Jambo!
It feels, once again, like a long time since I wrote on here! I have been thinking all week what to write about, but life here has settled into normal so there is less to write about.
I love life here. I love sharing the walking paths with cows- it is always interesting to see which ones expect me to get out of the way and which ones make way for me. All the animals are really calm here- probably because most of the people are calm- and you often see really little kids, maybe five years old, herding a bunch of really big cows along the roadside. I love seeing all the ingenuative ways that people use a motorbike- I saw a couch balanced and tied on the back of one the other day. Other times it is stacked high with bread or firewood or crates of chickens. I love walking and smelling the greenness of everything. After two years of drought, this year has brought many rains! So much so that it is getting to be too much. Flooding in other parts of the country has claimed 90 lives so far and there have been several major mud slides. The government has no money to help the people so 10s of thousands have been displaced and are walking around with their children and their possessions on their back until they find a place to stay. But in Molo, things get really wet, but the rain has been good. I love starting to hear my name called as I walk around and am recognized by one of the 150 kids at the school or some of the ladies from church. I love to sit with Lucy and Samuel and be part of their family every evening. I love the respect for each person that allows and celebrates personhood, even if it doesn’t ‘fit’ into normal, that I am trying to absorb as much as possible. I love eating bread with margarine every morning with a hot cup of tea. I love walking up the hill and being so high that I can see all around me and seeing all the tiny farms in the distance and enjoying the beauty of it all. I love the diversity in flowers and birds here (bird watching never made sense to me in Canada!). All in all, life is good.
My time here is going quickly, which is a first for being in Africa. Up until now, time has crawled and it felt like I had been here six months when it was only two. I am able to do computer work and organization at Chazon Children’s Centre, which is amazingly fun for me. They are putting up shelves next week in the office and the staff room so then I will also get to help organize those!! I finally feel like I am doing something that is using my talents and something where I can be productive. We are starting to prepare for a whole lot of volunteers coming this summer so I am working on the orientation manual and stuff like that. Lucy and Samuel are really good at making me feel like I am part of CCC, rather than just visiting.
I am thinking at this point that I will stay here at Chazon until I head back for home. It seems like there is enough work for me to keep busy and I fit here. I am going to head to Mombasa in a week or so to see something different and swim in the Indian Ocean. I went to Nairobi two weeks ago and on the way, I got to see zebra, right up beside the road! It was beautiful. I also went with Lucy’s sister to visit the volcano crater in a near by town and went to the entrance of a national park where I got to stand among baboons and monkeys. They are so fascinating to watch! I have a lot of cute pictures of the babies being carried around on the backs of the mothers. I got to see a lake in the distance with shores that were pink because of the flamingos that migrate there.
I have to laugh at myself- I keep thinking I am living in the mountains, but they are only hills. I was talking to Ronin this week for his birthday and I told him that I lived really high up. He also thought I lived in the mountains. I must be a prairie girl. Well, I am headed off to market to buy groceries for the week. Have a great week, all my friends!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Chazon- a Place of Vision
This has been a good week here in Molo. It has been a busy week adjusting to life and seeing the town and learning about life here. I worked at the school a couple days and met the teachers and students. Now the challenge is to learn 200 names!
Lucy and Samwel, the directors of the school, have graciously welcomed me into their house and I am overwhelmed with how well they take care of me. I love learning from them and learning how to do life here. Being in a home, rather than a volunteer among other volunteers, means that I get to learn to cook and clean African style, which I am looking forward to. Lucy has shown me all the places she shops in Molo so I can go on my own and buy milk (which is bought daily since there is no refrigerator)or meat (you only buy from people you trust because the meat hangs in a window until it is sold) or go to the general store to pick up bread. This may sound like a small thing, but at WWB, I was always with someone else and there was a general distrust of whoever you don't know. Here, Lucy and Samwel pastor a church and run a school and are working to build up their community. They share with me their vision and their struggles and encourage me to get out and get to know people. It is such a different feel. I already feel more at home here after one week than I did after a month. It probably helps that I am used to the culture already since I have been in Kenya for almost three months. While this week has been spent adjusting and a little bit of teaching, from now on, I will be doing more work at Chazon Children's School, which is a school started by Lucy and Samwel.
Chazon, which means vision in Hebrew, is a school for street children in the town of Molo. To understand the school, you need to know a little of the story of Molo. From what I understand, the lands surrounding Molo were some of the hardest hit by the violence that ensued after the elections in 2008. You cannot be in Kenya long without hearing about this violence. Thousands of people were displaced and many people fled their farms and ended up in Molo. Leaving a farm means leaving a food source for many people. Poverty on a farm still can grow a little beans or maize, but to take that poverty and move to town means taking away your food supply. This is what happened to many families during the tribal clashes over land and the violence that came in 2008. This influx of families and people (I think sometimes even just the children would come to town) brought an increase in needy children- many who were at risk of being in the streets or were already in the streets and needing rescuing.
You also cannot understand Chazon without knowing Lucy and Samwel's story. They ran a popular restaurant in town for many years. As time went on, more and more children from the street were coming and asking them for food. Finally, they decided to do something about it. They closed down their business and separated the restaurant into shops that now provide a small amount of income for them, which they use to pay the teachers at the school. They sold several of their land investments to build a school and the started out. They have literally given up almost everything financially but will say loud and clear that these children are worth it. Providing and education to these children (and hopefully many more through the years) is more fulfilling to them than making money and running successful businesses.
They are such an example to me and other volunteers that come. Their vision is contagious and there are many volunteers wanting to spend time here this summer. It is so great to see change happening in children's lives and in their families by helping out with the schooling of their children.
I am looking forward to learning to cook now that I am living with a family. So far I have learned to make tea and ugali- both staples for life here.
Enjoy your part of the world wherever you are. Here at the equator, God is good and life is fun.
Lucy and Samwel, the directors of the school, have graciously welcomed me into their house and I am overwhelmed with how well they take care of me. I love learning from them and learning how to do life here. Being in a home, rather than a volunteer among other volunteers, means that I get to learn to cook and clean African style, which I am looking forward to. Lucy has shown me all the places she shops in Molo so I can go on my own and buy milk (which is bought daily since there is no refrigerator)or meat (you only buy from people you trust because the meat hangs in a window until it is sold) or go to the general store to pick up bread. This may sound like a small thing, but at WWB, I was always with someone else and there was a general distrust of whoever you don't know. Here, Lucy and Samwel pastor a church and run a school and are working to build up their community. They share with me their vision and their struggles and encourage me to get out and get to know people. It is such a different feel. I already feel more at home here after one week than I did after a month. It probably helps that I am used to the culture already since I have been in Kenya for almost three months. While this week has been spent adjusting and a little bit of teaching, from now on, I will be doing more work at Chazon Children's School, which is a school started by Lucy and Samwel.
Chazon, which means vision in Hebrew, is a school for street children in the town of Molo. To understand the school, you need to know a little of the story of Molo. From what I understand, the lands surrounding Molo were some of the hardest hit by the violence that ensued after the elections in 2008. You cannot be in Kenya long without hearing about this violence. Thousands of people were displaced and many people fled their farms and ended up in Molo. Leaving a farm means leaving a food source for many people. Poverty on a farm still can grow a little beans or maize, but to take that poverty and move to town means taking away your food supply. This is what happened to many families during the tribal clashes over land and the violence that came in 2008. This influx of families and people (I think sometimes even just the children would come to town) brought an increase in needy children- many who were at risk of being in the streets or were already in the streets and needing rescuing.
You also cannot understand Chazon without knowing Lucy and Samwel's story. They ran a popular restaurant in town for many years. As time went on, more and more children from the street were coming and asking them for food. Finally, they decided to do something about it. They closed down their business and separated the restaurant into shops that now provide a small amount of income for them, which they use to pay the teachers at the school. They sold several of their land investments to build a school and the started out. They have literally given up almost everything financially but will say loud and clear that these children are worth it. Providing and education to these children (and hopefully many more through the years) is more fulfilling to them than making money and running successful businesses.
They are such an example to me and other volunteers that come. Their vision is contagious and there are many volunteers wanting to spend time here this summer. It is so great to see change happening in children's lives and in their families by helping out with the schooling of their children.
I am looking forward to learning to cook now that I am living with a family. So far I have learned to make tea and ugali- both staples for life here.
Enjoy your part of the world wherever you are. Here at the equator, God is good and life is fun.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
The Next Part of the Journey
Hello everyone! It feels like forever since I wrote anything on here! After my crazy matatu ride I spent two weeks in Nairobi. One week I was with a family that was involved in the Cerebral Palsy Society of Kenya. I visited the clinic that is held three times a week that helps children. It is hard to put into words how hard life is for families struggling with poverty and a child severely affected by CP. For example, there are many mothers in the slums who need to work all day just to get enough food to feed their children each day. If you add to that a child who can’t feed themselves, go to the toilet, or communicate easily- the task of the day is enough to overwhelm you! The clinic provides free therapy for the children, but there is so much more that needs to be done. They are working to create an awareness of the issues surrounding CP and training mothers and families.
If anyone wants to support them financially (which is their biggest need), let me know and I will hook you up with the director.
The second place blew me away! I was so impressed with the Children’s Garden Home, which is on the outskirts of Nairobi. It is a home started by Moses and Silvia. They take children from the slums close to them or whoever else is in need. Right now, there are 350 children under their care- 200 or so of them live there and 150 of them come for the day for school and go home to their guardians. The kids are given opportunity to pursue spiritual dance, cultural dance, music, art, sports, etc. One of the boys is the top guitarist in Kenya. Their office is lined with awards from a variety of venues- artistic, academic, and discipline. But more impressive than that is the heart of Moses and Silvia. As a volunteer, I ate meals with them, their family and some of the staff and I felt so welcome and enjoyed! For once, I didn’t feel like the best thing about me was my money! I really felt like I found a friend who was doing something that I could join in with. It is wonderful.
There are a lot of needs for the CGH. They have 60 boys sleeping in an area a little bigger than my living room. They have started a school that goes from Kindergarten to Grade 10 right now, but will need to expand to Grade 11 and 12 in the next couple years. They don’t have money to pay their staff sufficient wages (from what I understand) so they depend on people who have a heart for the kids, skills to teach and don’t need a lot of money. They have adults being the mom to each room of kids (which is often about 20 kids per room) who are in charge of the laundry and all the other thing that goes with having kids. They have a social worker who is really overworked because she takes the kids to the hospital, to court, to counseling, etc.
It is an amazing challenge to take children who have seen and lived stories that are sometimes too awful to think of and to help rehabilitate them be loving, caring people- but that is what I saw happening and it was beautiful.
Once again, the biggest need right now is money. They can’t take more kids without money to feed the kids that they have. They almost have their water problem fixed- they had a fundraiser on the weekend to raise money for pipes or something. I would love to help find sponsors for the kids, construction projects or for salaries for the staff. So, if anyone wants to donate, let me know and I will try and help facilitate that.
I have figured out that one problem with visiting more than one project is that I can’t help them all as much as I want to. So far, I am really excited about my new place in Molo- I feel like I have a family away from Canada. This morning I was feeling great when I got to church and even greater afterwards. The women were so welcoming and greeted me with the greeting that they use for good friends. This afternoon I went to a shower for a lady who just had a baby and just felt like I was part of it all. It was fantastic.
But this is long enough so I will tell you all about Molo and the Chazon Children’s Center later on.
If anyone wants to support them financially (which is their biggest need), let me know and I will hook you up with the director.
The second place blew me away! I was so impressed with the Children’s Garden Home, which is on the outskirts of Nairobi. It is a home started by Moses and Silvia. They take children from the slums close to them or whoever else is in need. Right now, there are 350 children under their care- 200 or so of them live there and 150 of them come for the day for school and go home to their guardians. The kids are given opportunity to pursue spiritual dance, cultural dance, music, art, sports, etc. One of the boys is the top guitarist in Kenya. Their office is lined with awards from a variety of venues- artistic, academic, and discipline. But more impressive than that is the heart of Moses and Silvia. As a volunteer, I ate meals with them, their family and some of the staff and I felt so welcome and enjoyed! For once, I didn’t feel like the best thing about me was my money! I really felt like I found a friend who was doing something that I could join in with. It is wonderful.
There are a lot of needs for the CGH. They have 60 boys sleeping in an area a little bigger than my living room. They have started a school that goes from Kindergarten to Grade 10 right now, but will need to expand to Grade 11 and 12 in the next couple years. They don’t have money to pay their staff sufficient wages (from what I understand) so they depend on people who have a heart for the kids, skills to teach and don’t need a lot of money. They have adults being the mom to each room of kids (which is often about 20 kids per room) who are in charge of the laundry and all the other thing that goes with having kids. They have a social worker who is really overworked because she takes the kids to the hospital, to court, to counseling, etc.
It is an amazing challenge to take children who have seen and lived stories that are sometimes too awful to think of and to help rehabilitate them be loving, caring people- but that is what I saw happening and it was beautiful.
Once again, the biggest need right now is money. They can’t take more kids without money to feed the kids that they have. They almost have their water problem fixed- they had a fundraiser on the weekend to raise money for pipes or something. I would love to help find sponsors for the kids, construction projects or for salaries for the staff. So, if anyone wants to donate, let me know and I will try and help facilitate that.
I have figured out that one problem with visiting more than one project is that I can’t help them all as much as I want to. So far, I am really excited about my new place in Molo- I feel like I have a family away from Canada. This morning I was feeling great when I got to church and even greater afterwards. The women were so welcoming and greeted me with the greeting that they use for good friends. This afternoon I went to a shower for a lady who just had a baby and just felt like I was part of it all. It was fantastic.
But this is long enough so I will tell you all about Molo and the Chazon Children’s Center later on.
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