Summer Camp

Our day at the library yesterday brought us back to those good ole days at Summer Camp. We arrived early (around 11 o clock) and with the help of Mr. Nyaga and Francis, managed to separate 15 first to fourth-graders into small reading groups. We let Mr. Nyaga be the bad cop and shoo the younger kids(who tend to stir up trouble) out of the library, although we were tempted to make an exception for Franklin whose interest in reading and surprisingly good English makes him seem much older than his 2 years. Our trusty young library assistants, Sheila, Michelle and Esther impressed us yet again by taking charge and arranging the kids into age groups. Before we knew it each girl had picked out a book and was holding full-fledged lesson with her mini-class. The two of us spent about 15 minutes with each

group, helping the older girls and making sure everything was going smoothly. Of all the girls Michelle stood out to us as a natural leader and Mwalimu(teacher). Not only was she reading aloud to her group, but holding discussion and questions after each page. Sitting in on her group we both felt completely un-needed

(which was a good feeling, as we usually feel as though we need to be 3 places at once) It’s assuring to know that even when we leave Kenya there will be kids in the community who will be able to help their peers use the library.

After about an hour and a half we could no longer hold out the younger kids who had started knocking on the tin walls of the building and chanting “Wazungu! Wazungu! Wazungu!” We decided to take a break to play outside with all the younger kids and again to our pleasure the three older girls took charge. Like true camp counselors they started out by getting all of the 30+ kids to make a circle. They all started singing “ 1, 2 Make a circle! 3,4 a BIG circle like a sufuria!” and within seconds had formed a big circle, just like a sufuria(which is a cooking pot). For more than an hour our three camp counselors led us, 30+ kids, and even Mr. Nyaga in games and songs.

Reading groups

We arrived at the library early this afternoon and were met by 30 eager kids ranging from ages 2-12. We split them into 5 smaller groups by age and grade and picked 3 older girls (12 year-olds) to be group leaders for the young kids while each of us took a group of older kids. It actually worked out really well. The three older girls were natural teachers. One of the girls, Sheila, picked out an animal atlas for her group and taught them the names of all the various animals and insects. Sometimes we’d catch the sound of the kids shouting names of different animals in unison as she flipped through the pages. At one point, the kids exclaimed “SPIDER MAN!!” Looking over, we could see that Sheila was pointing to a picture of a real spider. The other two girls, Esther and Michelle also turned out to be perfect assistant librarians. When her group started to get a bit restless, Esther set them up with paper and colored pencils.

However, even with the help of the older girls, the younger kids began to get pretty rowdy and loud as the day went on. After a couple of hours we told them to go home for a little while to get some lunch and come back later. While the little kids were gone we had a chance to have a reading group with the 4 older girls, Esther, Michelle and Sheila (all in class 6) and another Esther (class 5). We had 4 copies of a Junie B. Jones book so we gave one to each girl and had them take turns reading a page aloud while the others followed along. After each chapter we had the girls tell us one thing that happened in the chapter. The Esther’s usually answered by reading sentences from the book but Michelle and Sheila gave good summaries, showing that they fully understood what they had read. Later, some older kids (friends of the girls) came and picked books for themselves. We helped them pick out books according to their interests and grade and they all sat quietly reading. It actually felt like a real library with all of the kids reading independently.

^from left,Esther,Michelle,Sheila and Esther

>some of the kids posing in front of the main gate of their public school, Nairobi River (over 1,600 students are enrolled there)

The Finished Library

All the books are installed! The empty shelf on the left is being saved for donated Kenyan curriculum textbooks from local schools.

To save money, we used the cardboard Home Depot boxes (that we used to ship the books in) to make the backs of the bookshelves.

^Science, history,art,religion and reference sections

chapter book section

The First Three Days

In the past three days the church in the Buru Buru slum has been transformed from a bare tin building to the beginnings of a colorful library. We started working on the project this Saturday when we bought wood for the bookshelves. We were originally planning to build the shelves ourselves, but luckily Mr. Nyanga,the pastor/librarian, found a great carpenter to do the job for us. The carpenter has been working around the clock to complete the bookshelves, and they look twenty times better than anything we could have built. There’s a certain buzz of excitement and busyness in the library as we work and every morning we find the same kids there, eagerly waiting to take part in the activities.

On our second day we brought paper, pencils, and crayons to occupy the local kids with a decorating project for the library. We needed to provide a distraction to the younger kids who were less interested in reading. It’s been really amazing to see the excitement on these kids’ faces as they read and even see books for the first time. One boy,Joseph, who’s twelve years old and in 2^nd grade, told us on our first day in the slum that he’d never read a book before. Every day since then we’ve watched him come to the library, pick a new book, and despite the commotion around him determinedly read through the whole thing.

When we left Buru Buru this afternoon, the carpenter was starting to build the last bookshelf. If everything goes according to plan the bookshelves will be full by this Friday, and we’ll be able to start reading groups on Monday.

The inside of the library at the end of Day 3

The Wait Is Over!

After three months of waiting, the books are finally in our possession! We’ve never been so happy to see cardboard boxes in our lives. We say “in our possession” because the books have actually been in Kenya for more than one month now; two weeks on the freight in Mombasa port, two weeks going through customs, and another week sitting in a warehouse in Nairobi. We finally have our books and it only took 3 months of waiting, 50+ clarifying phone calls and emails, and frequent visits to the courier’s office…TIA.

Despite the irritation of having to wait to do our library projects, we’ve had a great couple of months. Other than a couple great weeks in Mombasa and Zanzibar, we’ve spent the majority of our time at the Malia Children’s Home, improving our Swahili, getting to know the family, and mastering our Kenyan cooking skills. Because of the unforeseen delay with the books, our last two months will be extremely busy in trying to complete our library projects.

This morning, while we were sorting the books, we received a visit from the pastor from the Buru Buru slum, who will also be the acting librarian once we leave. He was amazed to see the room filled with 50 boxes of books. We arranged to start building bookshelves tomorrow with the help of him and other community members. We’re also going to enlist the help of local private schools in holding annual textbook drives so that we can provide a way for kids in the slum, who can’t afford school, to learn the curriculum.

We’re really excited about how this project continues to evolve, and we’re hoping to be able to keep up the momentum once we’re gone. Once we’ve actually put up the bookshelves and arranged the books, loosely by genre and age, we plan on splitting the kids up into reading groups based on age and literacy. We’re also reaching out to local student volunteers to help lead reading groups. We hope that once we leave, we’ll have established a group of people to continue to volunteer at the slum in Buru Buru.

Starts with W, Rhymes with Late, Ends with “ing”

This week we’ve done a lot of waiting. Since Monday, we’ve been waiting for running water. Every day a new expert comes and tells us on high authority that the water will come that evening. It’s now Friday morning and we’re still waiting. I guess we’ve been a little spoiled this year as going one week without running water has been really difficult. We constantly have to remind ourselves that last year we were able to go six weeks without it.

Having to wait for the water has been nothing in comparison to the anxiousness we’ve felt waiting for our books to arrive. The books were scheduled to arrive in the Mombasa port on the 27^th of September, but after almost two weeks, they’re still on the freight waiting to dock. Apparently there’s been an error in the system involving a “manifest number” and some other things that we don’t really understand. Waiting for the books has taken on a whole new meaning of the word waiting; waiting for the freight coordinator to call, waiting for the government to issue a manifest number, waiting to find out how much everything will cost, waiting to schedule our time around when the books will arrive. Although it’s been a little frustrating, we’re not worried because we know that everything will work out in the end.

Another thing we’ve been waiting for since we got here is the news of a new manager arriving at the rescue center. The rescue center is transitioning into new management, which means that we can’t start our project there until the transition is over. Luckily, the staff knows about our project and are all very excited about it. In the meantime, we’re going to do another library project in a slum near Nairobi. After some consideration, we realized that the donated books are enough to not only create a library at the rescue center, but to create three; one at the rescue center, one at the Malia children’s home, and one in a Buru Buru slum. We’re really excited about the project in Buru Buru because the community was already interested in creating a resource center and had even designated a space for it, they just needed the books.We’ll be working on this project with the help of the friends who introduced us to the community. Next week we’ll start getting to know the kids there, setting up bookshelves, and, if the books have arrived, installing the library. But for now we’ll just go back to what we do best, waiting.

Things Mzungus Like

Money belts: There’s one thing that’s always #1 on every mzungu’s packing list, and that’s a money belt. Money belts are these unattractive, uncomfortable wallets that somewhat resemble a fanny-pack but are worn underneath your clothes. Mzungus won’t go anywhere without their money belt. It is their prized possession, and (even though it completely defeats the purpose) will sometimes even be worn on the outside of an mzungu’s clothing to show off to their uninterested peers. On our way to Kenya this year, we saw another mzungu who was wearing a jean dress with her money belt on the outside. While most would call this easy access, she probably considered it more of a fashion trend.

Asking questions about the food: “Are these potatoes…fried?”

“Was this sukuma soaked in boiled water?” “You know that there are ants in these chapattis, right?” These are the questions that mzungus will ask at the dinner table. We’re very particular about our food…always trying to avoid sickness and not coming home 50 pounds overweight. Just today we went out for lunch at the very popular Tea Tot Hotel, and, in an attempt to improve our eating habits, we ordered the only thing on the menu that wasn’t deep-fried, one lone boiled egg. I think the waiter had forgotten that this was even an option on the menu…

Earth-toned EMS backpacks: How do you spot an mzungu in a crowd? Look for the big hiker’s backpack. Once you see one of these backpacks you might think, “wow, they must have just climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro!” Don’t get too excited… even though it looks like it’s stuffed with a tent, sleeping bag, and life supply of Cliff bars, it’s really just the suitcase of your average tourist.

Taking pictures with lots of little kids: You’ve all seen the pictures. Every mzungu who’s been to Africa proudly posts them on their facebook profile and hangs them up in the most visible walls of the house. There are even a couple on this blog. Mzungu’s like to show other mzungus that not only have they travelled to Africa, but have befriended dozens of cute little African children.

HandSani and Kleenex: Look in any given mzungu’s bag and you will most certainly find a travel size bottle of handsani and a pack of Kleenex. Mzungus like to feel prepared for any possibly unsanitary situation (i.e. Hole-in-the-ground toilets) and make sure to never go anywhere without a full bottle of purell and enough tissues to brave even the most badly equipped bathroom.

Running with Kenyans: Running beside a Kenyan automatically gives an mzungu a runner’s ego boost. “ I am keeping up with a marathon winner” every mzungu secretly likes to think, no matter if the Kenyan has never run a day before in their life. After going on a run with a Kenyan, mzungus will often consider writing to Runner’s World about the earth-shattering experience.

Safari jeeps: Though spotting another mzungu is quiet rare, there is probably a 95% chance that when you do see one, they’ll be riding in a safari jeep, camera in hand. Mzungus just love those big, green, rented jeeps that they’ll spend as much time in them as possible. They’ll drive them through Nairobi, they’ll drive them through the dusty roads of the Masaai Mara game park, and, if compelled to do so, they’ll even eat and sleep in them.

Seeing other Mzungus: In a smaller town like Machakos it’s always a surprise to see another mzungu. A couple of days ago we were walking around town when a white girl passed by us on the back of a motorcycle. She threw up a peace sign and we waved with much excitement. “Who is she?” we wondered. “What could she possibly be doing here?” We were perplexed to see her in Machakos, where we are used to being the resident mzungus.

Kenyan handcrafts: When going through security in Nairobi International Airport on your way home, you’ll always see one of those mzungus. You know, the ones that are decked out in Kenyan jewelry and clothing. There will be Masaai bracelets covering their arms, a traditional multicolored scarf draped over their braided hair, and falling out of their bag is a wooden mask carved by a Kamba. If there’s one thing mzungus love, it’s coming home from Africa with a suitcase full of Kenyan handcrafts to show their friends.

Being the only mzungu around: There is an important distinction we should make. While mzungus love to occasionally spot other mzungus, they wont be caught dead in the middle of a big group of them. “ Classic mzungus” they’ll say when a tour bus full of safari hat sporting, sun burned mzungus happens to pass by. It’s a major ego boost for those who aren’t taking part in the mzungu parade.

100% Deet: An mzungu’s greatest fear is that his/her trip be ruined by a bad case of malaria. So in addition to taking daily malaria pills, mzungus will often religiously cover themselves with 100% deet. Ever wonder why people seem to be able to detect the presence of an mzungu before even seeing him/her? It’s because you can smell them coming from about 20 feet away.

Obama’s cow

This morning, Mr. Nindi told us that he had bought a cow for us to bring home to Obama. We all agreed that Obama would greatly appreciate the gift. And really what’s a better photo op than a cow laying around on the white house lawn? Unfortunately Obama’s cow was not so keen on the idea and seemed to value her freedom more than a trip to the US. When the shamba-man cut off the rope that was keeping her leg tied to a post, she immediately made a run for it. We watched as the shamba-man sprinted out the gate after the fleeing cow. An hour later, Obama’s cow was finally back in captivity. Lesson of the day: cows can run much faster than you’d think.

Nyumba! Nyumba! Nyumba!

With Jacqueline gone at a teacher’s conference, the Nindis asked us to occupy the kids for the day with an English lesson, which somehow turned into a trip to the nearby mud pit to collect “clay”. The idea was to use the clay to teach the alphabet, but inevitably, when you combine a mud pit, thirteen little kids, and two supervisors who barely speak Swahili, the result is far from an organized lesson. As the more behaved kids, like Dominik, Daniel and Beatrice, used water and a huge machete to stir up the dry mud, some of the others strayed from the original purpose of the mini field trip. Faustina and Elizabeth managed to cover their entire faces with clay, and as lunchtime approached, even started to snack on it.
At one point, Charles attempted to pee on everyone, which prompted Rachel to chase him around with the machete. At first, we tried to use our broken Swahili to keep the kids under control, but we soon realized that, despite their age, they have had a lot more experience with machetes than we do and probably didn’t even need our supervision. All the kids keep each other in check, even Faustina, the youngest, carries around a small whip to punish troublemakers.
Elizabeth with a very muddy face

Zula

Along with our nightly Swahili lessons, we’ve also been learning about the tribal languages, especially Kikamba. Tonight, Mrs. Nindi, Jacqueline, Rosemary, and us were talking about the kids over tea, and we got on to the subject of their second names. The second names are in the tribal language and often have very specific meanings having to do with the conditions of their birth or personality. Some of them are very fitting and some are very random. For example, “Muthoki” (that’s the eldest, Elizabeth’s, second name) means that “in-laws on the fathers side were visiting at her birth”. Faustina’s second name means that she’s “small as a black green gram” at birth (a green gram is a lentil). When Mrs. Nindi pointed out that Angela and teacher Jacqueline share the same second name, Zula, all the women started laughing. Apparently in Kikamba, “Zula” means “extra finger” and it’s given to those, like Angela and Jacqueline, who have a wart or birthmark on their hand. Now we feel pretty lucky to have kamba names that mean such simple things as “beloved” (Muende) and “happy” (Mutanu).

You can't buy love, but apparently you can buy a family

Today we visited Machakos Academy, the sixth and possibly final primary school in our search for a new boarding school for our sponsor girls. One of the pros of Machakos Academy is that it’s within walking distance from town. On our walk back to town, we bought a bunch of red bananas, a second-hang “Obama” shirt, and were even offered a baby. As we walked by a woman with a young son and a cute baby, we said, “Habari?”. I guess she took the simple greeting as an interest in purchasing a child. “Do you want a baby? I am selling this one!” Later on, a supposed “professor” stopped us on the street, and proposed to Mutanu that once he was able to pay her the bride dowry, he would like to marry Muende. By the end of the day, we could have had a legitimate three-generation family.

Muende na Mutanu's Excellent Adventure

The other week, we had our sponsor girls, Betty, Lilian, and Vivian, staying with us at the Malia Children's Home. After only a year, they looked and acted so much older, and somehow jumped two years in age. Betty, who was only 11 when we met her, was 13 going on 14 this year. As it turns out, the birthdays that they told us were just random days that Betty and Nancy had made up for the four of them. When we found out that the girls didn't actually know their real birthdays, we asked Vivian, "So you weren't actually born on January 5th?" She responded, "your birthday is the day you were born?!" The kids loved having older Kenyan girls around, and each girl took a special liking to one of the little kids. It's no surprise that spunky Faustina and Vivian were joined at the hip, and Beatrice, the sweet and quiet six-year-old, never left Betty's side. The kids were definitely sad to see the girls go when we brought them back to school the next weekend.

Betty, during our game of bananagrams.

We took a two hour matatu ride with Betty and Lilian to their school in Nakuru. After being in the very dry region of Machakos, we were so surprised to see how green and lush the Rift Valley is. Although the matatu ride was long and cramped, the beautiful scenery made it worth while. Their school, St. Mary's, was nice, although we couldn't get a good feel for it because no other kids had arrived yet. Unfortunately, we didn't have very much time to spend at the school because we wanted to make it back to Nairobi before it got dark. The matatu ride back to Nairboi was far from relaxing. Not only was it pouring rain as we sped through winding mountain roads, but our driver considered speed more important than safety. He spent most of the time in the wrong lane, trying to pass other cars. We tried not to look out the window, as we would often find huge trucks quickly approaching. It wasn't a surprise when our matatu rear-ended the car in front of us. Finally, after more than half of an hour, the two drivers came to some sort of an agreement with the help of almost all the matatu passengers. Luckily, after the minor accident, our driver was a lot more cautious.


Vivian and Lilian helping father Charles out of the ditch.

Pictures!

Father Charles on the farm


Mr. Nindi and all of the kids, singing after dinner

Posing with tires in front of the chicken coop(Father Charles and Dominik)


Hiking through the beautiful shambas with Mr Nindi




All of the kids with housemother Rosemary(L) and teacher Jacqueline


Mrs. Nindi cooking Ugali

The Shrining

Today the entire Nindi family piled into the pick-up truck and took a field trip to “the shrine”. On the first Friday of every month, local Catholics gather at this shrine, which was created in 2005 by an Italian priest. It’s on the top of a hill and you can see the farmland below in all directions…very picturesque. At the end of the event, the priest was making announcements and spotted us in the pews. “we have visitors here sent from Obama”, he said, and asked us to stand up and make a speech. We introduced ourselves in Swahili with our Kamba (the majority tribe in Machakos) names, Muende (Shira) and Motanu (Abby). This got us a big round of applause and cheers from the crowd of over one hundred Kenyan churchgoers.

We thought that the ride to the shrine had been squished (with the two of us, twelve kids, Betty, Lilian, Vivian, and the teacher all packed in) until the ride back, when we found out how many can really fit in the back of a pickup truck. Not only were there those from the way there, but we added in two other kids, another woman from church, a woman with her son, and another woman, the only one who wasn’t actually invited in but somehow came along anyways. The total count was twenty-four people in the back, with another three riding up front. It was so tightly packed that complete strangers who we picked up on the side of the road were holding kids in their laps. Everyone, led by 6 year old father Charles, was singing songs in Swahili. One of the most uncomfortable/fun/memorable car rides of our lives.

The photo below shows just one corner of the pick-up truck!

Today we went on a morning run, and gained a couple of running buddies. For the first part of our run, we ran down and back up the steep hill to the shamba. It was like doing suicide hill times three, plus high altitude. To add on a bit more, we ran down the road, and as we were about to turn back, we spotted a group of kids in the distance. They started yelling to us, and at first we thought it was the kids from the Malia Children’s Home walking to church. We stopped and waited for them to catch up to us, but as they got closer, we realized it was just a random group of kids. Since we were all going the same direction, we all started running together. Not the kind of running group that we ever expected to have, but a fun experience just the same.

The Watoto are Alright

Monday 8/23

On Sunday, instead of going to the church fundraiser with Mr. Nindi, we decided to stay home and spend the day with the kids(watoto). We’d planned on spending time with them on Friday and Saturday, but had forgotten that the Kenyan motto is “hakuna matata” (no worries), so you can never rely on sticking to a plan. On satuday, what we thought would be a quick trip into Machakos, an hour tops, turned into a whole day escapade which included selling milk, seeing the church, having tea with the pastor, and buying chakula ngombe (cow food), and to top it off, a drive all the way back to Machakos for dinner at the garden hotel. All throughout the day, the two of us and Mr. Nindi were squeezed into the front seat of his pick-up truck, stopping to pick up anyone who stuck up their thumb on the side of the road. So by Sunday we realized that if you leave, you never know when you’ll return. A smart move on our part, because Mr. Nindi left at 10 A.M. Sunday morning and didn’t return until 8 in the evening.

After breakfast, we joined Rosemary, the housemother (formerly employed at the Machakos rescue center, although before our time), Jacqueline, the teacher, and the 13 kids on a safari (journey) to a market 2 km down the road. Rosemary used her own money to buy all the kids biscuits and candy, something that we gather she does every Sunday. Over the course of the 2-hour walk, we got to know the kids very well. *side note: these kids are so tough! As six year olds, neither of us would have been able to walk for 2 hours with no complaints… but then again, we’ve never had the ability to sleep while we walk, like we spotted Elizabeth doing on the way home.

Elizabeth, 6 years old, and her brother, Dominik, 8 years old, are the most recent additions to the family, only two weeks old as Mrs. Nindi says. At first, we thought that Dominik was a very shy girl because of his feminine features and pink clothing. He never responded to our attempts to speak to him in Swahili, which we initially thought was due to our accents. However, it turns out that he and his sister Elizabeth only speak Kamba, the tribal language of Machakos. Maybe because she’s younger, Elizabeth is a lot more outgoing than Dominik. Elizabeth and Dominik are one of two sets of siblings at the children’s home.

A different Elizabeth (8 years old, according to the Nindi’s…11 years old according to her), Thomas (8), and Beatrice (6) all share the trait of being very mature which has earned Thomas the nickname “father Thomas” and for Beatrice, “sister Beatrice”. Beatrice is the least serious of the three, always shooting us silly looks, and showing off her four-toothed smile. At our first introduction with the kids, she said, “my name is Beatrice Nindi, and I am a girl”.

Then there’s Daniel (5)(pictured below), the mischievous, nicknamed “professor Daniel” because he arrived at the Malia Children’s Home wearing a full suit. And of course it’s his cousin, Faustina, who’s the other trouble-maker of the bunch. She’s only 3, yet many of her facial expressions remind us of a sassy old lady.

Shiko (formerly called Shiru Rahab) and Felistas came here from the rescue center. It’s amazing to see how much they’ve grown in a year. Mrs. Nindi told us that on their first night, Shiko came up to her and politely asked, “please, can we stay with you forever?” At the rescue center, Shiko was one of the youngest girls, who we could barely communicate with, and now she’s one of the oldest, most responsible, and brightest.

Charles (4) and Rachel (4) came here as siblings, but Mrs. Nindi and Rosemary have told us that they are obviously not related because of their difference in tribal features. Rachel is clearly Masai, and Charles a Kamba. Although they’re not related, they both share huge, beautiful smiles.

Naomi (6) and Angela (4) have been here the longest. They were the only two kids who were here when we visited last summer, and for that reason, the Nindi’s call them “the founders”.

Returning to the rescue center

Sunday, August 21st

On our second day here, we found out that a volunteer at the Nairobi Children’s Home had written an article in the Kenyan Saturday Nation, outing corruption and bad treatment that takes place in government-run children’s homes. The article sparked a lot of controversy, and now all of the managers and children’s officials are being investigated. However, as a result of the article, the Kenyan government is now very distrustful of foreign volunteers. Luckily, we have some great friends in Kenya with some very helpful connections. Again, Lucy came to our rescue. Through her non-profit, Goodwill Women’s Organization, we will still be able to create a library at the rescue center. Two Kenyan girls who volunteer for Lucy will now come with us to the rescue center to help out with the project. The best part of this is that even after we have left, they will continue the project, which will primarily consist of reading to the girls once the library is completed.

On Friday, we finally visited the rescue center. With each familiar landmark we saw as we pulled up to the rescue center, we felt butterflies in our stomachs. We didn’t know whether all the girls would remember us after a whole year of being apart, but as we walked through the compound, even the youngest girls who had always just called us “mzungu” were shouting our names. There’s no words to describe how happy we felt when we finally saw Catherine, Nancy, Lucy, and Wendy (just to name a few) after a whole year. Yet it was so disappointing to find that, besides the length of their hair (they all have braids and cornrows now, because the “shaving machine” is broken), and the number of girls (there is a whopping 95 now), nothing has changed in the past year. Although we were so overjoyed to see them all again, we couldn’t help feeling bad that they were all still there. We’d expected many of the girls from last summer to be gone by now, either reunited with their families, or at boarding school through sponsorship. Unfortunately all but the three that we are sponsoring are still there. In the midst of such a joyful reunion, we couldn’t help feeling a little helpless to the fact that there are now 95 girls stuck there, with very little hope of a way out. We only hope that the library will provide a distraction and a way to take their education and future into their own hands.

If you’re interested, here’s a link to the article that was in the Kenyan Saturday Nation:

http://allafrica.com/stories/201107180284.html

Nyumbani tamu “Home Sweet Home”

Saturday, August 20th

It was dark out when we flew into Kenya on Wednesday. Our good friend, Lucy, had arranged to pick us up from the airport, but having not spoken with her for a few days, we were worried while walking into the greeting area that no one would be there to pick us up. Instead we found not only Lucy, but her daughter, son, and two other cousins grinning at us. On our drive from Nairobi to Machakos, Christine (another friend) surprised us by meeting us on the side of the road. Since we couldn’t “see Kenya” because it was already dark, it was seeing all of our old friends that made our return feel real. Lucy and her family took us straight to the Malia Children’s Home, where we’ll be staying for at least the next three weeks. We enjoyed our first Kenyan meal of the trip, complete with rice, stew, Muthakoi, and chai…everything was just as delicious as we had remembered.

In the past three days, the Nindi’s (the retired Kenyan couple who started the Malia Children’s Home) have kept us very busy. They have taken in thirteen orphaned children, ages 3-8, and spend a great amount of their time and energy making sure that the kids are happy and educated. Today we walked down to the shamba (garden) with the kids and their teacher, Jacqueline, and spent an hour playing in the dirt. We’re very focused on learning Swahili, and between the help of the Nindis, Jacqueline, and the kids especially, we can communicate better in Swahili after only three days than we could after six weeks last summer.

Last year, we roughed it like the girls at the rescue center, and were able to literally experience the living situation of these girls. This year, we’ve been living a very different type of lifestyle. Living with Mr. and Mrs. Nindi is more like a homestay, and at first, we missed our rugged life at the rescue center. However, every day we spend here we find ourselves enjoying it more and more because of the warm and loving family feeling. The Nindi’s call us and treat us like their daughters, and even have told us to call them babu and susu (grandpa and grandma). There is never a lonely moment here, and we often spend three hours talking to Mrs. Nindi about the history of the home and the children who live here. It’s so apparent how much the Nindi’s genuinely care about their children. After seeing how cruelly the manager of the rescue center treated the girls, we’re given new hope and happiness when we feel how much love there is at the Malia Children’s Home.

more coming soon

we're at an internet cafe right now with Vivian, who we just picked up in Machakos. We haven't been able to get internet at the Nindi's yet, but we have already written three blogs! So get ready...much more to come ASAP!

The books are shipped!

Thanks to everyone who donated books, money, and other materials, we ended up shipping fifty heavy boxes (close to 2,500 books) this morning through Bruning International shipping company. Although the shipment finally went smoothly, we had a few road blocks along the way. We spent a grueling seven hours sorting and packing all the books into 25 medium sized boxes, only to later find that the boxes were way to heavy to lift and were breaking at the seams. Luckily we were able to reschedule the pick-up date with Bruning International, and repack all the books into smaller boxes. Thanks to the expertise and generosity of Randy and Catherine at the Yiddish Book Center, we successfully loaded the books onto pallets.

This project, which we thought of last summer as a great but far-off dream has now become a reality, thanks to those who ontributed books, money, and services to our cause. We'd especially like to thank Ani Rivera, for providing his time, professional assistance, and gallery space to help us put up an exhibit of the photographs taken by the girls at the Machakos rescue center. The funds we raised through the exhibit and the newspaper articles resulting made it possible for us to collect and ship fifty boxes of books to Kenya.















With Catherine, Randy, and the half of the books packed onto one of the pallets.