Orphanages

Orphanage #1:
Mama Lydia brought Louise and I to an orphanage one day just down the road from her. Her friend, Janet, is a house mother there. I had told Mama Lydia that I was interested in helping at an orphanage - so off we went!!
The orphanage, King's Kids, opened in 2003 and is run by a couple, Molly and Stan. Stan's father started the orphanage by funding the building of it and the ongoing management/maintenance. The couple are American, but it seems that Stan spent half his childhood in Nigeria and always wanted to live in Africa.

The orphanage has 4 large apartments, each with a house mother and  10 children. There is a small school on site where all of the children receive "home schooling". The property is beautiful and has a playground and soccer field.

A few days after we were there, Mama Lydia asked if Louise and I could help out at the orphanage on the Saturday; one of the house mothers had a wedding to attend and Molly and Stan had meetings scheduled... they were in a mess, so... TWINS TO THE RESCUE!! 

We were picked up at 7:30 in the morning, brought to one of the apartments and met the 10 children we were caring for that day (yikes!). The age range of the children was from 18 months to 14 years old: Kate, Maturi, Eunice, Sharon, Eve, Julius and Julius (yes, there were 2), Cynthia, Douglas and Jimmy.

What a great bunch of kids!! They all helped each other out. Jimmy, the eldest, even prepared breakfast and lunch, which in Africa, is a HUGE step - men don't cook here!! Lets hope this is the beginning of a new generation. Sadly, the 2 youngest, Kate and Maturi, had to receive 2 types of medication - they are both HIV+.

There was a soccer tournament on site, so after breakfast we all headed down to watch the game. We then had lunch and went for a walk around the neighborhood - a very rich area, with a gorgeous lake.

The rest of the time, the kids played with my camera, taking pictures and filming each other singing and dancing. It was a great day...and exhausting too!

Starting at 1 o'clock: Julius I, Julius II, ME, Maturi, Sharon, Louise, Eunice, Eve, Jimmy and Douglas (Kate and Cynthia were sleeping)

 

Coffee anyone?

We had been telling Mama Lydia how much we all loved coffee, and not surprisingly, she has friends who own a coffee plantation! So a couple of weeks ago, she brought Louise, Kevin and I to see the coffee plantation that her friends Esther and Nicholas own. The father-in-law (not sure on who's side) used to work (at a high level) for the previous president and, as a "perk", was given prime land on which he started this plantation. Now, this couple run it (800 acres of coffee trees), but the parents still live on the land. Nicholas brought us to their place - WOW! We just saw the outside, but it was gorgeous: manicured gardens; colourful trellisses and a pool!!

You could tell how passionate Nicholas was about his work as he brought us around the plantation and explained, in detail, each step of the process. Can you believe that each tree is pruned by hand?! And each bean manually picked?! There were thousands of trees, row upon row. Nicholas said he mostly hired women to do this work because they were much more detail-oriented and particular about the pruning and picking.

We drove around the plantation, and sometimes got out and walked just to see things up close. Nicholas said he only ever walks!! (let me remind you, it's 800 acres!!)

He showed us trees that were at the blooming stage, and then others at various stages of ripening. He talked about the different species; some which are prone to disease and infestations and others which have been "bred" to avoid these issues.

We were brought to the factory where, once harvested, the beans were washed and sorted into different grades. There are AA grades, right down to D grades which are sorted through different cement bins using water and the weight of the bean (whatever floats at a various stage in the process determines its grade).

The beans are then dried, husked, peeled... I can't even remember all the different steps! Unfortunately, (me being so passionate about production) the factory was not running when we were there. They had just finished the harvesting, processing season.

90% of Kenyan coffee is exported. This is not surprising to us seeing that every time we order "Kenyan brewed coffee" in a restaurant, we get Nescafe!! Kenyans are for the most part tea drinkers - even Nicholas and his wife, Esther!! But, after the tour of the plantation, we were served a wonderful lunch, and yes...freshly brewed, Kenyan coffee right from their plantation...yum!

Louise's Farewell Party

Mama Lydia had brought Louise and I out for lunch one day to a place just down the street, called the Castle Inn. It's tucked away in a corner, but once you enter the gates, there are buildings upon buildings: different pubs; a place where you pick your dinner (you actually choose it from a pile of raw meat!); individual "shacks" with tables and chairs for private affairs; and patio tables with umbrellas scattered around the grounds. When we went with Mama Lydia, she recommended the pork chops which ended up being the best meat I think I have ever eaten in my life!! (ok...maybe a bit of an exaggeration...it was the first "meat" we had eaten since we had arrived in Kenya).
Anyways, we decided that this would be a great place for Louise's last night out, so last Saturday Kevin, Mama Lydia, Suzie and Lee (our new roommates) and I went to the Castle Inn for dinner and drinks. Well, actually it was more like, drinks and drinks and then finally, dinner.

Suzie and Lee (from the
Isle of Man)                                                                                                Kevin and ME

 

   Louise and Mama Lydia 

We got trapped at the restaurant because of a huge rain storm, but Mama Lydia kept us laughing the whole evening. She had a "wee bit" to drink and just came out with endless, funny stories.

   

  

I'm pretty sure that Louise felt she had the best send-off possible - fun was had by all!! 

Diani Beach, Mombasa

Ahhhh, yes! On Thursday, March 11, we left Nairobi for a "vacation" in Mombasa. We left at 10 PM, destined for an 8-9 hour bus ride to the coast. It was the noisiest, bumpiest ride of my life!! We were in hysterics at times because our heads were bouncing about 3 inches off the backrest, over and over and over again! Got off the bus with slight whiplash...

We arrived in Mombasa about 7 AM and met up with another volunteer, Joy. And that is exactly what she was...an absolute JOY to be around. She was from Ireland, and her dry, sarcastic, Irish humor had us laughing the whole weekend. We then took a matatu, and then a ferry across to Diani Beach, meeting Elyse and Fernanda at the pier. None of us knew them, but had gotten word they were joining us. Here's a benefit being in Africa - through the sea of people pouring off the ferry, we easily picked them out of the crowd as being our "new friends" - they were the only "mzungus"!! (I must add that Fernanda certainly proved that "you should not judge a book by its cover". She was a large Brazilian, wearing HUGE red glasses, droopy jeans and totally covered in tattooes - yikes! She turned out to be one of the sweetest people I have ever met. Louise and I actually spent a day with her once we got back home. She was volunteering at an orphanage in Thika town, about an hour east of us. We hope to see each other again sometime- either in Canada or Brazil. Both Louise and Fernanda have already left Africa.)

Ferry from Mombasa to Diani Beach: Cheryl, Me,

Kevin, Joy and Matt

We ended up being a group of 10 volunteers from all over the world: Cheryl, Louise and I from Canada; Kevin and Elyse from New York; Joy from Ireland; Matt from England; Maria from Holland and Fernanda and Diogo from Brazil (Diogo joined us near the end of our stay). We ranged in age from 19 to 33. Yes, I said 33, because that's the oldest the group guessed my age - Oh, how I love these folks!! So 33 is what I'm sticking with! For the rest of my stay here in Africa, I am wholeheartedly 33!!

We rented a beach house and had an awesome time! We stayed for 4 days, until Monday night (one day later than originally planned).

It averaged 42 degrees every day - YES - extremely HOT!! It was surreal to be swimming in the Indian Ocean! Most days were very windy, which was a blessing due to the heat, but other than the first day, kept us from lying on the beach because we got PELTED by the sand.

Dinner that night - fish and octopus - just caught                Want a ride?

Kevin, Matt, Fernanda, Elyse, Maria, Joy, Louise and Cheryl

We found a restaurant/bar (Forty Thieves) down the beach and practically lived there. They had tables, chairs and couches on the beach, with umbrellas to shade us. They had pool tables, CLEAN bathrooms and the beer was cheap!! We lazed around all day, occasionally taking a dip in the ocean...are you jealous yet? One night we stayed until 5 AM! We were back on those couches by 10 AM...yes, feeling a bit rough, but hey! it wasn't like we had anything strenuous planned.

How peaceful is this...?

We spent one evening at a pub closer to our house, Njiri's, and watched Rugby and Soccer matches on TV. The pub was run by a couple from England, so you can imagine the rivalry Joy stirred up with them - the games we watched were England vs. Ireland!!

King's Pub: Cheryl, Joy, Louise, ME, Maria,

Kevin (hiding) and Fernanda                                                                                     

One morning, we went to a local place for breakfast (King's Pub)...which turned into lunch...because the service was so slow. We all had the giggles that morning, and found an abundance of things to amuse us. First of all, some of the group ordered "German bread" just to see what it was. It was like the Oktoberfest pretzels...but with a surprise. Joy found a piece of shredded plastic in hers, but Maria won the prize - she found 5 pieces!!

Second, they had "pancake soup" on the menu (??) When we asked what it was, the waitress asked: "Do you know pancakes? (yes) Do you know soup? (yes) Well..."  HA HA HA !  (Still not exactly sure what pancake soup is...)

Some "cute" friends we made...

  

Diogo pointing to the "dry" river bed  :o(                     

On our last day, Diogo (the young guy from Brazil), brought us down to the far end of the beach. The ocean met a river there and he said it was tons of fun. I can't describe the disappointment on our faces when we got there and the river bed was dry, and the ocean tide was way out. We were missing the comfy couches at Forty Thieves!! We spent a couple of hours at a local resort and then eventually headed back to the "river". UNBELIEVABLE!! the tide had come in, the river filled, and yes.....we had a blast!!

                                                                 ME with the river in the background.

Diogo laughed at us, because he knew we didn't believe him at first, but he also knew what time of day this "miracle" happened. The waves were HUGE and they pushed us towards the opening of the river. As we got got closer to the river, the water flowed quite swiftly and just carried us along like floating leaves. The ocean water on the surface was warm like bath water, but the river water that flowed below was COLD. It was an awesome time - we didn't want to get out. We just kept running back into the ocean to ride the current again into the river - too bad we found this place on our last day.  :o(

A bit of a summary...

It's Sunday, MR 21 and Louise just left tonight. We've had the most amazing 5 weeks together - I will definitely miss her! Now, I have to wait and see what new adventures lie ahead of me in the next 8 weeks!
We spent 4 days in Mombasa (Diani Beach), toured a coffee plantation, worked at an orphanage one day... but I will detail these in future blogs. Hopefully I can catch up a bit on my blog-writing now that I won't have to share the computer with Louise! For now I figured I should recap what I've been working on the past few weeks (volunteering? - oh yes - that's why I'm here!!)
Well, 3 weeks ago, we finally got to meet Adam - the past-volunteer who has now started up UMaY. He agreed that we may be a little early for volunteering with them, but that we could get involved in sharing ideas and proposing new programs. UMaY has not really kicked off anything yet. He has also left our schedules totally open to us, which allows me to explore other placements and opportunities to try over the next 2 months
Right now, we will continue doing home visits once per week with MMAAK and running the women's group on Wednesdays. This Wednesday meeting is quite successful!! We spoke to 7 women at the first meeting about the importance of using condoms. We handed out male condoms, and demonstrated how to use female condoms. The women asked about family planning options too.
At the end of the meeting, they asked if we could come back the following week and discuss Nutrition - for that session, we had 15 women show up! A definite sign that they are enjoying and learning from the sessions and spreading the word around Korogocho slum.
Talking nutrition was very good, because the 2 main foods that people here in Kenya eat are "sucuma wiki" (kale) and cabbage - both of which contain practically all vitamins and minerals a body needs - and they are both CHEAP (i.e. approx. 15 shillings (20 cents) for a MASSIVE head of cabbage).
They also eat a lot of different beans and lentils (also cheap) which are great protein replacements (meat is expensive in comparison).
This session also gave us the opportunity to discuss the necessity to cook with and consume "clean water" - something I feel should be repeated and repeated.
Last Wednesday, we were asked to speak to cervical cancer, breast cancer and STI's. We discussed prevention; receiving regular medical exams and proper screening. We explained how to perform a self breast exam, and highlighted risk factors. 23 women attended!!
This past Wednesday, Louise was asked to examine the breasts of 2 women who had been in our meeting and were concerned about what they found. We had a bit of a chuckle about this, but were also pleased that the women were really listening to what we were saying. Now, that "Nurse Louise" is gone - I'm concerned they will be looking to me for this assistance!!
Our meeting had another great turnout. The topics were HIV, oppportunistic infections, tuberculosis and STI's. We handed out more condoms and information booklets on these subjects. Again, we were encouraged that this meeting was being talked about. We met another "mzungu" at a local restaurant and after talking about her work, we started to tell her what we were doing there. When we mentioned MAKWK clinic, she said she was hoping to go that afternoon to attend "an amazing women's meeting" she had heard about. Pretty cool, eh?!
Last week, we met UMaY in Nairobi and traveled to the Kibera slum. This is one of the largest slums (if not THE largest) with a population of 700,000 people. We didn't get a full tour because it had rained all morning and it was extremely muddy, and also, it's so big it would take 2-3 days to see everything. Although a huge slum, they are definitely ahead of Korogocho when it comes to housing, programs and NGO presence. One thing that is quite prevalent, is that the people we met are positive and eager to change, learn and improve - something that Korogocho residents are sadly lacking. Korogocho has very little publicity and attention. i.e. Kibera is where the "stars" go to visit. So many people came up to say "hi" and shake my hand - they obviously mistook me for Angelina!!!  :o)

IDP (FE 27) - 2nd day of excursion

We woke up to sun on Saturday morning and after "push starting" one of the vans, we hit the road and headed to some IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps.
IDP's  are "settlements" of people who were kicked off of their lands, after the elections of 2007, by rich government officials who wanted the land for themselves. People lost their homes and farms, and many lost family members who tried to resist.
Although organizations like the UN and the Red Cross came to assist, they were pushed out by the Kenyan Government. Tents and other supplies were also taken away.


Part of the fee we paid for the excursion was used to buy sacks of maize flour, rice and "fat" (solid vegetable oil).
We spent a couple of hours repacking the food into small plastic bags for distribution to individual families. This feeding program was initiated by a volunteer 1 year ago; they try to get groups of volunteers to participate in this weekend excursion every 2 weeks. Still, not all families can be provided food and the 4 cups of flour, 6 cups of rice and 1 pound of fat has to last them 2-4 weeks.



The flour crew - we finished first!!                                      The rice crew

                                                       Affectionately...the "fat" girls

The families at the IDP camp now live in small, tree-framed structures, covered with plastic cement bags.  We visited a few homes and met people like this woman, Grace.                                                                                    

 

Grace is just one example of the residents at IDP, but definitely an inspiration! Her family had had a very successful farm, but were pushed off the land. She even watched her brother get killed right in front of her. Once settled at the IDP, her husband took off and left her to raise their 4 young children. Grace is HIV+, suffers the stigma of this even in this small camp, but keeps a smile on her face and helps her neighbors as much as she can.

 These pictures are of the inside of her house.

  

Their saving grace, in my eyes, is at least the IDP camps are situated on a beautiful piece of land. They have an awesome landscape and mountains to gaze upon, unlike the environment in the Korogocho slums.

But, although the ground appears fertile, that part of the country deals with either drought or flash floods. Over the past 2 years, people have pooled their money to plant crops, but have lost them all. Most of the men have walked away from their families, and the young girls, starting as young as 14, have started prostituting themselves at a local truckstop as a means to provide for their families. 

The children are happy, loving and so innocently unaware of their plight. They were so excited when we pulled up - it was heart-warming. We palyed games with them and then handed out some shoes and the food we had packaged earlier that day.

It was quite a weekend! A mix of emotions, from excitement to sadness. One little guy at the IDP reminded us though what was really important - making a new friend and finding a safe place to peacefully lay your head down.

Big hugs to all of you!

Hell's Gate (FE 26) - excursion continued

After spending the morning at KCC, we headed to a National Park called "Hell's Gate". It started with a 7km bike ride down a dirt road, which luckily was pretty flat, and sometimes slightly downhill. It was a very hot, dry day so it was nice to pedal leisurely. I had only 1 working gear on my bike!!

What was awesome was that we rode past zebras, giraffes, impalas, wart hogs, african buffalo and baboons. One zebra decided to cross the street right in front of Louise and I - we actually had to slow down so as not to ride right into its path! It was so awesome to be that close!! These animals were just free in the wild, all around us, as we biked through "their home". Now we don't have to spend $200 on a safari!!

The background in this picture is supposedly "pride rock" from The Lion King. Not sure whether to believe this - our guides were full of tall tales - but being such a fan of The Lion King, I wanted a picture....just in case!! :o)

After biking, we started on a hike into Hell's Gate gorge. The terrain was very rugged - it was going to be a challenging hike!

Well, if it wasn't tough enough...it started to rain! We tried jumping from rock to rock, trying to avoid puddles, but it got to the point where the rain was torrential and the water was flowing down from rocks above - there was no staying dry!

Me, Melissa and Jennifer- soaked!

           Anna

We had to scale a couple of trees to move from one level of the gorge to another, and climb 90 degree rock faces! We waded through muddy, rocky, sandy water, nearly hip deep in some areas.

Everyone helped push and pull (and drag!) eachother up and down the rocks. It was definitely a bonding experience for us all!! The strata and rock formations were breathtaking, but unfortunately all of our cameras got placed in a big plastic bag for protection - so not too many pictures were taken.

OK...so my Dad had called me the night before and his parting words were: "Now be safe", so to not admit disobedience over the Internet, nor raise any concerns in others, I will not go into any more detail!! Let's just say it was an UNFORGETTABLE experience!!

We got out of the gorge, all safe and sound, just as the sun was setting. Cold and dripping wet, we drove to Camp Canelli on Lake Naivasha. Nursing a few scrapes and bruises, we relished the HOT showers, had dinner and a few drinks, and warmed up by the fireplace. A good night's sleep was had by all!!