Link

Here is a link to the charity organization I was working with if anyone wants to know more.

Huruma House

Goodbye

My time in Kenya is coming to a close. I'm spending my last few days here teaching computers at Malanga secondary school and visiting the homes of a few HIV widows and orphans. What an incredible journey it has been since the moment I stepped off that plane. I cannot express to you the powerful effect being here has on the soul. I suggest everyone at least once in their lifetime to make a journey like this one if they can. Now its back to Singapore for me. There I am going to do some fund-raising to hopefully get another building at Gift Academy built such as school room, kitchen or dormitory. I want to get them a satellite dish installed so that they can start hosting football matches there and generate some income. There are so many exciting possibilities I see at Gift Academy all going to benefit the orphans. Oh another thing is I'm going to upload some pictures onto the blog posts that will give people a visual idea of what has been going on. I hope you like it!

It's finished!

It is so good to see my work here finished and put to good use. All the members of the community came to see the new bright blue building and to listen to the words spoken within. I feel as if a seed has been planted here at Gift Academy and will only grow to provide for the orphans here. Tomorrow they are starting the foundation of three new guest houses that Huruma House is building for them. This will generate income for them and allow more foreigners to come here to visit and help. We had a meeting to discuss the future of Gift Academy and some of the concerns about its development. The Director expressed to me that because there are more substanianl capital going into Gift Academy it is important that security measures be put in place to protect the children as well as the new appliances such as the computer, generator and the cows. Who would do something against an orphanage I wondered? But it is true there are theives here who come in the night and take things. I was very much disturbed because the Gift Academy sign on the main road was taken down. Who would take the Gift Academy sign down? Is somebody jealous? I hope it was not taken down out of malice. Well there are more important things that we can take care of such as feeding the children! I found out that they had no food for the children today for supper so we quickly got two of the caretakers to run to the market and buy two bags of maize. It costs around Ksh 3000 or US$25 to feed a child for a month here. During the meeting I found out that the income from the cows is about Ksh 4000 a month. They use this money to buy food. I'm wondering how are they feeding all 22 children if they only are making enough money for 1.3 children to eat a month. Well the answer is that they dont. Sometimes the children will skip meals and just fight off the hunger and trust in God that their next meal is coming. Also half of the milk goes to the children so that they do not suffer from malnutrition. At a glance though the children look healthy. No one is starving but they are hungry... Today though everyone was happy and fed. The maize should last them for about a week or so. Then it is back to survival. Hopefully the kinyozi/phone charging and dairy give them enough income to stay relatively fed. I hate to leave them but I have to get back to Bwaliro. Hungry people there too. As for me well I'm about to eat dinner and the first thing I'm going to do is thank God for food. It could be me not eating tonight...

Almost done

The new building is coming along nicely for Gift Academy orphanage. The fundi or construction worker here did a good job and has done the work in record time. All should be ready to use it as a church on this Sunday. In the meantime we went to Kisii today and picked up 15 mattresses and 22 blankets for all the children to sleep on. They move into the building on Saturday. Now they all have a proper place to sleep rather then those two mud huts that were falling down. God truly is Good. We also picked up two shavers so that we can open up a kinyozi (barber shop) that can generate some income for them. The director of Gift Academy now also has a computer and printer to keep in touch with those that support him. Back at Sam's Academy I am making interesting discoveries about the girl I noticed wasn't doing well in class. She is not deaf yet she is in a deaf school. She still draws scribbles everywhere at the same time she is so adorable although a bit odd. I was just playing with her outside before coming into write this. We are best friends now. I hope she remembers me the next time I visit here...

The cows kept eating our goal posts...

Today was one of the best days of my life. I had never felt such a sense of fufuliment and purpose until I came here to Africa. The day began by a nice hot cup of sweet sweet chai. Then I met up with the director of Gift Academy to start purchasing supplies for the construction of a new building. After doing that we got back to the orphanage and I played soccer with the children. We used stalks as goal posts but a cow kept eating it! So we tied the cow around a tree far away and begun our game. (If you plan on coming to Africa and want to make friends with the little ones quickly just bring a football) Our game got interrupted though by a huge storm and I ran back to Sam's place where I am staying. When the stormed stopped I started playing with the deaf children. I saw one of the girls that I was teaching last week. Her notebook is just filled with scribbles and I'm worried that she's not learning. She was playing by picking up bricks and putting them in a wheelbarrow and carrying them around. I joined her in her pursuit which made her smile so I knew I was connecting with her a bit. We spent the afternoon playing the with bricks till eventually I picked her up and wheelbarrowed her around instead. This brought a giggle out. I then started to play with some other children but when I passed by her she kicked the ball to me which then made me smile and giggle. I had made a new friend. Nothing could be better...

So much to say...

I dont even know where to begin. Well I left Bwaliro where I was staying before to go on a four day safari in Masai Mara! It was marvelous to see all the animals; Giraffes, Zebras, Lions and tourists! Our vehicle though almost flipped over and then got stuck in the mud. Practically the whole Masai village came out to push us out! We got quite lucky on the safari and saw the big five; leopard, rhino, hippo, elephant, and i forgot the last one. The animals seem not be bothered by the humans and some of them get right up next to the vehicle. There was a group of lions feasting on an antelope right next to the path and did not seem bothered by the multitude of vehicles observing them ripping flesh from the bone. I also visited the Masai village and learned a bit about their culture. I showed them my ipad which I think they equally enjoyed. It was truly wild and a lot of fun. I'm sorry I cant put pictures up because I am working with slow internet. Later I will come back and add them...

Right now I am in a place called Rongo near the city of Kisii. I am staying at a deaf school called Sam's Place. The whole day I've been teaching the children English. Luckily a good friend of mine from the US taught me how to sign a little bit. Using the sign language alphabet I taught them simple words like Girl, Boy, Dog and Cat. I think that they taught me more sign language though then I taught them English!


Sam's place is a big facility with support from a church in the US. Right next store is a small orphanage called Gift Academy. Huruma House, the charity organization I am working with, bought them some cows to begin a milking program to help feed the children there. All 22 children sleep in two small mud huts. They need a new building . So I am going to construct a new building nearby that will serve as their church and room to sleep in. Construction starts tomorrow...

favors

Almost have the computer lab set up. We have one more trip to make to the repair man and then some OS installations to do and everything should be ready for the students to use. I cant wait to start teaching. Everybody here has been telling me what a blessing it is having me here. People are so poor here that every little thing that you do for them seems like a miracle.

When I buy a school child books to continue their education to me its only 20 dollars but to them it means the difference whither their family continues to live in poverty for another generation or not. Students are so desperate for school funds that many girls turn to prostitution. I visited a girls secondary school in the region and they were having a parent day on campus meeting. During the meetings they stressed to the parents to supply them with what they need for school. They also talked about the high pregnancy rate among the girls and found out by talking to the girls that sometimes they would do 'favors' for men to get some extra cash to stay in school. I talked to some more people and found out that this even occurs in the primary schools. The parents just cannot afford anything really. There is much starvation in the region now do to the recent draught and elections in Uganda which just exacerbates everything.

What I have been scratching my head about constantly is what is the solution to these problems that the people here face. How do you create a system of sustainable income for these people that can lift them out of their poverty? I want to see computers and the internet as a solution to creating jobs. Maybe they can do some work online and get paid for it. I don't know.

I don't want to sound too morose though. Despite all the troubles people here still laugh and joke with each other. They are friendly and upbeat despite their poverty. They like seeing foreigners here because they feel that they can help them. They love America here too. They are proud that President Barrack Obama's father came from Kenya and they tell me to go visit his cousin's house about 50 km away. I will.

This morning we did the feeding program for the orphans and widows in the community that Huruma House supports. We got sacks of maize and beans and distrubted them out to all the people that came. Huruma House sends money for this every month and without that many people would not have any food at all. They are so thankful for this that it brings tears to the eyes.

It is increadible what a difference you can make in people's lives here when you walk around with a fat wallet. There are so many opportunities to help and give. You want to help them all. It seems that for every 1 oprhan there are 5 more. Every one of them is worth it.

There was one baby boy that we came across that was sick with malaria. Malaria is a disease transmitted by mosquitos and is the number one killer in the region. He looked up at me with big glossy eyes and I could not bear to leave him. He was staying with his grandmother and a few young sibliings. They did not even have a hut to sleep in. They slept out in the open all 7 of them on one raggidly old couch. He is staying with us now while we take him to the doctor to get shots. I don't want to bring him back to where he lives but he is not ours and we have to return him. He does not talk yet but understands some Lughya. Last night I had a dream where he started talking. I want to see him when he does. We gave the grandmother some extra food for him and on Saturday after seeing the doctor I will bring him back to her...

A woman costs around 2 cows

Things here are still very tribal despite the strong prevailence of Christianity throughout the region. Many men have multiple wives with the only the first one being recognized by the church. They are considered property of the man and if he were to die his brother inherits her and his land. These tribal traditions cause a large number of widows and orphans with no way of supporting themselves after the husband dies. Many times the remaining family chases the widow and her children away to fend on her own. They end up being supported by a church and orphanage if they're lucky. A very sad and debilitating social system exists here with Christianity and western society the only hope for having people treated as human beings not as the property of another.

Got the motorcycle and have been zipping around in it visiting different schools. It looks like I am going to be teaching computers at Malanga Secondary School. It is a developing school but luckily they already have a computer lab except I am meeting with the principal this afternoon to verify the schedule. I think thatthey have no computer teacher. I also offered to teach English and Mathematics and being computer literate will open up future job opportunities for the students. The teachers also want to learn how to use the computers.

I have been playing football with the primary school children in the afternoons and they play twice as good as me besides being half the height. Met some of the local Bwaliro youths at the football field that shared some of their concerns with me. Unemployment is high here in Kenya which causes a lot of young people to join gangs or become prostitutes. Bwaliro is a very poor region with little education. It is common for many students to not go to Secondary School due to lack of funds. Many parents face issues of choosing whither to put food on the table or paying school clothes and books for their children. Survival comes first. I hope if we build something such as a posho mill or a computer café that we can employ some of the youths to help in the construction.

I am sorry there are no pictures on my blog. It is because the internet is quite slow and can’t handle uploading pictures. I have to travel to the border town Busia which is 1.5 hours to get faster internet. My facebook has some photos up though they took half an hour to upload them.

Things in general are going great. Everyone is very welcoming and like teaching me Swahili and Lughya. Lughya is the local tribal language of the region and Swahili the lingua franca of Eastern Africa. I have been learning so much and I can’t wait to start teaching…

Arrived!

After a long flight from Singapore I arrived safely at the Nairobi airport in Kenya. For Americans it is easy to get a Visa upon arrival for US$25. If you plan on traveling here make sure you either have American dollars or Kenyan shillings. The money changers would not take my Singapore currency. One of the first things I noticed is that most people here are kindhearted and like to joke a lot. Nairobi has a reputation as Nairoborry but as long as you keep a watchful eye on your stuff, know where you're going and do not travel at night you should be alright. Right away I heard people singing gospel songs as I left the terminal. I knew I was in Africa.

I met Chris whom I will be living with for the next couple months outside the terminal and we took a rented car to the city. This was the first time he had ever been to the airport he explained to me. We said a quick prayer before we started on our journey back to Bwaliro where he lives in the country side of western Kenya. Kenya is a deeply spiritual/religious place with around 85% of the population Christian. It is a place where saying grace and thanking God for providing food really means something. We stopped at a gas station to refuel and get lunch. Chris also had another new experience that day, Pizza. We then proceeded to Nairobi.

Nairobi is a rough city that makes Inglewood look like Disney Land. The traffic lights in the city work but nobody really follows them. We stayed at the YMCA. It provides great budget accommodations with breakfast included. We were blessed to meet some people from the Church of Christ in Eldoret whom were also staying there. Hearing their stories about finding God was inspiring.

Then next morning we took a Mutatu to Eldoret. A Mutatu for those who don't know is like a small minivan that seats about 10 but somehow they can manage to fit 14+ with people hanging on to the side of the van as it barrels full speed down the streets( I'm not sure how fast it was going the speedometer on ours was broken).

After about a days travel changing Mutatus several times we managed to get close to Bwaliro. Bwaliro is pretty off the map, even for Kenya( actually its not even on google maps). The Kenyans I talked to had never heard of it. Chris knew where he was going though and how to go there. Without him I would be completely lost and probably end up in Uganda. We took two motorcycles aka piki-pikis because of the sound their horn makes to the village of Bwaliro. We arrived at dusk with all the people on the road looking at me and shouting ,"Mzungu Mzungu!" or white man.

At Chris' house his wife Velma greeted me and bade me welcome. She showed me to the living room where I met all the children that they take care of. Most of them were shy of the Mzungu but that changed when I brought out the bag of chocolates I had for them. We then ate a good meal of local Kenyan food; Ugali which is a soft cooked dough you roll into a ball with your hands and dip in sauce, Chapatli a thin bread sort of like roti prata if you know what that is, and chunks of beef in a broth. It was delicious. After dinner we had chai, the sweetest tea you'll ever have and talked. We swapped stories about each others countries and they would laugh every time I tried to pronounce a local word. I started to feel more at home and after talking curled up on my bed in my mud hut for a good nights sleep.

Today we traveled to the nearby city of Busia town to get some supplies and a motorcycle to get around.

I'll let you know how it goes soon.

Wishing you all the best and lots of Love from Kenya.