our weekend.

After getting home from the slum on Friday, Kyle and I frantically started packing for what we thought would be a weekend safari trip to Amboseli, a national park near Kilimanjaro.

Instread, right after we finished packing, we got a call from our safari operator and told us that it would not be possible for this weekend unless we could hire him as a private guide - which we cannot afford to do. So, he will keep looking for another group going next weekend instead.

Since our bags were already packed, we decided to go on a day trip to GilGil and Vermillia IDP.

View of the IDP camps from the nearby cliffs

In Kenya, (especially in the Rift Valley) there are hundreds of IDP camps. These are groups of Internally Displaced Persons who lost their homes and possessions as part of the 2007 election violence. In 2007, the two candidates for presidency were from opposing tribes - Kalenjin and Kikuyu. There was hostility in communities that were a mix of both groups, and many Kikuyu people's homes and possesions were burned. People were even killed over voting a certain way. Before the violence, they even owned farmland, cattle, shops and businesses.


Now, the displaced persons live in camps with other IDP's and some have yet to recieve any compensation from the governement. Since the land that they were temporarily resettled to is literally in the middle of nowhere, they have a hard time getting any income. They lost all of their posessions and now live in tents provided by the governement and await food being dropped off. Sometimes it can be weeks or even a month between being provided food. The government has said that they will be resettled as soon as possible. The IDP's are still waiting.

Because of this, some of the volunteers that we know have started a school there, so that the children who live in the camps can continue with their education while they wait in limbo for a permanent home. They also put in a well, to give them clean drinking water. 

The water pump and the school

We decided to visit our friends that volunteer there - Erin and Katrina.
They took us on a great tour of Vermillia A and Vermilla B - two groupings of tents that they work with. There are about 300 people living in their camp. Imagine the entire population of Roland (Kyle's hometown) being violently forced out of their homes and living in tents.

An IDP tent

Erin introduced us to some of the people living there- One woman makes bracelets to sell to other volunteers that visit the IDP camp during outreach. She gets 300 shillings for each bracelet - about 5 dollars - but outreach only comes every two weeks, so she depends pretty heavily on selling them during an hour visit with volunteers. Kyle and I are each getting one - They're quite nice.

Another woman we visited made sisal bags by weaving - she used the profit from selling two bags to purchase a cage full of baby chicks. She hopes to raise them and sell them to cars passing by on the highway. She can also sell the eggs, and use them to provide food for herself and her family. She was extremely excited to show us her chicks. She was bouncing up and down, clapping and smiling.

The excited lady's chicks.

It was good to see that people here are not too discouraged by their situation. It would be easy to become depressed after what they have gone through, but they all look out for one another at the IDP camp. The woman with the chicks told us that they do not know what the government will decide about their situation, and they do not know when - so they have to get by as best their can without their help. 

We also got to scale some cliffs near the IDP camp while we were there. It was tiring, but the view was great!

On the cliffs near IDP

On Sunday, Kyle and I went to Hyrax Hill. It is a prehistoric site. It had a museum and some artifacts. We also go to see the actually places where the artifacts were uncovered. It was neat. Kyle was excited for it. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable - even though his name tag said that he was Hyrax Hill's security guard. We also got to climb hills at Hyrax hill. Apparetly we're hikers now.

Okay, thats all for now - love you all. Bye bye.
I'm going to try to get Kyle to post about the medical camp we held at the slum last week. Hopefully that one will be up soon.

monday madness!

This a post about Monday, January 17th.

We got two new volunteers on Sunday, so on Monday we began to show them around the slum. Their names are Hannah (from England) and David (from USA). We showed them around and introduced them to some of the kids we know there.

Our plan for Monday was to continue with teaching in the morning and feeding program at lunch. Teaching went well, we covered percentages in math, and did similes and metaphors for our english lesson. The feeding program was a success, although the kids seem to be tiring of ujii porridge. Later this week, we will give them rice and beans.

We also had some visitors at the slum. Most of the people who work at Fadhili, the Kenyan organization that we are volunteering through (partners with IVHQ) came out to see our projects that we have going on at the garbage slum. They were pretty impressed with the progress, since this program is fairly new. Gioto has only been having volunteers come since August of last year (2010). They gave us some story books for the children, and a donation for a water truck. They will also be having a meeting later this week to talk about how they can financially support our projects here.

With the Fadhili donation, we were also able to have a water truck come and deliver 20,000 liters of clean drinking water to the families living in the slum. It was great for the Fadhili helpers to be here to see the families getting the water. They met some of the children, and we showed them around the slum.

Finally, we were going to take three newly sponsored children (Milka, Gabriel, and James) to Rockhurst, our boarding school here. 
We got some bad news over the weekend, that one of the older children who was originally sponsored for school and went at the start of the month was having problems and kept running away, back to the slum. Pastor Anthony said he had been having problems fitting in, as he is quite a bit older than the rest of the children at the school. Pastor said that he would start counseling with the boy. We made a last minute decision that since the boy who left the boarding school had already paid for his term, we would transfer his sponsorship to another boy that we knew at the slum. In fact, one of the three that we were already taking that day was his brother, and his sister has been sponsored since the beginning of this month. So, we now were taking four children to boarding school. (so we thought...)

We loaded up the sponsored children and their families to go to Rockhurst. Our cars were very full, and the kids were very happy.
One of the mothers- Elizabeth - was able to come along this time. She is a mom to Mercy, one of the girls who was sponsored earlier this month and already at school, Gabriel - one of the three we were originally taking on Monday, and David -our last minute switch of sponsorship. Elizabeth also brought along another one of her sons, Wilfred, who was feeling pretty down being the only one of his siblings who was not going to be going to school.

Rockhurst students.

When we got to the boarding school, Pastor and some of the volunteers discussed Wilfred's situation, and decided that he should stay at school with his brothers and sister. His tears turned into tears of joy. Four of Elizabeth's children would now be able to go to school. Because we pay the boarding school per term, Wilfred is currently using someone else's second term donation while we look for a sponsor for him. Since we still have three months, we think we will be able to find sponsorship for him within that time.

I was pretty excited to have Milka finally going to school. It was hard to say goodbye to her though. Kyle and I will try and visit the boarding school once more before we leave. 

Milka getting her things for boarding school.

Us with Milka at her new school

So that's a recap of one of our busiest days so far. It was really a very tiring, but very good day.

Oh!, I also got to play with Anastasia, she is a cutie-pie!

Anastasia - if you could only hear her laugh...

Our Kilimanjaro/Amboseli trip did not work out for this weekend, so we decided to go visit an IDP camp instead this weekend. IDP is internally displaced persons. Our next blog post will be about that adventure.

Much love,
Kate and Kyle

our everyday lives.

Hello everyone,

Since we have arrived in Kenya, most of our blog posts have been about the more extraordinary events that we have been a part of.  Unfortunately, it is not everyday that we get to go on safari to see wild animals or kiss giraffes (although yesterday was quite exciting, but that's for another post).  We thought that for something different we would do a blog post about one of our more usual days.  I think that today is a good example for that.

This morning for us started sometime between 7 and 7:30.  There is now 9 volunteers living in our home, along with the family who is hosting us and the hired house help that is living there, so the house can get pretty busy sometimes.  The mornings are one of these times as there is only 1 shower and 1 bathroom for us to share.  Every morning we drink our chai, which is sweet tea made with milk.  Breakfasts are usually bread and butter, with jam or peanut butter occasionally.  This morning was special though.  We were treated with fresh ndazi, which is a fried dough.  Very delicious.  After breakfast, we gathered up the things we need for the day, usually workbooks, pencils, textbooks, and the football, and started walking to town.  The walk takes maybe 20 to 30 minutes to the edge of town.  This is where we can catch a matatu bus to the slum. The matatu ride takes another 15 or 20 minutes and costs 20 shillings (about 30 cents).  It is usually around 9:00am when we arrive for school.

At the slum, each of the volunteers has different jobs that they usually do.  For example, some teach, some help with the food we have every day, and others provide one on one help with the students.  We have divided the kids into 2 classes.  Kate and I work with the oldest kids, who have completed class 8 and are anywhere from 13 to 18 years old.  We usually start the morning with a math lesson.  Today was adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, squaring, and taking the square route of fractions.  The class is over 50 students, so it is tough to find a balance between keeping the students who understand it right away occupied and spending enough time on topics to make sure that all of the others understand it.  Following the math is English.  Today, Kate taught about personification. Yesterday was similes and metaphors.  If there is time, I sometimes go over a little biology.

We have to wrap up classes at around12 because the school where we cook the ujii closes then and the teachers there want to lock up and go home.  When we leave the classroom, we need to take our chalkboard and store it in one of the homes here because there is a rumour going around the slum that it is a solar panel and it would be quickly stolen otherwise. After classes, everyone heads down to the preschool for a little bit of food, while we sweep out our classroom. We are planning on starting more classes in the afternoon now that we have more volunteers, but for now everyone is just getting comfortable at the slum and getting to know some of the students so school ends after the morning.  It is usually between 1 and 2 before we have all the food stuff cleaned up and get to go for lunch of our own.

During the week, we usually get lunch in town.  There is often no one at home during the afternoon. After lunch, we have a little bit of time to take care of any personal things that we need to do, like shopping, banking, or internet.  We also use this time to get the flour and sugar for ujii or new workbooks and pencils for school and work on any other projects that we have going on at the time.  For example, today we are looking into different high schools and trade schools for our class 8's.  Once we have done everything in town that we need to do we walk back home, which takes 45 minutes and is uphill all the way. Some days, if we are feeling particularly burned out, we take a motorbike or tuk-tuk which are very popular here.  We generally try to be home by dark.

tuk-tuk

Kyle's dirty legs at the end of a day at the slum

As soon as we get home, we shower. We get pretty filthy some days, and the shower at home always feels great. We have supper with our host family and the house help, usually around 8 or 8:30 at night. Sometimes we go next door to the hotel for a cold soda with the other volunteers and play card games. We also have a collection of movies that you can buy on the street here for a few shillings, so sometimes we will all watch a movie together. We go to bed fairly early, usually by 10:00 pm.

That sums up a pretty average day here. Our highlights are usually nothing too extraordinary. Sometimes it will be something funny that the kids say or do, or getting a good picture of one of the kids with their bright smiles. Other days the highlight is getting a slice of fresh pineapple on the street. Yesterday it was getting a toilet seat at the house! It has been a while since we have seen one of those.

Thanks for reading,
Kyle and Kate

meet Milka!

Hello,

Since we have been here, we have met so many children who we will never be able to forget; Dominic, Paris, Eric, Helen, Emily, Philip, Charles, Joseph... and also Milka.

Milka is a sister to Philip, Charles, and Joesph. Even though she is only nine years old, she is responsible for her two younger brothers whenever her mother needs to do errands. Her mother is a single parent, struggling to support all four of her wonderful children. Philip went to boarding school earlier this month thanks to his sponsorship. He was happy to go, but you could tell that his family was already missing him very much. When Philip left for his school orientation, his mother went with him. Milka stayed with the two younger boys, who were both very upset about their brother and mother leaving. Milka is extremely protective of her brothers, and we can tell she loves them very much. When we are at the slum playing, you can often hear Milka's laughter above all the other tiny voices. Even from the first day we arrived, she was never shy.

Milka and her younger brothers.

Last week, Milka and I were sitting in the shade while the other children were playing football. She asked me what Philip's boarding school was like. I showed her some pictures that I had taken on the day that we dropped Philip off. She liked the pictures, but afterward seemed sad. She told me that she thought she would never get the opportunity to go to school, because it was more important for her to take care of her brothers. I asked her if school was something that she wanted for herself. She did, of course.

This week, we got the news that another child would be sponsored, and I immediately thought of my conversation with Milka. We spoke with her mother, and asked if she could go. Milka's mother was hesitant, because Joseph is still quite young and needs to be taken care of. After talking for a bit longer with the Pastor, she agreed and thanked us. She also wants to pass her gratitude to Milka's sponsors.

When we told Milka that she would be going to boarding school, she could hardly contain her excitement. She was jumping around, smiling from ear to ear, and beaming proudly when Pastor took her shoe size.We also needed Milka's measurements to get her school uniform made. To do this, we had to go into town, so we all went with Milka into Nakuru and decided to take her out for lunch also. We asked her what she wanted, and she said a soda. We also got her some chicken, rice, and vegetables. After that we went to a store and got her some sweets and cookies. All of the volunteers had a great time spoiling Milka.

When we got back to the slum, we conducted a video interview with Milka in her home at the garbage slum. This was an idea that we had before Milka was sponsored. We wanted people to be able to see a child in these surroundings, talking about it in their own words. Milka still wanted to do the interview, as she thought it might help other kids living in Gioto. She has such a big heart.

Monday, she will be off to school with two other children from the slum who recently got sponsored. She is very excited to go to the same boarding school as her older brother, Philip. Milka's mother now helps cook the food for our feeding program at the slum, and washes the children's dishes after they are done.Milka's two younger brothers (Charles and Joseph) are still living in the slum with their mom.

Outside Milka's house in Gioto garbage slum.

Again, we would like to extend our thanks to Milka's sponsors.


Love, Kyle and Kate

feeding program.

This week we started a feeding program at the slum. The feeding program was an initiative of two of the other volunteers we are working with, Andrew and Jeremy. The kids who attend our school and the pre-primary school that Pastor Issak (another Pastor here)  is running for the kids from the slum will get one hot meal from Monday - Friday. After the lessons, all of the kids walk to Pastor Issak's school for lunch. We are starting out by giving them a meal called ujii. It is a drinkable porridge. We made a batch at home and Kyle loved it - he had a whole cup. It is nothing special, but it will fill their bellies and give them nutrition. We also give them vitamins with their meal. 

Here are some pictures:

giving out the ujii

Eating their first meal of the feeding program

Isso having his ujii

David and his ujii - allof the kids wanted their pictures taken with their cup of ujii

 Somedays we feel like we cannot possibly do enough to help here. Somedays we feel like small victories should be celebrated. Today is one of the latter days.


Thank you all for following our blog. We love and miss you Moms, Dads, family and friends.

-Kate and Kyle

school news

Hello everyone!

Lots has happened since our last post. We have two new volunteers at the house - Lin from Vietnam/USA, and Yvonne from Scotland. Kyle and I spoke in Nairobi about outreach to the new group of volunteers. We also visited Kibera - Africa's largest slum. It was huge - like a maze of little shanty houses, each no larger than a small bedroom, and each housed 6-10 people. We were invited into a few of them and spoke with the people living there. It was surprising to see how large the whole place was, but since being at the garbage slum - we didn't feel as shocked by the living conditions as we would have if we had come there straight from Canada.

In other HUGE news, on Monday we took the sponsored kids to their new boarding school - Rockhurst Academy. Last year - three students were able to go. This year, we had fourteen! The three that had been there before, Philip, James, and Winnie were all ready in their uniforms at the slum waiting to get back to the boarding school. They were excited and had the biggest smiles on their faces. The others were excited too, but nervous and not sure what to expect. They got there in a bus with their parent and that's where we gave them all their new things for school - a mattress, bedding, uniform, socks, shoes, soap, mosquito net, study books, pencils... and everything else they will need. The headmaster also had sodas and biscuits for them - this is when they decided they really like school - after getting sweets. The kids from the slum went to the boarding school one day early, so that they could get used their new surroundings and get familiar with their teachers before the other students came. They officially started classes yesterday! Pictures:

Philip, James, and Winnie

Everyone with their parent at the new school!

Me and Mercy

Even in the short time that we were there, we could see that the slum was affecting Mercy's bright personality. We saw her less and less and were told that she starting hanging out with some of the older kids at the slum. It was great to see Mercy at the boarding school - out of the environment of the garbage slum. Her bright smile has returned. Mercy's mother, Elizabeth couldn't come with her to the boarding school because of her arthritis. Elizabeth was diagnosed in 1985, and it has gotten worse since then. She is now barely able to walk. Mercy takes care of her mother, but Elizabeth insisted that Mercy go to the boarding school to try and give her daughter a better life. Mercy was sponsored by the parents of one of the volunteers we met here, Tori. Thanks Tori' Family!

Lucy and Samwell - siblings

Lucy and Samwell were two of the 11 newly sponsored children. Pastor Antony decided to make it his top priority to find them a sponsor to get them away from the slum. Their mother passed away last year from HIV (Gioto has a 45% HIV positive rate) and they have since been living with their aunt in the slum. Their aunt is an alcoholic who beats Lucy and Samwell. As a result, they are both very timid and shy - But it was great to see them at the school, laughing and talking to their new friends. Our friend Erin's parents sponsored both Lucy and Samwell. Our Thanks to Erin's Family!


The money from their sponsorship pays for all of their necessities as well as their school tuition and food while they are at the boarding school. Because some of the things can be reused year after year - like their mattress and bedding, the cost of sponsorship goes down every year. Sponsoring a child for boarding school costs 730 US dollars - there are programs for sponsoring children for cheaper than this but we wanted the kids from the garbage slum to be able to go to a school that has a good record and high standards. This way - we know that they will be given the top quality education that they deserve. The next year of sponsorship - if you would like to be a continuing donor for the child (year after year until that child finishes school) the cost of sponsorship will go down - to about  600 US dollars. This is less than two dollars a day - for an entire year of education, food, and shelter for these children. If you are interested, please visit www.garbageslum.org  . You can also donate for the other projects in the garbage slum (clean drinking water, medical camps...) on Andrew's Website - www.helpingkidsinkenya.webs.com .  There is a PayPal on Andrew's site so you can donate any amount - no matter how small, everything helps. We realize that not everyone can afford to send a child to school. If you choose to donate, and want it to go to a certain place - towards sponsoring a child, towards a feeding program in the slum, towards clean drinking water, or towards medical camps - you can make a memo of that on the PayPal on Andrew's site.

We also started classes at Gioto Sunrise Academy - the school that we have for the children who cannot afford even to go to the cheapest of public primary day schools. Most of the children from the slum that can afford to go to day school go to Prison primary school - the cheapest school in the area. The class sizes are immense, and we worry that many of the kids from the garbage slum are ignored.

Issak, Paris, and Helen - Paris and Helen are in uniforms for Prison Primary day school.

abc's, counting, games, stories, and coloring. The middle range will work of learning reading, writing and math. The more advanced range will be doing creative writing - Today Kyle had them write stories about themselves, and one boy was finished so quickly that he had him write a story about Kyle. It will be interesting to read that one tonight. All of these students will also benefit from the feeding program that is due to start Monday of next week.

Doing storytime with some of the younger kids at our school

Kyle teaching a writing in English lesson as some of the other volunteers provide one on one help.

We are loving it here. It is good to see the kids finally in school, and we are feeling more positive about their future. Education is the key to their success in life.

Our plans for this month are to focus on the school here and establish the feeding program. We have at least two groups of outreach coming - one is this Saturday. We also will go and do another talk to prospective volunteers on the 15th. There is a medical camp scheduled for the 18th. There is also a possibility of an orphanage starting that will take 30 children away from the slum and give them food, clothing, shelter. We will be meeting with Matt, a volunteer who now lives in Kenya, to help him set this up and make sure everything goes through so that the Gioto kids can be taken care of there. The orphanage is being built right now, and will be ready to accept children at the end of February.
Kyle and I also hope to go to Kilimanjaro this month. It is so busy, but hopefully we will be able to after the medical camp at the end of the month.

We love you and miss you all. Thanks for following our blog while we are here. Also, we thank you for all of the messages of support and prayers while we are away.
-Kate and Kyle