in the guidebooks you will find that they are recommended for the locals only but we have braved the unknown and climbed aboard! They are vans, who’s seats have been replaced with smaller ones in order to fit more – most have 12 seats however there are often up to 20 people crammed in – sitting on one another’s laps, or literally hanging outside the door! They are pimped out with flashing lights inside and loud Kenyan music with heavy base. However, you can often see the road underneath your seat, none of the seatbelts work or even exist, the doors seldom latch shut, and I can assure you, not one we’ve been in would pass inspection in ANY western country. As a mazungu (white person) they try to charge an insane amount of money (generally they’re very cheap), so we approach them prepared, with a straight face, ready to barter them down!

Of course, by far the most popular way to get around in Kenya is WALKING. The children have amazed us with their strength and stamina to walk far distances to both school and church. For us, walking a minimum of an hour each day has become the norm. Just wait ‘till you see our big bad muscles!!!

Stay tuned for another edition of Kenyan Life coming soon! =)

The Maasai Mara

The Wizard of Oz ruined it for me! Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! – That’s what I sang as we made our long drive to the Maasai Mara. But where in the world does one find lions, tigers, and bears in one place!? Certainly not here, so my song made little sense, but got me excited nonetheless!

After waiting around Kikuyu for 1 ½ hours (Kenyan time = be there whenever) we were picked up by Mike, our safari guy and 8 other volunteers. When we finally arrived to the Maasai Mara in the early evening we checked in to these beautiful ‘permanent tent’ accommodations which were rumored to have hot water (yay!) and went off into the game reserve. From the outside, Mike’s van looks like a ratty old truck that’s about to fall apart at any moment. But in fact, it is an incredible, durable, 4-wheeling machine! The van seats 9 people and has a semi-detachable roof that can be raised 3 feet. Therefore, most of our time (8 hours straight) was spent standing up in the van, searching for wildlife.

Within minutes of entering the reserve, there were exclamations of excitement and laughter as we drove by our first herd of zebra! They are simply incredible – although I could say that about everything I’ve seen! We all expressed wonder about how it is possible that nature and evolution has produced an animal with black and white stripes!? But zebras are creative enough to use their stripes as a form of protection – when attacked; a large herd will run in varying directions in an attempt to make the predator dizzy from the moving stripes! As exciting as they are though, by the end of the weekend, no one batted an eye when a zebra was seen as they are one of the more populous animals in the region.

Over the 2 days, we saw… (Drum roll please!) …zebra, warthog, water buffalo, stork, ostrich, leopard, hyena, gazelle, impala, wildebeast, baboon, elephant, giraffe, hippo, crocodile, and last but not least the lion! Our first night we found a female lion feeding on a water buffalo. It was so incredible. Although illegal to go off track in the reserve, Mike got us within 10 feet of the lion so that we were able to hear the flesh as it was ripped from the water buffalo’s body. It was not until day three, though, that we saw a male lion feeding. Somehow there is something far more powerful when a male lion feeds. I believe that is in part because our ‘image’ of a lion is the male – like Simon says – the one with the beard! For me, I struggled to be convinced that I was actually seeing these animals in their natural habitat and not just in a big zoo. You’d be surprised how long it takes for that to truly sink in.

Following our second day in the reserve, we visited a Maasai village. This also, was quite impressive. The Maasai are the traditional, nomadic African people. They wear red blankets for clothing, as they believe the lion is fearful of the color. The lion is their greatest predator and also represents their greatest victories. A young boy, as a rite of passage to enter manhood is required to kill a lion. They do this with a handmade spear. Thereafter, they are considered a man, circumcized and ‘given’ a ‘girlfriend’ until it is their time to marry. When we arrived, the Maasai men danced a traditional dance – used to celebrate the kill of a lion. One attribute that represents a man’s ability is the height at which he can jump. At the end of the dance, the men stood in a line and began hopping up and down. The seemed to be on invisible pogo sticks, based on the height and speed at which they jumped. We were all invited to join, so within minutes, I see this funny looking white boy hopping all over the place, wrapped in a red blanket! There was my Simon! As the men jumped straight up and down, Si often landed 2 feet from where he took off, which made it all the more entertaining! The women then danced a welcome dance before we entered the compound. Once within, we were shown how the Maasai make fire with nothing but sticks and grass, and then given a tour of their huts. The huts are made entirely of dirt, cow dung, and urine. Inside, it is broiling hot, as the cooking fire is kept lit inside the tiny hut for many hours of the day. They also sleep on tough, hard, cow skins that are rumored to all but break a muzungu’s (white person) back after one night of sleeping.


We spent 2 nights in the Maasai Mara and after getting up early to watch the sunrise on Sunday (breathtaking), we set off for Lake Nakuru, one of the Rift Valley Lakes, for a night. Among other things, Lake Nakuru is known for its flamingos. I’m talking thousands of pink flamingos wading on the shore of the lake. Apparently the flamingos are attracted to the abundance of algae found in the lake. The only animal we failed to see in the Maasai Mara was the rhino, but we successfully saw both the white and black rhino at the lake. Lake Nakuru is in a very beautiful and lush part of the country, where they still get rain showers daily. And what a difference it makes – there were rolling hills with green grasses, healthy livestock and fields of beautiful crops! Here at Maddison, the grasses are dried out and dead, the cows are dying of starvation, and the crops have missed harvest time and are dead as well. The disparity was so great that we were certain we had left Kenya and arrived in a tropical and lush new country!

The drive to Lake Nakuru had its own excitement, though. Forty minutes outside of the town, Mike suddenly came to a screeching halt in the middle of the road. In a fury, everyone who had seen why Mike had stopped, jumped out of the van and ran over to the side of the road, where a man, probably in his late 20s, was lying in a ditch, unconscious, bleeding from the mouth, and eyes, with his motorcycle lying in the road. Luckily, one of the volunteers traveling with us is a paramedic, so she took the lead and was able to bring him back to semi-consciousness (after 15mins). We attempted to call the police many times, but the rural parts of the country have no efficient system and the phone just rang and rang. We stopped cars as they were driving by, asking them to go to the nearest hospital for an ambulance, and to our great shock, many declined, stating the hospital was too far. In the end, we worked as a group, found an old broken tire to use as a bed, rolled him unto it (still coming in and out of consciousness), stuck him in a car and took him to the nearby hospital. We have no idea what ultimately happened to him but when we left him he had regained semi-consciousness. This spooked everyone out and we were so thankful that we had a paramedic with us. Based on the reaction of those driving by, we can only imagine what would have happened had we not been passing by.

We got back on Monday evening tired, but happy to see the children after 4 days away. All in all, the weekend was great – there was never a dull moment! We were glad to get out and see a bit more of Kenya, and the safari itself was far better than we could have imagined.