My thoughts go back to Kenya……..
I have had a lot of time to ponder since I returned from Kenya two months ago. In spite of the busyness of my life here, my thoughts frequently go back to my experiences there and the ongoing connections through email and phone calls and even in person with my fellow volunteers have kept it all very much alive. I also have received emails from Kenya including follow up from Lilian about her clients whom I saw in the Village. My attempt to present some of my experiences to my colleagues at the hospital reminded me that I always have volumes to share in too little time and that my exuberance and passion in sharing these experiences is something that everyone notices. I have tried to write a short article for a professional newsletter and struggled with how to put the experience into words with the right balance of facts and details for the reader with the powerful feelings that came with doing the work in Kenya. One comment that I often make is that the Kenyan people have a remarkable way of speaking authentically from their hearts, that they are not inhibited about doing that which contributes to making the experience so touching. It’s a way of connecting that I wish would happen more here because it seems we have lost some of our capacity to be that open in expressing ourselves eith the fast pace of life and its many demands and the turn to technology for communication. I feel however that there is an exception to that kind of heartfelt communication that I have grown to value in my interactions with the Kenyan people. This has to do with talking about grief and loss. I cannot identify this as a generalization of all Kenyan people since I have had far too little experience to make such an observation. However, it is an observation that has struck me in the course of my time spent with people there. In Nyumbani Village all the residents have had very powerful personal experiences of loss. There are 900 children who have lost there parents to AIDs and many have lost other close relatives as well. There are almost 100 grandparents many of whom have lost their children to AIDs. However, there seems to be a powerfully strong culture of silence around grief and loss. No one seems to speak of it. In the counseling center when interviewing clients I was often told tragic stories about losing loved ones, often a string of losses that was profoundly sad to hear, but was told in a hushed voice as if to say that there was something unspeakable about it. The most striking example was an adolescent girl who told me of losing both parents when she was very young, then her grandmother, then her uncle, all of whom had parented her. However she also told me that talking about these losses was a “secret” and that she had never talked about them before. The idea that there is a silence about such painful losses has stuck with me and has made me wonder about those photos that I have captured of those soulful, almost sad looking children’s faces–maybe those are a fleeting glimpse of what is unspoken.
I have given this some thought and talked with Lilian and Lloydie about some possible ideas I have for how to address this. I think perhaps an annual ritual of remembrance honoring those lost could be a step towards helping this community to share the burden of each other’s grief in a healing way. This would need to be done thoughtfully, embracing the culture of the village and with the blessing of those who oversee its care. This could be powerful shared experience in which people come together without actually individually saying very much or anything at all yet still give a voice to some silenced feelings that could be acknowledged in the sharing through song and ritual. One of the wonderful aspects of knowing that I am committed to returning to Kenya each year is that it gives me an opportunity to think about not only what I can do in the time that I am there, but also what could be helpful over the longer term. This is a shift in my connection and commitment that I am delighted to embrace.
Kenya and the science of good deeds.
Kristin Smiling with the Children of Nyumbani Village
When I came home from Kenya, I felt so joyous about the experience there, fulfilled and gratified too, but more than that I felt really good and happy. This second trip to Kenya had been even better than the first, I had made the committment to going every year, and I knew that I had really made a difference while I was there. I immersed myself in editing my photos, had ongoing contact with Lilian and new relationships developed in Kenya and a lot of contact with Lloydie, Jen and Deb as we planned the Tuko Pamoja party which I was thrilled to attend. All of this kept the trip alive and kept me in touch with those good feelings. I know that my fellow volunteers feel this too, this joyful sense of celebration to be able to help people–it’s really unique. So I started to ask myself why does this make you feel so good? I am a psychiatrist after all, and I felt curious about the strength of my own reaction and of those around me. We have many pictures of us smiling broadly in Kenya while doing the work there, but it wasn’t just for the camera, we are truly happy and feeling good every day in Kenya.
Lloydie with the Kenyan Ambassador's wife at Nyumbani Children's home
Sitting in the Maasai manyatta, against the cow dung walls in 100 degree heat and totally happy
So I started to do a little research on this issue of volunteering and altruism and how it makes you feel and came upon a lot of information. It turns out that it is fairly recently the subject of study, but there has been quite a bit of work done. When we do good deeds, volunteer, behave in an altruistic way, it reduces our stress level and that can be seen on a physiologic, biochemical and cellular level. The term “helper’s high” has even been coined to describe the euphoric feelings that one gets. Oxytocin, the boding chemical that helps mother’s bond with and nurture their new babies, is released when you are helping others and its calming and stress relieving. In addition, the “feel good” chemicals of the brain like endorphins and dopamine involved with reward circuitry of the brain are also triggered by altruistic behavior. However, this isn’t only a stress reliever in the moment and a transient good feeling, numerous studies have now shown that people who engage in regular altruistic behavior such as volunteer work have less illness and live longer lives. One study of older adults done at Cornell found that in older adults, those who volunteered regularly had a marked reduction in early death that was a stronger effect than exercising 4 times a week.
So why am I writing about this here? I, of course, would like to get other people involved with coming to Kenya. There is a great need there. But I also wanted to share this experience of feeling good and how it can be derived from being a volunteer or helper because I feel like I am so lucky to have come upon this work in Kenya that allows me to make a difference for people are in need and yet to still feel like I am the one to whom something is being given. Kenya has taught me first hand my most powerful lesson of the “science of good deeds” and I wanted to share what I have learned. But I know it isn’t only in Kenya where this could happen and I hope that others who haven’t yet had as full an experience of the “helper’s high” as I have had might give it a try wherever it suits you. There is a lot of need for helping in the world and feeling good, relieving stress, perhaps living longer, these are just a few of the rewards.
Lloydie and Kristen, before leaving to the go to the Lea Toto sites
Deb with a child at the Children's Home
Tuko Pumoja— the Kick-Off
View of the moon from the early morning plane ride
I headed down to Maryland this weekend, outside of Washington DC, early on Friday morning to get ready for the kick off event for the Tuko Pamoja initiative. It began as a serene and very short flight by comparison to flying to Kenya although memories of Kenya were very much on my mind as I traveled. I was thrilled to be able to meet up with my fellow Kenya volunteers, Lloydie and Deb and to see Jen, Lloydie’s assistant whom I got to know better over the course of the weekend. On Friday we spent the day finishing the preparations for Saturday’s event and spent all day talking about future plans for the initiative and travels to Kenya for next January. We have so many ideas when we get together that the synergy and excitement are a little mind-boggling! We are pursuing a non-profit status for Tuko Pamoja and came up with oh-so-many ideas for making this a successful project for helping the women, our friends of Lea Toto, Nyumbani Village, Kibera Paper and the Pastoral Community Development Alliance in Kenya. It goes without saying that the group of us have incredible passion about this mission and amazing bonds with each other so spending time together just by itself is a great experience.
Jen and Lloydie had been working hard on the set up well before I arrived and much of it was completed. I added videos and worked with LLoydie’s husband Bill to get my photos on the big screen TV for display. The house was a virtual museum of all things Kenyan and on the first floor was an educational display about each of the women’s groups whose crafts we plan to promote. Lloydie greeted people at the front door to introduce the project, but I think they got a sense of the enthusiasm before they even walked in!
Karibu! Welcome to the Tuko Pamoja Kick-off--no mistake, you are at the right house!
Maasai display in the entry way---affectionately known as "Maasai Mary"
Our goal was to not only gather feedback about each of the crafts we had chosen as samples, but also to have our guests “meet” the women by sharing our personal experiences with them. I was at the Kibera paper station where there were photos of the days we had spent there learning to make the cards with them and doing the art exchange process of teaching them to block print and make valentines. I also had a video clip of us singing and dancing together so that people could see the sharing of the experience and the joy that it brought. There was information about Kibera and Kibera Paper and there were samples of the cards. I had a great time telling people about the women, our time together and how meaningful the experience was as well as about the cards and how they are made.
A guest at the Kibera Paper Women Display
Deb was at the display about the Susus of Nyumbani Village and their baskets and Jen introduce the women of Lea Toto projects.
Lea Toto Women Display
In the basement, many tables were set up with examples of crafts from each group with surveys to fill out. We had almost sixty people who came and also filled out surveys to provide us with invaluable information about the crafts and which ones they think will be most likely to sell.
Paper beads from Kawangware
Display of Maasai bracelets
Display of Nyumbani Village baskets woven by the Susus
Anya taking the survey
THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PROVIDED FEEDBACK ON THE SURVEYS!!
We really enjoyed sharing stories of the amazing Kenyan women with everyone and were thrilled to get such positive and enthusiastic feedback. Next we will review surveys and make some decisions about which crafts to order when Lloydie returns to Kenya in June. She will place the order then and get the crafts in August to bring them back to the US (details for transporting hundreds of baskets, hundreds of cards, etc yet to be worked out). The women will be paid the fair market value in Kenya then. Once the crafts are brought back to the US, they will be boxed for home party or craft fair/event sales and after they are sold here the women in Kenya will get an additional payment. If this works successfully the hope is to have this grow and to add a website and more….
We also provided some pretty delicious snacks for everyone and a chance to buy some Kenyan items on our sales table bringing in $1000! It was a very exciting and inspirational day that ended with a sense of accomplishment and more vision for this project. We felt more than ever that our mission to help these women in Kenya and to thereby help their children can actually be realized, that we will no longer leave struggling with the sense of not knowing how to really help them, and that it will be possible to truly do something that could make a difference. We were all tired at the end of the day….but I think we all had a little trouble sleeping from the excitement of Tuko Pamoja– of all being in it together. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but it’s work we can’t wait to do….. I wish we could have shared this day with the women in Kenya, that they could have been there too, but in many ways, it felt as if they were.
“Tuko Pumoja”….We Are Together
Lloydie with a "Momma" from the Vision Self Help Group of Dandora
Deb and Josephine of the PCDA women's craft group
Originally it grew out of the idea of wanting to help the mothers of children with HIV who are getting services from the Nyumbani Lea Toto Clinics in the slums……because whenever you help the mothers in a community you help the children, whenever you help the mothers, you are helping everyone. There were already established groups of women, like the Vision Self Help Group of Dandora, working together to craft products to help finanacially support their families and to emotionally support each other. They had been selling their crafts, but the market was quite limited. And then the idea grew to helping other women’s groups who have been severely affected by hardship and poverty and also hand creating incredible crafts. Groups like the grandmothers of Nyumbani Village who are raising so many orphans after losing their own children to AIDS and weave beautiful baskets of sissel and yarn; the women of Kibera Paper who hand make greeting cards, each individual works of art from recycled paper; and the Maasai women of PCDA who doing amazing beadwork. First it was casually called the Women4Women project as it was beginning to take form. Now it has gathered momentum and garnered lots of enthuisiasm as it has gone from the U.S. to Kenya and come back again and has evolved a new, very appropriate name of “Tuko Pamoja” literally in Swahili, “We are together”, the spirit of which is that we are working together.
Lloydie recently announced the Tuko Pamaja project in an e-mail that was sent far and wide to friends of KEST (Kenya Service and Educational Trips) and said the following:
Many former KEST travelers have left Kenya wishing they could be of more assistance to the many women’s groups we meet struggling to feed and educate their children. KEST has decided to do something to help, hence the Tuko Pamoja initiative… we ARE in this together…
The mission of the Tuko Pamoja initiative is to:
1. Create a sustainable income resource for female-led Kenyan artisan groups by way of providing a US marketplace for their wares
· Facilitating ownership, independence, empowerment and a shift in thinking from day-to-day to longer term planning
· Insisting on high quality, useful, and diverse products that are suited to the US market
2. Educate Americans to the needs of these groups and call them to ACTION
· Organize a way to provide an opportunity for Americans to help the identified Kenyan artisan groups from the States
I am hoping that my family and friends will be interested in supporting this program, and not just by purchasing crafts! Women from all across the country will have the opportunity to sell these products on behalf of our Kenyan sisters! This can be done by hosting a party in your home, much like a Tupperware party, or by having a table at a local fair or bazaar. KEST will provide everything but the customers, your friends!
The womens groups in Kenya groups in Kenya who will be initially supported by the project are the groups whom I previously mentioned. The Pastoral Community Development Alliance woman’s crafts group. You can get a glimpse of thier capacity to do beadwork just by lookint their own necklaces and bracelets!
Massai women of the PCDA craft group
PCDA Woman and crafts
The women of the Vision Self Help Group of Dandora–these women have been together for almost 10 years. They all have HIV and/or have HIV+ children and live in the Dandora slum around Nairobi. They are now skilled artisans who make jewelry and a lot of different items from beads as well as many other beautiful things:
Women of the Vision Self Help Group of Dandora
The Susus or grandmothers from Nyumbani Village who have all lost their own children to AIDs are are all each raising 10 AIDs orphans. Not only can these spirited and rocking grannies dance, but they are the keepers of the Kamba culture for the Village, the ones who make the homes for the children and are skilled basket waevers with many years of experience!
Dancing Susus of Nyumbani Village
Traditional Basket weaving
The women of Kibera Paper all live in Kibera, the largest slum on the periphery of Nairobi. They work at Kibera Paper in order to make an income to support the very basic necessities of life for their families. All of their cards are made from recycled paper and in each one is individually crafted, panted, wired, threaded, designed and signed by hand. Having worked side by side with them I can attest to just how much work goes into each card and to the beauty of each card.
Making Kibera Paper
This is a wonderful video about the making of Kibera Cards, I posted it in a prior post but am putting here because I want people to have another chance to view it in this context:
On March 10th, KEST is hosting a kick-off event to the Tuko Pamoja Project at Lloydie’s House near Washington D.C. It will be an opportunity to introduce the project to as many people in the area who can come, to get feedback on the crafts we hope to promote and to give people an opportunity to “meet” these women through the sharing of our experinces with them. Having spent time with all of these Kenyan women, I personally say that I have tremendous respect and admiration for all of them. They all struggle with tremendous poverty and many have been through unimaginable hardship and loss. They are however some of the most grateful, resilient, and warm women and mothers I ever have met. I know that I speak for all KEST travelers when I say that spending time with them has created a special place in our hearts for them–we have created with them, sung and danced with them, listened to their stories, drank tea together, hugged and exchanged heartfelt words and shared tears in saying goodbyes. We want to share in helping them in their lives, after all “Tuko Pamoja,” we are truly all in this together!
If you missed it before here are the Kibera Paper women singing with us before we had to say goodbye.
Kenya, the oh so many faces…..and a heartwarming story, without a face.
Maasai children listening to a story
Although I have been home for almost two weeks now, it still feels as though I just left Kenya. The trip, the countryside, the people, my fellow volunteers have all still been very much on my mind. I have been missing my fellow travelers but have manged to bridge the gap with email conversations, exchanging photos back and forth and making plans for other events (in a post yet to come.) I have been reliving the experience in Kenya through editing hundreds of pictures. Although Kenya and the Kenyan people are very colorful with their bright clothing, the most powerful of the photographs for me are the black and white photos of faces thought so often seem to convey something unsaid. So I will share some of those:
Maasai child in the classroom
Two Maasai girls at school--I wonder what they are thinking?
One of the girls in my cottage at the Children's Home
A man at Nyumbani Village--I met him at the food containers and wished I knew how to speak Kikamba with him.
Two boys at the Children's Home-- I think with new haircuts and very impish grins
A Village child with an amazing face
Two of a group of children who ran up to us in Kibera asking "How are You?" in a chorus
Two Village children on the schoolground
One of the Village children who frequently stopped by our lodging to play
A small sampling of the many photos which I could share and there is a story to go with each and every one of them
Instead, however, I will tell you a story that doesn’t have a picture to go with it. When I left Kenya to come home I did so with a heavy heart because I wished that I could have stayed longer, there was more to be done and LLoydie, Deb and Kristin were headed off to another community and another orphanage called Talitha Kum. I had 6000 ksh (Kenyan Shillings) left of my donations (about $75) which had not yet been used. It had been left over after we bought as much of the ingredients for the Maasai school lunch program as we could fit into four grocery carts and I had set it aside for another purpose yet to be determined. So when I left Kenya, I put it in good hands with Lloydie with the thought that we could perhaps add to the porridge supplies or some other need might present itself. And so it did. When Deb and LLoydie were attending a “prayer group” for members of the community at Talitha Kum, a man, a social worker, spoke up about how he was praying for help for a child with whom he had been working for a long time. The child was an adolescent boy who had lost both parents to AIDs at a young age and had been living on the streets for eight years. He had managed to develop a relationship with him and the child had been remarkably going to school all those years by begging or stealing the money for school fees and a school uniform. When he took the National Exam, a requirement for all form 8 students (8th graders) to be considered for high school, he scored extremely high. On the basis of that he was accepted into a very fine government high school; these are the best schools in Kenya to which every student wants to be admitted. But the cost of travel to the school which was such a distance away was too much and he could not attend. The social worker took him and his records to the “Elite School” (I include the name because it’s so cool) which was a more local private school and asked if they could do anything for him. There he was told that if he could come up with the first year of tuition they would accept him and the next three years would be paid for by the school. So the social worker and the boy had raised a lot of money, but it wasn’t enough for him to start school in a few days. Hence the prayer at the meeting, and the connection with the remaining 6000 ksh. LLoydie and Deb spoke up and offered to pay the remainder with that 6000ksh and 2000 that they each through in and made arrangements to do so at the school. So this boy is now guaranteed an education, but equally important is that because he will be in boarding school as high schools are in Kenya, this will be the end of eight years of living on the streets for him–he will have a bed, a home, and three meals a day. He must be an incredibly resiliant young man to have survived on the streets while succeeding so well at school. I think that this was a perfect way to spend the rest of the donations. It always amazes me how little it takes to impact someone’s life in Kenya, how sometimes the pieces just fall into place. When I was talking to Lloydie today about many ongoing and future plans–and because we were really missing each other, she said we need to visit this boy and the social worker when we go back to Kenya. I think that sounds like a fine idea.
Along the Road in Kenya
An interesting juxtaposition of names......Rumours cafe next to the Psalm hotel......and Trust is a condem ad.
Being on the road in Kenya lends itself to taking in a lot of scenery, some very beautiful, some very reflective of the culture, and some reflective of the different uses of language that is prone to tickle the funnybones of travelers. Whenever we were on the road we always took pictures out the window and enjoyed sightings of the things that were typically Kenyan such as having to stop the car for an ambling cow crossing.
Cows crossing!
People seemed to be walking on the side of the road all the time with heavy things on their heads or babies on the backs and we enjoyed watching them. Sometimes we even saw some unconventional ways of getting around.
Family walking using an umbrella for shade
Standing up on a donkey cart
What we ultimately ended up enjoying the most, or at least in a different way from the beautiful scenery, were the signs or displays on the front of hotels, retaurants and store fronts since these often were quite humorous to the American interpretation. We made a sport out of trying to capture the images from the car. One of my favorites, which I unfortunately failed to capture because I was on the wrong side of the car was a billboard ad for a restaurant which said “Now it’s official! We have the tastiest breasts and thighs.” There were however a lot of others that made us chuckle and a sampling will follow.
No breeze, and more importantly, no ocean anywhere around here
The name says it all
Another name that says it all...
We were puzzled by the Mixer and vibrator sign after an initial laugh, but I've since thought that maybe its a cement mixer and jackhammer??!
A typical hair salon
Not exactly Starbucks, but you only get instant Nescafe for coffee anyway and tea is always made with milk and LOTS of sugar
I included this one for two reasons: Lynne's last name is Israel and I thought my son might like to see an alternative school of engineering 😉
Kenyan's are very spiritual people, generally in a very lovely way, sometimes this gets extended beyond what we Westerners would have anticipated
We couldn't help but wonder how well this name was working for business?!
We liked this one since Lala Salama is goodnight and what we said to each other in the style of "the Waltons" each night.
In case you missed it in the corner of the last picture, this raised our curiosity....
we enjoyed being on the road and taking in the culture and though I’m poking a little fun by posting these, it’s okay because all of us are undeniably in love with Kenya and with the Kenyan people. I will do another post that shows you more of the beauty of the country side, and one with more of the beautiful faces, perhaps a collection of some of our more memorable moments that I haven’t yet shared. Though I’m home now I still have more to share and there’s truly a dual purpose in that: to share the magic of the experince and to not let too much of it slip away as I get pulled into the incredible busyness of my life here. I need to hang onto this incredible experience and all its richness for me as well as sharing it. So stay tuned there is more to come.
My last weekend in Kenya……….
Following our departure form Nyumbani Village on Saturday morning we drove back to Nairobi and then to Karen and our lodging at the Dimesse Sisters. We had a very long ride partially because we stooped at a worrdcarvers workshop and store but also becuase we got caught in a lot of traffic around Nairobi and arrived back much later than expected. The drive was yet another reminder of how much we appreciated our driver Justus since none of us would want to brave driving in the crazy Kenyan traffic or on the really bad Kenyan roads with crator size potholes and for which speed limits are determined not by signs but rather by enormous speed bumps. Knowing we were going to arrive late, Lloydie called ahead to let Sister Rhoda, the very hospitable and outgoing nun at Dimesse sisters that we would not make it back for lunch. She offered to leave a snack out for us and when we arrived mid afternoon there was a table set with a full course meal plus some extras treats. She wanted to be sure we got something to eat because we were “doing such good work.” You just have to love that Kenyan hospitality! And having just come from the village, this was especially a most delicious meal!
Carving a giraffe
We were headed to Nyumbani Children’s Home in the evening for movie night and had to make yet another trip to the local Nakumat to buy popcorn and such but a priority for everyone before that was to take a real well needed shower . We all seemed to emerge from our showeres slightly euphoric from the feeling of being squeaky clean again! So well groomed and well fed we set off to buy the movie treats and headed to the Children’s Home. In my cottage they were just finishing up with dinner and had to do the after dinner chores. Everyone pitches in with doing the dishes, sweeping, washing the floor, etc. After that was done they all watched the news, broadcast primarily in Kiswahilie, but the older children translated for me. After that we settled into a viewing of “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” as I dispensed cup after cup of cheese curls and juice baxes amidst a chorus of pleases and thank yous. That was my last evening at the Children’s Home.
Cottage E children cleaning up after dinner--everyone helps out
The plan for the next day, my final day in kenya was to do something fun and relaxing and Lloydie had scheduled us to go to a tea farm for a tour and for a lunch. I have to say that the drive there was quite beautiful and one of the most lush views of Kenyan vegetation. The day was beautiful like every other day, but a welcome bit cooler. As we got closer to the tea farms the view got more and more beautiful.
Fields of tea plants
We went to the Kiambethu Tea farm in Limuru which has been in existentence since 1910. The original beuatiful house is still there and has been in the same family for four generations. There is a beautiful garden on the property and a preserved section of the original deciduous forest.
Garden at Kiambethu Tea Farm
We began our tour with Fiona, the owner, showing us the original tea plant, now a non-harvasted tea tree, and then taking us inside for tea and telling us much more about the growing of tea as a criop and how it is processed at the local factory.
Fiona and the original tea plant
We then took a walk through the forest with Kamangi who pointed out much of the indiginous vegetation and its medicinal purposes. We met the geese of the fram and the cows who supply the milk for the delicious homemade ice cream.
Kamangi giving us a tour
Kiambethu cows
Kiambethu geese--they didn't seem that happy to have visitors
The walk was followed by drinks on the veranda and then by a very delicious lunch including fresh salad and vegetables and some of that homemade ice cream amongst other tasty treats for desserts. This was a wonderful thing to do on my final day in Kenya.
The group at the tea farm
Since I would soon be departing when Justus drove us back to our lodging we gave him a special gift for having been such a pleasure to work with and to let him know how much we appreciated him. The rest of the afternoon was spent sorting our 6 duffels of donations plus 4 additional huge duffels that were left by the last group.
Justus gets a thank you gift
Deb sorting donated clothing
I must admit that I got a pass for much of this so I could do some packing of my own, but more importantly so I could blog the rest of the time spent at the village since it had become a way for everyone else to be able to share their experiences too. As my bags were packed, the reality of leaving became all too real and the time was drawing nearer for me to head to the airport. I must admit that it was hard to leave since I knew that everyone else would be staying on for at least another week, but I could not be gone any longer from my practice. And it was, of course, especially hard to say goodbye. Though we talked about reuniting in the fall for the annual Nyumbani fund raising gala in D.C. and at least Deb and Lloydie and I were already talking about returning next January, that only softened the sting a little. We had all had this wonderful experience together, knowing that we were making a difference in people’s lives, loving all these adorable children, building relationships with many people, hearing their stories of hardship and loss, being moved to tears and being inspired by all of them to be better, do better, appreciate more….a bonding experience that will keep us forever connected to each other and to the people of Kenya.
Nyumbani Village…..so hard to say goodbye
Nyumbani Village-- signs at the crossroads
Kristen and Lloydie taking in the Village
The last few days at the Village were very full with activity and the final evening was a marvelous experience which could not have been a better send off. We did attend a celebration on Wednesday evening which was goodbye party to Soloman who is the laboratory technologist and to Mr. Multhi who is a teacher who has been reassigned by the government. It was quite a good dinner compared to the every meal of rice or ugali (very thick maize porridge) with sukumawiki (cooked kale and onions) or githuri (beans with onions and maize). We had Kenyan style sangria (assisted in the making by Kristen) and softdrinks that weren’t warm! Afterwards there was a bonfire with toasting the people leaving and singing and going around the circle with each person saying something about themselves: where they are from, what country they would like to visit, their favorite animal, etc. What was most striking was the number of people who stood up and spoke from the heart and also said “I am proud to be a Kenyan.”
The Kest volunteers all continued with working in various ways in different areas at the Village until Friday when it came time to take a field trip into Kitui to work on spending the rest of the donation money to purchase large numbers of plates, cups, silverware, sheets, etc. All have to be metal (except the sheets, of course) in order to meet the standard of sustainability established by the village. I stayed behind in the village as I had work to do in the counselling department, but heard that it was quite the shopping trip and that the group was extremely grateful to have our driver Justus who had rejoined us at the Village that morning. Justus is Kambe and speaks the local language, is extremely charming and great nogotiator. Lynne stayed behind to do an interview for the Susu memory book and ended up impromptu running the Young Ambassadors Club since the group didn’t return from shopping until 4 even though they expected to be back by early afternoon. It has been a true spirit and example of “tuko pamoja” (we all work together, we are all in this together) as we have worked here in the Village.
We have continued to interact with children and grandmothers and to build bonds and relationships that feel like they have been there much longer than they have existed in reality; that seems to be the Kenyan way.
Jefferson, a very nice young man whom I met in the Village
Walter playing with the children--an "action shot since he had just finished tickling that squirming one!
Another soulful face at Nyumbani Village
Brian, a retired Loretto school principal from Ireland volunteering in the Polytechnique School
On our final evening in the Village we were invited to two special events. The first was a dance performance in Cluster One for which there are no words to fully describe. The dance was done by the children with costumes, drums and other instruments and truly BLEW US AWAY!! I have a video which will give you a flavor–the performance was in one of the houses after the sun went down under the only light supply which is one solar powered light so the video is very dark, but please take a look and listen (it gets better after the beginning but I didn’t have a chance to edit…) These kids were tireless and could be professional. We all thought they must have extra joints with the way they moved!
First, the warm up, which was so good we thought it was the whole dance:
Then the whole performance which made us vicariously exhausted and revenous because they used so much energy!!
After the performance we went to dinner at the Village priest’s house. This was the 2nd time we had a break from sakumawiki and githiri in the village…and we were surprised to find that Lillian was there and had cooked the dinner! Everything was quite delicious and it was a nice opportunity to spend a final night with people we really like and to be more relaxed.
Last dinner in the Village
The following morning Lloydie and I set out early on Saturday morning to meet the high school students as they were arriving at Lawson High School to deliver letters from sponsors and I wanted to have another opportunity to see Caroline, the student that my family sponsors since though I had met her the night before we wanted to meet again and to take some pictures. I regret that so much of the week went by without spending more time with her but I will have to do better next year!
Students arriving at Lawson School on Saturdy Morning
Caroline, the student we sponsor, and me on the school ground
Lloydie and Immaculate to whom she delivered a sponsor letter
After our early visit to the high school we had an early arrival to breakfast since we knew that John, the really friendly cook who just loves Lloydie (and vice versa) was making a special breakfast (vs the usual packaged bread and margarine) of mandazis for our final morning. Mandazis are a really delicious Kenyan treat most similar to an American doughnut but much lighter and not as sweet. We also got to watch him make them and got them as fresh as they could possibly be!
John making delicious mandazis for us!
After breakfast it was time to say all of the final goodbyes– no more avoiding it. Despite the fact that the village is really really hot, the food is mostly repetitive, there is nothing cold to drink, the bathrooms are a real “experience”, staying clean for more than a minute is impossible…..it is really hard to leave. It is a truly magical place with such a unique spirit of working together to save lives and to create a true village that works together to raise children and to care for the elderly, to respect the earth, to respect the culture, and to respect the value of all life. As I have said before, it is impossible to capture in words, you just have to go there and experience it for yourself. It will steal your heart.
Saying goodbye to Susu Mary
Kristin saying goodbye to one of the children
"Goodbye"....no it's not goodbye, it's "see you later", or as everyone in Kenya says, "we are missing you already!"
More on Nyumbani Village–that special place
Kristen playing with Village children outside our lodging in the early evening
We have had a wonderful experience at Nyumbani Village with the children, the staff, the Susu’s; everyone we have come in contact with has been welcoming, grateful, and incredibly warm towards us. There are many complimentary things that we can say about the Kenyan people, but one trait that seems to characterize all of those whom we have met which is especially true in the Village is that they speak in such an unhibited way that is genuinely from the heart. It is very touching and something that I wish we could see more at home.
Our days have been busy with activities but there has always been a little unstructured time just to walk around the village and take in the beautiful surroundings or chat and play with children who are always out and about in the evening. The younger children are often out gathering firewood and carrying big piles of kindling.
Village boy gathering kindlking
Children picking and offering to share berries
These children love to have their pictures taken. There are many joyous, smiling and laughing faces and a natural tendency to hold hands or put their arms over each other’s shoulders, but there are some soulful faces too that often make me wonder what they are thinking because I know that they have experienced a lot of loss already in their young lives.
They also love to look at their pictures
Kids here love to have their pictures taken!
Children on their way back from the primary school
Children go to school at 7AM and arrive before the teacher to do homework and go home around 5 to eat dinner. All but the younger students go back to school in the evening to have a self quided homework session and the hugh school student go back to school for the same purpose on Saturday. In addition to a lot of school hours they all participate in household chores and wash their own clothes and help take care of the younger children. Sunday is a day off with Church in the morning, but they also have mass once during the week. We attended the mass with the primary school children on Wednesday morning. It begins at 7AM with a massive migration of children in green school uniforms from the school to the church and is quite something to watch!
Village boys in church
I have really valued my time working in the counseling office seeing the clients from adolescents to staff to community members whom Lilian identified as needing further evaluation. People were remarkably open with me, I believe because they trust Lilian, and we were able to work as a team to create some interventions that I think will be very helpful. With Lilian being the only counselor for so many people and there being no other volunteers to assist her and no psychiatric services available I really felt useful as well as feeling the importance of not waiting two years to return again—I think I need to return next year. I have tremendous respect for all that Lilian handles. She is like a mother to every child in the Village and even to some of the adults. She recognizes that these children have all experienced such incredible loss that sometimes they just need to stop by her office to get a hug or to connect briefly. One such child, Mwende, is in this photo with Lilian who told me that she has a special attachment to her. She was working in the social work department when she went on a home rescue to get children to bring them back to the village. Mwende was just a baby and had so many sores all over body that she couldn’t pick up without carefully wrapping her first. Other family members told Lilian to leave her behind because she would only survive for a day or two, but she brought her back to the Villlage and they were able to save her and she is a thriving child now.
Lilian and Mwende
We had many opportunities to take in the Kambe cultures but none were better that those offered by the Susu’s themselves. They are an extremely outgoing group of women who always want to shake your hand or give you a hug as well as a very animated quiz on the appropriate Kikombe greeting—all before they start dancing with you . Most do not speak any English, but mange to communicate okay. All of them weave really beautiful baskets from which we shopped heartily. We had a special treat with them on Wednesday in the form of a special dancing session which was both a performance and a lesson. It was quite amazing to watch them dance since when you see them walking around the village they often look a little slow and as if they are showing their age. Once they start dancing, however, watch out!
Susu's dancing
You will have a much better appreciation for how they move in the video’s below:
After the dancing was done we had gifts for them: sweets, Nyumbani canvass bags, and Washinton D.C. AIDS Walk Tee shirts (KEST had a team in the walk and the AIDS clinic had donated the shirts tio bring to Kenya). All, but especially the shirts were a big hit! lloydie also explained about the Women4Women Initiative and how that will included selling their baskets and they were quite excited about that.
Susu's wearing their AIDS walk shirts
Yes, they ALL really loved their shirts
We also met with the Current Young Ambassadors and ran an activity for them. Our final two days, and especially our final evening in the Village were quite the finale. The internet connection at the Village has been extremely slow and unpredictable making blogging a challenge though it seems only fitting in a way since technology is so foreign there. I am going to save the finale at the Village for the next post since it was especially wonderful and the goodbyes were certainly bittersweet.
Nyumbani Village–the first few days…magical, and more to come
We are here at Nyumbani Village! This is the place that I feel is most challenging to describe in words; the place that has brought me closest to the profound tragedy and heartache of Kenyan lives that is not so rare here as I have listentened to personal stories, yet has also lifted me to a magical, spiritual place that is beyond word as I have been surrounded by children singing and dancing traditional song with drums and incredible spirit and joy under the moonlit and star-filled Kenya sky.
The journey here was about four hours through major roads, small towns and then more rural areas. It was interesting sight seeing for beautiful landscape
Scenery on the way To Nyumbany Village in Kitui
and even some animal sitings–zebras, giraffes and more………..
When we first arrived at the Village we met with representatives from the different departments. First a bit about the Village itself. You may recall that the Village is a place that is pretty independent and the goal is to become fully self sustainable. Here orphans are matched with grandparents in a home–10 children to one grandparent who may have one ior two bilogical grandparents. Homes are very rustic made out of bricks oin the village property from the Kenyan clay. Four home are arranged around a common area to form a cluster housing a total of forty children and 4 grandparents. Currently construction is under way for Cluster 25 and there are 895 children living in the village.
THe Village has a home care program with social workers who also do outreach to the community, a counselling center, a medical clinic which also serves the surrounding community, a primary school, a high school, a church and more. We met with representatives from all of these and then had a tour of the current sustainability projects which are just fascinating and so creative. The major obstacle here is lack of reliable water and there are many ways that they have addressed that including building sand dams to trap the water when there are rains. They have a solar powered drip irrigation for the gardens and have a 10 year plan for planting Melia trees which have a 10 year maturation cycle and can be harvested for sale or building furniture. (see www.Trees4children.org) They are also producing bio-gas from cow manure to power the stove in the kitchen and have just begun an aquaponics program–growing Tilapia in a tank and running the water through several garden beds and recollecting it to both water the beds and filter the water to return it to thr fishtanks clean.
The Village is physically very pretty with overarching trees and sepia colored houses. There are always Susu’s and children bustling around in brightly colored clothing sporting huge smiles and exuberant welcomes and in the case of the Susu’s specila Kikambe handshakes, greetings and dances usually followed by burst of laughter.
Nyumbani Village
There are many opportunities to be of service in the village. There are always more hands needed in the sustainability program and there are several ongoing projects such as the KEST Memory Book being created for the Susus’s. Every grandparent in the village is being interviewed about their life and a book will be created of their history along with the life of their family now. The next step will be incorporating art from the children which is planned for next January—just one of the ways I am being beckoned back to help next year. There is also the Young Ambassadors Program begun by KEST to focus on Leadership, Citizenship and other Values. Since Kristen is a nurse she has been very warmly welcomed into the workings of the medical clinic.
Medical staff at Nyumbani Village-- yeah Kristen!
I have been working with Lillian, the Village psychologist, whom I met 2 years ago, who has had clients lined up for me waiting to see me. These have included people from the community, older adolescents from the Village and even staff from the Village. She refers to them as her “extreme cases” that she feels she needs to ask for assistance. I have felt honored to be entrusted with many incredible and tragic stories but also touched that I can really make a difference here. I have seen one young man a clear psychotic illness who very seriously needs medication treatment and oh, what gyrations we have had to go through to make that happen, but it will happen and that will really change things for him. For the psychiatrists among my readers, one pill of generic Zyprexa costs about 65 cents here! BTW, Lillian’s case load is 895 children, 90+ grandparents, over 100 staff and 70+ members of the community. I am the only volunteer she has—I need some recruits!!!!!
Lillian, the Village psychologist, and me
Lynn and Walter have spent time in sustainability and Walter has been thrilled to spend time at the Lawson High School since he is a private school principal and educator, Deb is continuing her work doing the interviews with the Susus accompanied by the social worker from home care and Lynne has joined her in the process. I have spent much of my time in the counseling office but have done a number of other things too. I made my way over to the food containers for the weekly food distribution and got to mingle with the Susus—something that will always put a smile on your face.
Susu's of Nyumbani Village
Just walking around the village there is much of village life to soak up and savor. The children are adorable. There are no toys here other than the ones they create or happen to find!
A creative toy of a bicycle rim from the Village children. They struck this pose when I asked for a picture.
Nyumbani Village children playing with a big tortoise
On Tuesday evening we did home visits at 2 clusters under the magnificent moonlit and starry sky that is like no other here. The day was very hot but the night had cooled down and there was a nice breeze. We were all gathered as the children from the 4 houses sang and sang and danced and danced for us—this was one of the most magical moment in the village I have ever experienced—one that reaches deep into your bones. I am posted two videos—you will see very little as it was quite hard to record in such low light. So you will only get glimpses here and there, but you will hear everything just as we did—I hope can use your imagination to take you under the beautiful Kenyan sky too.
Nyumbani Children’s Home and Donations
Today we spent much of the day back at the Nyumbani Children’s Home. We arrived in the morning in time to go to church with everyone.
Deb walking with a child to church
There has been an a feeling of excitement in the air throughout the past week as this has been the week of the summit meeting when all of the International Board Members and the Kenyan Board members meet with the Nyumbani administrators to discuss the Nyumbani programs, the progress, needs, future plans, etc. Today was the final day, so some special events were planned. I loved watching these children of the Board Members play since as the saying goes children have alot to teach us.
Children of the Nyumbani Board Members in a sweet moment
The Nyumbani children did some extra singing and dancing during the mass as well as entertainment scheduled prior to a lunch in honor of the Board members. The entertainment included the preschoolers form the St. Paul Miki School through the “elementary school” age children.
Following the entertainment there were presentations to all the Form One students who will be leaving for boarding school and many heartfelt words from staff, children and others thanking the Board members for all that they do to keep Nyumbani going. There was, of course, frequent reference to Father D”Agostino who founded Nyumbani and acknowledgement of January as his birthday month. After many rounds of “sharing a few words” it was time for a special lunch. I was delighted to have a child, John, a toddler who had crawled up into my lap and fallen asleep during the presentations.
Sleepy John taking a nap in my lap
The KEST volunteers ate lunch at the tables with our host cottages and promised we would be back next Saturday.
Following the time at the Children’s Home it was time to hit the local Nakumat to stock up on water and a few other things to bring to The Village tomorrow. Also Lloydie, Justun and I, armed with the recipe ingredients for the porridge for the PCDA program set out to buy those ingredients (in great bulk requiring 3 shopping carts) with donation money that I had received earmarked for that purpose. We also pooled our donation money and discovered that we had quite a lot such that Lloydie could not zip it into the folder she usually uses—a very good problem to have! That will enable us to pay for the mattresses needed for the latest new people at the Village and to buy lots of much needed sheets. We will go shopping once we are in Kitui near the Village. THANK YOU DONORS!!!!!!
Donations for mattresses for the Village!!
We went out to dinner at Karen Blixen’s house this evening—a good meal before we are off to the Village. Tomorrow morning there will be a good long shower too! The days are very full but very wonderful. As I write this post somewhat sleepy eyed at midnight here, I can say that no day yet has gone by yet been without having deeply inspiring and touching moments. Off to the Village tomorrow……………
Pastoral Community Development Association
Maasai woman and her baby
This trip just keeps on being amazing! We have spent much of the last 2 days in a Maasai Village working with the PCDA (Pastoral Community Development Association). The drive there was quite beautiful as we drove beside the Ngong Hills and down into the Rift Valley. KEST became involved with this program rather serendipitously when Lloydie and Karen who was a fellow KEST volunteer with me in 2010 sat beside Philip the director on a long flight a year or so ago. Maasai communities are struggling to maintain their traditional culture of being semi nomadic despite pressures from the government to be more sedentary and obstacles from the environment such as drought. It is a male dominated culture in which the males are herdsmen and the women build the houses, cook, take care of the children, etc. Houses are made of sticks thatching and mud and cow dung covered walls. All children going to school such as the one that we visited in this village is a relatively modern phenomenon which is not a usual part of all Maasai culture. The goal of KEST’s involvement is to help with the school program development, to support the school lunch program (which may provide the only daily meal for some of the children) and to assist the women in selling their crafts through the Women4Women Initiative.
View of the Great Rift Valley
Friday we were at the school in the Maasai village and focused our time with the children. They were unbelievably cute! This involved singing, reading books, and crafts projects some of which built on previous lessons that they had learned from other KEST volunteers. As my assigned job, I got to rove back and forth between the two classrooms and help the children where help was needed and to take photos (much more fun than work). After the classroom work was done we went outside where the children got temporary tattoos from Kristen and face paint from Deb and me. Since there were so many children we were aiming to just paint one thing on one cheek and did butterflies, flowers and such on the girls and birds, turtles and oops….snakes on the boys. We learned that the snakes were a really bad idea when we discovered them wiping them off because they are quite afraid of snakes—a cultural faux pas which we rectified with “do-over’s”. The children were very enthusiastic learners, very well behaved, and seemed to really enjoy having us around. For those of you who gave me monetary donations, some will go to help with purchasing food to keep the stock of supplies (maize flour, oil, powdered milk and sugar) necessary to make daily porridge for the school lunch program.
Maasai Children in the School yard
Maasai Children at school
Kristen reading an Eric Carle book to the children
Watch and hear the children sing BELOW:
On Saturday we went to the homes of the families and each was assigned to help a Momma with the daily chores (except for Walter who got to sharpen his herding skills!) I went off with Jane and was assisted by Helen a lovely 13 year old who could speak English very well. After going inside the very hot and dark hut we made a fire and made chai from milk, sugar and loose tea. We talked a lot over tea and translations and Jane gave me a Maasai name that I have no idea how to spell and it took me many tries to learn how to say. It sounds like this—Nasorrrwah with the r’s being rolled a bit and it means “one who gives” in Maa (Maasai language) I thought it was rather a sweet name though in the course of my practicing my emphasis was bit off…and so was my pronunciation which had Jane’s nine year old Joy rolling with laughter and together we all had a fun time with it. Helen, who I actually the daughter of Jane’s neighbor loved to take pictures and did quite a good job, she took pictures of me doing the dishes and then she took me outside to see the baby goats,. She said to me “You catch a kid and I will take your photo.” Well, they are not that easy to catch and they move a lot faster than you might think, so she had to catch one for me (SHE made it look easy). That was good for quite a few laughs. Finally she did take my picture with the baby goat and the little boy Morris looking on.
The babyy goat and Morris and me
She then took some pictures with Jane and me and her mother with beautiful Maasai jewelry on. When it came time to leave Jane actually gave me a bracelet and a beautiful necklace which I will treasure.
Jane and me
Kristen and Lynne, Mzungu Maasais
In the afternoon we met with the women who do crafts which largely involve some kind of very fine beading. They were seated beside the road under a tree; all dressed in beautiful brightly colored clothing and traditional jewelry with their ware spread out on beautiful cloth. It was like this spectacular patch of bright colors in an otherwise nearly monochromatic sea of muted green.
PCDA Craft Women
Deb and her Maasai Friend
Lloydie explained the Women4Women Initiative with help of Philip as translator. We talked about their crafts and mingled and enjoyed seeing the work that they had done which had many reflections of the culture contained within it. Before our departure they sang us a song….of course. It was a great couple of days of cultural exchange, building relationships, and making a committment to help this struggling community in an ongoing way.
Kibera Paper and so much more……….
Wednesday and Thursday were two really packed days such that when I arrived back at our lodging on Thursday night after 10 I was too exhausted to get a blog post done.They were as usual two incredible days filled with new experiences, inspiration, dancing and singing and yes once again tears from being touched by the experience. You go through a lot of tissues here!
We spent the better part of two days at Kibera Paper. I blogged in an earlier post, before I departed, about how Kibera Paper employs women from the Kibera slum and enables them to earn income to support their families when they would otherwise not be able to afford the basic necessities of life. We had two incredible days working with the women at Kibera Paper, getting to know them, working alongside them , learning their craft, exchanging ideas with the 2 young male artists who create many of the designs and really touching each other’s hearts. The KEST volunteers learned from the women how to make cards from beginning to end—that included “processing” the recycled paper (squishing it by hand in the water) into mush and then making it into sheets.
Learning to make Kibera cards-- Start to finish!
We also painted, beaded and threaded some designs and glued them together, folded and threaded the cards, put the Kibera Paper logo and description on the bag and even signed some of them. Since they were in the process of making more of my favorite mother and baby cards I was especially delighted that we got to participate in the making of those. We really learned how time consuming and intricate a process it is to make Kibera cards since they are handmade every single step of the way in the finest detail.
Bothe Deb and I worked with the Mommas to help them create cards with a technique that we use. Deb brought a lot of materials to make valentines since we are coming upon that holiday and that is recognized in Kenya.
Deb's valentine project with the Kibera Paper women (even Justice helped out with this)
I really wanted to work with the woman to teach them a technique that they might be able to incorporate into their production and might be both fun by introducing something new, but also sustainable if I brought extra materials. I decided to teach them how to make small block prints with softcut linoleum and lino cutters and how to print them. If they liked the process and the designs, they would then be able to print the same blocks over and over again since I brought a lot of extra ink, printing paper and other materials to keep them going for a quite awhile. Wel, l I have to say that this was very exciting to me. They started out being very hesitant and unsure of themselves and by the end they were so proud of the work they had done that it just warmed my heart to see this unfold. I felt so happy to tell them what a wonderful job they had done and how proud I felt to have taught them. And they were profusely grateful for the lesson and the materials.
Kibera Paper women making block prints
Proud of their work!
Both days we enjoyed chai and biscuits together and shared a genuine exchange of warmth and affection. Lloydie explained the mission of the Women4Women Program and how it would work and its intention to increase their sales in the U.S. We also shopped heartily form their stock of cards which are just beautiful.
When it came time to leave there was a lot of singing and dancing, the most joyous of which you can see in these videos.
There were also blessings in song and words shared in the Kenyan way which is to speak from the heart without being shy in a way that we don’t tend to do in the U.S. and when you experience it in Kenya it is so profoundly touching—well, that is why we always end up in tears. They are not shy about acknowledging that our hearts have been touched by each other and doing it in the loveliest of ways. And Kenyan goodbyes—well everyone gets hugs and you are escorted to your vehicle and hands are held, and more hugs and people are still waving as you drive away……
Since Kibera Cards are made on the property of a church and school where space is rented to allow for making and storing the cards , there are sometimes school children around as was the case when we were there. Since they were so adorable and I can never pass up an opportunity to photograph a child, I thought I would give you a peek and these children looking especially “smart” (Kenyan term for sharp, stylish) in their red school uniforms.
School children at Kibera Paper
Included in our two packed days were also some other activities, we drove into Kibera and stopped at a storefront that is run by one of the longest established Self Help Groups. They call themselves Power Women. Although not one of the groups for KEST’s Women4Women Initiative we did want to meet with them and to hear their story since they have a long history of success. And of course we came upon some other children and the usual chorus of children shouting after us “How are you?” which is what they do whenever they see white people (Mzungus) in Kibera.
Power Women in their Kibera store front
Kibera Kids
We also took a trip to Amani ya Juu (Higher Peace in Swahili), a women’s sewing and training program based in Nairobi for marginalized women and women refugees from many African Nations and cultures. The focus is on mentoring women, holistic development, producing quality environmentally friendly goods, peaceful existence and self sustainability. We had a lovely meal there and then browsed and purchased some of their goods.
Amani: the Peace Quilt and The Children's Peace Quilt
Finally, we actually managed to fit something more into these two days—on Thursday evening we took the adolescents who will be going away from the Nyumbani Children’s Home to begin high school Form 1 or fist year of high school) out for a celebratory evening. In Kenya, after eighth grade children take standardized exams and only are accepted into high school if they pass and get adequate scores. All high schools require tuition and are boarding schools and acceptance is based entirely on test scores. This is all very anxiety provoking. All 14 students from Nyumbani Children’s Home will be going on to high school and will be leaving in the early part of February. We took them to a “nyama choma” (literal translation=grilled meat) and had a meal, hired a DJ for dancing and they had a wonderful evening. We road on the bus with them and KEST volunteers danced under the disco ball with them! I had the pleasure of sitting next to Thomas, a very bright young man who is very articulate and we had some wonderful conversation. Lloydie gave them all a bag of catsup, peanut butter, and hot chocolate—apparently the most missed food items when away at boarding school. Sitting back, looking at all of them having a wonderful time, dancing up a storm, well, it’s something to marvel at considering that many of them were so sick when they arrived at Nyumbani Children’s Home that they weren’t expected to live. Now that truly is something to celebrate!
Nyumbani Children's Home Form One Students "Send Off" Dinner
NCH Form One students and KEST volunteers dance the night away
Next stop PCDA (Pastoral Community Development Alliance) in the Maasai community and some of the most adorable children…stay tuned. LLala Salama! (Goodnight)
Video clips from Kenya as Promised
We had the day at Kibera Paper and will be going back there tomorrow when I will once again be blogging about another incredible experience. In the meantime, I think I have conquered some of my technical issues and can upload a few videoclips to share–I have taken alot of video so will have more. But here are a few to wet your appetite.
My little friend Dolo in cottage E at the Nyumbani Children’s Home is quite an energetic 3 year aold with a big personality and drives the point home that these children are thriving with HIV under the care that they are receiving. Here is Dolo in action:
All of the children at the orphanage are thriving. Going to mass there is a joyous experience with a choir of child singers and child drummers and musicians and dancers. Everyone joins in the celebration. Here is a sneak preview of the children– I say a preview because I know that next Sunday when the international summit members are at the Children’s Home they will have a whole program of entertainment prepared.
This is Boniface and his wife from the Program for the Deaf singing for us:
I will have a post tomorrow about our experinence with the women at Kibera Paper….and more
Two Extraordinary Days in the Slums of Nairobi
Meet the group: Justice, our driver and Kenyan guide extrordinaire and Lloydie, Deb (center), Kristen (lower right), Walter and Lynne
Now I have the impossible task of trying to put into words the past two days—days in which we have laughed, sang (even in sign language), danced, hugged and been hugged too many times to count, cried for being touched by the stories of tremendous resilience and grace, been humbled by the strength of character and generosity of people and were profusely thanked often by people with whom we felt honored to be able to share some time together. These have been the two days in the slums of Dandora, Kangemi, and Kawangware in the clinics of the Lea Toto programs, the Dandora Program for the Deaf and meeting with the Self Help Groups.
In each of the three sites we visited we talked with various different staff members of the programs—the Directors of the Eastern and Western divisions of the Lea Toto programs, a medical officer, a nurse, counselors, social workers and community health workers. This gave an opportunity for those who haven’t come to lea Toto before to get an overview and for others who have to get a chance to be updated. When a parent or guardian brings a child whom is suspected of being HIV+ to the clinic, they first meet with a counselor and testing is done at the same time along with counseling. If the results are positive the child receives a medical evaluation, nutritional assessment and begins on ARVs. The entire family receives nutritional support for the first year during which time they are expected to save the resources not spent on food to develop some independence from the food support. The caregivers are provided with extensive counseling and the child is given emotional support, support for school fees if needed, etc. Social workers do home visits on a regular basis and community support worker are volunteers who receive extensive and ongoing training and do home visits as well. When we met with community support workers, many of them were former or current clients in the Lea Toto Programs who felt that they were grateful for what they had received that they wanted to give back to others. The dedication of this staff, the workload that they carry is phenomenal and hearing them talk about why they do the work and what it means to them was so inspiring that when it came our time to speak we could hardly talk—Kristen and I were first and we were just passing the tissues back and forth. Paul, the Director at Dandora, and the Director of the western division of the Lea Toto Programs, was a very thoughtful and well spoken man, who told us to remember that every little bit of help matters, no matter how small, and that it can be overwhelming to look at the overall larger picture, but when you help the person who is there in front of you, that help is enormous. He also told us that people often have many needs, but what they need most from you is “heart” and the rest follows. We did do several home visits with the social worker and the community support worker at Kangemi . In fact we found that often the several of the women of the self help groups also worked as community support worker.
Lloydie with Good Hope Self Help Group members
Other members of the Good Hope Self Help Group
We also met with the Self Help Groups to share time with them continuing to build relationships and to shop from their crafts. This included groups at all three sites including the Vision Self Help Group whom I had previously met in Dandora 2 years ago. These are wonderful groups of very lively vibrant women who each have incredible stories to tell. Every story is captivating but I have to say that Sally of the Vision Self Help Group had the most powerful story because she has been HIV+ since 1991 and has a daughter who is HIV+ as well. She has a strong powerful voice and is incredibly articulate about living positively with HIV and a powerful commitment to bringing that message to others. (I made a deal with her that next time I come to Kenya I will do a video interview because she has a voice and a story that really should be heard and can speak for many others).
We also had the mission of meeting with representative Self Help Groups in the three sites where Lloydie explained that it has often felt difficult for volunteers to feel like they are really able to be helpful in the Lea Toto sites and that KEST has taken on a new initiative to support those communities by supporting the Mommas of these groups. She explained the plan to select from their crafts items to be considered for sales in the US and that when she returns in June she will place a larger order for these items and pay fair market value when she gets them in August. Then KEST volunteers will sell them in the US and the additional profit will be brought to them next January and the cycle will repeat and hopefully grow. This plan was met with overwhelming enthusiasm and gratitude.
"Thumbs up!" from the Vision Self Help Group
Meeting with the Vision Self Help Group
Finally we spent the afternoon today meeting with Boniface, who has a “ministry for the deaf”. We met with him and his wife, both of whom are deaf as well as 3 other deaf people with whom he works. Boniface is a sign language teacher and he and the others in the group spoke to us through William, an interpreter. We learned that there are schools for the deaf in Kenya but not a lot of other support and that they really have come together to support each other. Although Boniface and his wife are employed the other are currently without work though have skills. One fact that really struck me was that all five of the deaf people with whom we met (and this is largely true for Kenyans) were born hearing and became deaf as a result of illness in childhood, often common illnesses like mumps or measles for which we get vaccinated in the U.S. I can’t quite describe what it was like to spend time with them—they may not have been able to speak, but they could certainly communicate in a phenomenally moving way that was deeply touching. I had heard through Lloydie that Boniface really needed a digital camera for work with his students and it warmed my heart to be able to give him. They say to us in sign language, taught us to sing by signing…..and more tears. I have a wonderful videotape of this that I hope to be able to upload (after 3 failed attmpts have to try again later–aaah the joys of technology…)
As always, there is so much more I could say, so many more words I could use, but words can’t capture this…..
It’s after midnight here, please pardon my typos, no more energy to proofread and a busy day tomorrow….kwaheri from Kenya!
The Weekend at Nyumbani Children’s Home
We spent our first weekend in Kenya at Nyumbani Children’s Home, the orphanage for children who are HIV+. We began the weekend by meeting with Sister Mary, the Executive Director of Nyumbani , who updated us on the Children’s Home as well as the other Nyumbani Programs, Lea Toto clinics in the impoverished communities around Nairobi and Nyumbani Village in Kitui. We learned that the programs now serve over 4000 children and in the case of Lea Toto, their families are receiving services as well. The children in the Children’s Home continue to thrive although 2 children had developed resistance to antiretroviral medications (ARV’s). In the past these children would have died but she was able to petition to get special permission to purchase the drugs for these children from outside the country as only first and second line drugs are available in Kenya. The major happening in the orphanage now is that there are 14 children looking for acceptance in to high schools. All are tuition based boarding schools in Kenya and acceptance is based solely on standardized test scores. Since some of the children have had periods of being unhealthy or difficult starts they don’t all score very well, so this is a time of high anxiety for them. We also toured the Nyumbani Diagnostic Laboratory which is a new freestanding facility and much larger than the small laboratory which Nyumbani previously had. There they do the most advanced HIV testing in all the country and provide services to a wide range of other organizations and facilities. BTW, Nyumbani was the first site of HIV testing in Kenya and the first AIDS orphanage in Kenya. I could say a lot more but on to the children………
The children greeted us with squeals and smiles and hugs and magnificent welcomes that were so heartwarming!
Lloydie with 2 Nyumbani kids
I have not been here for two years so one thing I really noticed was how some of the children have really grown! There are lots of names and faces to remember so I couldn’t remember them all, but was particularly surprised to see the growth in the little ones—some of whom you will recognize from my blog posts in 2010. I was amazed when one little boy who was in the ST Paul Miki Preschool the last time I was here remembered that I had taken his picture. And there are some new little ones as well.
Dolo, the little charnmer from cottage E
Baby Sharon
Innocent--remember him?!
The older children are genuinely kind and helpful to the younger ones.
Each of the volunteers was assigned a host cottage to spend time with including the children and the cottage mother. This meant hanging out with the children and seeing how the “family” (14 children and 2 Mommas) runs, having lunch with them, spending play time and getting to know them. I was particularly charmed by a spunky pint sized 3 year old, the youngest in my cottage, with a big personality, named Dolo. We will be back next weekend to spend some more time with them. And by popular demand I did another round of face painting which was so much fun! We also went to church with them on Sunday—Kenyan style with joyous drumming, singing, clapping and dancing. We also heard stories from the cottage mothers as well as other staff about some of the newer children and how sick they were when they arrived – some could not walk or talk and now they are racing around on scooters in the playground. You can’t help but think every once in a while that all of these beautiful children who are lively, thriving, very affectionate, little people would have died if it were not for the care they are receiving here. When you stand back and watch all this life around you it can move you to tears.
Lloydie and one of the boys from her cottage
I have some great video–you can get a peek at Dolo’s personality, experience mass at the Children’s Home and more, but I’m having some technical problems posting it. Check back later. Kwaheri marafiki!
Getting to Kenya, via Rwanda, and just a few traveling snafus!!
FINALLY……in Kenya!!
Well, my fellow travelers have kidded me that they couldn’t wait to hear what I would have to say about making our way here. I have to say that it was QUITE THE TRIP! I started out on Thursday morning the 19th at 9 AM and headed to Boston where I met up with Kristin and we flew off to D.C. together. We surpassed the first snag of having to check in and out security to recollect my 2 checked bags (100 lbs of luggage) that were only checked as far as DC instead of all the way to Kenya, all while toting our additional 4 carry-ons like an Abbott and Costello routine getting acquainted with a good many laughs about toppling luggage and how we already needed to” freshen up” after only the shortest flight of the trip. We connected up with the rest of the travelers at out gate to head to Brussels; that was when we first realized that our flight to Nairobi was to get there by way of Kigali, Rwanda….oh well, a little extra time added, we could handle that.
Then we learned that there was a problem with our plane. And time was passing… passing…and passing. And then came the announcements, one, then another, and another—about technical and electrical problems…and groans about the fact that that might be just “a little TOO much information to be giving everyone about the delay!” Then there was announcement that they were loading some additional software that the captain felt confident would fix it; then, well that didn’t work. Then an announcement that “well, they didn’t really know what the plan would be……” Yikes!! Now it’s about 3 hours AFTER departure time and there’s only one connecting flight to Nairobi per day. So our fearless leader Lloydie began making alternative contingency plans with the United rep: fly to London and spend a lovely day in London before the daily connecting flight to Nairobi (or not so lovely each our 2 stuffed carry ons and collective 600+ lbs of duffels), fly to Zurich and definitely miss the connecting flight, fly to Dubai for 15 hours and then get a flight to directly to Kenya…the next day. During the course of discussing our options, an announcement was made that we needed to go a new gate and we were shuffled off to a new plane where we were quickly issued new boarding passes and were about to board 4 hours late with a small hope and a prayer for reaching our connecting flight—but were told that there was no hope that our bags would arrive with us. So we took off!
The captain came over the loud speaker and said that he was going to do his best to make up time and get everyone to connecting flights…..Hmm, after taking off 4 hours late?! But we got to Brussels and were part of small mob racing to other gates and barely made it, but did succeed in getting to our connecting flight. After many, many hours of flying we landed in Kigali and got a glimpse of Rwanda, deposited some of the passengers there, picked up some others who were headed back to Brussels via Kenya. After about 2 and ½ hours of this process, refueling, etc) we took off for Nairobi. We were flying with 40 Swedish students going from Brussels to Nairobi and when we landed in Kenya, we joined in their clapping. Now about 32 hours from the original departure from home, we were finally in Kenya. And miracle of miracles (we were due for one) ALL of our baggage had arrived too!! Our driver Justice was waiting with a huge smile and a very exuberant Kenyan welcome (Justice has a very big and happy personality) even though it was well after midnight. And the 6 of the travelers—Lloydie, Deb, Kirsten, Lynne, Walter and myself—were exhausted, but brimming with excitement and had managed to do some pretty good bonding, laughing, storytelling and listening of prior experiences in Kenya, and getting to know each over the trials and tribulations of getting here. Finally, in Kenya, headed to Bed at 2AM and ready to go to Nyumbani Children’s Home the next morning.
Since getting online has been a bit of a challenge—I won’t bore—I started writing my blog entries but couldn’t post them. Much more to come……….
One more day, one more post, one more duffel…then we’re off!
We are off to Kenya on Thursday so this will be my last post before I leave home. Tomorrow will be a busy day since I will be working until the afternoon , then finishing up many things to prepare to be away, packing my last duffel and heading out on Thursday morning. I will first fly to D.C. where I will meet up with my fellow travelers and we will all fly together to Kenya. I received a lovely email from Lilian, the counselor at Nyumbani Village, wishing me safe travels and letting me know that she can’t wait to see me. We have also had several e-mails back and forth from the women at Kibera Paper making plans for our time together for a sharing of creative ideas.
More people have come by with donations making the packing a little trickier, but the bounty more plentiful and I’m very grateful to have these to bring with me. The monetary donations have really added up and I am very grateful for those as well since they will help us contribute to the nutritional needs of the Maasai children and to buy mattresses for Nyumbani Village. They are also very light weight and don’t take any packing space and at this point I’m particularly appreciative for that! I really want to thank everyone who has made the effort to donate to this cause– every little bit adds up, every little bit makes a significant difference, everything is received with such grace and gratitude. I wish all of you could have the opportunity to experience what I will when giving to the Kenyan people who I will encounter– it’s quite beyond words.
Finally, I would like to introduce you to another artisan group with whom we will work to discuss fair trade practices for selling their ware in the states. You have, however, actually been introduced previously though not from this perspective. These are the grandmothers or shosho’s (sho sho’s , su su’s, nobody can actually really say how you spell this Kikombe word in English) at Nyumbani Village. This is a very spirited, lively, dancing and singing group of grannies who are prone to grabbing you at any moment and pulling you into an impromptu dance, who have a special 3 part Kikombe hand shake that they teach everyone, and who also greet you with gigantic smiles and Kikombe greetings with the expectation that you somehow know the correct response–if you don’t, they teach you on the spot with great gesticulation and broad smiles and laughter until you get it. They also weave very beautiful baskets out of Sissel and yarn and make it look incredibly easy. They sell these though do not have a well established market and really need to expand that since the baskets are quite beautiful and so well made.
Nyumbani Village Sho Sho's weaving Baskets
The storage room for baskets at Nyumbani Village
As you can see the baskets are as “colorful” as the sho sho’s!
So we leave on Thursday and arrive in Kenya late (midnight) on Friday night. Our first stop after a night’s sleep will be the Nyumbani Children’s Home on Saturday. Imagine being surrounded by excited, squealing children with smiling faces who you know are healthy and thriving, who you know are alive and have a future literally because Nyumbani exists to care for them–it’s a very powerful and a very wonderful feeling. What could be better than that?!
Next time I write…..I’ll be in warm and sunny Kenya.
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!!
Across the years, across the country, across the world…..
“So how did you first hear about Nyumbani?”
This is a question that I have been asked several times in the past week and in the course of answering it I have realized that I delight in telling the story, so I thought I would tell it here. As we live in the town where Bowdoin College is located and my husband, Tom, is an alumnus, we had a connection to the college when we first moved here. From very early on we began participating in the Host Family Program in which local families provide support and a local connection to Bowdoin College students who are international students and thus far away from home. We began being a host family when our sons, now about to turn 21, were still babies. It was a wonderful opportunity for our family to learn about other cultures and get exposed to some ethnic diversity which is very limited in Brunswick. We had particularly close relationships to the students whom we hosted for all 4 years and who we watched graduate along with their own parents who traveled across the world to do so. One such student was Stanley from Kenya. I don’t know if I ever told him this, but of our sons who was quite young at the time, but not very familiar with people from Africa or even African-Americans, when he was told that Stanley was coming for a visit, referred to him as “that really tall guy with curly black hair and the pink fingernails” –Stanley IS very tall. His mother and sister stayed with us at graduation time and we took them on their first ever trip to the beach and had a wonderful time getting to know them. We later visited Stanley when he was working at a job in Washington D.C. A number of years later we heard from him that he was doing a fund-raiser bicycle trek ACROSS the US to raise money for an AIDS Orphanage back in Kenya named Nyumbani and asking if we would like to be a sponsor. So it was through Stanley that we learned of Nyumbani.
He completed his bike trek and raised a lot of money……
Fall 2006 Nyumbani Newsletter
And we found ourselves on the mailing list for Nyumbani……
As our children grew up and it became more possible for us to do some volunteer work that would take us away from home we looked more closely at what opportunities might exist there and that’s how we became acquainted with Lloydie and KEST….and once you meet Lloydie you go to Kenya to volunteer for Nyumbani.
When we took the trip 2 years ago we let Stanley know that we were going and how excited we were. I know that I MUST have shared with him and his mother in he host family days that I had been dreaming about going to Africa since I was a child. He connected with my blog to learn more about the trip (and even complimented me on my very rudimentary Swahili.) I have just connected with him again– he and his wife Joy live in Texas and are expecting their first child in April. It was wonderful to reconnect and share their happy news and to let him know that I am off to Nyumbani again. These connections from Kenya to the US and back again which span over 15 years have been incredible and do really make the world seem like a much smaller place. We are fortunate to have had Stanley to share a little bit of Kenya with us years ago and to start the process which was to grow into much more of a connection to Kenya than we ever imagined.
Lynn Ouellette
Watoto Wote Wazuri 
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