Nearing the end

It’s been a while since we wrote about the orphanage so here’s an update on the past few weeks.

As many of you know, we raised a significant amount of money from friends and family back in the US and UK to help the kids at the orphanage. Originally we planned to use this to just buy some new clothes for the kids as they had so little. However, due to the overwhelming generosity we have been able to start a number of projects that will help the house. Firstly, we did go and buy a lot of new clothes for the kids, including rain coats for everyone, and over 120 pairs of underwear (!) to make sure each child has at least 7 pairs. After discussing with the house mothers and the house guardian we decided to spend the rest of the money on 3 big projects: (1) building a covered outdoor kitchen behind the house, (2) starting a chicken project to provide eggs for the house and to sell at market, and (3) building a playground. A lot of our time has been spent getting these projects going and we will post a separate entry about them soon.

The kids finished school for the long Christmas holidays just over a week ago. The school year here runs from January to December so they had to complete end-of-year exams in November in order to progress to the next grade. Three of our children ranked first in their class, and everyone did well enough to move up a year so we were all very happy. As the end of term coincided with Thanksgiving we decided to cook a special celebratory dinner that weekend. We bought three turkeys, made mashed potatos, carrots, kale and spinach, and finished off with a cupcake each. Not exactly the same as Thanksgiving back in the States (although Em and Hilary tried to make their plates just as big!) but for most of the kids this was their first taste of Turkey, and it was also the most balanced meal they have eaten since we got here, so definitely a success.

Since there is no school, the kids have been around a lot. Luckily the playground was finished just in time so when the weather is ok they have been outside a lot playing on the swings, slide and climbing frame. We also had some of the older ones help us paint them one morning. It was fun to see how serious some of them took it. There have also been two 18-year olds visiting a couple of afternoons a week to teach the kids a dance routine… they already have way more rhythm than I do so it will be great to see the final product.

We have also had a lot of problems with water and electricity recently. Similar to our first couple of weeks here the power has kept going out, but more importantly, there has been no water pumped into our tanks since before we went to Mombasa. A man with a donkey and cart has to keep bringing us barrels of water every day which we then pour into our tanks. This has meant we have been extra conservative with water usage, including putting our toilet completely out of order. So, in true Kenyan style we have been using the outhouse at the bottom of the field, which has been quite the experience! I don’t think Em and I have ever felt closer than the time she escorted me to the hole in ground and we discussed the different ways to squat and the merits of each!


Pastor John, the house guardian, invited us over to his home again, but this time, to milk the cow! After his daughter showed us the ropes, i.e. cleaning each dirty, slightly hairy udder and smearing vaseline on it for lubrication, Emily, Hilary, and I took turns getting down there, close up to the nitty-gritty and milked that cow! It was quite the experience, really. It was a little slimy and gross at first, but what startled us most was the sheer difficulty in getting the milk to come out. You have to pull down REALLY hard on it! Im glad we didn’t have to fill up the whole bucket, especially since we kept aiming wrong and squirting milk everywhere.

This past weekend we also headed back to the KCC slum in Naivasha with a group of volunteers. It was good to see the kids again and learn how the project is developing. After the slum we visited Hells Gate National Park, which is next to Naivasha Lake and is home to zebras, giraffes, buffalo and occasionally lions. The parks geology comes from an old volcano close by so is full of impressive craters, ‘corridors’ of rock, and hot springs. We rented mountain bikes, complete with non-working gears, slow punctures, dodgy brakes (this is Kenya after all), and cycled about 5km into the park before going for a long walk through the rock crevices. Apparently Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones used Hells Gate as a filming location. Inspired by this, Em did her best Lara Croft impression by climbing up a very steep rock face, without harness. Our group leader told us of all the trips he has done only one other girl has ever climbed that rock. Of course, once Em had done it, I didn’t really have a choice but to follow her up. Going up was definitely easier than coming down, and im impressed Em managed it as even with my longer legs it was a challenge. By the time we got back to our bikes it was getting late so we cycled back as the sun was setting, which was a beautiful sight, until it actually set, and got dark, and we realized we were cycling past herds of buffalo who could decide to charge us at any moment! I’ve never seen Em pedal so fast! :)



So now we are nearly at end of our stay in Kenya - we have just over a week left before we head back to the UK on December 15th. We are definitely going to be sad to leave Maddison House and we don’t even want to think about saying goodbye to the kids yet. However, we are both getting excited about returning to the ‘easier’ life we have in the West with its consistent electricity and water supply, to planning our next adventure, and of course to seeing family and friends over the holidays.