Higher Education: a ticket out of poverty

One of the immediate problems that any visitor sees in Kenya is the education system. There are more problems with it than worth mentioning here, but one of them is the fact that going to college is very difficult for many different reasons. For the kids I was working with in the slums the cost of college is unthinkable, so if they do make it through high school they have no way of affording to going to college. A high school diploma cannot get a student a job of any sort-- even at a gas station you need a college certificate of some sort. So the only benefit of going to high school in the slums is that it will usually feed the child lunch- which could be the only meal of the day, and that it keeps the kids busy and off the streets getting into trouble. But once they finish high school the kids are in the same vulnerable position as kids without high school education. In fact they might even be in a worse situation because they haven't had the experience of working the streets and learning the "right way" to do things.

With this being said, one of the investments that Change Lives Now, the US counterpart I have been representing, wants to do is start is a scholarship program for students who can qualify for post secondary education. They were given a lump sum of money that was specifically for this project. So Alix, another volunteer that came over to Mogra, and I worked on this scholarship program a lot. We travelled all over Nairobi visiting different colleges, universities and trade schools to see where we could send students based on fields of study that are marketable and in our budget. We interviewed and met with dozens of alumni from Mogra Star Academy to find which students scored well enough to attend college, were in great need and would be willing to give back to the community. Finally after many weeks of research and work we invited 13 students to be apart of this scholarship, give back program. The students are required to do 16 hours of community service a week until they begin classes, and then they will be required to do work 1 weekend a month while in school in order for them to stay connected in the community and give back.

We chose 3 different schools for the students to study a diploma or certificate course in social work, IT, engineering, teaching and business. The courses are from 1 year to 3 year long and should be marketable enough for them to find a job at the end and them hopefully make enough money to continue their education. We couldn't pay for degrees, but diplomas in most fields are just as marketable.

When we gathered the students together for a social to congratulate them on being selected they were ecsatic and shocked that it was actually happening for them. They have had many people come and promise them scholarships in the past, but it never actualates, and never got their hopes up that we were different. One kid named Sammy was so happy he told me, "This is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I never knew my savior would come this soon." The kids were all calling their parents and family members to tell them they were sponsored to attend college, it was a beautiful sight.
Education truly is their only way out of the slum, and now 13 kids have a opportunity to better their lives and receive an education. A few of the kids are complete orphans and have nobody to support them, and a few have parents that are so sick that the kids are actually raising their siblings, so this opportunity will really change the future of their families.

It was an honor and blessing to be apart of this process. It was incredibly difficult to pick which students we offered scholarships to: trying to narrow 75 down to 13. They are all in need and I wish we could have helped them all, but slowly hopefully over time we can help more and more students. I look forward to keeping in touch with the students and hearing about their progress and succes!

Wonderful Donations!

I am continuously blown away by the generosity of everyone supporting not only me but all the people I am working with for. Being in a place like Kenya, and especially the orphanage here I am able to identify so many needs. It can be incredibly overwhelming, so I have found the best way to avoid feeling so helpless is to work on 1 project at a time- brilliant right!?
The first need I identified here at Mogra was that the 140 children did not have a single table to study on or eat supper at. If they wanted to they would sit in chairs and hunch over another chair to study, or they would study on their beds. Being the teacher that I was trained as I knew this was awful for them to learn. And when they ate they did the same, going to their beds or just sitting on the ground. It is not conducive for any family setting or community building, it bring isolation. I really hated seeing them eat and study every night and I briefly mentioned it to my mom. Before I knew it my aunt was generously donating enough money for us to buy tables for the kids. When I announced it one night that we would be getting tables all the children erupted into cheers, and were so excited. They were thanking me all night before they even had the tables. The night the tables arrived the children sat down immediately after seeing them and didn't move until we forced them to go to bed! When we measured the tables we figured 6 kids could sit at a table comfortably. But the Kenyan culture is such that you share everything, and you don't have anything to yourself. So these kids were sitting 8-12 kids at a table so they could be together. It is such a beautiful site to see them sitting together during dinner and talking rather than sitting isolated. The tables came just in time for the seniors to take their HUGE exam, and they couldn't be happier studying sitting up straight up. It's so exciting!

The other donation that transformed these kids was simple: socks and underwear! Mom and Dad brought over tons of donations (THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR THEM!!) and they went CRAZY when I brought them in 2 by 2 to receive 1 single pair of socks and 1 pair of underwear (check out those smiles in the pictures!) You could hear the girls screaming a mile away and showing off their new pants! The socks will last them a whole year, wearing them to school 6 days a week, washing them every night after school. Insane. All of their current socks have holes in the toes and heals and are so worn they look uncomfortable. The next day they were all strutting to school excited to look nice in their new socks!

It puts everything into perspective for me when I see these kids being so thankful for 1 pair of sock. I toss around my belongings like it is no big deal but they carefully take notice to every one of their belongings. They are so grateful for all of the donations they have received. Thank you for all of your generosity and donations, from pencils (which they treasure almost more than socks i think!)to clothes, shoes, toys, everything is recognized. Asante Sana (thank you so much!)

10 year old Victim

It is with great sadness that I sit here and write to you all. Our dear young Samuel passed away yesterday, a horrible tragedy at 10 years old.

I last saw him on Saturday and he was the worst I had seen him yet, however the nurses assured me and his family ‘he is improving and hope to release him soon.’ They had no reason to say that, especially to give his family that kind of hope when he was no better off than before. He had been off of the IV, yet again, for the previous 4 days. His arm was blocked so they wanted to move the IV to his neck, but they needed to X-ray it first to insert it properly. But the technicians had not come to x-ray him so they simply didn’t give him the IV. He still had an open wound on his stomach and they hadn’t fixed the whole in his intestine, so there is no way he would be released soon. I left on Saturday incredibly helpless and frustrated that the nurses and doctors can sit there all day and not call anybody in to help this poor kid. But the nurses had given his family such positive feedback that they were encouraged he would be released soon and only began to worry how they would pay the hospital bill and take him home. That was the least of my worry leaving.

I received a call on Wednesday saying that he was barely conscious, but had been put on the IV finally. The doctors also diagnosed his initial problem as Typhoid, brought from unclean water and food, however his symptoms don’t match typhoids so I don’t know if I would believe it. The current complications he was experiencing were simply a result of neglect and malnutrition- from the hospital. The woman that called me was desperate to find an immediate solution because she knew if he was left in that condition he would die. And no sooner than 12 hours later was he taken from his miserable state to eternal rest.

My first reaction is pure sadness. Such a small young boy, who had never been ill before and had suffered so much pain in his last weeks of life, nobody should have to do that. My second reaction is frustration and anger. He was completely neglected and not treated properly. If his situation had occurred anyplace else in the world he would have been treated and recovered fine. And if he hadn’t of been treated his family could file a major case of neglect on the hospital and they would be held accountable. But not here. Not among the poorest of the poor. Not in a 3rd world country. Samuel is one of many cases that this neglect happens to. And his story will go unheard just like the last one. The nurses and doctor will continue on with their lives, probably thankful they don’t have to deal with the mzungu who comes in and disturbs their rest asking questions about the patient they are not helping properly.

For young Samuel, I am coming to realize that his death was the best way to help him. He was not cared for or loved properly in his life-- by his family at home or by the doctors. And had he recovered he would have been sent back into the dark slum world trying to fend for himself barely surviving. It saddens me that he was so neglected and let down by the people in his life, but I trust that he is able to rest peacefully with God now. He will not be abandoned or forgotten by God, as none of us are.

I trust he was taken to heaven, but please pray for him, and pray especially for his family. They are already in tough situations lacking hope for their future and this tragedy will hurt them even more. But I know it is possible to bring them back together and make their lives better. Pray also for Kenya and all the places where the poor are exploited and abused on every level and the rich don’t open their eyes to see it and help. Even if you and I are not the wealthiest we are all so blessed in our lives and we have a responsibly to reach out to those who cannot speak up for themselves. Let us rise to the occasion to do something to help those people.
Rest Peacefully, Samuel, pray for the rest of us down here.

Family Va-ca in Kenya!

So the fam successfully made it to Kenya, and we had a packed full week of adventures and fun! I barely gave them enough time to adjust to the 7 hour time difference, but they did a great job! They wore me out, so in brief, here is what our week looked like: maybe they can do a guest post and give their experiences better than I can (ahem, mom and dad!).

We started with 2 days at Hekima Place, the first orphanage I was in September and they got to play with the kids, pick avocado's off the tree and visit the new land that Hekima is building on. The girls loved meeting my family, and especially playing with all of our hair: especially dad's (see photo!!) They very rarely have any males in their life, so when a father figure comes around they are excited to receive love from them.

Mom was very excited to do some shopping while in Kenya, and we did plenty of it! We went to 2 open air markets that you must bargain prices. I would say she became pretty good at it- with my help, while Bridget may have been taken advantage of a bit- but we'll pretend like she was good! The conversion caused a few problems. We also went to a bead and pottery factory called Kazuri. They hire single mothers and give them jobs and health care for the children, we watched the women mold and paint the beads into beautiful jewelry.

I know you are all waiting to hear about the animals we saw, but we didn't see any. KIDDING! Of course we went on Safari to the Masai Mara and saw almost all of the Big 5. We saw so many Zebras and Gizelles we almost got tired of them. We saw a few lions as close as 10 feet away, giraffes, elephants, buffalo, warthogs- which are surprisingly cute, and most thrilling of all was a Leopard eating a gizelle in a tree! It isn't a trip to the Mara without getting a flat tire either. So in the middle of the wildebeast and zebras we had to get out and change the flat, pretty exciting! It was a fun couple of days, and a beautiful drive through the Great Rift Valley and the small villages of the Masai people who still live in huts cut off from the modern world.

Finally we ended at Mogra, the current children's home where I am. I was most excited for this because it has become like home for me, and I wanted to share it with them. We went into the slum and they saw the school and also went to a student's home in the slum. They experienced the sounds, smells and sights in the slum that I have come to love. I think Dad was more surprised that all 1000 students are (chaotically) let out for lunch at the same time, completely unsupervised than the poor living conditions of the home he visited!
Back at the children's home they were absolutely loved to pieces. We sat in the dining room and the kids completely surrounded them and started asking every question they could think of. Dad, being the teacher and business lover that he is spent his time teaching the kids about savings bonds, no joke! They all want to be economists now. The kids are still telling me that my mom is the most jovial and loving mother they have met, that my sister is just as beautiful as me (obviously!) and that my dad was so smart and friendly. They loved meeting the family and kept asking why they had to leave so soon. Another visit must be arranged!

Finally, we ended the week by going to a tea farm and learning how tea is made. Kenya is known for their tea and coffee, they export 98% of their production It was a beautiful and relaxing afternoon to learn the process and enjoy a beautiful tea garden. Did you know from the time a leaf is picked, a cup of tea can be made in 24 hours?

Overall,i would say we had a great week seeing all different parts of Kenya. I even got a few showers this week, quite a treat! It was a a blessing to be able to show them around first hand so they can now picture the places I have been. I look forward to showing the rest of you around some day in the future!
See bridget's photo's for a more complete tour: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/album.php?aid=2067992&id=1420980375

Hospital Rant

The past couple weeks I have spent a lot of time at the Kenyatta National Hospital. It is suppose to be the best national hospital in all of Eastern African: patients come from 4 different countries to be treated at this hospital. Kind of like the Cleveland Clinic…except they cannot be compared in any ways! This hospital is absolutely shocking, from the aesthetics of it, to the functioning aspects. The rooms are huge wards with 10-12 beds (some even have people on the floor because they are out of beds), no color on the walls and absolutely no TV’s for patients to get their minds off their situations. One of the patients I visited had dried blood on his gown and his sheets, 2 days in a row- I’m hoping it was his. The most horrific thing I saw was in the hallway of the hospital. When I was turning the corner from the stairs I saw fairly large spots of fresh blood puddled on the floor. At first I made myself believe it couldn’t be blood, but after getting a good look at it, I could confirm it was blood, and a lot of it (see picture). When I went to leave the hall 45 minutes late the blood was still there, nobody had come to clean it up. I could not believe that especially in a place where blood transmits disease so rapidly nobody would be rushing to clean it up. Sanitation would be a concern for me if I were a patient there.
And obviously, before I shared the problem that the hospital had run out of basic nutritional needs for the patients for over a week. When we went to inquire about the medicine Samuel, our patient needed, the matron nurse on the floor didn’t even know they were out of it- so she obviously was not keeping up with our patients condition in the past week. When I voiced my concern that the kid would fail to heal if he didn’t have proper nutrients she was surprised I knew that and asked if I had medical background. I had to laugh and say, no, in fact I know very little, but I do know that much! Another disturbing event was when I was speaking with the doctor (as handsome as he was) in the middle of the hallway and he continued to fill syringes with unidentified liquids and casually hand them off to nurses. Yikes.

Needless to say, I was brainstorming a way to get little Samuel out of this place- but it is the “best” hospital so nobody would go for that. So where is the problem among all this craziness? I am going to suggest the government, since they run the hospital. They pay their doctors and nurses significantly less than deserved, which doesn’t make them work very hard and they do not provide the hospital with the proper medical needs for the patients. It is a very sad sight to see the leading national hospital in such a state. I have to remind myself that Kenya is only 40 years old and we had similar cases when we were a young country as well. But I also want to believe that we can guide these younger countries so they don’t make the same mistakes and have the same problems that we had and have since overcome.

On a better note, Samuel is doing better than before. He is receiving the proper nutrients he needs and went in for another surgery on Tuesday to hopefully close the leak in his intestine. After that leak is fixed he should be well on his way to recovery- I hope. This week, time was not in my favor and I did not have a chance to visit him after the surgery to check the progress, but I haven’t received a call either, which is good news! Hopefully late next week I can confirm his progress. Please keep him in your prayers, as he is just very sad and in a lot of pain. We took him some story books to read and he loved them, he is a bright boy. His uncle was reading them to him and he was drawing pictures on the back cover as we left. We also took him cards that his classmates made for him which brightened his day a bit to see that they remember him.

the 2 month mark

This landmark is much different than my 1 month mark for a variety of reasons. I have seen and been though a lot, but now I can truly say I am in love with it here! I am a living testimony that God is faithful to those that trust in him. If I had lost faith in the beginning when it was hard I would not be able to say I love Kenya: the people, culture, the work I am doing, the children, and especially the slum. Everyday that I leave the slum I am usually overwhelmed, frustrated and confused at what I experienced, but everyday that I leave I am so thankful to have been there even though I may not have all the answers. Even in the middle of absolute shock and despair I see hope and I am so grateful to be a part of it. The situations that I am encountering are unlike anything most people will encounter, I am aware of that. But I am also aware that part of my mission here is to expose it to the world and not let it continue in the silence that so much of it is right now.

I love seeing that kids are kids, no matter where you are. These kids just want to play and go to recess like all kids, but the difference is they have to make play a little differently. They use rocks and trash to play with, and are just as joyful as the kids who have toys overflowing from every room. I love seeing that mothers are mothers no matter where you are, always wanting the best for their children. The only difference here is that so many of the mothers I encounter are not educated enough and usually don’t have the resources to help their children. I love seeing high school students study harder than I ever did in my life, with only a far off dream of attending college one day and making a better life.I love seeing the kindness and generosity of people, even when they have nearly nothing to offer me. I am always being welcomed into different homes and offered the little tea or food they can muster up. I love seeing the hope in the eyes of the people I meet, holding onto the idea that they will one day have a better life.

Our lives are so precious and short, and I have really been shown the many blessings that I have in my life in the past 2 months. I consider being here to be one of the bigger blessings in my life, and I am thankful to everyone that has made it possible for me. I have grown in ways I never could have imagined, and my mind has been opened to a world that will be with me forever. I am changed for good, and changed for the better. But it isn't over yet, I am sure there is much more for me to learn this next month, and the months after that.

This weekend the family comes! I am so excited to finally be able to share this beautiful country with them first hand. Sometimes I have such a hard time putting into words what it is like, so hopefully with their first hand encounter they can help me share it with everyone.

I hope ya'll are enjoying the beauty of the fall weather in the good old US of A... oh what I would do for a cup of hot apple cider mmmmm
I love and miss you all, keep me posted on your exciting lives!

Hakuna Magi (No Water)

“Nearly half a million people without water”

If this were the case in the US, people would be working around the clock to get the water back for those people, at most in a couple of days. In the slums of Mathare, nobody seems to notice the half a million people without water. For the past 4 weeks the slum has had no water. None. And did anyone take a notice? Nope. The Chinese are rebuilding a road a mile from the slum and they must have broken a pipe along the way, but didn’t care to fix it quickly (should I mention they are paying their Kenyan laborers less than 50cents a work day for had manual labor?) So the people of Mathare were forced to travel up to 2 miles outside of the slum to purchase water for their daily living. They would carry large 10 litre gerry cans to fill with the water. The people selling the water were making a fortune, selling it at over 4 times the normal price- which was a nickel for 10 litre. This price increase makes a huge difference for the family of 6 living on $1 a day and spending 30% of that on water to supply their basic needs of cleaning and washing. Our school alone has had to spend over $100 purchasing water just to cook with. I’ll let you imagine what the bathrooms smell like with no water for 4 weeks.

So my question is, how can people get away with this? The answer: Corruption. From beginning to end: the people working on the road, the government, the water providers, everyone is feeding into corruption in order to make more money. The people of Mathare don’t have much hope for the future either. They told me that for the past 6 months when they started working on the road their water supply has not been consistent. And the project is estimated to take 2 years, so the residents are expecting their water supply to come and go for the next 2 years. What a way to live. It makes my bucket shower seem like heaven!

desperate plea...

This weekend we went to visit one of our 10yr old students named Samuel in the hospital. He was admitted in the middle of September and had 4 stomach surgeries. Our social worker went to visit him shortly after and he was in stable condition but very weak. We decided to go back this weekend because we hadn’t heard anything about it. When we arrived we were more than shocked at how his condition had worsened. His knees were pulled up to his chest and he was crying when we walked into room and told us he was so hungry. His uncle followed us into the room and showed us his chart and how he hasn’t been given any nutrients in 1 week. He said the hospital has run out of all forms of IV: fats, sugars and proteins so for the past week so he has only been given water. He looked so frail I didn’t want to touch him. His stomach wound is still open 6 inches and the doctors are worried since it is not healing. I know nothing about medicine but I know he needs nutrients in order for the wound to heal, but he is basically laying in bed slowly dying since they are only giving him water. I don’t understand how a government hospital could completely run out of such a basic nutrient. Samuel has a wonderful uncle who has not left his side at all, but he has a drunk father who doesn’t do much and his mother died. They have no money and our worry was that they knew Samuel’s family situation and that he would not be able to pay the bills so they won’t give him the proper nutrients he needs.

We left on Sunday completely in turmoil about what to do for poor Samuel, not only is he hungry and in pain, but he is bored in bed all day. We decided to come back Monday with books for him to read and hopefully speak with the doctors. He absolutely loved the books and took the pens we brought and started drawing pictures on the back cover. He is an excellent artist. When we met with the nutritionalist she wasn’t even aware he was not being given the food. Neglect. It turns out in the morning they put him on sugar water, so that is better than nothing but when we expressed our deep concern for his wound she agreed and said he needs to be on something more, but they really don’t have anything in stock. Finally she said she can borrow some of the liquid fats from another patient to give him for the time being.

When I asked how we can get the proper nutrients for him she said it is possible to purchase it ourselves and have the hospital give it to him. It costs nearly 3 times more than having the hospital purchase it, but it seems like the only option right now, if we want to save his life. It is absolutely shocking and appalling to me that the hospital cannot provide for Samuel, but it is yet another opportunity for the community to come together and support this child. He is bright and so young and we are desperate to find him help.

Sooo my desperate plea is for you. Please take a moment and consider if you are able to give any type of donation for Samuel. No donation is too small and it will go DIRECTLY to his medicine and healing in the hospital. We are not sure the final costs of this because more operations and surgery is expected, but his family has nothing so it is up to the community to help him. To give you an idea, the fats we put him on today costs $40 and they should last at least a week and will give him much more energy, but that is only ¼ of what he should be taking.

If you are able to donate and help Samuel, please mail a check made out to CHANGE LIVES NOW ASAP to

Jan/Forrest Pommereke CO/ CHANGE LIVES NOW
320 English Oak Rd
Simpsonville, Sc 29681

thank you thank you.

The Loaves and the Fishes

I have been at this Children’s home for 1 month now, and I have seen a HUGE transformation. It is very exciting. When I first came here they were struggling to feed the children each day, and were living off of the donations that were coming in one day to the next. The orphanage (for 140 kids) and the school (for 1000 students) literally runs on $5,000 USD a month. If you break that down to pay about 40 teachers and 10 staff members salaries and water/electricity bills for the 2 buildings there is nearly no money left over for anything. Yet, the children need to eat in order to pay attention at school. The school has been having huge problems on Monday’s because the children from the slum are not eating over the weekend and they are fainting by the time they get to school on Monday.

With this problem, they decided the most important thing that needs to be done is to secure additional money to feed every child every day. With many hours of work and dedication from a volunteer here in Kenya they did in fact secure enough money to begin a feeding program at the school that will feed every child every day of the year—including Saturday and Sunday and all holiday’s. It is a beautiful thing. Last week we started the program and it has been an incredible success. The first day we were worried because the school did run out of food before all the high schoolers were fed, but it was just a small glitch and we learned how many KG’s of beans and corn we needed to add for the following day. The students were a bit cautious the first 2 days about this program because they could no longer leave the school compound and roam the streets of the slum. But this week the students are racing to line up for lunch, excited to have a meal. They were pleasantly surprised to also find a variety in the diet: meat once a week and fruit once a week, rather than rice and beans everyday. This is seriously heaven on earth for them, truly a blessing! It is such a joy to watch these kids get lunch, which will sustain them and help them to learn more rather than fainting in class. In addition, research has shown that children participate in risk taking and unhealthy behaviors when they are deprived of food, so now that the children are eating and are not roaming the slums they will be given a brighter future. The attendance in just 2 weeks has increased a substantial amount as well- it's not just poor college students that love free food! Soo exciting!

2 days before the feeding program started we had a huge donation of food to the children’s home. When I say huge, I mean over 5000kg of beans donated from a local organization. I have no idea how they found out about us, but they were happy to help, and we were happy to accept. When they found out how needy we were and how grateful we were for their donations they said they wanted to do more. The most immediate thing they wanted to do was to cook a delicious meal for the entire school and church community on Sunday. I still don’t understand the whole situation, but we wouldn’t turn that down of course, so on Sunday they hired a caterer and made some of the best Kenyan dishes, including my favorite- Chapati, for not only the kids, but also the families in the community. We had a huge party all day with dancing, singing and food. Lot’s of food! I helped to serve the food and the line just kept coming. After 2 hours of serving food we estimated 1,500 people came to eat! When everyone had gone through the line once there was still some rice left and I foolishly thought, “oh leftovers for tomorrow, great” but before I could finish that thought the children were knocking me over to get to the rice, and the bowl was scraped clean in minutes.

The Lord is good and provides for his people! It is so easy to become overwhelmed by the problems encountering here but then beautiful people are sent to assist and give us hope to continue. The fact that these children can now eat and study is a huge burden lifted from everyone working on these projects and we can now go to the next issue. So, one step at a time we are making progress and improving the future of these kids.
As they say in the churches here…
God is good, all the time.
And all the time, God is good!

Football Frenzy

Some of you might know, but I am typically one of the least competetive you would meet. I think it has something to do with never having played formal contact sports, or being a middle child, I'm not really sure. Anyway, I have had many opportunities over here to become more competitive, and poly-poly (slowly) I might be making progress!

Last week there was a sports day at school and I was excited to have a day off and hang out (note hang out-- not play sports!) with the kids. We ventured over to a nearby dusty field where at first all 1000 students ran around in complete choas. It is amazing to me in general, in Kenya, how little control teachers take once they are outside of the classroom. Nobody was organizing the games or the students for a solid hour. At one point I tried to, but nobody listens to me, they just laugh at me when I speak! But at last, a huge football tournament began, one class against another, split boys and girls. It was so exciting because Africans LOVE their football, the world cup excitement is still here. They are so competetive and give the game everything they have. I really enjoyed watching it. All day the students and teachers kept asking me to join the teachers team to play the winning high school boys team. Little did they know, I haven't played football since I was in kindergarten, and I'm sure my best position was picking flowers on the field. I knew I would have absolutely nothing to offer the team, but after a while I agreed to play quidogo (a little bit). I only played the second half, thankfully, but I kept hearing the DJ say something about the Mzungu (that's me!). When I asked the kids what he was saying they just laughed and laughed. Finally I found out he was telling the high school boys on the field to take it easy on me because I don't know how to play with Africans! It's true, and they were quite easy on me. I am proud to say we were victorious over the highschoolers, but I cannot claim that I did much to help... or even touch the ball! Everyone tried to make me feel better about myself by saying "you can run though, you are in good shape!"

This past weekend I went to a Kenya vs Uganda National football game! I was so nervous to go to it because I had heard about all kinds of riots and fights that happen at African football games since the fans are so invested in their teams, but again the guys I was going with insisted I would be fine and would take care of me. And I was in fact totally fine! It was a blast, there were 30,000 fans packed into the stadium sitting on any object available- steps, signs, towers etc. There was a small section of Ugandans that travelled over night to get the match as well. As soon as we walked into the stadium we joined a procession of cheering and dancing fans around the field (again, I'm the only white person, which always attracts people to gawk, I was also wearing a friend's jersery and it had his tribal name on it so I got many comments about being in that family!) the energy in the stadium was insane from one end to the other! I think the wave passed through the entire stadium 10 times in a row as soon as we got to our seats. The game was so much fun, I loved seeing everyone so united and invested in their national team. The only dissapointment was it ended in a draw with no score. However, I think the Ugandan's thought they won because they were celebrating all over. There were no riots though, I learned those are only for the club teams since tribal clashes are involved- that's a whole different problem.

I really love the spirit they have when they play and watch football, it is such a time of enjoyment and relaxation for them. Who knows, maybe I'll become more competetive after all this football craziness. It sure is a blast.

Spirit of St. Francis

Happy Feast of St. Francis! In the spirit of the poor, here is a taste of what I see, and some begging...

I am continuously blown away by the way the people in the slum live, it is absolutely shocking to imagine living this way. The average house that I go into is a 10ft by 10 ft room. There is usually 1 twin bed with a sheet hanging to separate it from the rest of the room where a small charcoal stove burns, 2 wooden chairs and a table sit. In the corner of the room are pots and buckets piled up for washing clothes. There is barely enough space for the mom, student and 2 of us interviewing the family to sit. With that little space, the average family living in one of these houses is 8 people. 8 people sharing a 10 by 10- shocking. The children never have a bed to sleep on, let alone sheets or a blanket to use. I usually leave the house wondering WHERE does everyone sleep, there cannot possibly be enough space for 8 people to sleep. It’s still a mystery. I am sure at least 3-4 people share the twin bed though. The house is made of tin sheets ( or mud) with a tin roof and dirt floors. All the tin makes the house incredibly hot when the sun is out, and it also blocks all the light making it very dark. There is no electricity, so a candle can be found on the table for at night (imagine doing homework by candle night each day…) There is no running water so the mother has go buy 10 liters for about a nickel each day (but it is probably not clean and shouldn’t even be consumed). The average cost of rent for the family is $12-15 USD a month, but the average daily wage of the mother or father is 50cent- $1 so paying rent is a struggle, on top of having enough food to feed 8 people. Most families will eat 1, maybe 2 meals a day consisting of ground and boiled corn meal called Ugali. Luckily, the school has just implemented a feeding program that will feed every student 1 meal a day, including Saturday and Sunday and all Holiday’s so the children are guaranteed a meal now. These are the people you hear about living on $1 a day, and it still baffles me as to how they do it and survive. Family is very important and they all help their families whenever they have extra food, money or space for living.

With that being said I am super excited for my family to come over and visit in a month! Bridget comes in from Luxembourg and Mom and Dad from the states on October 30th. We will have a week together, and I am planning all the things and places I want them see-- including the slums to get a better picture of it. Since they are coming over I thought it would be a great opportunity for them to bring donations for the children and students here. I know in my house we have tons items that we need to get rid of and donate so I am requesting that they pack a 50lb suitcase full of donations for the school and orphanage. If you are in the Hudson or Pittsburgh area and would like to donate any items I would be very grateful, and the kids would be too. You can drop them off at our house or give them to my parents sometime before they leave, the earlier the better.
Some of the items we need are the following-- (anything is helpful that you have!)

- School Supplies (there are 1000 students at school, supplies go quickly)- pens, pencils, erasers, staples, calculator, math tools: protractors, ruler, compos etc. notebooks, folders, file folders

- Clothes of any kind- boys and girls, ages 2 though 20 yrs. (funny story: i saw a girl at school wearing a Harry Potter Festival shirt, and it was from Peninsula, Oh-- the town next to Hudson, pretty crazy!)

- White cotton socks girls can wear with school uniform (tall socks, not ankle)

- Underwear/socks for all kids

- Black shoes for school- girls and boys

- Sheets, to give to families in hope the children will use them to sleep when they dont have mattress/blankets

Asante Sana (Thank you so much!)

Hope in Hell

When I woke up this morning for another day visiting homes in the slum my prayer was that I would be able to better see the situations and issues that surround me and the people I am working for each day.

It didn't take long for my eyes to be opened in a new way once I got into the slum.

I saw a glimpse of hell today

When we ventured into new part of the slum that I had not been to before nobody warned me that it was a rough area, they just warned me I would be walking a lot. And we did walk a lot, we walked a good 45 minutes through the slum to get to the ‘neighborhood’ where the 4-7th grade kids lived. The walking, and climbing up hills was not a problem for me, parts of it in fact were quite beautiful. But the neighborhood where I ended up and the people in it struck me to the core.

We were at the top of a hill looking down at where we were going and the kids pointed out men brewing illegal alcohol- for less than 5 cents you can buy a liter of this alcohol and be in a complete coma if you drink less than half of it. Up on the hill that scene itself didn't strike me, I was still removed from it, and in fact found it a bit intriguing. But as soon as we walked down the hill and started getting closer to the neighborhood a black cloud covered us to where there was no sunlight to see and I knew I was getting close to Hell. Once we crossed the bridge and actually entered the village I knew I was in a bad place. It was the only time I have been uncomfortable yet (but don't worry, I’m with great men guiding me!) As we walked down the strip there was not a single woman or child to be seen. I think that speaks volumes to the atmosphere, considering in all the other places I have been I barely see men, only women and children. The strip was lined with bars (constructed of tin huts) with music blaring outside and men calling at everyone who passed to enter inside. There were men passed out cold- looking dead to my eye, covered in coats and jackets- probably since the night before, lining the street making a path for us to walk. I helplessly walked past them all, seriously considering which ones were alive and which were dead. The men that were conscious were either luring others into the bars or fighting outside of the bars. There was the typical sewage and waste piling up on the path to walk on, but in mass quantity. I could feel the smell of the waste seeping into my every pore and following me with each step. There no place I could direct my eyes without seeing terror of some sort, so I walked on faster and faster trying to escape the hell these men had created.

I naively thought that once we got through the hell strip and to the students home we would be a safe zone. Unfortunately I found the alcohol followed us into each home. Whether it be the uncle, father or neighbor, each home had a man reeking of the alcohol and physically impaired by it in some way. It made me incredibly sad for the children knowing that they see that sight everyday in the streets, and then return home to as well. These children walk 45 minutes through the slum, passing a dozen different schools they could attend, but they don’t have enough money to pay the school fees at those schools. I can only imagine how different their lives would be if they didn’t live under the dark cloud and their lives were not completely ruled by the addictions in their families.

A slum is not a good place to live, but most any other place in this slum would be better suited for these children than where they are now. I am thankful they are in fact coming so far to attend a free school and it makes me see that my job has huge potential to help children escape their current situations. If these children do not receive sponsors to pay for their school fees they will very well drop out of school and fall into the trap that is right in front of them, it would be incredibly easy. But thank God, right now they see education as their escape and they are happy to travel to school.

Today was startling and eye opening for me, I am sorry to give such a dark experience. But there is hope. I went into Hell today but I also came out of it. And when I came out of it I was greeted by joyful and excited children and I went home to an orphanage with children that daily tell me how wonderful it is to live there. They show me it is possible to grow up in a slum and not succumb to the terror facing them each day. I have hope that if these children can stay in school they will not live in hell forever, and they will be a part of the change they want to see in their lives. Please continue to pray for them, they are faced with more difficulties than most of us can imagine, but with your prayers they will overcome them. We have to remain hopeful.
All my love to you

A Boring American

As difficult as it is sometimes to communicate with, I do enjoy the people I am working with on my projects in the slum. We have some funny conversations about America and life here. The guys, specifically, that I work with are all around my age or a couple years older. They are nice guys, I enjoy their company, and they are always inviting me out and wanting me to see Nairobi through their eyes. I always politely decline their invitations and they are beginning to get frustrated with me. Unfortunately they don’t understand the caution I have to take when I go out anywhere and I don’t think the places they are specifically going are best for me as a white woman! On Friday when I was riding back to the orphanage with one of the workers, he was giving me a hard time because I wouldn’t go out to the bars with him and his friends. He tried convincing me that I am a boring American and that all other Americans are way more fun and adventurous than I am (which could very well be the case). However, his only experience with white people, especially Americans is through Hollywood movies and he (like most Kenyans) sincerely think America is the way it is portrayed in movies. Thank you Hollywood. I unfortunately had to break him the news that is not the case at all but he didn’t buy it. He is quite convinced that I am a boring American, but I am ok with that!

In fact, this weekend I was not boring at all! I went out both Friday and Saturday night and I spent time with other Mzungu’s, in safe environments! I went to a café in a very nice and developed mall on Saturday afternoon that was having a social for anyone (mostly westerners) that is new to the area and wants to meet other people. There were about 30 people from all over Europe, South Africa and the States meeting, eating and drinking! They ranged in all ages and very different professions. I enjoyed time away to talk to other people, and I really enjoyed the pizza that I got to eat ( I have been craving it so badly!)! It is a really great community and way to meet people, especially if I were going to be here longer and wanted to find people. I found it a little bit difficult to be there and explain what my mission here is since most of them were business or government oriented people, but I made a couple of contacts that I hope to look into for further support. It reminded me that when I go home many people will not understand what I have done either, so I need to know how to adjust to those situations.

Another excitement of my weekend was grocery shopping! I know I keep talking about food, but I am pretty excited about 2 of my recent finds. I bought oranges for 10 cents each, which are always a great snack to quench my sweet tooth and avocado’s as big as my 2 fists for 20 cents each! I am pretty excited to make sandwiches and guacamole; it might replace my peanut butter for a couple weeks!

I hope you all are enjoying the fall weather, I totally forgot it was fall until someone reminded me. I wish I could see the leaves changing! It is getting hotter here... lot's of sun right on the Equator!
Much love to you! Christie

Forever an American

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL MOM TODAY!!

I proved to be an American through and through this week. As we continued to make visits to the homes of children in need of sponsors I was racking my brain trying to find a more efficient way to do it. We have 500 homes to visit, and average 30-50 a day, which is WAYYY better than I thought we would do. But there are sometimes 6 of us working together and the first day all 6 of us went to every house. Crazy, right?! So I ever so politely called for a team meeting and explained to them my suggestion of splitting up into teams in order to better use our time and resources. They were all shocked and excited when I gave them the figures of how many more houses we could reach if we split up. The social worker, Grace, who is a very bright girl working on her masters was ecstatic, her quote exactly : “Fleming, your last name is Fleming. Are you related to Alexander Fleming because you would be a great scientist like him.” I wanted to shake them all and tell them it is called problem solving skills not science, and in America we learn those skills in school at an early age! Unfortunately in the schools in Kenya they only learn how to memorize facts and NOBODY, I repeat NOBODY learns common sense or problem solving skills. It drives me crazy because even the brightest people can’t get themselves out of a simple problem or think ahead to avoid certain problems. That is a major reason why I could never be a teacher here, I don’t see many benefits of having the students do rote memorizing for every single subject.

This whole week I kept making small suggestions to perfect our process, and I always started by saying, “I’m sorry but the American in me wants to make this a bit more efficient will you please consider doing it this way….” So now they are all joking with me saying they are becoming American since I am teaching them how to adjust their plans. My partner, especially is taking a lot of pride in the fact that we always finish our visits first, and of course do the best job too! At first I wanted to do it their way since they know the area better than I do, but then I realized I have something to offer them, so if they can learn how to work more efficiently it will hopefully benefit them in the long run. Who knows though, I am continuously amazed by the lack of change that occurs here! For as much as they love Obama, they don’t follow his slogan very well!


Moral of the story, I am quite thankful to be an American for a many reasons, but most of all because we have problem solving skills and those are invaluable in today’s ever changing world!

Mzungu Celebrity

“ Mzungu How are you? Mzungu How are you?” this chant follows me everywhere I go in the slums! Mzungu is the word for white person- and basically my new name in Nairobi. Even at the orphanage the kids just call me Mzungu, I am trying to train them to call me my name instead!

When I am walking through the slums every child that sees me just shouts at me, even after I recognize them they continue shouting! Most times it is the children that are not in school, so that is the extent of English that they know so they repeat it over and over until I am out of sight. Some don’t even know what they are saying and will say something like “La La Loo” because it sounds the same to them! I wish I could tell you how charitable I am by stopping and saying “Hello, I am fine. How are you” to each child, but it is so overwhelming I have to keep walking past most of them or a huge scene or chaos would erupt!

Today the guy I was working with told me the kids think I am a celebrity. I asked him which one I should be and he suggested Jennifer Anisten… I think I’ll take that as a compliment! But it goes to show what white skin means in this area. The only people they see with white skin are celebrities on TV or magazines so they assume I am rich and have the perfect life (because celebrities lead perfect lives, right!?) I wish I could tell everybody that is not the case, in fact I have tons of people supporting me making it possible for me to even be in Kenya right now. But they wouldn’t follow that! It is very weird for me to think I am one of the few white people they will ever see in their lives and they will keep that imagine with them… my crazy big hair and all, oh dear what am I representing to them!
all my white person love to you all back at home!
christie

PS-- the latest ploy suggested for me to marry the Kenyans here is (drum roll please....) you can marry more than 1 and it's ok (polygamy isn't frowned upon!) I don't have to just choose 1 anymore, how wonderful!
...still kidding!

Photo 1- looking out to a different area in the slum, over the tin shanty homes
Photo 2- interviewing a mom at her market where she sells veggies. Notice the crowd of children just watching!

1 month...

This weekend marks the 1 month point of me being in Kenya. One month doesn't sound like that much time, but to be honest with you, it has seemed like a very long time for me. Even though I have been to Kenya 3 times before I am still adjusting to the new culture and life here. It is lonelier than I expected to be the only American among so many beautiful Africans because of the culture and language barriers. Even though most everybody speaks English there is such a difference in the dialect that I doubt the majority of people understand what I say to them—I have learned to accept the polite nod and smile on many occasions! There are days where I literally cannot have conversations with people about anything more than food and weather.

I am learning so much about myself and so much about our good and loving God through this time of being alone. When I have nobody to talk to or be with that is exactly when God is there wanting to be with me and show me his love. For example: last night I was in a moment of feeling lonely and missing home a whole lot. Our electricity was out so I couldn’t read or do anything to get my mind off of it, but I heard some kids outside. So I went out to see what fun they were creating and an 18 yr old girl named Nancy approached me. I didn’t say 3 words to her before she spilled her entire life story to me. Thank God we were in the darkness of the night because her story had me spilling enough tears to water the entire neighborhood. I listened to her openly share one tragedy of abandonment, abuse, terror and loneliness after another, but share it with confidence in the hope and love she has for God. She never once doubted that God was with her when her parents left her on the streets alone, or when she was the victim of abuse. She has suffered more in the last 10 years than I can ever imagine, yet she has way more hope and joy than I can claim to have. In those moments I was taken outside of myself and shown how beautiful a person can be when they have such faith in God, not only during the good times but also through the hard times.

I came over here with very few expectations of what it would be like, and I was honest with many of you saying I had NOOO idea what I was getting myself into. And in many ways I am still figuring out what I am getting myself into! I know that I am supposed to be here, and that there is a mission for me each moment of the day and I have to seek out the purpose God has for me. Some days it is clearer than others, but it all a part of the journey. Practically speaking, I am learning so much about how organizations run, the need and poverty in this area and the dependence that so many people have on the generosity of the American people.

Most recently, I am learning how to perfect the art of a bucket shower! This new place where I am does not have a shower, but they have a lovely bucket for me to use! I cannot report great success quite yet (in fact I avoid showering at all costs!) so if you have any suggestions I would gladly accept them!

After a month, I am increasingly grateful for all of your support and prayers. I am living on the generosity of each of you and I know this time is more valuable to me than I know right now. The lessons I am learning about myself and life will surely be with me forever. Asante Sana (Thank you very much!)
All my love christie

A Whole New World

Soo I moved across Nairobi to Mogra Star Rescue Center. It is very different than Hekima in many ways. There are double the kids (120) at the orphanage, and they are mixed boys and girls. It is a lovely home, the children are incredibly joyful and loving. They are very disciplined because they have to walk 4 miles to and from school. The high schoolers leave at 5:30am and arrive home at 7pm. They have a beautiful time of prayer and praise at 7pm before dinner. The Rescue Center also included the primary and secondary school which educations 1000 students ( I know it’s HUGE!)

This week I have begun working on sponsorship for the students at school. None of the kids can afford to pay school fees, so they have sponsors- mostly from the US and UK. Right now only half of the students have sponsors, so that means very little money is coming in to pay the teachers or provide lunch for the students (the teachers average $40 a month salary). My job is to go around the slum and meet with the families of the students and then write a report on it in order to come back to the US and find sponsors for these students. It is a huge task, considering 500 homes to visit, but one step a time…

Walking though the slum is shocking, and my prayer is that is continues to be shocking to me so I don’t become numb to it. The poverty I am exposed to is unlike anything you could imagine and my description will be nothing close. I visited tin and mud huts today, averaging 10 square feet that house 6-12 people, no electricity, water, or even windows. There is absolutely no sanitation or waste management in the slum, so garbage and waste overtakes the ‘roads’ and everywhere smells like human waste. At some points I was holding my breath in order not to gag in a families house. Other times I would look outside the door and see a man peeing in the “stream” that not runs through the road.
An example of the horrible situations I learned about in the homes: I met a single mother of 4, 26 yrs old, HIV +, she cannot afford food, therefore cannot take drugs to get better, and therefore has no energy for a job. She has concluded the best way to support her children is to prostitute herself for as little at $2 in order to feed her children for a couple days. It’s absolutely devastating. We were trying to convince her that if she took her children to school they would receive free lunch, and she would also be provided with a meal so then she could accept the FREE drugs and get better. We’ll see what happens, she has been in this cycle for so long it will be hard to change.

I am a bit overwhelmed because there is sooo much need here and I see how little we can actually do. However, I was reflecting on the gospel passage of the loaves and the fishes and was called to a greater faith. God is so great and he can multiply everything to satisfy his people. But I cannot! I cannot do any of this work and expect a difference to be made. But if I dedicate everything to God he has the ability to multiply everything for the people I am serving and change their lives. I am nothing but His hands in this field work, hoping to serve the best way possible.

I am excited to begin this new journey, but beg for your prayers. It is exhausting and I know I am not capable of doing it alone. Thank you, thank you! I miss you all and hope to hear from you soon! All my love Christie

Ps—for those of you who think I will marry someone over here, I could make it a reality! At school today I had proposals from 4 juniors and senior boys… I’ve got options, who knows!
Kidding of course!

jack of all traits

So this week I was busy doing many different things (hense the lack of communication). 2 things specifically stick out for me to share (good for you i won't share it all!)

We had many visitors in town this week for the dedication of the new land Hekima is building on and hopefully moving to in December. It was quite refreshing to have some Americans around as this is going on my 4th week and it is a bit lonely without anyone here. With the visitors around, I specifically noticed how different my diet is from what other people are used to back home! I realized that during the day I usually eat about 5 pieces of bread, cereal, rice, and if I can muster them down a few beans! In order to have energy to keep going I eat peanut butter virtually at every meal as well! With the visitors in town I varied my diet more with a grilled cheese here and there, it was great treat. Tonight was another great treat, one of the visitors made us homemade Italian pasta and meat sauce ! Ohh it had flavor and was so delicious! He also brought ice cream to make sundaes. I am sooooo satisfied right now! I’m sure you don’t care that much about my diet, but found it pretty funny. I’m glad do not have a phobia of carbs! In fact, I am coming to love dry cornflakes!

This week I also took a few of the boarding school girls back to school. We drove 2 ½ hours in one direction through the beautiful tea and coffee plantations. We also went through the Embassy town where many of the embassy’s have relocated since the bombing in 1998. Me, being a typical American, stuck my camera out the window to take a picture of the US Embassy, not even noticing the enormous sign saying DO NOT take pictures. The guards gave me some pretty harsh looks but luckily didn’t approach the car and take my camera! Taking the girls back to school was startling for me. They always tell me how strict their schools are but I never realized how true it was. We were 10 minutes late getting them to school due to bad traffic and the school wasn’t going to let them back for this session. Gladys, the Mum I was with had to beg and plea to allow them back. As soon as the girls got out of the van they were totally different girls: no longer laughing or joking, or even talking. They got in line to check in and didn’t greet any of their friends. The administrators were completely rude to them giving them a hard time for being 10 minutes late. It was not the place I would want to go back to, and not a good environment to encourage learning. Education is so important for these girls if they want a future but with that educational support (or lack there of) they are not going to be encouraged or motivated to do well. If these girls have anything lower than an A average they have nearly no chance of going to a University. They could possibly attend a couple but they wouldn’t receive any scholarships or financial help so they wouldn’t be able to go. The girls study way more than anyone I have met in the States, yet the education system is so poor they still don’t do well. It is very frustrating to watch because if their system was improved the country would be able to grow much more due to the increased knowledge of students.

This weekend was busy with the land dedication. It was a beautiful day and celebration, I am glad I was able to be apart of it to meet so many supporters and family members of Hekima (all the girls are trying to marry me off to their brothers, its pretty humorous!) It also marks the end of my time here at Hekima. On Monday afternoon I will travel to the other side of Nairobi to my new home, Mogra Star. I will keep you updated from there!
Peace and love christie
pictures to come soon...ish!

the farm life

This summer I spent a lot of time driving through Ohio and Indiana, and all acres and acres of farms along the side. I thought it might be fun to live on a vegetable farm after passing through so many. This weekend I got a small taste of what a vegetable farm is like, and I think that was enough for me! I worked with the older girls in the shamba (garden) harvesting corn this weekend. Let me tell you, it was quite the process! We each took a row and plucked each ear of corn from the stalk, there were usually 2 or 3 ears and then when we finished plucking them off we had to shuck them all. Then we tied them all together to hang out to dry. The first day we had to carry them in a sac on our back to the other side of the farm (the girls gave me all the light loads :) ) but the 2nd day we luckily had a donkey to help us. There were ants and bugs crawling all over the stalks, so naturally they began to crawl all over me too! I was so itchy!

They use the corn at this time to grind down and make corn meal and different dishes out so it has to be very dry. They will also sell some of it since there is so much. This was a 2-day process with about 20 girls altogether. It was difficult work for sure, but more than that-- it was time consuming! We did not nearly do as big of fields as I see in Ohio, but to do it all by hand is crazy! If the girls did not do it, 2 men who work in the shamba would have been responsible for doing it all by hand. It would take forever, I was in awe the whole time. My friend Jackie lives on a corn farm so I can’t wait to hear from her the way they harvest the corn, I am sure it much more efficient!
The reward at the end of the day for each girl (besides great satisfaction of course) was a baridi (cold) Coke, what a treat! Coke here is so good because they use pure sugar mmmm mmmm…. Nothing better!
It was a great experience, but I think I will cross off living on a farm on my to-do list in life. Especially if I have to harvest it all by hand!

my time as a mum

“To be a mother means to turn especially to the helpless, to incline lovingly and helpfully to every small and weak thing on earth” – Gertrud von le Fort (taken from The Privilege of Being a Woman

While reading this week, this quote struck me right in the heart! This week I took on the role of a resident “mum” in the house of the babies through 3rd graders. What a task that was- cooking, ensuring homework, chores and bathing was done, putting to bed and waking up the girls! Imagine for a moment your sleepover, or your kids sleepovers as a kid, (the giggles, late night chatting, plotting some adventure etc). Well whatever you are imagining, multiply it by 100000 and that is what I had to try to control this week. One of the mums had a family emergency so they asked me to take over for her. I was set up with the task of overseeing a sleepover of 20 girls, ages 3-11, all in the same room… now picture the chatting, games, laughs and utter chaos that would appear there! The first night wasn’t bad, but it went down hill from there. The girls were used to me being a fun friend to play with and then all the sudden I became the mean rule enforcer at bedtime, and the one waking them up before 6am for school. I felt pretty defeated on the last night when I had absolutely no control and had to call in backup help from another mum. Needless to say, that was my last night as mum. I learned many lessons, one of which: I do not ever want to have that many kids, especially to put to bed! But I learned just what mothers go through sacrificing (sleep & energy especially!) for their kids all day long, and many times loving purely out of the grace of God. When I asked the mums how they do it each day they said they must cooperate with God because He is the only way they can make it through each day! Mom, I remember you breaking up many of my fun sleepovers when I was younger because we were too loud… now I understand how you felt, sorry!

This was also an eye opening experience for me because I realized the reality of where I am. I forget sometimes that I am at an orphanage because it is on a beautiful compound with loving mums and uncles, food on the table and running water. But it is still an orphanage where kids do not receive the constant attention, love and affection that they would in a home. This is much better than anyplace else they could be right now, but it does not compare to the loving home that I and many of us were brought up in. It is not only at orphanages where this lack of love happens. I am told that Kenyans in general do not give or show their children love or affection, they want to make them ‘strong’ therefore withholding love from them. It makes me think a lot about the future of a country when the generations are not being loved on and told how good they are regularly. I believe that education can only take a girl as far as her mind goes, but a girl who knows she is loved can go much further and lead a happier life, changing the people around her. I’m not sure where to go with that, because I know the US is not perfect by any means either. How do we redirect a whole culture to love their children more? Just my thought for today…
I love you all! Give plenty of love to others today!

Habari (Hello)

Habari from Kenya! How are you guys doing? It is so good to hear back from those of you who respond. I love checking my email and finding messages, it really helps me to keep going, please keep them coming!

This week I did all sorts of things, most recently being becoming a live jungle gym! Most of the girls arrived back from their holiday break today, and as soon as the little ones saw me I had tiny bodies jumping all over me! It was definitely the joy of my week to be able to welcome them back to their home. Today I also had the blessing of going with a dozen of the olden girls to the Vincential House of Prayer for a day of prayer and healing. It began at 9am with many praise songs, a few talks, the rosary, adoration and ending with mass before we came home for dinner. There were more than 500 other people there, and it was incredible to be able to pray with all of them. Their music and excitement to praise God is an incredible testimony of their unwavering faith through difficult circumstances. I am so thankful I was able to go with the girls and better understand their culture of faith here. (See photo with girls!)

So many of you are wondering what my day looks like. And it is very different everyday since the girls are not in school. But my day typically begins at 7:30 when I wake up to have some time to myself before the rest of the staff arrives at 8:30. I brought a work out video called INSANITY here, so I make time to do it in the mornings, it’s a great way to start the day, and it’s crazy intense! It is the most consistency I have throughout the whole day, so I like having something to depend on each morning, Shaun T (the instructor) is becoming my closest friend over here!

In the mornings the older girls either go to school for extra tuition or they study and do chores while I help the mums prep lunch and dinner in the kitchen or do office work that needs to be done. I enjoy sitting with the mums and talking to them, they are so curious about America and I am curious about Kenya so we share with each other. I love breaking the Hollywood stereotype of America they have! But Mum Julianne was shocked when I told her we have machines that dry our clothes for us in an hour, rather than hanging them to dry!
In the afternoon we usually play cards or games outsides, or finish preparations for dinner. When we play cards they make up card games but call them names that I know, for example: they told me we were playing poker (and I don’t know much about poker) but this game had nothing to do with the poker I am familiar with! It is quite confusing and they just laugh at me most of the time!

I still have a lot of free time being here, which I am still getting used to. I thought I would be doing much more than I am, but I am slowly finding that the work I am doing is helpful and necessary. Simply being an example of hope for the girls is all they are asking of me here. I have been able to talk with many of the girls about what their lives would be like outside of Hekima Place, many of which would be on the streets without education or a future. These girls are incredibly beautiful because they have great dreams of a future now, and entrust it all to God. They lead much more difficult lives, with many more burdens than I ever will, but they are so faithful through it all. I am inspired by their dedication and love.

Thank you again to everyone has aided in my ability to be here, I am very appreciative to have this opportunity. It is not always easy and fun, I find myself struggling each day, but it is something that is shaping me forever into who I am to become. I have been reading St. Therese of Lisieux’s autobiography The Story of a Soul and she spoke my heart so clearly when she said, “Such is my nature that fear only keeps me back, while under the sway of love I not only advance- I fly.” Know that you are in my prayers each day, please continue to pray for me that I may give all my love each day to the people I meet and not be held back by my own fears.

All my love, Christie