The Vision Self Help Group Of Dandora
I have introduced you to one of the women’s artisan’s groups with whom we will be working in Kenya in the Women 4 Women Initiative. I thought I would take a break from my packing frenzy having accomplished the mission of having one duffel packed at a weight of 48 lbs (just under the 50 lb limit) and no longer sitting in a sea of medical and art supplies, children’s socks and underwear, etc. I want to introduce another group, the Vision Self Help Group of Dandora. Dandora is another of the impoverished slum areas around Nairobi similar to Kibera. This group began almost ten years ago with the inspiration of Sister Little from Nyumbani Children’s Home. Sister Little who I had the pleasure of spending some time with during our last trip, including going to the slum with her, is like her name, little, but she is otherwise, despite not at all being a youngster, quite big on spunk and determination.Though she is supposed to be retired now, I hear she still shows up in Kibera to check out the Lea Toto Programs since they are her biggest devotion.
Sister Little with The 2010 KEST Adult Group and Nyumbani Children (anyone who makes me look tall has to be little!)
It was her idea to help this group of women, many of whom are HIV+, all of whom have HIV+ children getting care from the Lea Toto Clinic of Dandora by assisting them in developing a skill which would lead them to be self sufficient and able to earn enough income to support thier families. She brought them together to support each other and helped them to learn the art of jewelry making, particularly beading. They work together, create together, have developed a tremendous sense of comraderie and share the income that they produce. When we met with them last time I was struck by the support that they give to each other and how much they value creating together and felt a powerful connection because that process of creating together reminded me of my own women’s art group. As they each individually told us their own stories I was incredibly moved by their strenth, resiliency, devotion to their families and how they have taken their own hardship and used it to help others by doing such things as becoming AIDS advocates and community leaders. They were clearly a part of the inspiration for my poem about Kenyan women. They make lovely jewely and have increased the breadth of their ware by expanding into other items as well–I’ll be sure to take photos when we see them this time. And they, like many groups whom we met welcomed us with lovely song and dance which Im so looking forward to experiencing again.
Vision Self Help Project Women in their Stop AIDS, Malaria and TB.......and Obama Tees!
WE leave in JUST 4 more days!!
Kibera, Lea Toto, and Kibera Paper
Somewhere between a half and a million people live in Kibera, Kenya’s largest slum. No one knows for sure what the population is there, but it is estimated that 20% of Nairobi’s inhabitants live there at a population density of about 750, 000 people per square mile. It is one of the most crowded places on earth. It is hard to describe in words but photos and video give a better sense.
Kibera is the site of great poverty, overcrowding, unsanitary living conditions, and a high crime rate. It is also a location with a very high incidence of HIV/AIDs. This is the reason that The Lea Toto program of Nyumbani began—to provide outreach services and home based care to families with children who have HIV/AIDS. In addition to having a clinic in Kibera Lea Toto now has 8 other satellite clinics in the slum areas surrounding Nairobi. We visited these clinics in Kibera, Kariobongi and Dandora during our last trip to Kenya and will be visiting them again.
This time we will also be paying some special attention to a couple of women’s artisans groups which have developed out of the need for these women of poverty to to have an income to support their families. One of these groups is Kibera paper. We have been working on a plan for our visit to Kibera paper to work with the women there who make the cards from recycled paper. In addition to talking with them about ideas to market and sell more of their cards in the US, since 2 of us make our own cards, we are planning an interactive card making workshop with a sharing of ideas and new media.
Here is an article from CNNWorld about Kibera Paper:
Greeting card project helps slum women
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// // December 22, 2010|From David McKenzie, CNN
In the largest slum in Nairobi, Kenya, some of the community’s poorest women are taking part in project that is spreading the true meaning of the holiday season. In 2001, an Anglican missionary from Australia started the Kibera Paper Card Project to help disadvantaged women in the sprawling Kibera slum.
The initiative began with a group of six women making greeting cards from recycled paper. Nine years later and it has expanded to employ 26 local women.
“It’s for women who are widowed, some of them are orphaned, some of them are abandoned by their husbands, so they make cards to meet their needs,” said Kibera Paper Card Project coordinator Emma Wathura.
Wathura said the project focuses on helping women because “women are the ones who care for the family.”
Agnes Awour is one of those benefiting from the project. She used to struggle to put food on the table, but joining the group has helped, she said.
“It enables me to buy food and clothes and pay school fees,” she said. “Even my children are happy about it.”
The women involved in the project see the card making process through from beginning to end. They collect scrap paper from Nairobi businesses and soak and dye the paper, turning the waste into pulp and then the pulp into new paper.
The paper is then dried before the women’s creativity transforms what was once rubbish into beautiful greeting cards.
“Yeah there is money,” said Wathura. “For one thing, we don’t spend a lot. Because the recycled paper we are given is free.”
At the Nairobi Christmas Fair, where thousands descend every holiday season, the cards are proving popular.
In a business where message is key, the Kibera Paper Card project offers its customers much more than just a greeting: Shoppers know that by buying these cards, they’re changing lives.
This is a great video that focuses on Kibera and the Kibera Paper Project
The slogan for Kibera Paper has become “Buy a card, change a life.” If you watched the video you know how that is literally true. You can learn more about Kibera paper at www.kiberapaper.com and I’m sure I’ll have lots more to say when I am actually there sharing the experience with these women. This is just one example of a truly hopeful project that has arisen from the slums; there are more, including of course the Lea Toto clinics. Despite the enormity of the horrendous conditions and poverty, there is hope too.
Other Needs: The Masai women,children, AIDS prevention and beyond
I just received a flurry of e-mails form LLoydie Zaiser, our Kenya Trip leader in response to my e-mails which had questions and updates about what has been happening with our trip preparations and projects. One of her e-mails was in response to my comments about donations and was the following:
“Lynn, this is the email I sent out to plead for clothing donations for the Masai children. Check out the attached photos and see if you could resist giving. Lloydie”
I have posted one of the photos below, it IS absolutely irresistable! The children are are Maasai preschool children (whose growth has been dramatically stunted by malnutrition).
Masai children
In further following the links of this e-mail, I learned that the plea was from ED Colina whose face was familier to me from the DVD about the Nyumbani programs where he has been a longtime volunteer (26 years), but that now he has founded a group of non-profit volunteer organizations including one called “The Masai Women’s Empowerment Project (MWEP)” which is dedicated to improving the lives of the impoverished Merimbeti Masai women and children living in Athi River, Kenya. http://www.edcolinafoundation.org/foundation-projects. He describes their mission as providing meaningful interventions that respect cultural belief and historical experience, but still help to combat the incidence of hygiene-related disease, HIV/AIDS, child prostitution, pregnancy complications, hunger, poverty, and lack of education. I was struck by the how meaningful the mission is but also by the fact that this yet another inspiring example of the kind of generosity and giving that one individual can generate, so I wanted to post something about it along with that adorable picture. Since AIDs in Africa has become a female dominated disease, this foundation and its focus on women, AIDS awareness and prevention is crucial.
For The Students: World AIDs Day
Today (December 1st) is World AIDS day which is a day to stop and think about people who have the AIDS disease here and all over the world. AIDS is a disease that is caused by a virus called HIV, like chicken pox or the flu, but there is no vaccination and it is much more serious and eventually deadly if it is not treated. AIDs is passed from person to person by only very special close contact or by a mother who is infected passing it to her baby when she is pregnant or nursing. It can’t be passed by hugging or sneezing or coughing, so it can’t be prevented by good handwashing or the things you think about for not passing illnesses. We do know a lot about how to prevent and treat AIDS with medicines, but the ways of doing this are not available in the poorer parts of the world where most people who get AIDS end up dying. That is why there are so many orphans in Africa that need our help. The symbol for World AIDS day is the red ribbon so you may see them worn today and President Obama will have a huge one hanging on the front of the White House.
World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day was first established by the World Health Organization in 1988 and takes place annually on December 1st. I decided at some point that I would post an entry that would be educational about AIDS, especially the impact on children in Sub Saharan Africa and decided posting it today would be particularly fitting. The symbol for World AIDS day is the red ribbon, a large one of which hangs on the White House in Washington today. This day is a time for governments, organizations, and communities to come together and reevaluate and recommit to the needs of people with AIDs worldwide. The United States has a program, PEPFAR, the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief launched in 2003, the largest commitment ever by a single nation toward an international health initiative — a comprehensive approach to combating HIV/AIDS around the world. UNAIDS is a joint United Nations program to address the AIDS epidemic. Despite this and many other programs, the AIDS epidemic has continued to grow and millions have died.
Since the AIDS epidemic first began in 1981, over 25 million people have died of AIDS. Today over 33 million people are living with HIV/AIDS and 2/3 of those people live in Sub Saharan Africa. AIDS, a disease that weakens the body’s immune system, is caused by HIV, a virus that can be transmitted sexually, through blood products, in utero and through breast milk. Although there are certain high risk groups, the overwhelming majority of transmission of the virus is through heterosexual contact. There is no cure for AIDS and unlike many other viruses, there is no vaccine for HIV. There is much known about how to prevent and treat AIDS. Averting sexual transmission involves encouraging safer sexual behavior including delayed first sex, partner reduction and condom use. The spread of HIV through drug injections can be slowed by outreach work, needle exchange and drug substitution treatment. Mother-to-child transmission can be almost eliminated through use of medication and avoidance of breastfeeding through the substitution of formula. Treatment with antiretroviral drugs (ARVS) for people who have the HIV virus can help them to stay healthy and live productively for many years. However, only a very small minority of people have access to the necessary education, prevention tools and the necessary treatment.
In 2007, 1 in 7 of the 2.9 million people who died of AIDS was a child. About 95% of the 13 million children who have been orphaned because of AIDS live in Africa. By 2010 it is expected that one third of all African children will be orphaned. As you can see, this set of facts of figures is staggering. But the numbers only begin to convey the magnitude of the problem by identifying who has died or is orphaned, without really conveying the scale of the individual suffering of child who has been orphaned because of AIDs.
Prior to becoming orphaned a child has been living with an increasingly ill parent and often has been caring for that parent. They have begun to suffer neglect and had to take over adult responsibilities like caring for siblings and contributing financially to the household. Many have had to drop out of school. They may continue to live with the surviving parent, but often that parent eventually becomes ill and dies as well. At the time of dealing with their grief over losing their parents they are also left without anyone to care for their basic needs and are burdened with the shame of the stigma that comes with having AIDS in the family.
You can see the video update on AIDS by Keven DeCock, The CDC Director for AIDS in Kenya on CNN News here: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/11/25/impact.kevin.decock.cnn
Or learn more about HIV and AIDS in Africa here: http://www.avert.org/aids-hiv-africa.htm
Why the Art Exchange Project?
When we first talked with Lloydie, our trip leader, about volunteering in Kenya, Tom and I both talked with her about what kind of volunteer activities we could do. There were outlined volunteer activities of different kinds on the itinerary, but somehow that didn’t seem personal enough or enough at all (as if anything ever could be enough.) It wasn’t until we had our 1 hour turned into 5 hour magnificent meeting at our home with her that I really “got it” that a big part of the “volunteering” was just being there and giving the children love in all the possible ways that one can do that.
Being and artist and psychiatrist, I thought of doing art with the children because I know that being freely creative is not something that they have the opportunity to do in school and also bcause I know that these children have all been tremendously traumatized. They have witnessed their parents die of AIDS; many have participated in caring for them. Having AIDS in Africa also has a tremendous stigma so many have had that burden to carry as well. They are in the orphanage because they have no adult family members to care for them. Some may have lost siblings. Before coming to the orphanage, some were rescued from horrendous impoverished conditions. Death and loss have been an integral part of their young lives. So as I thought about this trauma, I thought that art could be a free, uninhibited expression for them, without boundaries and which required no words. In that way, I thought it might be good for them.
Pictures drawn by children caring for parents with AIDS, photo used with permission from the Young Carers Project of South Africa http://www.youngcarers.netau.net/
Then I thought more about it, and looked to the example of the other kinds of art exchanges that had been done by the artists in my women’s art group, I thought that this might create an opportunity to fulfill another goal that I have for this trip—educating people here about AIDs orphans and the situation in Africa. We all live such privileged lives by comparison and my hope in sharing this work, the reason for writing this blog, is that others will become more aware of these circumstances. In particular, my hope is that children here might have a heightened awareness of a world that is much less fortunate than their own and an exposure to the concept of being “global citizens.” I began to think about the “art exchange” as a way to accomplish this in the broader sense as well as a way to simply foster a connection between two really different groups of kids who could communicate through art and really appreciate each other in that way. That’s how the art exchange project was conceived. I’m lucky that the two art teachers working with me had only enthusiasm about getting involved, offered to do more than I was asking for with participation, and that they were like minded in seeing this as an opportunity for their students to learn and grow.
Finally, I also feel that whenever I undertake any artistic endeavor that there is a connection to the support, inspiration, and something that is magically indescribable that has grown from my women’s art group. They will know what I mean and I will carry that with me to Kenya for this project. Thank you Jill, Laurie, Jen, Anita, Cheryle, Annie, Katrina, Cynthia, Blair and Bec.
The Maine Kenyan Children’s Art Exchange
I am very grateful to 2 Maine art teachers and their students who will be helping me with a special project while I will be in Kenya. They are Mrs. Sharon McCormack and her students at Jordan Acres Elementary School in Brunswick, Maine http://www.brunswick.k12.me.us/jas/Index.html and Ms. Bec Pool and her 7th and 8th grade students and the Brookesville Elementary School http://www.brooksville.u93.k12.me.us/ in Brooksville, Maine. They will be working on art projects and gathering donations for me to bring to Kenya to share with the children at the Nyumbani Childrens Home, where I will in turn work on art projects with the Nyumbani orphans to bring back to Maine to share with the students here. I want the students in Maine to know that the children at the orphange will be extremely grateful and excited know that this artwork has been made especially for them and has come all the way from the other side of the world. They will also be really happy to have a chance to work on art projects because thay do not have any art or music as part of what they do in school. In addition, they do not have any art supplies and art really isn’t a part of their lives in any regular way so this will be a wonderful opportunity for them. For this reason I will bringing all the supplies for the art projects and hopefully stocking their closet with supplies that they will continue to be able to use. Since I am also a photographer, I will have the pleasure of photographing the project as it’s happening in Kenya and will be able to share that with the students here in Maine when I return and as part of this blog. So thank you, thank you Maine teachers and student artists!
I hope that I will be able to blog other things about the trip especially for the Maine students and will begin those blog entries with “FOR THE STUDENTS….” so that you will know that those entries are written especially and appropriately for you. I think that this will be a wonderful learning and sharing experience for everyone involved and that you should feel proud that you are making a difference in the lives of children who are much less fortunate.
Something personal about why I am taking this trip…….
I am writing this entry on Thanksgiving day because, though I had planned to write this, it seems most appropriate to do so today. I have so far assumed that most people reading this blog will know us, but that’s not true since I will have some generous teachers and students from Maine helping me with with the art project that I will explain more about later, and other people have expressed an interest in making donations, so I should make introductions. “We” are Lynn and Tom, both physicians in Maine in entirely different fields of medicine. Tom is in oncology and hospice and palliative medicine and I (Lynn) am a psychiatrist and am also an artist. I feel that I have been waiting to do this kind of volunteer work for a decade, but not until the time was right for our family. We are extremely lucky to have three healthy children and although I had breast cancer almost 2 years ago, I am in remission now (and expected to remain that way), so Tom and I are both healthy too. I have always been aware that we live an extremely fortunate life. For all of the things that we make take issue with about our country, and if you work in health care that often begins a litany of concerns, we are lucky to have been born here in a safe place where for most of us its not a challenge to eat, stay safe and survive every day. This is the reason why I can never get through a single rendition of the Star Spangled Banner without getting choked up, it’s not patriotism, it’s gratitude. Also, the experience of having breast cancer had the impact of further heightening my awareness of just how fortunate I am and reminded me to try not to take for granted the things for which I am grateful. I realize it doesn’t work this way for everyone, but for me, what comes with that sense of gratitude is also a sense of responsibility for giving back. And although I do that here at home in various ways, that hasn’t felt like enough. I have a tremendously soft spot in my heart for children who can not make sense out of a world that doesn’t provide for them, care for them, or mistreats them. Though it isn’t any fairer for adults, they have more capacity to attempt to make sense of misfortune, tragic circumstances or an unfair world; children, like the orphans of AIDS, have no such capacity and that seems even more profoundly sad to me. For the huge number of a whole generation of adults in Africa who have lost their lives to AIDS, the only way to help them now is to care for their children. Because of my own experience with cancer, I can’t imagine that the worry about what their children would experience wasn’t a huge, maybe the worst, part of their suffering. There are so many children, so many AIDS orphans who need help that it is overwhelming. So it’s from this position of feeling very incredibly fortunate for all that I have, that I feel responsible for giving back in a place where the need is the greatest and the giving may be the most challenging. It doesn’t even really feel like a choice…..it feels more like something I need to do. And to volunteer with AIDS orphans feels right for me.
“And therefore I look upon everything as a brotherhood and a sisterhood
and I look upon time as no more than an idea, and I consider eternity another possibility.
And I think of each life as a flower, as common as a field daisy, and as singular,
and each name a comfortable music in the mouth, tending as all music does, toward silence,
and each body a lion of courage, and something precious to the earth.
When it’s all over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.”
From “When Death Comes” by Mary Oliver
About Nyumbani
Children at the Nyumbani Children's Home with its founder
The Nyumbani Children’s Home was founded in 1992 by Father D’Agostino, a Jesuit priest and physician, in response to the need of the increasing numbers of abandoned and orphaned HIV+ children. Today the orphanage at Nyumbani, located outside of Nairobi, is home to 110 HIV+ orphans who receive medical care, psychological services, and attend public school until they can become independent adults.
The Kibera slum
Nyumbani launched the Lea Toto Program (Swahili for “to raise a child”) in 1998. It is an outreach progam to HIV+ children providing home based care to them so that they could access medical care, psychological support and even basic needs such as food and safe drinking water. This program provides services to children and their families in the most impoverished areas of Kenya including the Kibera slum outside of Nairobi where over one million people live in an area smaller than the size of New York City. It is the largest slum in Africa and the second largest slum in the world.
Satellite view of Kibera slum
There are many videos like this one posted on u.tube about Kibera: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9crGUNUP22I. It’s hard to imagine without seeing some video footage and I imagine it will be overwhelming to be there in person.
Nyumbani Village in Katui
Nyumbani Village was built on 1000 acres of property given to the program by the government. The village was established to address the needs not only of orphans but also of the elderly who in the past have relied on thier children to be available as part of their extended family but have been left without them as the middle generation has succombed to AIDS. At the village, grandmothers, or shoshos, live in cottages with 10 children and create new blended families that foster healing, hope and opportunity while the HIV+ children receive ongoing medical care, psychological support and attend school. The grandmothers also receive support and care in this extended family environment and community setting. In addition the village operates a sustainability program with solar energy, farming, and other resources.
During our trip we will be volunteering at each of the Nyumbani sites.
Planning the trip
- Lloydie and the children from the Nyumbani orphanage
We leave for our trip to Kenya on January 28th and have much to do to get ready. We have been deeply inspired by Lloydie Zaiser who is incredibly devoted and energetic in her dedication to the children of Nyumbani. We are also grateful for all her work in organizing our trip and creating a meaningful itinerary (www.k-e-s-t.com ). Please click on “Nyumbani poem” above to hear the voice of one nyumbani orphan.
We have also been inspired by Stanley Waringo, our Bowdoin college host family student from Kenyan, whom we enjoyed having as part of our family for four years and beyond. Stanley rode the bike treks across the country in support of Nyumbani and first introduced us to the organization.
Lloydie has done an amazing job creating an itinerary which has integrated us into the Nyumbani programs and winds down the emotional intensity (if one could even say use the phrase wind down about any part of this trip) by setting up a safari and a visit to a Massai village on the last few days. Although the volunteer activities are built in and we will travel with a large load of doanted items, my husband and I wanted to each do a special project that would give something to the children that would reflect sharing something personal. Since my husband is a runner he will do a running clinic with the adolscent boys and hand over some of the hundreds of running T shirts that he has collected over the years. Since I am an artist and photographer, I will share an art project and record it photographically with the help of some special and generous participants from Maine……more about that later. Though we are both physicians and will be learning about the medical facilities and I, as a psychiatrist, will spend time with the social worker, our special projects, by design, will not involve medicine…… this time.
All the Beautiful Children
Our reason for making this trip
Zuri watoto wote is how you say “all the beautiful children” in Swahili. This photo is from the Nyumbani website, www.nyumbani.org , where you can go to see the programs that Nyumbani has for HIV+ children in Kenya and the sites where we will be volunteering.
There are over 15 million children who live in sub Saharan Africa who have been orphaned because their parents have died of AIDS and over 2 million children have HIV/AIDs. Over one and a half million AIDS orphans live in Kenya. It is estimated that by 2010 one third of all the children in Africa will be orphaned due to the AIDS epidemic.
“You must be the change that you want to see in the world.” Mahatma Ghandi
Lynn Ouellette
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