Kisumu?

We have moved to our new placement, which we were told was in Kisumu.. but in reality is about a five hour drive from Kisumu...

We are still on Lake Victoria, in a small fishing village where we cannot get cell-phone service (we may have fixed that problem though by switching providers..) and live with a polygamous Luo family. The grandfather had 75 children! with 8 wives! Everyone we have met so far has been an uncle, auntie, or cousin. Kyle and I work at an orphanage school run by the family for children who have had parents pass away from HIV. So far, we have been able to teach about 4 classes each - it was intimidating to be left on our own with the classes at first - but the kids are very well behaved. We also got to play some games with the children. The school has about 250 children. I think we will need a miracle to learn the names.

So... other than having no idea exactly where we are in the world... We are doing fine. Kyle and I live in our own little hut with a thatched roof with our giant insect roommates and eat minnows for supper (Kyle did - I have yet to dare try them...) This is a lot further from what we are used to than our placement in Nakuru. It is good though, very peaceful and the scenery (lake, hills) is beautiful!

We had to drive for four hours to use the internet today though, so we are not sure how much we are going to be posting while at this placement. We will try, but if you don't hear from us for a couple of weeks, don't worry. (This means you, Mom)

Much love,
Kyle and Kate

Masai Mara

Last weekend Kyle and I decided to go on a trip to the Masai Mara national park.

Our safari guy, Joseph (the same one who took us to Amboseli) met us in Nairobi with another two people - Jess and Jackson from Australia. We all went together and arrived at the camp just outside of the park on Friday, late afternoon. The camp was great! We slept in tents that were huge and pitched on a cement pad, so we had a floor to walk on. Also, built onto the back entrance of each tent was a tile floor bathroom, so each tent had their own toilet, sink, and shower. This was luxury camping for sure!

It was very much fun at the camp, but the real excitement was found inside the park! During our game drives we saw so many animals. We saw a trio of cheetahs, a massive group of about 15 lions, zebras, antelope, gnu, wildebeest, giraffe, gazelle, elephants with babies, so many birds, and even dik diks! A dik dik is a very small deer-like thing, its only about the size of a rabbit.. and they are not very common, so I was super excited to see them! They live in couples and (as Joseph told us...) "they mark their territory with shits!" Joseph was such a great safari guide, he could answer almost any question about the wildlife, the trees and habitat, the parks.. even questions about Kenya and Africa. He is the best. If anyone is going on safari in Kenya, I have his contact info. He was also great for Kyle and I because he knew that we were volunteering here and gave us a really good price.

On our last day, we had the choice of going on another game drive, or going to a traditional masai village to see a performance. we had heard from other volunteers that the village was pretty fake and not work the extra shillings, so we decided to see more of the wildlife. We are so glad we decided to go back into the park - we spent our morning watching a lion eat an ostrich! The pair of lions had already killed the ostrich by the time we arrived, and we got to see the feast. We were so close that we could even hear the lions tearing the flesh from bone. It was so sweet. We took so many photos and videos. It was a great way to end our safari.
I can only upload of couple of photos.. so here is the highlight of the safari:

This lion dragged his kill right in front of our van.

Our Safari Group - Jess, Jackson, Me, Kyle, and our guide Joseph

We got a ride back to Nakuru with one of Joseph's safari friends, and when we got home the rest of the volunteers had planned a birthday surprise for me. It was so nice, we went to one of our favorite restaurants here - Hudson's, and had some good food and laughs with some great friends. The Hudsons even made me a special birthday cake!

It was a good way to say farewell to the friends we have made in Nakuru. We are moving on to Kisumu tomorrow and will try and find a good internet place there to continue our blogging. We plan to come back to Nakuru on our way through at the end of our trip to check up on things and say our final goodbyes. 

As a good end to a great weekend, we took another two children (I suppose I should say adults, as they are both 18) from the slum to Nakuru to enroll them in driving school. Kennedy, our first student is doing very well and his final test is scheduled for the 20th of this month!
The two that we brought today are Gerald and Josephine. We hope that they will do well also. We gave them a little talk about how we can provide them to opportunity, but it will be their responsibility to work hard and achieve what they want from it.

Kyle with three of Nakuru's newest student drivers!

Kennedy is one of the older kids from the slum, he is 20. He is shy, but polite and makes friends easily. It was sad to say goodbye to him today, as we are moving on soon, but he thanked us for the chance we gave him and gave us wishes for safe travels. Kennedy lives with his older sister, as his mother passed away due to HIV. His sister was raped at a young age and now has four children. Kennedy goes to driving school in the mornings, while the children are at school, so that he can be home in the afternoons to help look after them. He wants to get a job with his driver's training and use the money he gets to move his sister and her kids from the slum to somewhere safe for them. Kyle and I are both extremely proud of Kennedy, and the pride he has in his abilities are finally showing through in his attitude.

Where you came from doesn't matter, it matters where you are going.

Peace
-Kate and Kyle

the hardest days.

Kyle and I just went through some of the hardest days we have had since being in Kenya.

As you know, we have been working with some high school aged children. We try to get them into schools, and in the meantime we do lessons at the slum to keep them occupied and out of trouble.We have been doing this for just over a month.

Last week, one of the girls (16 years old) at our school approached some of the female volunteers and asked for counseling. We couldn't provide her with anything immediately, as none of us are counselors. But we told her we were there for us if she needed to talk about anything, that we would listen. She was very hesitant for us to bring in an outside counselor, and only wanted to speak with us in private. She also would ask us not to look at her if when she was speaking to us.

She finally opened up to us about the abuse going on in her home. We immediately brought in a Kenyan counselor and took her away from the slum and put her into a boarding school. To think that it had still been going on for the month that we had spent with her while she was gaining trust for us sickens me. What is worse is that she had to endure this torture since she was 11 years old.

The counselor we brought in was extremely kind and helpful. She has been dealing with issues like this for so many children, and I don't know how she can go on. It is unimaginable and heartbreaking to hear of people committing such awful acts to innocent children, especially by those who are supposed to be the ones they trust.

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their continued prayers while we are away.
We love you and miss you.
Kate and Kyle

Medical Camp

A few weeks ago, we held a medical camp at Gioto.  This was a chance for those living there and in the nearby districts of London and Hilton to recieve medical treatment free of charge.  This is not the first one that has been held there by volunteers, but it was the first one that we were a part of.  The last one was held only a few days before we arrived here in Kenya.  It took a lot of planning and organization, but it was worth it in the end as everything ran (relatively) smoothly and everyone who showed up was treated.

 

setting up the tents

 

 

taking vitals before seeing the doctors

We arrived early at the slum to set up everything that we needed: the tents, chairs, tables, signs, and medications.  With everyone helping out, we were able to see the first patient at 10:15, only 15 minutes late. By Kenyan standards, this is amazing.  13 staff from the Department of Health were there to help us out, along with people from the organization we are volunteering through.

We had the camp organized so that everyone got an opportunity to use all the services that we had there for them.  They started by going into one tent where one of our volunteers who is trained as a nurse took down their vital information, like blood pressure and temperature.  From there, they moved to the next tent, where family planning and counseling was offered.  Next, there was a tent where HIV testing and counseling was offered in private.  Following the HIV testing and counselling area, they had a chance to talk to a nutritionist, who also gave out vitamins and other nutritional supplements.  Next, they were able to see one of the doctors in a separate tent.  Finally, they moved to our last tent which was a makeshift pharmacy.  There, they could pick up any medications that the doctors had prescribed for them or their children for free.

Jane, a 15-year old rape victim, and her 8 month old child at the medical camp.

By around 3:00, the everyone had been treated.  In total, the doctors saw about 150 patients.  This is quite a bit lower than showed up to the last camp and lower than what we had planned on seeing, but it might be that with the feeding program that we have for the kids now they aren't getting sick as often.  Unfortunately, there was a higher positive rate from the HIV testing than the last time the camp was held.  About a third of the people who were tested ended up being HIV positive.  This doesn't necessarily mean that the rate is going up, but maybe those who were scared to get tested the first time realized that it is better to know so that they can take advantage of the counseling that we have to offer them.  A lot of those who came to our medical camp did not want to go into the virus testing and counseling tent out of fear for the result.  We did not force them to go, but strongly encouraged them to.

HIV testing

Family Planning

After all those who wished to see a doctor were through with the camp, we had to take down all the tents and pack up all the tables, chairs, and left over medicine.  It ended up being a long day, but I'd like to think that it was a successful day where we were able to help a lot of people.

-Kyle and Kate

feeding program update.

Hello again everyone!

I am really happy to be writing this update about the feeding program we and the other volunteers started here. Perhaps you remember our first post about the feeding program. Since then, we have moved from doing five days a week of Ujii porridge, to doing four days of Ujii - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and one day of rice and beans on Wednesdays. With some help from an extra donation towards the feeding program, we are also able to give the children bananas on Mondays and Fridays. We also give out vitamins on Tuesday and Thursday, and de-worming pills every second month.

The feeding program serves about 100 children - 50 from an AIC (African Inland Church) pre-school that took in many of its students from our garbage slum, and the other 50 are the older children that we have been working with to get into technical schools and secondary schools. The younger kids are around age 3-6, and are working on the three years of pre-school that you have to complete in Kenya before beginning Class 1. The older children range from age 14 - 19. Before we were able to get our school going the older children were left to look through the garbage for food for their meals. Now, they are more focused and many of the parents have come to thank us for giving them lessons during the day to keep them out of trouble. 

We are so happy to have the feeding program going. Since we started it, we have noticed that the children have much more energy, and are getting sick less. We are pleased, and the kids seem to be also. Here are some pictures:

Kim eating her rice and beans! She's adorable.

Emmanuel and Joseph

One class of the younger kids having their meal.

Kyle passing out bananas in school.

Kate pouring ujii for the little ones.

 Kyle and I are getting close to the end of our time at the garbage slum, and soon we will be moving on to Kisumu - a city in Western Kenya. We will be moving on Feb.16th, and stay in Kisumu until March 8th or so. We feel good about what we have done here, but of course wish we could do more. Thanks to some donations from our friends, family members, and our church families, we will be able to fund the feeding program for at least another three months.Please know how much we and the kids here appreciate it.

We will also be giving towards another water truck just before we leave, to provide the families that live in the garbage slum with clean drinking water. We were trying to help them with a more sustainable way of getting clean drinking water, but the politics and corruption here can be unbelievable sometimes. Aside from that, we cannot build any structure for them to collect rain water because the land where they are living is not theirs. We will keep working on it while we are in Kisumu, and hopefully be able to put something in place when we visit after we are done in Kisumu on our way back.

We have lots more things to post about, so check back often as we are still catching up on some events that already happened.

Thanks,
Kate and Kyle.

Our Amboseli safari.

Hello everyone!

Sorry that it has been a while since our last post. Hope our parents are not too worried about us. We have been extremely busy at the slum - four children (John K, John M, David, and Isaak) went to school last week after getting our help with uniforms and basic school fees. One of the boys, John was so happy to be back in school. He and his sister Ruth have been coming to the pseudo-school that we run in the field at the slum, learning basic math and English lessons. They are fairly new to Gioto - they have only been there about 2 years since their father locked their mother and both children out of the house and told them that he could into support them. The father would not even let them back in to collect their things. Despite this, Ruth and John are two of the most optimistic children at the slum. They welcome us every morning with a handshake and a smile.

The four boys showing off their new uniforms. John is on the far right.

Ruth! One of the nicest girls at the slum. She reminds us of Erin, Kyle's sister.

So, John went to primary school last week and this week we are hoping to get Ruth into a secondary school. We are facing challenges with that though, as you need your test scores from primary to get in to a secondary school, and everything she had was left when they were kicked out from their home. One of the other volunteers will try and go her primary school (about 2 hours away) and ask for a copy of the original test scores. We want so badly for Ruth to be in school, so we are hoping that this works.

After our busy week, our safari man Joseph called and asked how soon we could get to Nairobi, as he would be able to take us to Amboseli and Kilimanjaro the next morning. Kyle and I rushed home to shower, pack, and hop on a matatu to the big city. After sleeping at the volunteer house, we were up first thing and ready to go. The drive to the park was about 3 1/2 hours, but Kyle and I enjoyed it because we had never been southwest from Nairobi before. The landscape was amazing, and very different from that of Nakuru and the Rift Valley.

When we got to the park gate, we immediately were excited, Joseph told us that Kilimanjaro is a pretty shy mountain, and not to get our hopes up for seeing it. I was pretty bummed, and we could see that the cloud cover was pretty thick. As we entered the park and began to drive toward our tent camp, we saw ostriches and some giraffes. It was so cool to see them in the wild. We also saw some elephants! And this was only on the way to lunch.

After taking a delicious lunch of fish, chapati, and fresh fruit, we were off on our first game drive! We saw so much, and the clouds covering the mountain top started to part - perfect timing! We even saw lions, which are rare for Amboseli. More cool things we saw - trumpeting elephants, baby elephants, and a standoff between a hippo and a gigantic elephant (the hippo retreated, and the elephant moved around his pond). W even saw the largest group of elephants in Kenya - a group of about 200!  Joseph called us the lucky couple after seeing all that we did in only 24 hours. Other animals we saw - jackals, zebras, hyena, warthog, impala, thompson's gazelle, grant's gazelle, gnu, wildebeest, lizards, eagles, and lots of other birds. I took roughly 400 pictures.

After our short safari we are even more excited for our 3 day one - and we will definitely be going with Joseph again - he was an amazing tour operator and so knowledgeable about the animals. I cant even begin to describe how amazing it was, so here are the pictures:

trumpeting elephant

Lion!

elephant line up

our tent accommodation

me and the mountain at 6 am

Some zebras and Kilimanjaro

We decided to go on safari on a Friday and Saturday in order to get back for Sunday, a big day at our house. Pastor has his ordination at church. Now we live with a Reverend! Reverend Anthony. There were about 1000 guests at the huge church, we had cake for Anthony and a meal afterward. It was nice. Also, we saw some of the children that we know from the slum there, as his new church is quite close to Gioto. One of the kids we know is even in the church choir. His name is Peter. I even took a video of him singing and dancing! It was great. We will have to share that video once we are back, because the internet is quite slow here for uploading. Here is a picture from the 6 hour long ceremony. yep, you read that right, no typo.... SIX hours.