Feeding St. Frank

Lauren and I made a pretty solid donation to the school last week in order to provide water and food to the students.  Joseph went to the market for supplies, made arrangements for water, and stopped by the market last night for vegetables.  We were able to get everything that we wanted to set them up (hopefully) for the next month!  The water truck came this morning to fill up the tank & all the students came out from class with containers to be filled to watch them work.  It was so great to see how excited they were about it.  Around 11:00am, a few of the older girls started cooking lunch.  It was quite the process!  I have to be honest, watching the dozen of them in wavy skirts with knives and open fire in this tiny little room was a little unnerving…..but we’ll work on safety another day I guess.  We’ll just get them fed for now.  They made a delicious meal of potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, & onions with rice.  It was enough to feed the whole school & it was wonderful to see them all walk away with full bellies.

I know I’ve sent the link out to many of you, but Lauren & I have created a GoFundMe account and will be working to continue to keep the kids hydrated & full of healthy food.  If you are interested in supporting us as we work toward our goal, please go to http://www.gofundme.com/327yqc.  Any donation would be deeply appreciated. 

Water Man!!

After the tank was full, they used every drop left in the hose to make sure nothing was wasted.

It's a little tight in the cooking area.  Here the girls are peeling potatoes on one side and cutting veggies while the fire warms up on the other.

A few young ones having lunch.

This is St. Frank's dishwasher.  ;)

Pray for me

We went to Joseph & Francis’ church on Sunday, Solid Rock Worship Center.  It was quite the experience!  The first hour was singing, dancing, and a lot of yelling and chanting…..essentially any way you were moved by the spirit, you should just let it happen.  Everyone was so into it, it was really cool to see.  It’s NOTHING like church in the states so we were very happy that we went.  Then the last 2 ½ hours (you read correctly…..the service was 3 ½ hours long) it was a combination of the pastors & guest speakers preaching, prayers and songs from the children, bringing up special guests, etc.  They made us go up in front of the whole congregation to say our names, why we were in Kenya, etc.  Sort of embarrassing, but everyone was so excited we were there, shaking our hands, etc.  It was extremely sweet. 

After church, Joseph invited us to come back to his house for chipates, which he cooked inside of his tiny room.  It was interesting to see.  He also bought pineapple fanta….which is the most delish beverage of all time, if you haven’t had it.  We came back & relaxed.  A nice little Sunday.

The church from the outside.  Sorry, no shots from inside.  We didn't want to be the muzungo jerks taking photos during service.

A few highlights of the last few days....

• We had our first girls class at the high school.  It was a little intimidating going in, but it went really well.  They were super engaged, shared a lot and really seemed to like the class.  We are going to do another one with sophomores next week.  We're in the process of putting together some lessons so they can keep doing it after we leave. 
• The girls at the school had been asking to talk about changes that happen in their bodies, etc so we did a little research and have been teaching them about all these important lady things….puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, etc etc.  Many of them have clearly never had anyone talk to them about this & they are hanging on every word.  They are asking a lot of questions & say they are enjoying it and learning a lot.  It’s great to be able to help educate them and clear up some of the inaccurate info they have in their heads.  We’re going to look up a few more topics today to work on in the upcoming week.  I’m really enjoying this part of my work here & feel it’s making an impact on these young girls.
• Smooching on a giraffe!  There is a giraffe center where they help to support the endangered roethschild giraffe.  They breed them at the center & release them into the wild when they are old enough.  There is a platform you can see below where giraffes will walk up to be fed by the trainers or visitors at the center.  If you want a slobbery kiss, you can put the food in your mouth & they will come over to take it with their long nasty blackish tongue.  It’s absolutely hilarious.

                                      

One of my MANY failed attempts at a kissing shot.  He's pretty much eating my face in this one, but there are several other pretty funny ones.  You can't imagine the amount of slobber.  I literally washed my whole face in the bathroom after.  

Finally a good one.  Ha!

• I really did have a monkey on my back!  We walked through city park in Nairobi & it is chock full of monkeys.  If you buy some peanuts, they are immediately at your feet begging.  They will grab the food out of your hands or if you invite them up (of sometimes even if you don’t) they will jump on your back to get some.  It was a little scary but a ton of fun.  

Feeding the monkeys.  This makes it look like it's way more controlled than it actually is.  It's actually chaos.

My new friend....sort of.  I was actually kind of afraid he was going to maul me, but he behaved himself.

One of the little bastards grabbed Lauren's whole bag of peanuts & I got a shot of him running away with it in his arms.  Too funny.

• Lauren is leaving on Thursday, so we decided to have a little day out before she goes.  We went to the giraffe center, monkey park, city center & the markets down there.  Then we sat and had a bite to eat & a couple of tuskers at city center before heading back toward our area to have a few drinks & a decent dinner.  We found a brewpub down the street from Junction & sampled a few of their beers, and ate some American food! I know this is a little ridiculous, but it actually felt great to be in a restaurant environment & kick back a little.  It was a very fun night & nice to spoil ourselves.

Kibera Slum

We got up on Thursday & headed to the 2^nd largest slum in Africa.  It’s called Kibera & is located pretty centrally in Nairobi.  It’s approximately 2.5 sq km, & houses around 1.5-2.5 million people. They pay 700ksh per month for rent (around $84) & the average home is around 12x12, but in many cases sleeps upwards of 10 people.  The land was set aside by the government in the early 1900’s to provide some low cost housing & was intended to be a short term solution.  Since that time it has grown dramatically & become a permanent fixture in the city.  They are working to provide ways for people to get out of the slums, but have had little significant change thus far.  Regarding their facilities, one pit toilet is shared by up to 50 homes….so they are often full and people have to go wherever they can.  The result is a stream of water, sewage & garbage that runs throughout the slum which you can see in the photos below.  They told us to take as many photos as we wanted....but it just felt wrong.  At the same time, it's something I wanted to share as it's a pretty incredible thing to see.  So, I tried to sneak a few inconspicuously.  

We packaged food (flour & beans or lentils & rice) to be delivered for a few families.  It’s enough to give them a decent base of the family’s diet which they can hopefully supplement with other more nutrient rich foods, if they can afford it.  The program supports 8 families with the goal of helping lift the burden of feeding the family so they can get a job and get their feet under them.  At that time they are released from the program & the assistance is provided to someone else in need.  It also provides medical care for the families, several of which were affected by HIV & are currently at various stages of the disease.  They have all seen great improvements in their health since getting on the proper medications & improving their nutrition. I know this all seems like a small amount of impact considering the vast need in Kibera…..but that is one important lesson that I’ve learned while I’m here.  Every single thing we do makes an impact, no matter how small.  It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the grand needs that are all around us & at times to feel like there is nothing you can do to even make a mark.  But the fact of the matter is, even if what you do only helps one person or one family it’s a start.  These small wins are what we need to stay focused on.  The food we delivered meant a great deal to the families that received it.  It keeps them going during a time where they may not have otherwise been able to do so.  Hopefully as families “graduate” the program, it will continue to touch others as well.

From on top of this hill you can get a good view of the slum.  This doesn't show it entirely, but gives you a pretty good idea of it's size.  It seems endless.

A group of kids came up to take pictures with us in front of their school (which you can see behind).  Every kid in Kibera chants/sings "How are you? How are you? How are you?" repeatedly to any muzungos they see until you respond.  It's pretty cute.

There is a sewing school in the slum to help teach women this skill to help support themselves.  This program is sponsored by the same group as the food program we were helping with.

Just a shot of an open area as we were walking.  You can get an idea of the structures, and also see the pile of garbage in back.  

You can see the "stream" flowing through at this spot.   

A few kids saw us walk into one home to deliver the food so they decided to peek in the door & say hi.  Also, this sort of shows how close the houses are.  They are all connected & typically the rows of homes are separated by just a few feet (which you can see behind the kids).  I wanted to show it, but couldn't get a shot in the aisles with so many people were around.  It just felt rude.

Eli's Gift

My nephew, Eli, gave me a couple of books to give to some kids in Africa before I left.  Very sweet.  I gave the pre-school class the books today & the kids were very excited about receiving them.  Thank you Eli!

Massai Village

As I mentioned, Massai-land is a completely different lifestyle than where we are living in Nairobi.  We visited a Massia village to see how they live their life.  Four Massai warriors met us at the camp & walked us into the village.  

When we entered the village, we were met by the son of the chief.  He & a group of other men did a welcome dance for us.  Part of the dance they also use for men to show their skills in jumping.  During an annual ceremony, whoever shows they can jump the highest in the village will get a “discount” on his next marriage.  The standard payment to the family of his bride is 10 cows, but this person would pay less…depending on how high he could jump.  

A few other interesting facts about the village:

• The whole village is descendents of the same grandfather.  So for that reason, people have to go outside of the village to find a wife.
• Men have many wives.  4-5 seemed pretty typical.
• Kids are typically cared for by the grandmother rather than the mother.
• They all wear red (many variations of their wraps which you can see above) because it’s the Massai color.  That way they can signal from far away that they are Massai.
• The women build the houses, which consist of a central space for cooking with a couple of benches for sitting, the bedrooms (in the house we were in 9 people shared 3 bedrooms) and a room where the sheet & goats slept (yes, in the house). 
• The village moves every nine years to a new location approximately 1 km away.  They have to do this because the termites slowly eat at the wood supporting the house & it finally gets to a point where the house is no longer safe to live in. 
• Their diet consists of a base of milk & cows blood.  They also eat a number of grains & vegetables that they grow and periodically the meat of an animal that has to be put down.  They don’t have animals that they raise specifically for meat.
• They make their shoes of recycled tires and he said they will last for 10 years or more….longer than a village.
• Funny story….they asked if we wanted to see the cows blood that they drink, so we said sure.  A few minutes later we were walking to where we would see it & as we turned a corner we saw a calf with 5 men restraining it & a knife to it’s neck!  We all screamed in shock that they were going to kill this cow & thankfully they immediately stopped.  We appeared to have a bit of a miscommunication……by asking if we wanted to see the blood, he meant they were going to draw it fresh from the cow.  Mmmm…no thank you.  The process for this is to take an arrow to the throat of the cow, drain some blood for drinking and then block the opening so it heals & the cow survives.  Despite that they weren’t going to kill it…..not something I needed to witness.

It was very cool to visit the village.  That said, I couldn't  help but feel like we were exploiting the massai and how they live during our tour.  It was fascinating to be in such a different culture, but just felt a bit like an invasion of privacy following them around in a group taking pictures.  Regardless, I am glad that I went and definitely learned a lot.

Their hand made tire shoes.  I kinda want a pair.

The central living space in the homes.  It's pitch black inside so the photo isn't great, but they say your eyes adjust and they never use any sort of light other than the fire while they are cooking.

Starting a fire with cedar and sandpaper wood

The animals in my kingdom....

These were the lions we stumbled across on our way out the first day.  A pretty sweet surprise.

Yes, we were this close.  Incredible.

Buffalo (One of the big Five)

This pic didn't really turn out, but this is where we had lunch on Sunday.  There were a herd of Zebras & Wildebeest grazing behind us.  

Zebras are EVERYWHERE!  By the end of the weekend you literally don't even look twice when you see them.  They are as common as seeing cows.  Crazy.

He's so cute!

We finally found a cheetah on our last day!  Leopard never appeared but we saw a few other big cats that made up for it.

We didn't get to actually see a kill, but we did come up on a couple of them just a few minutes too late.  Sorry if you have a weak stomach, but it was still a pretty incredible experience to witness.  

See you soon you old baboon!  These guys are chickens...they run every time you come up on them, so I'm pretty happy about these shots.

Sooooo many elephants!  I had a hard time picking a favorite, but everyone loves a little baby ;)

Hanging out in the van during breakdown #2.  I love to stand in the van as we're driving around.  A little rough....but kinda like the subway haha.

This is the group from our van.  Mike, our tour guide, is the one with the hat on.

Ok, I have to stop now.  Many of you will see a thousand more photos when I get back bc there are a million animals that I haven't shown.  With Kenyan internet I'd be here all night if I tried.  I hope this gives you a taste of how incredible the Massai Mara is.

Exotic Animals & a hot shower……An amazing safari weekend

Safari!!!!  One of the things the volunteer group organizes is a 3 or 4 day safari with a local tour group to Massai Mara & Lake Nokuru.  It’s two guys, Mike & Jackson (No joke, that’s their names) in janky vans (no awesome safari Jeeps) that take you out to Massai Mara & Lake Nokuru to see some of Kenya’s beauty.  I can’t begin to describe what an amazing weekend we had & how incredible the scenery & animals are.  We definitely had a few interesting situations in the process as well…..but that’s to be expected when paying $130 per day for safari instead of $1000 with one of the big tours.  I would go with this group again in a heartbeat if I could do it all over again. Mike was one of the best tour guides I've ever had & made it even more fun.

The Massai is an area of Kenya West of Nairobi.  It is essentially what many Americans stereotypically picture when they think of Africa.  Most of the people there are farmers, wear traditional dress, shaved heads, stretched earlobes, many piercings, multiple wives, and live in mud huts with very few modern conveniences etc.  It’s worlds away from Nairobi but incredibly intriguing as soon as we enter the region.  We are heading to the Massai Mara which is a 350 square kilometer national reserve near the border of Tanzania.   Before we even reached the reserve, we saw Zebras, Baboons, Gazelles, Ostriches, Meerkats, & other animals just roaming around near the road and on the farmland.

On the drive, we stopped at an overlook of the Great Rift Valley, it’s a beautiful valley that runs from Egypt all the way down to South Africa.

Around 4:00 we made it to our “campground” just outside the gate to Massai Mara.  The tents were semi permanent with beds, a hot shower & flushing toilet!  I took two hot showers & even shaved my legs!  It was more exciting than you can imagine.  

We were on game drives in Massai Mara for 3 days…..a few hours before sunset on Saturday, 9 hours Sunday, & a few hours after sunrise on Monday.  Then we drove to lake Nakuru & were in the reserve on Tuesday morning as well.  I’ve dreamt of doing a safari all my life & it did not disappoint.  I won’t go into a lot of detail about what animals we saw because it will do it no justice.  I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.  And if you’re wondering, I am by no means some sort of great photographer, it’s just really hard to screw this up.  The only animal we didn’t get to see was the Leopard…..Sneaky little bums.   But I’m guessing you can see that everything else that we saw more than made up for it. J

A few highlights of the weekend:

• On our first drive, it was 6:30 (when the park closes), so Mike was heading toward the exit when he took a sharp turn saying he had a hunch.  He stopped shortly after and straight ahead about 15 yards was a female lion & 3 baby cubs.  We were all going nuts & Mike started laughing that we missed Mufasa.  We were so busy with the others that we missed the two enormous males laying literally 4-5 feet from the van, right below us.  It was incredible & a perfect ending to our first day.  We watched the sun set as we drove back home. 
•  Mike’s van overheated on the drive to Massailand…..then again in the middle of the reserve on Sunday.  Then we switched vans & went with Jackson on the last two days…..and his van overheated three times on Monday!  We survived without getting mauled by a lion or speared by a buffalo. 
• It’s impossible not to reference “The Lion King” a million times from the moment you enter Kenya, especially when you’re out on Safari.  We got in the car for a long drive on Monday & Jackson surprised us by having the movie to play!  We watched the Lion King I, II & III on the drive home from the safari which was the perfect end.
• We were driving along the freeway & all of a sudden there were a group of baboons on the side of the road.  They’re just sort of chilling, walking around, looking just like people.  I couldn’t get a good photo in time, but I’ll try to get one.  It’s hilarious.
• Jackson's van got stuck in the mud one day & it took about ten of us, a bunch of sticks, and a lot of grunting to get it out.  

A few shots of the school & my apartment.

A few of our kids muggin for the camera. I was taking a photo of one kid and before I knew it there was a mob.  They love photos. Pretty funny.

(From Left to Right) Francis, Me, Lauren, & Joseph...and a little cutie pie who jumped in.

St. Francis School.  There are 8 classrooms & teacher offices within this building.  The big black thing is the drinking water for the kids.....which is empty right now.

This is a shot of Mary's kitchen in the apartment where we live.  You can see the two stoves on the ground where she does all the cooking.  They are fueled by coal that she burns below the burners.  The big black containers are the water source for the apartment.  There is a pump outside where she can pump in water when she needs it.  Then we dunk a bucket in there if we need water for a shower, to flush the toilet, etc.

And a shot of our bedroom....yes that's 6 beds you count.  Don't be jealous.

Cha (Teacher) Meagan

Students will be picking us up from Mary’s every morning & we met our handsome guides, Joseph & Nicholas today.  We got to the school & jumped right into teaching.  I taught 7^th & 8^th graders about the environment and couldn’t believe how smart they are!  They knew nearly everything I’d prepared!  But they all participated really well and were a great class, helping to ease my fear.  I had a phy ed class with 2^nd – 6^th graders & it was so much fun!!  Then we had two women’s health classes which also went really well.  Believe it or not everyone….I had a blast!  The children are so grateful, loving & happy as any I’ve ever seen.

Just for a little background, there are private & government schools in Kenya....and there are also thousands of families that can't afford to send their children to either.  So for those kids, if they're lucky, they have the opportunity & proximity to be able to attend a community school like St. Frank.  The school is free to attend, the teachers there work for no salary.  They are only able to stay afloat by donations that they receive from people and that is barely enough to provide supplies for the students.  Despite that, they are full of joy, laughter and generosity.  Pretty incredible.  We made a $75 donation today (Many thanks to Mama & Papa Haas for the donation money) & Joseph immediately went to the market & bought supplies for the school.  It was enough to provide one booklet & one pen or pencil for each student in the school, as well as chalk for the teachers.  They were so thankful that they had paper again to be able to take notes in class.

We talked with the girls about healthy relationships & respecting themselves.  At the end of each discussion we asked for questions and welcomed them to write down any questions that were personal and we would go talk to them privately later in the day.  They had a few general questions but had a couple of tough questions right off the bat.  Ann wanted to know what she should do if her boyfriend wanted to have sex, what would happen if they didn’t have a condom, would she get pregnant, etc.  Consolata wanted to talk about her relationship with her Dad….they fought a lot, he didn’t support her going to school, and he sometimes beat her &/or her Mom for various reasons.  Wow.  I’m not the most emotional person, but it took everything I had not to break down hearing these personal stories.  They were crying out for help & willing to share it with perfect strangers in order to get some.  We talked through it all, did our best to provide support, promised to continue to work with them on these things, & they were thankful that we were there to discuss it with them.  In the second class (same group) when we asked for questions, tons of girls were writing things down.  We were thinking Oh Crap, I’m not sure we’re ready for this.  When we opened them up they were all notes just saying thank you, please stay and work with us, it’s God’s work you’re doing, and it means so much because many girls wouldn’t know this information if we weren’t here to teach them.  It was one of the most powerful moments of my life and one that I’ll never forget.  It was a really great ending to an amazing day, and I’m super excited to come back again.

Joseph walked us home after work (He of course was going to head back to finish his typical 13 hour (unpaid) day running the school).  On the way home he asked if we wanted to see his house because he lives just down the street from us.  We walked in to an 8X8 foot room that he shared with the four siblings that he cares for.  There is one bed, two tiny couches, an extra sleeping pad they put on the floor & a sheet covering the door opening.  There was a pit in back that the community used as a bathroom and a pot they could put coal in to cook on.  That was it.  And he couldn’t have been more proud that he was able to support his family with this home.  The county supplied drinking water to them…sometimes.  He said it was dropped off for the community to share, every 2 weeks if they were able to bring it.  If they didn’t get it they would have to buy it & it was very expensive.  When we asked how much, he said 50 schillings for  5 gallons.  50 schillings is around 75 cents.  We thanked him for showing us his lovely home & walked home a little bit in awe.

I’m sure on some level this is helping you to understand my culture shock…..but I promise you it does no form of justice to the level of poverty & need that there is in parts of Kenya.  That said, I’m already finding Kenya to be an incredible place and am back to being grateful for this opportunity and looking forward for what is to come.

First Day on the Job......and the Culture Shock Grows.

One of my roommates is a 26 year old from Pittsburgh named Lauren.  We've been getting on really well & I'm extremely happy to have her here with me.  Those of you that knew of my trip, know that I came here to volunteer with a Women's Education/Empowerment program.  You will also know that I intentionally didn't choose to do an orphanage or teaching assignment....because I am relatively clueless when it comes to children.  So, you'll get a pretty good kick when I tell you that in orientation yesterday, they informed us that that the "women" we were educating here were male & female children in a community school in Nairobi.  (I'll pause for laughter).  Both Lauren & I were immediately scared to death at the thought of being in front of a room full of children.....but we both took a look around at the amount of need there is everywhere here, and decided to roll with the punches & do our best to make it work. 

So, this morning we woke up, drank our chai & biscuit, and were picked up by our escort Bernadette to our first day on the job.  We arrived at the St. Frank Community School around 9:00am. There are 212 kids ages 2-14 at the school all crammed into rooms approximately 10x10 for each grade class.  We were introduced to each class (to a round of applause which was both awkward & hilarious at the same time).  I’ll be teaching environmental information & physical education and Lauren will be teaching nutrition this first week.  Together we’ll be teaching the girls in grades 4-8 about women’s health topics (healthy relationships, STDs, sex, etc).   I’ll be honest…..it was a pretty overwhelming day for me & I’m scared to death thinking about coming back.  I really have no idea what I’m doing and just feel like I’m going to make a fool out of myself on top of it….but am fighting of the urge to run frantically from the school.  So, we did a little prep for our classes & then left early so we could do some shopping for a Kenyan phone, internet, etc at the Junction (essentially a hangout for all the non-locals).  I’m almost embarrassed to admit it because I’m well aware I came here to do this work….but I was thankful to leave, and dreading coming back.

Inhalation of a mosquito net

One of the six people I'm sharing a room with just happens to be a wildly snoring canadian dude.  I had flashbacks of camping with my father as a kid (Sorry Didi).  In addition, there is a poorly placed mosquito net above my top bunk bed, which prevented me from breathing.  It was essentially plastered to my face or sucked up my nostrils thoughout the sleepless night.  Ambien was no match.  I'm seriously debating whether I prefer malaria or another night sleeping under that thing.....I'll keep you posted on what I decide. 

In addition, we ran out of water somewhere in the middle of the night which is essential in order to flush the toilet. Makes things interesting in a house full of 7 people.  Americans are so spoiled and we never think twice about it.  Not only could my host never wake up and take a warm shower, she couldn't take a cold one, couldn't wake up in the middle of the night and get a glass of water from the faucet....she couldn't even flush the toilet.

Let the adventure begin.....

Once upon a time there was a little white chick from Wisconsin who quit her job & headed half way around the world to volunteer in Africa.  Slightly nutty??  Perhaps, but she did it anyway.  Her story is to follow.  Pray for her.

Monday, May 13th I lefy my cozy world behind in Milwaukee & 22 hours of travel later arrived in Nairobi, Kenya.  Within the first few hours, I'd experienced a number of "firsts", many of which I'll share with you over the next month.  A few highlights in the first 48 hours are below:
I had my first.....
1. Culture Shock (and still sort of am)
2. ....and second and third....blackout in Kenya (Get your minds out of there....I mean electrical blackout)
3. Time staying somewhere with no running water.
4. Time showering out of a bucket.
5. Attempt at Swahili
6. Night sleeping under a mosquito net.