Kwaheri Kenya

The day is finally here.  I fly back to America tonight and it just seems crazy that it is already time for me to go home.  I have been in Nairobi for 3 days and I am already missing the children at Tumaini so I can't imagine how much I will miss them when I get home!  It has been very strange being in Nairobi because it is not at all like the Kenya that have been seeing for months.  It's a well developed city with many restaraunts, expats, and luxuries.  I have seen Americans and Europeans everywhere I have been.  It a little disturbing to see the difference in how some people live here in comparison to how the majority of the rest of the country is living.  Just about everyone I have met is working for some type of non profit or NGO that involves development, so hopefully that is a sign that conditions in East Africa will be impoving. 

During my stay in Kenya I have realized that I have a strong desire to work on the improvement of education systems both in America and abroad, and hope to continue this type of work.  One project that I am very excited about is something Eline and I plan to work on together.  We realized while staying at Tumaini that none of the children or people in the community have access to books.  They obviously don't have the money to buy them and there is no where to borrow them from, so even if they can read there aren't many options of reading material.  We talked to Rose about the needs at Tumaini and have decided that they need a library!  Eline and I are hoping to be able to fundraise all the money within 2 years, but it's going to be a lot of work.  The school also has no administration office or place for the teachers to hold meetings so we are going to use the building for both purposes.  Eline and I are very excited about what opportunities this could bring to Tumaini and how it could improve the education for the kids.  If anyone is interested in learning more about our project please contact me.  I will also keep this blog so I can let people know how the progress is going.

I don't feel that my stay in Kenya has been long enough, so it makes me happy to know that I have this project to keep me connected to my second home and I know I will be returning!  I feel extremely lucky to have had the chance to do something like this and it has definitely changed who I am and how I see the world.  

Last Blog from Tumaini

Well, my time here at Tumaini is coming to an end – and it is bittersweet.  While I am very excited to see my family and friends, in less than a week I have to say goodbye to these amazing people and children who have become my family.  Yesterday during Class 6 English a student ask if it was true I was leaving soon, and I told her I was.  She informed me that America could wait because I needed to stay and finish the term.  I have tried very hard to be the best English teacher possible, but I have never been as proud as I was today when I was walking out of class and said, “Later gators!”  And they replied, “After while crocodile,” with huge grins on their faces!  We have been practicing typical American slang and they are catching on!

This week there is an awesome American named Katie visiting for just a few days before she goes to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.  Today she and I battled the unthinkable- having THE TALK with the older kids.  And let me tell you, it gave me no desire to have my own kids any time soon!  We started with all the kids 11 years and up together and talked to them about HIV and how you can get it.  Katie is a nurse, so she talked and I stood next to her.  Then we split the boys and girls so that we could talk more specifically about what happens to their bodies.  I took the boys thinking they would be much easier.  Your voice changes…you get hair…don’t have sex.  WRONG.  I asked them to please let me know if they had any questions…and boy did they.  I would feel like I was breaking confidentiality with the boys if I told you specifics, but let’s just say we covered everything from if an unborn child can be hurt by intercourse, can a girl contract HIV from having her from having a drink spiked with sperm, to several extremely awkward questions about what can be used as a condom.  I without a doubt had developed a few gray hairs by the end of class.  I have realized a teenage boy is a teenage boy no matter where he lives.  On the positive side many of their questions were so naïve it’s evident they are not actually doing any of these things.  But I feel like it was a successful, educational class with a strong emphasis on abstinence and respecting both yours and others bodies.

On Sundays I usually take a long walk on the back roads, and I never know what I will encounter.  This week I was invited into someone’s home to have a soda and talk.  He said he wanted to build a culinary school in the village and wanted to know if I wanted to help.  I kindly told him I didn’t know how prosperous that would be because most people eat one of 3 things in Western Kenya and right now they didn’t even know how much of that they would get.  On my way back home I saw some of my students gathered around a few tree branches in the road and asked what they were doing.  “Collecting termites,” they replied.  “Why?”  “To eat!”  And then Kevin tossed one in his mouth.  I was extremely disgusted by this and proceeded to ask every Kenyan I know if they ate termites.  The general consensus was yes, mostly when they were kids and that they are tasty.  I learned that you can eat them raw or fry them.  Gross.  But these are the kinds of conversations I am going to miss the most.

When I leave Tumaini I will visit a friend from college who is living in Nairobi for a couple days and then head back to America.  I will write about the last part of my African adventure there!

Lodwar

“Thank you for your generosity.  Tonight there will be smoke coming from every household!”  When Rose told me this was what one of the Turkana tribe members said to her I didn’t understand what it meant.  After spending a little more time with them I realized they were saying every family would be building a fire to cook with that night. This is not a daily guarantee for the people of the Kakwanyang village.

Before the plane touched down in Lodwar you could feel the temperature rising in this desert like region. Rose and I were traveling with her friend, Pastor George who has already done some mission work in this area and had friends who could show us around the different villages.  Driving from the airport (landing strip with a tent) I was already left speechless from the living conditions- or lack thereof.  We drove about 20 kilometers out of the city to visit one of the many communities that has no food and not many options of how to acquire any.  Once outside of the city there were no roads or really any sign of life besides the women walking their goats.  After a few random turns in the sand path we came upon a cluster of grass huts belonging to the community we were going to visit.  We were greeted by a young mother breast feeding an infant followed by several more half-dressed children. Many of these grass homes don’t even have roofs because it keeps them cooler at night.  If by chance it does rain they seek shelter in one with a roof.  They don’t have to worry about their belonging because they don’t have any.

In this particular village there is one primary school.  When Rose inquired more about their educational goals we found out there aren’t many.  For the entire school (1^st through 8^th grade) there are two teachers.  But, they rarely have to worry about teaching because the children only come to school when food can be provided. Due to obvious circumstances, this hasn’t been much recently.  Rose and I had originally planned to supply food in 3 different villages, but the large population of the first one made us realize the supplies were not going to make it anywhere else. These people are helped by larger NGOs, but can only rely on them to bring food every one to three months.  When this runs out the women make a few brooms and baskets (the only items exported from the region)  then travel the entire day to town in hopes of selling a few for 10-50 shillings, equivalent to less than a dollar.  If they are unable to sell their baskets then they are forced to slaughter whatever livestock they have to feed their families. 

There are so many things that need to develop in the Turkana area, with the biggest problem being lack of education.  But how are you supposed to teach starving children?  When young girls are given the opportunity to go to school many of them will drop out between the ages of 12 and 14 because their parents force them to get married so they can receive the dowry.  The only option for dowry is livestock so in famine stricken areas this seems to be well worth trading your daughter for.

What bothers me the most is Northern Kenya did not become this way overnight.  And yes, the drought has increased the starvation severely, but these people were short on food before.  I think this famine might be a blessing in disguise for the long term wellbeing of the Turkana people.  The international attention it has received will hopefully mean some investments will be made in sustainability for the area.  No human being should have to live under these circumstances.  As my eyes are opened to more and more layers of poverty I wonder how there can be such contrast in the world. 

While we do not have the resources for development in the area, Rose is hoping to at least help keep these children from going to bed hungry at night.  If anyone has any questions about how to help with the Lodwar Feeding Project, please, please, contact me.  These people need all the help they can get.

New Adventure!

Eline left yesterday and I have been going around like a lost puppy dog.  It’s really strange to spend all day, every day with someone and then POOF!  She is gone.  Today while I was walking in the village several people stopped me and asked, “Where is the other one?”  So I am now the only volunteer until my last week.  I am certain Eline and I will stay close friends.  Not only do we have future plans for a project at Tumaini, but she has only been back in the Netherlands for a couple of hours and we have already been communicating.

Well, building the cow shed was a success!  Many people have asked me, “Why are you building a shed for the cows?”  And my answer to that is I have absolutely no idea.  When I asked the Kenyans they just looked at me funny and said that was where they will eat and sleep.  So we (well the men) nailed tree limbs to wood post that were cemented into the ground.  Then we made a mixture of mud and water and placed it in between the limbs.  That was it!  Now I understand why so many people here make buildings out of mud.  I actually thought it was fun!

Not only am I becoming Kenyan because I can build a mud hut, but I have also been harvesting maize!  Today I was working so hard getting the kernels off the cob that my thumb started bleeding under the nail and I have blisters!  Although it is not as bad as harvesting the beans, I am still certain I have no future in farming. 

On Monday Rose and I will be going on a new adventure.  While we have been running the feeding program here in our village, Rose has also been doing some research on places in the North that have been facing severe food shortage.  We will continue feeding the neediest here, but many families will have crops harvesting in the next couple months and will be less dependent on us.  So Rose has felt very strongly that God is sending her to a place in the North Western part of Kenya called Lodwar.  It is a very undesirable desert area that is about 70 kilometers from a Somalian and Sudanean refugee camp.  With both Kenyans and refugees in the area they have been hit very hard by the famine.  So I, Rose and a Kenyan pastor (who has been to the area a few times) are going to travel there and visit three different villages.  We will be distributing the basic food needs such as flour, sugar, tea leaves, and cooking oil.  After observing the area and situation we will see if there is a possibility of providing some long term help to stabilize the area.  If anyone has any questions about our work there please contact me!  I will make sure to give an update when we get back.

Update at Tumaini!

Habari asubuhi!  This is one of the ways to say good morning in Swahili.  Things are very busy and moving fast here at Tumaini.  I feel like I am going to blink my eyes and it’s going to be time for me to go home.  So here is an update on my Kenyan life!

My 6^th graders have been working very hard this week writing pen pal letters to AMS 6^th graders (thanks to the help of Mrs. Elizabeth Mills!) asking questions about the U.S. and telling about life in Kenya.  While revising the letters I found some of the things the children said quite entertaining.  For example, “We have corruption in Kenya.  Do you have corruption in America?”  Children in Kenya have been taught over and over that polygamy is wrong in hopes that it will prevent it from happening in the future.  So some children proudly wrote, “I live with my mom and dad.  We have a monogamous family.”  I kindly ask them to include a different fact instead, so that Mrs. Mills is not stuck explaining polygamy and monogamy to American 12 year olds.  Another fact that some kids mentioned was if they have a permanent roof on their home (instead of grass).  They are very proud of this, and it will show kids at home how nice they have it.  A very bright boy named Kevin informed his pen pal about the famine and told how there was a hotline, “Kenyans for Kenya” and if they wanted to help all they had to do was text 111111 on their phones!

Eline and I have started painting the classrooms and as with everything I do in life I am very slow and would bet I will be painting until the day I fly home.  I am also still waiting to help build the cowshed out of mud (it takes a while for things to happen in Kenya), but I will let you know when that happens!

On Thursday Eline and I travelled to Kisumu because we had to renew our visas.  Kisumu is located on Lake Victoria and is known for their very tasty tilapia.  After leaving the immigration office we walked down to the lake where everyone is hustling you to sit at their “restaurant.”  We chose one and then were told to pick out our fish.  Literally there is just a bunch of different size dead fish sitting on a slab of wood.  After picking you sit down and wait for your fish to be cooked.  When it comes out it looks the exact same.  Head, fins, bones, and all!  Not only did I eat it, but it was delicious!

There is an orphan living in our community who graduated high school in 2007 but hasn’t had enough money to pay her tuition and can’t receive her diploma.  Rose said the fact that four years later she is still trying and hasn’t gotten pregnant (that’s what girls do if they don’t have goals or money) means she is a very determined, good girl.  The community had a fundraiser for her and was able to raise enough to pay her tuition and get her started in college!

Eline leaves in 2 weeks and I am going to be lost.  Aside from when I teach English which is around an hour a day, we spend every moment of everyday together.  We sleep in the same room and even shower at the same time and can talk between our stalls.  Both of us are in complete shock that after all this time not only have we not strangled each other, but we actually still like each other!  We even have plans to do future projects together!

Rose and I are trying to update the website, which is comical.  Rose is still learning how to do things on the computer and I am the American who wishes I lived in the time before computers existed.  So far we have mostly just been staring at it deciding what needs to change.  Rose has asked a man from town to come help us, so we should be making progress soon!

All is going well with the feeding program.  I think I am getting muscles in my arms from transferring the maize into the small bags.  We had a young boy who travelled to us from a different community looking for food for him and his grandmother.  We were happy to help him.  I want to thank everybody again for all your contributions, it has really meant a lot to these people.

Miles of Smiles at Tumaini

Habari yako?  This is Swahili for “How are you?”  Then, you would reply, “Mzuri sana!”  This means very good!  It’s actually quite pitiful how much Swahili I have NOT picked up on.  The only words I know really well are the ones that are repeated to the toddlers over and over again.  And I am sad to say that I am not fluent in Dutch either.

After the Americans left Tumaini, my Canadian friend Dylan and I traveled to meet the Dutch girls in Mombasa, a beach city on the East Coast of Africa.  It was a wonderful break to have halfway through my trip.  Watching camels walk the beaches of the Indian Ocean made the 16 hour bus ride well worth it!  Evidently I am a magnet for Dutch people.  We were staying at a campsite called Stilts, where we met a lot of fun people, the majority of whom were from the Netherlands, and then we met a nice Belgium couple – who of course spoke Dutch.  Finally while sitting on the beach I saw a man with a Georgia Bulldogs cap on, so I asked him excitedly if he was from Georgia.  He laughed and said, “No, I collect caps.  I am from the Netherlands.”  Eline was dying laughing and all I could say was, “Oh, of course you are!”

I was also attacked by monkey on our trip.  We were staying in these cute little tree houses a little bit into the woods (kind of).  Femke and Eline left to go to the beach, but I stayed to sleep a little longer.  I woke up to the sound of plastic rustling around and thought, “Oh the monkeys must be on the porch…”  (They had been stealing everything we left outside the whole trip.)  As I was falling back asleep I heard the rustling sound again and realized how close it was.  I popped up in the bed screaming bloody murder!  Sitting on my bed was a monkey staring straight at me and three more looking through our trash and bags!  They looked at me with an annoyed expression as if to say, “Well thanks for ruining our fun.”  Then they sauntered out.  Although they weren’t causing me physical harm yet, I know they were plotting…

Femke got really sick at the end of the trip and the night before she was to fly back to the Netherlands we ended up having to take her to the hospital in Nairobi.  Luckily it was just a bacterial infection and she was feeling better by morning.  It’s weird not having her back at Tumaini, especially when it’s time to do the dishes!  Now Eline is forced to always speak English and that makes Rose and me very happy!

I was glad to get back to Western Kenya to see all the children and our Tumaini family.  While I was gone there was a nice American who left some Velveeta Shells and Cheese and brought me a bag of sunflower seeds.  These were very nice surprises to come home to!  Since we have been back I have been extremely busy.  I am still teaching English and Arts and Crafts in the morning and after lunch we have been helping Violet do a lot of cleaning and organizing at the orphanage.  The children go on break from school next week so we are going to paint all the classrooms.  We are also going to take advantage of the orphanage kids being out of school and do some fun crafts and games with them.

The feeding program has kept us very busy as well.  Originally the plan was to give maize to about 80 families once a week for as long as we can.  But we have realized that there are more who are in severe need of food so we have increased to 120 families a week.  We give the bags of maize every Wednesday, but people have been coming all this week and just wait outside the orphanage hoping if they sit there long enough we will be able to give them something.  This is really hard to see, but luckily Rose knows which of these people are in need the most and we give to them.  Our main goal is to be able to provide for all the elderly widows that are taking care of a lot of children because they physically cannot work and have mouths to feed.  While I hope that my English teaching skills are changing lives, I know now that if my only purpose being here was to make others aware and concerned about the food shortage then it has been completely worth it.  Thanks to all of you that have been donating so that my students aren’t going to bed hungry.  Everything that goes on at Tumaini makes me realize how much impact one person can have.  Three years ago Rose was sleeping on a floor with a few orphans, and now she is helping to feed an entire community.

Update On Food Crisis

Although it has not been long since my last entry, I didn’t want to keep anyone waiting to hear about the food situation.  I am blown away by how many people were willing to immediately respond to our urgent need.  Between myself, the Dutch girls, and the American team we were able to raise a little over $6,000 dollars in the less than a week!  So thanks to all of you who were willing to throw us a few bucks there are people who won’t go to bed hungry this week.  The food supply is not supposed to get any better in the near future, so we have started a food program for our community at Tumaini.  Our community is a little bit like Mayberry in the sense that everybody knows everything about everyone so we (aka Rose) know which families are living with the most severe conditions right now.  Most of these are widows with many children, or the elderly that is providing for lots of orphans.  Every Wednesday these people are going to be able to come to Tumaini and receive their bag of maize and try to make it last until the next Wednesday.  It is estimated that the famine will be at its worst towards the end of September so we are really hoping to be able to feed these families at least until then.  Our plan is to keep the food program going until the funds run out.  Cheryl (the CEO of ISF), is leaving the spot on their website so if people want to continue to donate for our food program they may do that through their PayPal.  Again, huge thanks to those of you have helped or plan to do so in the future.

Aside from the food situation some others changes have occurred here at Tumaini in the past week.  I have been surrounded by Americans!  Rather than sleeping alone I now have six roommates (and absolutely no quiet time), who are spoiling me rotten with American things I had forgotten about.  Items such as oatmeal, starbursts, and goldfish have a lot more significance when the highlight of my day typically consists of being served cabbage or beans for lunch.  The American team also decided that because I have been here for a while it would be most beneficial for me to act as their camp leader for the Vacation Bible School they are providing for the children.  Femke and Eline found my new role hilarious and have been calling me “Captain Alex” the entire week.  I’m not sure how well I did at leading the team but I do know that the children had a wonderful time and were given lots of love, and that’s all that matters.  Although it will be nice to get back to my calm African lifestyle, I have enjoyed getting to know all the visitors and know they love Tumaini just as much as I do now!

On a sad note, Femke and Eline left to travel yesterday and I already miss them.  But we will be meeting up in four days in Mombasa, which is a city on the east coast of Kenya and will be staying in a tree house close to the beach!  I hope it is as nice as it sounds!  Well, that is all I have for now, the Americans are exhausting me J

Drought and Famine in Kenya

Well, it has been a long day here at Tumaini.  I feel a little bit stupid because until last night I was unaware of the problems that Eastern Africa is experiencing and it is where I have been living for the past two months.  In case the rest of you are following the news in the U.S. which has not chosen not to inform people of the drought and famine being experienced by some of the world (from what I have seen), I will debrief you.  In Northern Kenya there is always some problems of drought and food scaricity, but eventually the problem works itself out the best it can.  So although it is rainy season, the weather here in Africa has been very unpredictable this year and therefore the crops are not harvesting when they are supposed to and some people are losing lots of maize and beans because of either experiencing too much or too little rain.  I am not really good with how the whole farming situation works in Kenya, so bare with me.  With the combination of the change in weather everywhere in Kenya and the worst drought that has been experienced in 60 years in the Northern region the food supply is scarce and the price of maize has sky rocketed.  Long story short the famine being experienced up north is making the price of maize in places like where I live unaffordable and people are having to go without.  I am lucky enough to live in a home where we are still able to have food for ourselves and the children at our orphanage but I can't say the same for all my neighbors.  As soon as the Dutch girls and I realized what was going on right under our nose we immediately wanted to find out what we could do to help.  We have been told by experienced workers in 3rd world countries that the best way to end a famine is to start with your immediate areas and those needing food most severely.  So that is what we have done.  Eline found enough funds to buy 6 big bags of maize today and we began by giving to the elderly who are unable to work but still have many orphans they care for.  I cannot describe to you the overwhelming emotions you feel watching people line up in front of you holding out a single grocery bag to be filled with maize and they plan to feed a family of five or more off of that amount for weeks. While we were handing out the bags to the people of our area a community leader was reading names of people off who were allowed to get the maize first, so that the people with the most need were taken care of first.  When a name was called a boy from our 5th grade class walked up to receive the bag for his grandmother.  Talk about hitting home. When you realize that a boy you have been trying to educate by day is going hungry by night.  We also took bags to those people in the community who are too old or health conditions made them unable to come to us.  The first place we walked was immediately across our street to an elderly lady that I wave at everyday.  Her three sons and their wives have all died of AIDS and she now is the sole caretaker of ten grandchildren.  When we handed her the bag of maize she thanked us and said she couldn't count how many days it had been since she had eaten food.  This woman had been surviving off of tea.  We walked around distributing the bags to people of similar situations, and when we returned home the word had spread that Tumaini was giving food out so there was a line of people waiting.  We gave all that we had and then had to shut the gate to the orphanage so that more could not come.  Rose said there will be another line of people waiting in the morning hoping we will be able to give them some.  I came to Africa because I wanted to help people in need, but until this day I don't think I comprehended what it is REALLY like to be in need. 

There is a team from International Sports Federation here right now and we are all wanting to spread the word of what is going on here. We see an urgent need to help with this crisis developing right before our eyes.  If anyone is interested in helping/donating for food for the community you can go to the ISF website[2:43:05 PM] ashley cosby: http://www.sportsmissions.com/take-action/support-isf  and use their paypal so that we can use the money immediately for food.  On the website you click that you want to make a general donation and there either my name or Kenyan Drought in the subject line and we will get the money.  If you have any questions please contact my amazing sister, who already had donations coming in within the hour of me calling her devastated.  Thank you so much to those of you who have already donated (especially my nephew Cory that happily forked over his birthday money), and those praying for the Kenyans going to bed with empty stomachs.  The Dutch girls are going to town in the morning to get pictures online so you can see firsthand what is going on.  I know I have said it before, but I promise I will get these pictures up! 

Also, for my wonderful Sal's family that I know misses me so much :)  If maybe someone could spread the word and everyone give a dollar or two at the end of each shift it could really add up!  Whoever wants to be in charge of that just contact me.  Love you guys!

Maasai Mara Safari

Well, I officially had one of the most amazing, memorable weekends of my life.  Sara Beth had told me that I couldn’t skip doing a safari at Maasai Mara, and now I understand why.  It is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Africa where you can see the big 5 and many other animals living in their natural habitat.  The Dutch girls and I joined 11 other volunteers who are living in the Kakamega area to spend the weekend in this beautiful place.  And as much as I hate to admit it the volunteers from Duke were a blast and I loved getting to hang out with them (sorry Mugge!).  The road driving to the park and our lodging was by far the worst road I have been on since I have been in Africa, which makes absolutely no since because it brings in so much money from the tourists.  I have constructed a detailed plan in my head of how all of Africa will benefit when the money is raised to improve already existing roads everywhere.  The cars will last longer, there will be less travel time, less gas bought, and less accidents…but I won’t get started on this right now!  Another problem I discovered while I was away this weekend is that I am a little bit scared that I am going to be racist against white people when I get home!  It was so weird to see them everywhere!  There were some who had on cargo khaki shorts, spaghetti strapped tanked top, and the most typical safari hat you can find; despite the fact it was cold enough to wear long sleeves and pants. Yes, I am being far too judgmental, but our entire group had a hard time seeing these monzugus who were picked up from the Nairobi Airport and taken immediately to their safari, and when they were finished, were probably going to go right back to the airport or the next biggest tourist destination.  But next week when they are back in the states, they will be telling their friends over dinner how they saw the poverty in Africa, leaving out that it was through the window of a vehicle while going 60 mph. 

At Maasai Mara you really will see every type of person imaginable.  Almost every van of Caucasians is speaking a different language, but there are also people from all over the Middle East, Asia, and North/South America.  However, the most peculiar of all these was the Asians.  I’m not sure if it is all of them in general or a specific country that does it (if I was guessing I would say China), but most of them we saw were wearing long sleeves, long pants, gloves, large brimmed hats, glasses, a mask covering everything but their eyes and foreheads; and if they were outside of the vehicle they also carried umbrellas.  Of course I wear sunscreen and take my malaria medication, but I think this might have been taking it a little too far.  Every time I saw a group who looked like this I wondered if their tour guide was a little offended that his passengers found it necessary to take that many precautions in order to be in his country!  Again, I am being too judgmental so I will get to the actual animal seeing part of the safari.  But in all reality it was really neat to see so many nationalities gathered somewhere because no one can deny the magnitude of seeing such beautiful animals in their natural habitat. 

So the first day we arrived it was raining and we were all a little bummed thinking that would put a damper on our afternoon safari ride.  Wrong!  Because it was rainy it was cool enough for the animals to want to come out in the open in the middle of the day, so within five minutes of being in the park we encountered our first lions!  Originally it was just a gang of teenage lions hanging out around a tree playing with each other, and then from across the fields the lion king (literally the head of the pack who looked exactly like Mufasa) comes strutting up, walks between the safari vans and joins his group!  It was surreal to see him strut up in the same manner of a house cat and not even acknowledge the twenty plus vehicles surrounding his family.  Although I have seen lions and all these other animals at the zoo, it was like I was taping my own experience that was going on the Discovery Channel.  It is one of those experiences that I could describe to you 1,000 times, but you will never truly understand how amazing it is until you see it.  During this two hour ride through the park we were able to see 3 of the big 5 animals!

On day two we were out exploring by 7:30ish and stayed in the park for nine hours, soaking it all in.  We again got to see lions, but this time they were all lounging on huge rocks waking up to yawn and lick themselves and then go back to sleep.  Although they are one of the toughest animals, they never seemed to be in any hurry to do anything.  We were also able to see 14 elephants (they were my favorite), several being young ones that were intertwining their trunks playfully.  Eventually we had to leave the area because the elephants were in “charge mode” and walking on the trail we were using, as our tour guide put it, “the elephants want to use the rode, and they have the right away!”  Next, we were able to see cheetahs, giraffes (a mom pooped on her baby), gazelles, buffalos (which I never realized looked like fake cartoon animals), and thousands of zebras and wildebeests.  The wildebeest are in the season of their migration, known as the Great Migration, when they come across the Serengeti through Kenya into Tanzania.   I realized two important things about zebras; one, I never get tired of looking at them; and two they have the nicest butts out of any animal or human I have ever seen!  Really, next time you see a zebra pay close attention to how attractive their rear is!  I think Sir-Mix-Alot would even approve.  While we were driving back towards the exit of the park we were all still standing with the roof of the van lifted to take in the beautiful view.  The best way to describe the feeling is to compare the way you feel on the lake when the wind is blowing as the boat speeds over the calm water and no one is paying attention to each other, just how amazing all the surroundings are.  When we were all feeling this was when we had our near death experience.  Most people would think that a near death experience on a safari would mean you were attacked by a vicious lion, or maybe stepped on by an elephant; not necessarily.  We were traveling on a trail at a normal speed and had not seen another car/van/truck in at least 15 minutes when out of nowhere a van comes flying across the path hits a bump, almost flips (making like a 30 degree angle towards the road), over corrects itself almost going off the road in the opposite direction, somehow corrects that and is flying directly at us (and we are all still standing with our heads outside the roof!).  So aside from seeing this all happen in slow motion I am somewhere between realizing that I should probably dunk down and preparing myself that we are going to have to jump out to save the people in the other van.  I don’t know if I realized until the van actually stopped less than five feet in front of us that we were going to be hurt badly if the vehicle wasn’t able to stop.  Rather than saying sorry or looking concerned they immediately hit the gas again, the two people inside the van just casually waved and went on their way!  I think the shock of the entire situation and that we almost had a car wreck on a deserted rode caused our entire group to do nothing but hysterically laugh the rest of the ride.  After this we were able to visit a Maasai village and learn about their culture and they performed some of their traditional songs and dances for us.  The Maasai tribe in Kenya is one of the most famous tribes and they live in the region where the park is.  They are famous for still keeping many of their traditions and still dressing in the tribal fashion (extremely bright red), and they have the huge holes in their ears that you see in pictures from National Geographic!

Day three was just a morning ride through a small part of the park, but was probably my favorite day.  We were able to watch the sunrise over a group of five beautiful giraffes.  And then after we saw it rise once our driver wanted us to experience it twice, so he moved the van in front of a mountain, and we saw it again, lol.  After this we found more lions who had killed something (most likely a wildebeest) shortly before and were now enjoying their breakfast.  But for the first time we got to see lion cubs!  They were probably the most adorable creatures I have ever seen!  Some were about three weeks old, and some were over 6 months, but they all loved playing with each other and stealing each other’s food.  Remember the scene in The Lion King where Simba and Nala are playing and they say, “Pinned ya!”  “Pinned ya again!”  I got to see that scene happen in real life with two cubs!  It was unreal.  Then we drove through a wildebeest stampede in order to watch another lion that looked like it was about to pounce on a wildebeest that was left alone, but it never did.  Although after this we endured a 14 hour matatu ride back to Kakamega, it was an amazing weekend!  I probably have over 1,000 pictures and about twenty videos (literally), so I promised I will try to get them posted sometime!   

Things are going great back at Tumaini!  An amazing American named Rosalie was here for a week and took the children on a trip to Kitale, which is something they have never done!  We also were able to fix the projector at the orphanage so we got popcorn and drinks and watched a movie!  I have also learned the history of how Tumaini began, but that is worthy of an entire blog.  Also an American team will be here in a few days to do great things with the children, so I am looking forward to working with/meeting them!  Stay tuned to see how it goes!

Also just a side note, I won't be starting my master's program until Fall 2012, so if anyone has any job opportunities or ideas for when I get home please let me know!

African Update

Hello Everyone!  It’s been very busy here at Tumaini!  Lots of things have been going on so I will briefly tell you about some of them!

Textbooks

The Dutch girls and I have been thinking a lot about what we can do to help the children here.  One problem we noticed was there is typically one text book for every three children.   When we read out loud they have to pass them around, and I don’t like to assign homework because not everyone can take a book home.  So with some of the money we all fundraised at home we went with Rose and bought new textbooks!  Now not only will there be more books for every subject, but we also bought the books for 8^th grade which will have its first class next term!  So thank you to all those who donated!

Musical Festival

We had a few groups who have made it to the semifinals!  If they place in the top 3 at the competition tomorrow then they will go to the Nationals!  The children have been working very hard and practiced ALL THE TIME, so I hope they do well!  I have videos and pictures of the performances and I will put them up as soon as I figure out how!  Also, Rose has started a blog for Tumaini, the site is smilesformiles.blogspot.com so make sure you follow it too.  We are in the process of trying to put up pics on that one too!

Beans, Beans, the Magical Fruit…

Well in case anyone is wondering, the above saying is true.  It is now bean harvesting season in Western Kenya which means two things:

1.        I am eating a lot of beans

2.       My calling in life is not to be a farmer

After cutting the beans down at the farm (which we are not even asked to help with because it’s so much manual labor), we bring them back to the compound in a wagon led by either a donkey or cow.  Then for the past week every day we lay out the beans in the yard so they can dry out and right before it rains we cover all of them up, this process is repeated the next day, and the next…  And this is not a small portion of beans by any means!  Rose says it’s not enough to last a whole year, but I feel sure that it has to come close.  Today some were dry enough for us to start beating.  Literally we take the piles and beat them continuously with big sticks until all the beans fall out while dust and dirt is flying up everywhere.  But the children just continued to sing and dance the whole time they were beating.  When I first found out that I was going to learn to harvest beans I excitedly texted Gretchen to let her know we would plant some in the garden next year.  Sorry Gretch, I have changed my mind.

Cultural Miscommunications

Around here I am always the minority. Obviously I am outnumbered by the Kenyans, but not even the Dutch girls could understand why I was so excited about the results of the NBA draft (Go Cats!), even after I explained several times.  They don’t know what jorts are.

Another miscommunication I had was in reference to my intelligence.  Many times since I’ve been here Hesbon has said, “Wow Alex, you are very smart.”  I smile and say thank you not knowing what profound statement I have said to make him realize this, but at least he knows.  But, I found it odd when I would say nothing and still people would say how smart I was.  Come to find out none of the Kenyans consider me to be a genius; they just think I am very fashionable!  In Kenya “smart” means you look/dress nice!

This morning at church when Hesbon finished teaching about Daniel and the lions’ den he announced that our sisters  (me and the Dutch girls) would be sharing something.  This was news to me and I can tell by the way the girls look at me that I will be the one speaking.  They always use the whole language barrier thing as an excuse to put the pressure on me to speak for all of us.  I start to stress a little bit and rack my brain with what I am going to say.  So I go to the front and start telling the children about a book I read and how important it is to love your neighbors and treat others how as you want to be treated and I am sure I rambled on much longer than the children would have liked.  After I sit back down I realize that Hesbon was just asking us to tell about how we got lost during our walk the day before, not for me to give a sermon!    

Changes

Most of you would not recognize the Kenyan Alex, I’ve kicked a few habits and do things that some of you probably didn’t think was possible!

·         Today I cooked – literally helped Rose make chipates out of flour and water

·         Sleeping in means until 8 am, not 4 pm

·         Staying up late is past 10 pm

·         I exercise (walk, run, and a comical daily workout routine, well we try to make it daily)

·         I occasionally touch feet

·         I harvest beans and do dishes

·         Most shockingly – my room is always clean!

Also, during Arts and Crafts the other day a 4^th grader passed me a note saying, “Teacher Alex, I like you a lot.  Will you make friendship with me?  May God bless you and give you eternal life.”  It might have been the nicest note I have ever received, so I hung it up in my room.

African Child's Day

On June 16^th all of Africa celebrates African Child’s Day.  At Tumaini we were very excited to praise our children for how great they are.  We invited people from the community, including the children’s parents and families to come watch the children perform songs and dances.  After that, the Dutch girls and I helped serve the families lunch.  Although I was a little burnt out on serving when I left home (sorry Harry’s) it felt so good to be able to serve these people!  Later Rose told us they thought it was really neat to be served by Monzugus (white people)!  Here is a speech that was being read in the city that Vivian, one of our star pupils, read to us:

Ladies and gentlemen, children of Kakamega North District irrespective of your age, gender, race, religious affiliation, physical or mental challenges, I salute you on this historical day in the calendar of Africa and Kenya in particular.

It will not be a sign of being disrespectful of your status in the society but allow me to set records right that:

v  A child is anybody below the age of 18 years

v  Has a right to access basic needs; food, shelter, medication.  Clothing and parental guidance.

v  It’s the responsibility of the government and you as our parents/guardian to ensure that our needs are taken care of.

Let me also remind you that in 1976, in South Africa during the reign of Apartheid, due to discrimination against blacks, it took the courage of African children to go on the street demonstrating against the discrimination, at which over 100 children were shot dead while over 1,000 were injured.  This led to African nation in 1991 to coin the Day of the African Child as a day to remember the courageous steps our fellow brothers and sister took to liberate themselves in spite of the ill treatment from the Boers (white).

On the same note as we gather today to remember them, it’s also worthy to not that there are so many children endangered and with special needs i.e.:

v  HIV/AIDS orphans

v  Physically and mentally challenged

v  Street children

v  Street families

v  Denied basic needs

v  Physically, socially, or mentally tortured

v  Sexual offences against children; defilement, early marriages, early pregnancies

It’s good to note that various stakeholders have taken time to support and address the needs of the children in Kenya and our district in particular; I salute you for the good work. 

Let me bring to your knowledge that the key issues affecting us in this district are:

v  Child abandonment

v  Child labor

v  Child neglect

v  Defilement

v  Early marriages

v  Early pregnancies

v  Child trafficking

This in turn has impacted negatively on our social, moral, physical and education development in the society.

It’s an appeal to the police to always diligently investigate our cases, apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators against children rights.  Our parent and guardians to provide for our basic needs, philanthropic stakeholders to assist at their ability, provincial administrators always are vigilant when handling our cases. 

It’s also good to note there are children living on the streets due to pull and push factors leaving them without their basic needs.  People see them as outcast, but they are our fellow citizens.

As we celebrate today, let us note that it’s our obligation as children, parents, guardians, media houses, provincial administration, civil society organization, police and other relevant stakeholders to combine efforts and address the needs of the street child and family.

Finally, allow me to say:

            “All together for urgent action in favor of street children”

Trip to Kitale

So the girls and I set out last Friday afternoon, very excited to see a different city and explore more of Kenya!  After boarding the matatu at the end of our road it continued to stop frequently for the next few miles.  As the bus got more and more full somehow Eline and I ended up squished in the very back with no air circulation and laughing hysterically because you could not see Femke's head in the front seat due to being sandwiched between the butts of two African men!  After 3 hours, more than 30 passengers in a 12 person van at a time, and having to stop and honk in order not to run over the wild monkeys in the road - we made it to Kitale!

We had already picked the hotel we were going to stay in, but had no idea where it was so we walked aimlessly and asked for directions until we found it!  For the 3 of us to stay for the night it was $7 dollars a piece, which we thought was quite the bargain!  Then when we saw that double beds in Kenya are evidently equivalent to a twin bed in America, so two of us would be cuddling close for the night! Our hotel had a restaurant so we were relieved we didn't have to go out after dark to eat.  Without knowing the size we each ordered the sampler platter, and oh man was it a platter!  On each of our plates was rice, chipate (like a flour tortilla), eggs, french fries, fried chicken, steak, sausage, and a banana!  We looked like the biggest fat kids you have ever seen!  Not only was there meat on our plate, but it tasted like real American meat!  I had tried chicken here once before and it was not appetizing at all.  So here sat the three white girls scarfing down everything on their plates like we've never eaten!  I'm pretty sure other tables were staring.

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early so that we could see the sights.  The museum we planned to see decided not to open for the weekend so our driver, James, took us to a place called the Kitale Natural Park.  We paid an entrance fee and had a tour guide, so we are assuming it's going to be pretty cool...The first part we walk through (oh, it's sprinkling now and I left my raincoat at the hotel)  is the botanical gardens.  There are lots of neat trees and our guide tells us what purpose they serve in Africa.  There is even one that supposedly cures asthma, and Femke is tasting different leaves and what not.  Then we enter the area that has different trees that are mentioned in Biblical stories.  I am thinking, "Wow, this is going to be really cool!"  The second tree we walk up to our guide says, "And here is a sycamore, like the one Zacheus climbed up."  I looked at him like he was crazy and then realized he was being serious.  This so called "tree" looked a lot more like something I would call a one and a half foot tall twig.  Unless Jesus and Zacheus were along the same size as GI Joes, this tree would not come in very handy.

We exit the gardens and head onto the tour of the forest and wildlife. After walking over several wooden bridges that all felt like they were going to break at any moment (and it's still drizzling) the tour guide says we will be seeing monkeys soon...about a mile later we have seen no animals, and he seems unaware.  Most of his sentences began with phrases like this, "And over here where we are digging; this is going to be a river where you can take boat rides."  "And this fenced in area that has a sign saying 'Snakes,' that is where we will be putting snakes soon."  When we got to where the monkeys were he said they must be hiding.  Just as I thought the tour is coming to an end we got to a field with lots of cows and bulls.  He takes us very close and says that these cows can't reproduce because their female parts aren't positioned right.  I just thought, "hmmm, that's interesting."  We round the corner to an area with some goats and the guide says casually, "All these goats are hermaphrodites."  The Dutch girls look at me confused because that's an English word they've never heard.  So I ask the guide, "Is there something wrong with all these animals?"  "Oh yes, of course," he responds and then precedes to show us a few sheep that  have two or three legs.  Some with shriveled legs, and others that simply drag limbs.  When we reached the odd looking animal that he says is a mixed breed of a dog and cow, I had had enough.  For those of you who don't know exactly how weird I am - let me explain.  One of my biggest fears is a half man half horse, aka centaur.  Yes, I am aware they don't exist, but the idea completely freaks me out.  I refuse to watch the Chronicles of Narnia because of this phobia and close my eyes in certain scenes of Harry Potter.  So you can only imagine the state of panic I am felling with all these odd animals!  I then ask sarcastically if next we are going to see a two headed goat.  He replies seriously, "Oh no we don't have that.  Just the bull with 4 horns, 3 eyes, and a deformed mouth." I am absolutely horrified just imagining the nightmares that are soon to come.

After leaving the twilight zone, we ask our driver to take us somewhere to see animals we actually WANT to see.  The next place was unbelievable!  We pulled into a long driveway then went into what you thought would be a backyard, but instead it was  this beautiful landscape with zebras and giselles just galloping about, and the trees literally looked like they were off the Lion King (Dev, I wish you could see it!).  They also had two rhinos that came so close I could touch.  After this I assume we are leaving when our guide says that now it's time to ride the ostrich.  Yes, he said we were going to ride a bird.  So sure enough there is an ostrich with a saddle on his back being supported by what looks like toothpicks as legs.  Despite my suspicions the guide assures me that it can hold me up. A man helps me on and I am straddling the bird while holding its poor wings as reigns, and it very unsteadily takes off.  The two men that I assume are standing there in case I fall are actually helping to hold up the ostrich!  Talk about feeling fat! So now I am sitting on top of this poor bird and have no choice but to finish the ride!  As if my weight wasn't enough, the men then insist that it's perfectly fine for Femke and Eline to ride it too!  This might go down as one of the most absurd days of my life.

Also, in case you haven't heard - Hell has frozen over.  I painted about 12 little girls toe nails.

More from Tumaini!

Well I have survived a little over 2 weeks in a foreign county!  I wouldn't even say I have just survived, but I think I am adjusting well to the different life style!   Somethings are harder than others (like eating ugali EVERYDAY) but most things are pretty interesting.  I like not having a blowdryer and only washing my hair every few days.  And  because of this, I also like not having to look in a mirror! It's raining hard outside right now (which it usually does once a day here)  so I am writing, but Femke is in the kitchen with Paulie learning how to cook a chicken.  Not like we cook a chicken though.  This one started out alive (about 20 min ago) then Paulie broke it's neck to kill it, plucked all the feathers out, chopped off the head, and that was when I decided to quit watching!  I was scared if I saw what comes next I wouldn't want to eat tonight!  You definitely see some odd things here, for example while riding on a matatu (the public transportation) Femke saw a cow scratching it's ear with one of his back legs!  One of my favorite parts about the Kenyan culture is their little regard to time and schedule.  It drives the Dutch girls crazy!  If something is supposed to start at 9:00, you can be certain it will  begin between 10:00 and 12:00, so those of you who know me well know that I am in Heaven!

For those of you wondering how the competition went...we made it to regionals in eight categories! Everyone was so excited  because it is our first year participating!  Today was the first out of two days at the regional level, and we had six of the categories qualify for the the next level!  So if they make it past that, then they go to state!  The children were so excited that they stood outside singing and dancing until the rain started!  I have a video of one of the song and dances they competed with so I will post it as soon as I learn how!

The most special part about this place is the people.  Today when I got to school Mr. Shane (one of the teachers) brought me into his classroom and had the students welcome me and then gave me an avacado for no reason at all.  When we were at the competition in Malava the head teacher had promised to show us monkeys, but when we got to the area he thought they would be and they weren't, he continued to search so finally we got to see the monkeys, all because he refused to break his promise!  There is one little girl who is seven years old, and she is absolutely beautiful and always smiling.  She loves for me to play a card game that we made up together with her or help her color.  She is very good in school and is one of the students who has progressed to the next round in the poem competition.  I recently discovered that before she lived at Tumaini, when she was five years old a man abused her while she was walking home one day.  When Rose and Violet heard about this they went to ask her family if they knew any details about it, and they family members brushed it off and said she was probabley making up stories!  How cound any human being think a five year old could make up something like that?!?  This absolutely broke my heart, but when you see her now and how happy and safe she is, it makes me so thankful for these children that they have a place like Tumaini to go.  Not all the children here were abused that way, there are some who were abandoned at a young age, some where the parents have died and relatives won't take them in, and some where the parents couldn't afford to take care of them.  I don't tell these stories to make anyone feel bad, I just want everyone to be aware of how blessed we are!  These children make me realize everyday that there is always someone out there that could use a little help or encouragement.  And seeing what they have lived through and how much they still enjoy life makes everyday here that much better.  So please keep these children in your prayers!

Stay tuned because the Dutch girls and I went away for the weekend and I have some pretty funny stories!

T.I.A.

SaSa!  This is another way to greet people in Swahili!  I am actually sitting on a huge rock outside of the orphanage writing this right now, and two women just stopped to talk to me.  They began by asking me if they could have my bracelet and then they would be my friend, so I gave her my markey cancer center bracelet and we talked.  This is not the first time a local has asked me to give them something in exchange for their friendship.  Although I find it odd, it appears to be a normal gesture in their culture.  Sometimes when it's something I need to keep I just laugh and say no.  Then they laugh and we continue talking.

Here at Tumaini the days are pretty laid back.  I live in the Guest House with Rose, who is the director of the school and orphanage, her son Moses (who is 10 yrs old), little Sara Beth (a 2 and a half yr old Rose has taken in as her own), Christy ( one of the orphans who helps look after Sara), and their housekeeper Paulie (that I love!).  She is 26 years old and does most of the cooking and cleaning.  There are also two Dutch girls here volunteering like I am.  Femke is 22 yrs old and is here for two months, and Eilena is 24 yrs old and will be here for 3 months.  I was really glad to find out they were going to be here as well.  This way I am not the only one being submerged into a completely different culture and we can talk about all the different aspects of being here.  Femke speaks English very well, and Eilena is getting better everyday!  It's funny because sometimes I will be sitting in a room and there will be one conversation going on in Swahili and another in Dutch, so I just sit and laugh because I have no idea what anyone is saying!

A normal weekday here consist of waking up and going to school to find out what the schedule is (it basically changes to however the teachers see fit for the day).  Usually in the morning the Dutch girls and I will teach a few P.E. classes.  We change what we do based on the children's ages.  And we switch between teaching them games from America and Holland.  We have taugh them games like Red Rover, Dutch dodgeball, a Dutch way of playing freeze tag, relay races, and the funniest was teaching them to do wheel barrow races where they hold each other feet and try to walk on their hands.  They love to do anything with instruction or organization as long as it is fast pace.  Like any children they get distracted if it bores them, so we are learning what works best as we go.

In the afternoon there are a couple different things I teach.  Sometimes I teach reading or dictation.  This is where I read aloud and the children have to write down what I am reading and we go over it together.  There are very good at this, and even though my accent is different than theirs they usually understand everything.  Typically there are a couple words they have never heard, so we go over the spelling and I tell them what it means.  For the reading part, the children and I take turns reading out loud and then I ask them comprehension questions at the end.  I am always amazed how intellegent and well behaved they are.  From Grade 1 through Grade 7 they are always eager to learn!  They soak up everything and love to participate.  From about Grade 3 on they speak English and Swahili, and some even younger than that!

June 1st was a very exciting day for us all because in 1963 on that day Kenya gained it's independence from Great Britain!  So there was a celebration in Malava and we took some of the children to town to sing for the festival!  The teachers and students who weren't participating could not afford to come to town for the celebration.  Children from a few different schools performed, and even a school for children with special needs.  This was a big deal because there are only a few of them in all of Kenya.  I learned that most people in Africa still find it shameful to have a child who is mentally disabled, and usually keep them locked in the house.  So having schools like this is slowly showing people here that you shouldn't be embarrassed if you have a challenged child.  After the singing, a city official read a speech that the President was giving in Nairobi.  This man talked for a very long time!  And the speech was in Swahili - so not much fun for me :)  But at the end lots of people came up and shook our hands, and welcomed us to their country.  Even a policeman asked us to keep his number in case we had any kind of problem.  It's funny the way people in America perceive Africa, because I've not had a single second where I have felt unsafe or unwelcome. 

So our next big day is this Monday June 6th, tomorrow!!!  It is the chorus and poem competition for the district!  Our children will be competing against about 30 other schools.  Everyone is very excited because this is the first year Tumaini has participated.  So everyday the children have stayed after school for hours practicing, and I was able to help select which children will be performing.  Today they made final changes and got costumes together for some of the songs.  Its fun to watch how much they have improved over the last week!  If they win, the children will be able to go perform in the state house in Nairobi!  So wish us lots of luck!!!!

Also, when I return to the U.S. I will NEVER EVER complain about washing clothes again.  And today I learned that for the remainder of my time here I will wear EVERYTHING at least twice before washing.  This is what you decide after spending 2 hours handwashing your clothes!