home time

my last day in kenya. i leave for the airport at 8 tonite. hop on a plane at 11. 28 hours later i arrive in regina. 6:28pm tuesday night. so far i don't feel excited or sad.. maybe it's too early in the morning for those feelings... but i do feel incredibly blessed to have spent the last 6 weeks in such a wonderful place, serving such an incredible god. this experience has been unbelievable. i've learned and changed so much. this place, this work, these people, have opened my heart and taught me things i never would have learned back home. i hope i have been a blessing to all the people who've been such a blessing to me. i look forward to coming home with a transformed heart. i look forward to sharing my experiences with others, encouraging them to follow god's lead in their lives wherever it takes them. i look forward to the work i can still do for projects here while i'm back home. i look forward to seeing where god is going to take me when i get back. i look forward to seeing aaron, my family, my friends, my church family, my fish. i look forward to cheese pizza..
here are a few things i'm really gonna miss here:
- my kids. their smiles, their high fives, their joy, their tears, their runny noses and muddy feet, their laughs, songs and dancing, their cute swahili accents, their sweet sweet hearts. teaching them and learning from them. being frustrated and overjoyed by them. their hugs and love.
- my roomates and other volunteers i've met from all over the world. we've become so close and it's going to be so hard to leave not knowing if i'll ever see them again. i went to church yesterday (it was amazing) and the sermon was about growing in community. having courage, love and truth. taking off the mask and being real without fear of being judged or condemned. the pastor told us to look at our neighbors and think - what if this person next to me holds the key to bringing me closer to jesus. people are put in our lives for a reason. i've felt a real sense of community here and have definitely grown because of the people i've been surrounded by.
- chai masala tea and fresh pineapple every morning.
- the beauty of this place. it's incredible.
- the slums. in a sense it's heartbreaking, but in another so inspiring. i've never once seen a beggar in kibera. everyone is at least trying to sell something - roasted corn on the cob, used shoes, random electrical pieces, or candy. whether its because they don't know any better (because they've never left the slums) or have simply accepted where they're at, the residents of kibera are some of the most cheerful i've ever met. they are happy with what little they've got, which is surely to be a culture shock to me going back to a place where people are never satisfied with their material goods, always seeking more and more.
- chapati and mandazi (yummy food)
- crazy new experiences constantly
- matatu madness
- the smells, the sights, the sounds, the laidback lifestyle, the slow pace, the kenyan way, everything..

well, maybe not everything. a few things i won't miss:
- not having water for days on end. back home its fine to go a few days without a shower. but here, i always feel grimy and showers are pretty needed.
- walking in welly's for hours and hours. although i'd take the rain over the cold any day.
- blowing kibera out of my nose.
- driving on the left side of the street. just can't get used to it.
- haggling. please just give me a store with price tags.
- sleeping with a mosquito net.

hmm.. i'm sure there are more things i'm going to miss that i won't even realize til i'm home. which is tomorrow night. see you then!

emotional wreck

maybe right now isn't the best time for me to be posting a blog, considering my emotional state. but here goes. today was my last day of school. got up this morning, the sun was shining, i was in complete denial about saying goodbye to my kids so my spirits were high. we headed to school, armed with schoolbags filled with goodies we'd bought for our kids. the walk was long and sweaty so we were glad to finally be there. we walked into the class and were greeted with... emptiness. my worst fears comfirmed. yesterday the rains came down so hard that our school flooded. we didn't even have school because the kids were sent home. i was afraid that since tests were done and all that was left was handing out report forms, that the kids just wouldn't come. i couldn't believe it actually happened. standing there, in the muddy, empty room for the last time i couldn't stop the tears from flowing. mary, the head teacher was there and she said not to worry, she'd get the kids. so she went across the tracks and got one of my students, mary. mary was sent to get a few more students. one by one the kids came running up to the school. then they were sent off to fetch more students. it was amazing. only about 35 kids came but 4 out of 5 of my students came. i gave them each new school bags filled with goodies. they were soooo excited. wow. over and over they kept taking everything out of the bags, looking at it all and putting it all back in.
it was the last day for me and majo so we gave the kids in our classes gifts. but there were kids there from the other classes. you could tell they were hoping to get some gifts. they were outside playing but kept looking in the class to see everyone with their new bags. i only wish i could afford to get new bags for 100 kids.. maybe next time. i went and bought them all suckers and gave them stickers which cheered them right up.
it was sooo hard saying goodbye to the kids that were there and even harder dealing with the fact that i didn't get to say goodbye to so many of them. but i was so happy to see them leaving with such huge smiles on their faces. of course they don't understand that we won't be back. gah. it's so hard :(
there've been a lot of tears today. i'm not ready to deal with all the people and things and way of life i'm going to miss. i'm not ready to leave here. i'm not ready to leave my work, the kids, the project. we are having a lot of issues with the head teacher of the school and the future is so iffy. basically we volunteers are feeling a lot of frustration and helplessness. that's pretty common around here at all the placements. you can only do as much as you can. and sometimes that feels like its not enough. i know i'm being vague but its too much to get into over a blog.
wooooo, there's just too much going on today. too many emotions... i'll just end this on a happy note - pics of my kids with their bags!

quick update

ok, don't have much time so i'll try to give a brief update:

-twice this week we had to take kids to the clinic. we took mary to get her eyes checked out. it's about a half hour walk to the clinic. when we got in to see the doctor we told him about her eyes and a rash she has on her face and knee. he wrote a few things then sent us to the lab guy. the lab guy handed us a little container, a piece of toilet paper and a stick. then he pointed us in the direction of the squat toilet and told us to bring him back a stool sample. what the heck does that have to do with an eye infection?? luckily majo isn't a queazy gal and she collected the sample. we had to sit and wait while the technician did his thing. except he decided to sit down in the waiting room and watch some tv before he examined the sample. things sure work different in kenya. eventually we talked to the doctor and he gave us a bunch of medications for her her eye, rash and some stomache issues, then we walked her home. the second boy we took to the clinic had malaria so we got him medication as well. both kids are doing so much better already.

- the kids finished exams this week. english and reading are definitely the biggest struggles. we did lots of correcting and writing up final reports. i felt like a real teacher writing the encouraging little comments on their report cards!

- the americans here decided we should still celebrate thanksgiving. so on sunday we had a feast. about 6 americans were up at 8am cooking turkey and all the fixings. it was crazy! there were nearly 30 of us, representing 6 countries. it was such an amazing sense of community. all sorts of people, different ages, various backgrounds, all united with one common goal - to help people here. so good.



- yesterday i went on a tour of kibera. one of the guys who helped with shoot locations on the movie 'the constant gardner' took a few of us around. it was interesting to see some other parts of the slum. it is so amazing to me the conditions that some people live in. the trash, the sewage, the smell. its so sad. the kids couldn't get enough of us and kept following, asking us to take their picture and chanting 'how are you, how are you'. i bent down to say hello to one little girl, but clearly it was her first mzungu encounter. she was absolutely terrified. she screamed and ran away. woops.



- on wednesday, a guy who works for 'feed the children' came by our school. he gave us some information and gave us a contact number. we called and set up an appointment with a man named ramby campbell. we talked with him about setting up a feeding program for our school. his program has a requirement of 200 kids, but our school only has about 90 permanent kids. so he took us next door to talk to another man who runs a similar program for smaller schools. right now, their program is at max capacity but we were told to write up a proposal and get the school on file so that when there is an opening we can implement the program. but they have some requirements that we don't meet - must have a kitchen, toilets, water, and storage. we've got none of those things. but there is a public restroom very nearby, and a kitchen across the tracks we could rent. the main issue is storage. we're looking into possibly building some storage. but we don't own the land or the building - it is a church we rent to use throughout the week. so we have a meeting on sunday with the church people to discuss adding storage and perhaps improving the building. so please please please keep this in your prayers. a feeding program would be sooo incredible and is so needed. we are also going to go see some land located just outside of nairobi to possibly purchase so we can build a new school and get the kids out of the slums. that's going to take a lot of fundraising. so pray please!

- when i left, aaron gave me a little box full of homemade envelopes. he had written a letter for me for every day i'm gone. (i know, greatest boyfriend ever) well, my once full, microwave popcorn box of letters now has veeeery few letters left. my time here is ending. tomorrow is my last day of school. i have no idea how i'm going to say goodbye to my kids. seriously. i'm in such denial right now. it's going to be so incredibly hard. i'm going to miss everyone here so much. my kids. the volunteers. irene (my host). the people here have been so amazing. i love them.

so much for a brief update. there's just so much going on all the time. i apologize in advance because i'm not going to be able to shut up about kenya when i get back. and to you zambians, i can't wait to talk africa with you!

much love!

giraffe centre

yesterday i went to the giraffe centre with a few other volunteers. it was so fun! what is the giraffe centre? its a centre in one of nairobi's suburbs created by the kenyan conservation organization. the purpose is to educate kenyan school children about their country's wildlife and environment, and give visitors an opportunity to come into close contact with the world's tallest species. and did we ever come in contact with them. up close and personal. they are incredibly beautiful animals. we got to feed them. their tongues are sooo long! we took pics with them, but watch out for headbutting. haha. giraffe kisses were great. except their tongues are a little rough - kind of like a gigantic cat's tongue. good times!

meet my kids!!

i want to introduce you to my kids. but first i wanna tell you a bit about kibera and the school.
saint charles school is located in the slums of kibera in nairobi. there are approximately 1.2 million people (of which 570,000 are children) living in aproximately 2.5 square kilometers. imagine, that's the entire population of saskatchewan squished into that little area... kibera is heavily polluted by soot, open sewage routes, human and animal feces and dust. the combination of poor nutrition and lack of sanitation accounts for many illnesses. not only is death by disease and conflict common inside this slum, but it is estimated that 1/5 of the 2.2 million kenyans living with HIV live in kibera. saint charles was formed in 1999 with 15 children. today it has grown to about 100 students crammed into a small tin shack. it offers baby, nursery and pre-unit classes although lacks proper teaching facilities (or materials, space, teachers, toilets, etc..) the kids attending saint charles are all from very poor backgrounds. some are orphans. a chunk of them are hiv positive. most of them are sick with one disease or another. (for what do they know of hygiene? what is handwashing? the kids were out playing on break the other day, splashing around with sticks in a hole that had filled with water. at the end of break we saw several kids washing their hands in the water... a nice thought.. until we realized the water that had filled that hole was from rain that had run down off of the 'poo hill' - which is exactly what it sounds like. the hill where the kids squat. it's hard not to cringe when you see those kids sitting with their hands in their mouths afterwards. but its not uncommon. i find all sorts of trash in their mouths. they find things on the ground and stick it in their mouth. they blow their noses on their sleeves or let it run down their face. not to mention there is constantly trash being burned outside that burns the lungs to breathe in, but the kids do it daily) aaaanyways... so this is saint charles. a place in great great need of a new building, a toilet, supplies, desks, teachers, etc. and this is where i have been volunteering. i have 5 kids in my class who should be at nursery level but are a little behind the main nursery class. i sat down with a translator yesterday and asked each of them a few questions about their family and how long they've been at saint charles and that sort of thing. then i asked them what they want to be when they grow up. ask a 6 year old in canada what they want to be when they grow up and they will give answers like: a doctor! a ballerina! an astronaut! a teacher! ask a 6 year old child in kibera the same question and you are met with a blank stare. eventually they gave answers such as washing floors and dishes; selling charcoal on the side of the road; a housekeeper. only one boy, austine, dared to dream big - he wants to be a bus driver. all they know is what they see their parents doing. all they know is the slums. they cannot imagine a life other than that. and sadly, without any help, that is most likely the life they will end up living.



this is austine. he is 7 years old, has one brother and two sisters and a mother. he had been to class one at a real school but when his father died he was taken out of school. his mother could no longer afford the funding to keep him there so he stayed at home for a while before he started coming to saint charles. this is his first year at saint charles. he's definitely a bright boy and catches on quickly. it is clear he has forgotten much of what he learned in class one, but it hasn't taken him long to catch on again. (if anyone is interested in sponsoring a child so that he can go to school, let me know. it really doesn't take much - the kids need uniforms and books and the tuition is incredibly cheap. it's just more than what most families can afford).



this is vivian. she is 6 years old and has one sister who also attends saint charles. she lives with her mother and her father is sometimes around, although the marriage is very unstable. she's been at saint charles for 3 years. she learns better when i sit down with her one on one but it's hard to find the time or space to do it. during class she gets distracted easily and sometimes finds it easier to just copy from another student than to add her own bottlecaps. its hard to reprimand her though, cuz she gets such a sad, hurt look on her face. she's definitely been improving though. when i bring out the stickers to give to the students who have finished their work, it's instant motivation for her.



this is david. he is 6 years old, lives with his parents, two brothers and a sister. he wants to be a 'salesman' like his dad (who sells random things on the side of the road). david really struggles in class. i think he is dyslexic as he mixes numbers up and draws letters backwards. he gets very distracted in class and often spaces out. he's always the last to be done copying off the board. but he surprises me how smart he is in some areas. he couldn't name the colors after an hour of working on them, but when we started reading some basic sentences, his was the first voice to shout out the answer. david loooves sharpening his pencil and i catch him breaking the leads on purpose (and then eating them..) just so he can sharpen it.



this little gal is lavine (i know, sometimes its hard to tell the gender since all the kids are bald. my first week i had to keep checking if they were wearing skirts or shorts). she is 6 years old, lives with her parents, 2 sisters and one brother. she wants to sell charcoal when she grows up because that's what her mom used to do. she's a smart cookie. my little parrot. she likes to repeat what i say and is the only one to make a real attempt to communicate in english. she catches on to math pretty easily, but struggles with english - she still can't spell her own name. she's very outgoing and loves to laugh and play.



and last but not least, is mary! mary is 7 years old, lives with her mother and 3 sisters and 2 brothers (keep in mind these families all live in tin shacks no bigger than 10x10.. its amazing they can fit so many in them..) her father is an alcoholic and only comes around occasionally. mary used to attend saint charles but moved on to standard 1. but, as you can see from the picture, she has problems with her eyes and wasn't doing well at school. her mother took her out for that reason, plus lack of funding, and mary stayed at home for quite some time before coming back to saint charles. she's smart but very very quiet.

so those are my kids. and this week they've been making me so proud. on monday they read their first sentence! 'the cat is in the box'. yay! they also managed to read 'i go to school' and 'i am a girl/boy'. they still don't understand the concept of sounding out words, but slowly slowly they are learning. and exams started yesterday. i wasn't sure if my kids would be able to handle the nursery exams, but i handed them out anyway. first was math - and they did amazing! david did so well! i was beaming from ear to ear. today we did english... a bit more of a struggle. a few did alright, a few not so much. at least now i know what sorts of things the kids are expected to know. (probably would have been good to know beforehand! but things aren't quite that organized).
anyways, this post turned out to be incredibly wrong.. thumbs up to you if you got through it all. please keep the kids and the future of the school in your prayers. thanks so much :)

time is flying

i'm sorry if my last blog gave anyone a bad impression of kenya. this place is incredible, but i'm not gonna sugar-coat anything and make it out to be paradise. stuff happens. just hopefully not to me! this past week has been fairly uneventful. i went in to the city center 3 times. i'm definitely not a fan of the hustle and bustle of the city. plus for the most part its fairly dirty and ugly. i'd rather be in the slums... i feel safer and more at home there. my favorite part of walking to work is the chorus of 'how are you' from all the little kids as we walk by. its so cute. as soon as they see a mzungu they start chanting/singing it. i don't think they even know what it means but they wait for us to acknowledge them or give them high fives and then they are so happy. sometimes we can hear little voices from a distance shouting 'how are you' and we can't even see them. but it turns into a domino effect among all the kids and there is this chanting coming from all around us and the valley below us. its so great.
anyways, school was good this week. we learned about some body parts. did a lot of math. finished the alphabet. gonna work on some more colors and addition tomorrow. the weather has still been rainy. so school has been muddy and all the kids are sick. unfortunately i picked up something and was in bed all of yesterday feeling terrible. but today i'm doing much better. a few of us were planning on going to an elephant orphanage and i was so excited, but was way to sick to go. but at least my sickness was only a flu bug.. there are a few people here who just found out they have typhoid and one guy has malaria (don't worry mom, i've been vaccinated). so i can't complain to much.
i think this may be my last week of teaching as the kids start exams soon. it's still pretty up in the air what i'm going to be doing my last week. unless mary needs some help with giving exams. i would love to be able to spend as much time as i can with those kids. they're just sooo great.
well, that's all for now. here's some pics.


me and majo and the kids


i'm not sure what this kids name is. we just call him 'chunky'.


muddy feet!


kennedy


the ngong hills

half over

i've been so blessed to be able to do some amazing things on my weekends and get to see different parts of kenya. this weekend i went hiking the ngong hills with about 15 others. it was quite the experience. 7 hills to hike, then sit for lunch and hike back. so, 7 hours, 20kms, and 14 hills (and to a prairie gal, the hills=mountains). it was so rough but so amazing (i feel like that's the theme of my time here...) the view from the tops of the hills were absolutely incredible. i can't even explain. i would post some pics (although they would do no justice) but this computer wont let me. i'll try tomorrow. it was breathtaking. some hills were so steep, some were bare, some like a forest, one like a little jungle, some had goats and cows grazing. so awesome. we tried to stick together as a group but everyone has a different pace so we just met at the tops of the hill. i didn't mind spending the time alone, enjoying the awesome beauty, praising god. only 11 of us continued to the 7th hill and back. 4 others stayed behind. after an amazing journey we were relaxing at the final hill, waiting for the last few hikers to get there when reality came crashing down. a jeep pulled up with some park rangers. they got out and sternly told us that we shouldn't be out without a guide (hadn't we seen the signs??) because 4 people had just been attacked a few hills over... we asked a few more questions and came to realize it was the 4 from our group who had stayed behind. we were so caught up in the beauty of our surroundings and the peacefulness of it all that we let our guards down and forgot where we were. as amazing as it is, we are still in africa. a very dangerous place. nairobi is not called nairobbery for nothing. theft is a constant concern. the terrorist threats for eastern africa are real. the car jacking and murder just outside some volunteer's house are not to be taken lightly. this place is beautiful but it's dangerous. in a panic we hurried down the hill into town, paranoid of everyone we passed, feeling a lot of fear and worry. we got to the police station and met up with our friends. they had been robbed at knife point of everything on them - ipods, cameras, money, passports, visas, even their shoes. the girls were groped a bit, but the police told them they were incredibly lucky to not have been raped. we were all in shock that something like this actually happened. i immediately felt extremely homesick. homesick for the safety of canada. i've come to feel like africa is home and gotten very comfortable here. this definitely shook me up a lot.
no more taking risks here that's for sure.