Saving Grace

I met Grace about two weeks ago. If life were a game of poker, Grace would've most likely been dealt the worse possible hand. At the age of six, she ended up at the doorstep of the Madison Orphanage. Her grandmother had passed away, and and her mother had been declared mentally insane. The orphanage took in a girl that was in a horrific condition for someone so young. Starving nearly most of her life, she was suffering from malnutrition. Her body was lacking the necessary nutrients to survive, and she was void of many basic life skills. Grace was afraid to interact with anyone; she was painfully shy and shut herself off from the rest of the orphanage completely.

I visited the Madison home after our program director Joe had told me he started an orphanage years back in a rural area outside the city. He seemed really passionate when describing all the things they had done with the place, so I felt like it'd be cool to see. Joe picked me up on a Saturday morning and we ventured out of the city into beautiful landscape filled with hills and trees that towered over ten stories high. Nestled among those trees and hills was the Madison Orphanage. I understood now why Joe was so zealous when describing what he had built. The place housed over forty orphans, but these weren't the oppressed, helpless orphans that one may envision. They were a community, all reliant upon one another. Not only were there children staying in this orphanage, but also chicken and cows called this place home! The entire place was self-sustaining, they rarely had to ever pay for food.

I was thoroughly impressed, though the kids did make sure to keep their distance from me. It was obvious they weren't used to white people being around, and they weren't quite sure why I was there. I introduced myself to them anyways, and that was when I was introduced to Grace. I asked Grace her age, and she told me that she was only six years old. Someone behind me corrected her and shouted that she wasn't being truthful with me. When I turned back to Grace to ask for her real age, she looked at me with a smirk and refused to speak further (She is now actually eight years old). Her smile could light up the entire place, and even though she was much smaller then everyone else, it seemed as if all the other children followed her lead. I was shocked when I heard the conditions she arrived in two years ago, this couldn't possibly be the same child.

I had wanted to sponsor a child while I was out here, but all the organizations had histories of being corrupt so you could never quite be sure where your money was going. I realized if I were going to sponsor a kid I would have to do all of the work. Children can go to public school in Kenya, but they won't receive anything resembling an actual education. For a child to have any shot at living a comfortable life when they're older, it is apparent that they attend a private boarding school. However, none of these kids could afford such a necessity.

I told Joe that I wanted to look into maybe sponsoring her and getting her into a good boarding school. He was excited to hear that I wanted to help, but I feared that I may be getting his hopes up as it was a big commitment that I wasn't sure I was ready to make. A few days later I went with a few other volunteers to visit one of the suggested boarding schools. The receptionist talked to us about the school and it seemed like a sanctuary for these children. They all ran around with smiles that stretched from ear to ear, and the school had a great academic reputation. We were told that children can be brought in to be interviewed and tested on to see how well they're doing to the schools standards. I thought back to Grace, and was curious on how she would do in that situation. We arranged for Grace to be picked up and brought for an interview the next day.

When we arrived at the Orphanage to pick her up, it was obvious she was confused. I'm sure she was wondering why this white man was back here, and what could they possibly want from me. Once we arrived at the school she was reunited with a girl who used to live at the orphanage with her and she became more comfortable. After her exams, the head teacher relayed her scores to me. My intuitive belief that she was very intelligent wasn't unfounded. She scored very well on her math portion for a girl who up to this point had not been taught much. I looked over her exams as the teachers explained to me that she was very bright, and obviously at the top of her class for a child coming from the public education system in Kenya. We all know that she needs a proper education, English is only taught at private institutions even though its extremely hard to get a job here if you have no comprehension of the language.

I feel compelled to help out, and want to sponsor her. However, finances have become a bit tight for my family and I, so there's a chance it may not be possible. I know there are future volunteers that have been reading this blog, so if you want to sponsor Grace and any of the other children from Madison please contact me or talk to Joe once you arrive in Kenya!

Enrich Kibera

When I first came to Kenya I wondered if I really would last my entire stay here. It was so different from anything I had ever been accustomed to. The transition was definitely difficult, I became sick very easily over here, and felt alienated at times, but a couple weeks into my stay I feel very comfortable and am having a great time. This past week I moved into the volunteer hostel, which is similar to an apartment except it is only a three bedroom place that has over 12 different beds. The weekends can be crazy here, when over 15 people could be staying here at once from all over the world.

I moved here to work in the Enrich Kibera Program. It was started by a volunteer named Thomas over 6 months ago, and has been passed down to different people to run it at various times. Kibera is the largest garbage slum in all of Africa, and trying to describe it over a blog post would be an injustice, as it would hardly capture the scenes someone would see on a daily basis living there. Thomas started a program that was first aimed at providing food for eight families in Kibera, and has progressed to now helping empower these families as well so one day then can support themselves without our assistance.

In the program we give tourists/volunteers a tour of Kibera. We charge each person roughly $20 USD to walk around and experience this small city filled with trash. We then use the money we collect from the tours to help support the families we work with. They are provided with beans and flour to feed them through the week, and we work with them in other aspects of their lives so they can eventually earn an income to support themselves. This includes paying the children's school fees, keeping up with doctors appointments/medications, and getting the adults job training. Thomas even built a sewing school in the area so that some of the ladies could learn sewing as a means of bringing in money for their families. I forgot to mention, Thomas did all this in six months, and he's only 21.

Right now an American named Morgan has been running the program and she does it very well. She's extremely loud, unhinged, and very fun. People may get lost in her very strong personality, but she's very ambitious and has been a blast to live with and work under this week. She will be moving to Mombasa though this weekend because she wants to live near the beach while in Kenya, so it'll be my job to run the program and lead the tours/finances next week. I'm merely a stop gap as I can only do it for one week before I leave and another volunteer returns afterwards to run it long-term. It's a great program, and am glad that I've been able to take part in it.

This past weekend a lot of the volunteers left including Rima who I was living with in my previous placement. A total of 32 new volunteers came in as well though, 27 of which are females which has made things a bit interesting this past week. The new volunteers come from all over whether it's Ireland to Switzerland or Saudi Arabia. They've been great, and this past Wednesday night we even went Karaoke singing in the city, of course I was horrendous. I'm pretty sure the only songs that could fit my voice would be from Barry White.

We've also been working on starting a few projects of our own. Morgan is trying to start up a program that will make books more accessible to kids, and I have talked with our organization director Joe about starting a program up in which volunteers would be recommended to bring kids clothes with them to donate to the children that we do outreaches with (some of these children have been wearing the same outfits for over a week). The most ambitious idea we have came through was by an Australian investment banker named Jane. She wants to start up a micro financing program in Kibera to help lend out money to these people so they can start their own businesses. She has asked me to help with it as I know a bit about finances and economics. We are meeting with some people that live in Kibera this weekend to hopefully put together a blue-print for this idea. I'm hoping to help in any possible way and this was a great idea by Jane and hopefully with time and effort we can implement this into the community.

It's very easy to help out in this country in any capacity because there's a lot to do. The challenge is focusing your energy on just one or two things. It's very easy to get lost in everything going on and trying to “save the world”, only to have your efforts disjointed and meaningless when it's all said and done. Thomas had to make a tough call when he chose to only help support eight families in Kenya, but that's better than zero. I'm hoping to make a small dent while here, as my time is winding down. I've put up some pictures from this past week on my Facebook, and will be sure to upload more soon!

Lions, Leopards, and Maasai

This past weekend I went on my second african safari. I'm really not one for african wildlife outside of watching the Lion King, but our volunteer organization gave us a huge discount to go to one of the world's most famous game parks in the Maasai Mara. I felt obligated to at least give it a chance, so I set off for a 3 day safari with other volunteers. The experience greatly exceeded my expectations. The thing that sets game parks apart from national parks is the animals can come and go as they please, so its a real possibility that you may not see much of anything during your safari. Luckily for me, that wasn't the case. Throughout the weekend I saw elephants roam the fields together in packs, leopards sleeping in trees, and male lions come right up to our van and stare at us with curious eyes.

 

The safari wasn't perfect though. While our kenyan tour guides were very cool and had no problem sharing a beer with us at night, they had a difficult time keeping their vehicles working. The two vans we went in broke down constantly and we had to get out a number of times to help push the van until it started. Then again, we were paying a fifth of the price the other tourists were to go on the same exact safari.

The third day in the Maasai Mara was my favorite. We took the day to visit the Maasai Village, where some of the volunteers work. The Maasai people are similar to what the Native Americans were to us (except Kenya hasn't killed almost all of them off or given them casinos). They are all very dark, tall, and skinny. Their body is wrapped around with a large blanket and nothing more. One of them took me around his village; not surprisingly they have no running water or electricity. Their huts are very small and bring in hardly any light, so its almost pitch black even during the day time. It's amazing that these people have lived the same way for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. To be considered a man, a Maasai must go out into the wilderness and kill a lion. Kenya has outlawed the killing of lions now so it's illegal, but it still may happen.

Their diet is far from extravagant, they usually eat just potatoes, rice, and on rare occasions will eat the goats they own. If they don't have food, they will generally drink cow's blood. They asked us if we would like to drink some while we were there, and I was one of the few that accepted. I watched as they punctured the cow, and filled up a jug with its blood. I grabbed it and began to chug (you were only supposed to take a sip, not chug.. Woops). It wasn't awful, but I don't think cows blood will become a normal part of my diet. It was crazy seeing people live a life so differently from what we're used to. I really do hope that the Kenyan government continues to leave them alone, and never tries to make them adapt to the way we currently live.

The Wicked and Corrupt

Kenya is a beautiful country, and has a lot of great things to offer. In fact, a lot of volunteers come here and never leave. However, the longer I stay here the more I am reminded that this is in fact a 3rd world country and I have never witnessed corruption plague an entire nation to such a large extent.

This past weekend I was getting onto a bus, when two men shoved me from the front and the back. I pushed back, but when I looked down I realized my camera was no longer in my pocket, I had been pick pocketed for my first time. When I went into work and told my boss the story, he said that it was good that no one caught him at least. I was very confused.. of course I wanted the bastard to be caught, I wanted my camera back!

He explained to me though, that in Kenya if they catch a thief they will burn them alive. Not just the police either, it's considered OK for any group of people to burn a citizen who is labeled a thief. Most thieves actually would rather be caught by the police so they have the opportunity to pay an officer off to place them in jail rather then lynch them. Otherwise, a tire is put around their neck and doused with gasoline before being lit on fire. While my boss was telling me this, I couldn't detect a hint of anger or aggravation being raised in his voice, this in fact was his culture, and he found nothing obscene about it.

My co-workers all agree that corruption will forever keep Kenya from developing into a nation of that on the level of the US or anywhere else in Europe. They told me that if you are wealthy in this country you can basically get away with just about anything. All police officers are corrupt and can be bought off at the right price. The thing that disturbed me though, was that even a lot of charities suffer from corruption as well. I'm very intent on trying to sponsor this girl from a garbage slum and trying to support her education, but my host family explained to me it isn't that easy. A lot of charity organizations will just take your money and never use it to how it was advertised to be spent.

That is very sad to hear. A lot of people donate money with the purpose of trying to make a small difference, but it may never even reach the hands of the person it was intended for.

I witnessed corruption at its finest for my first time today. Another volunteer and I were in a taxi cab headed to the city. While we were driving a police office stationed at the side of the road motioned for us to pull over. When we did he peered into the car, and noticed my friend Rima in the back seat was not wearing a seat belt. He said with a stern voice, "Get out of the car!"
As soon as he said that our taxi driver punched the gas pedal with a vengeance and we sped off away from the cop as fast as the taxi cab could take us. I had no idea what to make of the situation, but the driver told us he was going to ask her for money, and if she refused he would have taken her off to jail. Both of us had no money on hand, so she likely would have been hauled off to jail if our driver didn't speed off!

Money is power in this country, and there isn't much in the way of laws to keep citizens from buying their ways into political power or out of a lynching. And it also hinders individuals with the best intentions from using their funds to its full potential. It's a problem that all of them agree will almost certainly never abate. As my co-worker says, "Hey, this is Africa!"

21st Birthday in Africa

I spent my 21st birthday in Kenya which will be an interesting story for years to come. It turned out that the volunteer I was staying with was also celebrating her birthday just a day after mine, so we decided to have a joint birthday celebration this past Tuesday Night.

We invited out all our co-workers who are a bunch of Kenyans around our age, along with our bosses and the two daughters we stay with as well. The town we work in is nothing but bars or brothels, so we definitely had a wealth of options when it came to selecting a venue to celebrate. Our boss took us up to a bar that was on the 5th floor of a building that looked as if it could tip over and crumble at any point.

The inside of the bar was actually quite nice, and we proceeded to buy 5,000 shillings worth of alcohol (roughly $60 US) for everyone and enjoyed the night. It was a lot of fun, and it was definitely interesting to see that each of our co-workers danced differently according to what tribe they belonged to. Even though homosexuality is outlawed in Kenya, I saw at least ten of my coworkers (who are all men) grinding up on each other.  It's something that you would never see straight men in America do, but Kenyans obviously have a different culture and it was pretty entertaining to watch.

Overall it was a fun 21st, definitely different from what I expected, even though one of our co-workers ended up drinking too much and got beaten half to death after leaving the bar and running his mouth off.

Life during the week in Kenya is pretty simple, and I enjoy it, there aren't constant distractions that I would find back home in the states. My days consist of waking up in the morning to cook breakfast before leaving for work. After work we generally just come home and hang out with the two daughters that live with us, and I will usually read to pass the time if no one is around. I get along well with the two daughters, whose names are Salome and Beautiful. We even convinced Beautiful that my name was "Handsome" for over a week. She's bright though, and eventually caught on that my real name is Zack.

Sadly I can't say that I've been enjoying my work placement that much though. I really like my co-workers, as they are all my age and have grown up in Kenya their whole lives so I never run out of things to talk about when I'm with them. But when it comes to actually working, there just isn't much for me to do. Almost all of the educational outreaches we do are spoken in Swahilli and not English. It's very cool visiting all these different slums, but when we arrive it's as if I'm nothing more then a White mascot who just stands there while everyone stares at me in amazement (some of these people ave never seen a white person up until this point.)

I've decided to switch my placement because of this, which was a difficult decision as I really like the family I stay with, and have learned a lot about Kenya from my co-workers. However, I did come here to preform volunteer work, and I haven't done much of that up to this point. A volunteer who recently left had started up a program in which they provide food to families that live in one of the garbage slums. I decided to join this program and help continue it with another volunteer since the one who started it is no longer here. This means I'll have to leave my host family behind and live in the volunteer hostel, but I'm sure it'll all be worth it. This weekend I'll be leaving for a Safari and look forward to hanging out with some Elephants and Lions!

I can't believe the conditions some of these people live in

My first weekend in Kenya I signed up to do an outreach program with some other volunteers. We were picked up on Friday morning, and taken to an Orphanage to help out. Once again I was amazed by the sheer ambition of some these volunteers. The man running the orphanage was young and had started it on his own just a few years ago. He had plans to fundraise over $1 million US, to build a proper school for the children. It made me feel as if I had done nothing important as of now when comparing myself to some of these extraordinary individuals. The orphanage gave us an idea of how much of a difference one individual can make when one truly sets their minds to something, and has the right intentions.

The next day we woke up early in the morning and started preparing food to bring to different slums in Kenya. We threw pounds of rice and cheese into over a hundred bags to deliver. The first slum we visited was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It was very similar to a refugee camp in which there were lines of tents placed one after another. These people had moved to these tents, after the violence of the elections in 2007 left them misplaced with nowhere to go. Some of them were accomplished businessmen and women who once lived a comfortable lifestyle. Now they were huddled into 6x6 foot tents that felt like a microwave when you walked in. It was depressing to see the conditions these people lived in. While there, we delivered food to many of them and played with kids who were all exuberant and excited to be with us. You could never tell these children were even upset with their living conditions.

I thought that would be the worse slum we would visit, but I was mistaken. The next place we visited was a landfill... except there were people on top of it. I was astounded with what I saw, there was a town placed in the middle of a huge dumpster. The smell was putrid, and my eyes burned with all the pollution built up. The sight was indescribable, there were children playing on heaps of trash. They even told us that the kids would even look in the trash for food to eat. I'm not one to cry, and I never like to show my emotion, but I started to tear up. I'm far from being the most empathetic person out there, but no one should have to live like this. Once again though, the children were more than welcoming, and their faces beamed with some of the largest smiles I'd ever seen. I spent my time playing with them while some others delivered food. There was one young girl who caught my attention. She spoke perfect english, and she seemed very intelligent for someone of her background. Our organization told us that it is possible to sponsor one of those children if we wished. This means that we can choose a child and pay for their schooling. I want to see if I can sponsor this young girl and pay for her education, so she cant get out of the dump she lives in (literally), and get her into a boarding school. Hopefully this works out.

I will be back with more posts soon, I wrote the past two entries very quickly, so they are very rough. I miss everyone back in the states!

Welcome to Kenya

Sorry its taken me so long to post again, its extremely hard to get internet access out here.
This first week in Kenya has been interesting to say the least. When I was headed to the airport, the idea of living in a 3rd world country suddenly became surreal, and I became very anxious and nervous headed to my terminal. Each step became more lethargic and tepid, but as I passed through security my fears began to subside and I became more comfortable.

I spent over 30 hours between layovers and flights before finally arriving in Kenya. Two other volunteers and I were picked up from the airport and taken to a volunteer hostel to spend the night. It was New Years Eve, but we got in too late to celebrate. When I walked into the volunteer hostel I was surprised when I was greeted by a very attractive 22 year old Kenyan woman. She was in charge of the hostel, and I spent my New Years Eve just talking to her about what I should expect for this next month.

The next few days consisted of meeting the other volunteers and going through orientation for our programs. Most of the other volunteers are from Australia, which works in my favor since I'm traveling there once my time in Kenya is finished. It is truly amazing what some of these other volunteers have done.  A volunteer from Iran was on his second trip here, to check up on a feeding program he had started in his first volunteer experience. And another volunteer from Australia had fund raised enough money to build a small school in the town where he works.

Once orientation was finished, I was taken to my home-stay which is where I would live for the next month. I didn't know what to expect, but was shocked when we were brought into a rather nice place. When we walked into the house, we were greeted by the live in maid. She explained to me that my host mom was in the US until Sunday, which I couldn't quite comprehend. After scouring the pictures in the house it became apparent to me that our Host Mom was American. The maid whose name is Selema, told us that our Host Mom whose name is Anena, had volunteered through the same program we did. She fell in love with Kenya so much, that she moved out here soon after her volunteer experience and adopted the two orphans she had stayed with who are now 18 and 19 and staying with us as well.

The other volunteer that is staying with me is an American as well. She has been very easy to get along with, as she seems to be one of the few people intent on talking even more than I do. Our first night in Kenya we were quickly reminded that although we were staying in a nice place, we were still in Africa. Throughout the night I had no encounters with mosquitoes or any other insects, but my American friend was not as lucky. She was constantly being bit by mosquitoes throughout the night, and at 4 AM I heard a loud scream to look over and witness the largest cockroach I had ever seen crawling up her face. She flicked it off herself in a panic, and I quickly smashed it with my Steve Jobs book (Thanks Apple!)

The next day we left our surprisingly nice place and stepped into the slum where we would be working. Everyone's eyes were fixated on us as we walked through the town, and I even heard one man shout, "The british are coming!" At our job, which is HIV/AIDS awareness, it was explained to us that the town we worked in was filled with mostly bars and brothels. A big issue within their community is the sex workers are uneducated when it comes to HIV. It would be our responsibility to educate the community about HIV including the sex workers, making house calls to deliver the results of individuals' HIV test results, and doing community outreaches. I am excited with our position, and can't wait to help coordinate some of the educational outreaches we will do.