Things I’ve Learned During My Five Months Stay In Kenya
I still have to pinch myself that we have come this far! Even so, it’s taken a lot of hard work and dedication, commitment and faith and that’s not just us on the ground, but the loyalty of our donors and supporters too!
So, what are some of the things I’ve learned over the last few months?
Never trust a Kenyan workman to place a toilet roll holder in the correct place.
Septic tanks built in black cotton soil fill up very quickly.
Electricity/water cuts out when you are in the shower fully soaped up
Electricians have bare wires on their equipment.
Scaffolding does not exist, ladders neither.
Nails are sold by the kilo, wood and bricks are sold in feet.
A 3” nail banged into a wall will hold most things.
The phrase ‘measure twice, cut once’ does not exist in the Swahili language.
Only the builder owns a tape measure and even then, frequently mixes up his centimetres and inches.
Spirit levels are a luxury item.
We actually considered the 1st November as being our official moving in date but even then, we still didn’t have electricity and the tiling and painting was still to be completed. This, very much, influenced my decision to stay on for Christmas as it’s always magical when you are surrounded by children!
We couldn’t find a real tree so this year, we invested in an artificial one. Guro sent us some twinkling lights and each day of Advent, we added our own home made decorations. The girls were thrilled with it.
However, as Christmas approached, I began to worry about presents for the girls and how much money was available to spend on them. Then, a few weeks before Christmas, a friend in Nairobi sent the girls an outdoor trampoline which her daughter had outgrown. How wonderful was that! The girls began doing their chores in record time in order to use it. Accompanying the trampoline was a huge box filled with all sorts of stuff that girls love - all sorts of sparkly jewellery, games, tiaras! In the event, all we needed to add to their christmas stockings, was some scented body lotions.
On Christmas Eve, inspired by St Peter’s Church in Brighton, we began to prepare some Hope Hampers to distribute to our elderly neighbours. It’s always a highlight for the girls to be able to give something back but at the same time, very sad, as what we saw were so many of the elderly who are neglected and uncared for. This old lady was deaf so the girls had a hard time explaining who they were. She had no idea it was Christmas but she gratefully accepted our gifts of maize flour, cooking oil, tea and sugar. milk and bar soap. When we realised she had no light, we hastily went out and bought her some kerosene.
Giving and receiving huh! That same day, we were surprised by a visit from Mercy’s father. He’s no longer ‘working’ (collecting plastics) on the rubbish dumping site but was now legitimately employed by a small NGO in Kisumu. Good news indeed! Before I could go into the kitchen to send him home with a few bits and pieces, he reached into his bag and gave us some food items. What an honour to know this man, who trusts us with his daughter and fully appreciates all we do for her.
Before we knew it, the Christmas celebrations were over and we began the preparations for La Rentrée. Due to Covid, the girls had been off school since March. School shoes had to be repaired or replaced, torn school bags mended. Kiwi shoes polish was added back into the household budget. Most of the girls had outgrown last year’s uniforms which was an expense we hadn’t prepared for. Perhaps we are feeding them too much??
Cynthia, Phanice and Millie all joined new schools which entails entrance exams, interviews, and in some cases a little bit of ‘tea’ money (a bribe). I tell you - Headmistresses are to be FEARED!
Our waking up times suddenly changed. Cynthia would rise at 4:30 am to finish off uncompleted homework from the night before. At 5:30 am, she would start making porridge and black tea before waking Millie. They would then depart by 6:30 am and suddenly the house was quiet…
During the last four years, we’ve been keeping an eye on one of our other girls, Cynthia. A bright child, her slum school, as seen below, really lacks the facilities needed to spur her on. We therefore made the decision to move her to a much better school in town and now we’re really looking forward to seeing how she will perform in the future.
One of the great joys living in a rural environment, is waking up to the animals on our farm. During my time in Kenya, a lamb, three goat kids and three kittens were born. With the lamb and one of the kids, it was touch and go for 24 hours whether they would survive as the mothers weren’t producing milk. Thank goodness for Mr Google, who advised us, in the absence of a vet, to feed them goats milk (from another mother) from a teaspoon. Oh yes, I was mucky and muddy as I held those tiny babies tight to my ‘bosom’ but we managed to open their tiny mouthes and drip milk in to them. At lot of gurgling! They survived and are now leaping about, healthy and happy.
What else did I learn on the farm?? Our two cows, Brunetta and Pinky, recognise and remember you. They get jealous about attention and LOVE being scratched on their necks. They smell good too. If anything was going to make me vegetarian …
I sampled duck eggs, for the first time, which are quite delicious; I learnt that drinking harvested rainwater doesn’t kill you and nothing tastes better than the stuff you’ve grown yourself.
Of course, the downside to Kenya is malaria, however, the mosquito season comes and it goes. I learnt that they love to hang out on damp bath towels and that buying any form of repellent is very expensive. I was therefore very selective when it came to sitting outside to watch the sunset unless I was covered, head to foot, in a very large massai blanket!
I am going to finish this newsletter here in spite of the fact that there is so much more still to tell. I hope I’ve given you a taster of the last five months. The important thing is that it’s not my experiences that are important but the connections that we make and the lives we are able (collectively) to change.
Look out for the next newsletter when I introduce you to a little boy (the little boy with no name) who broke my heart but, who I know, will spur us on to implementing a (global) volunteer program.
Then, there is Elizabeth’s story, the little girl who I met ten years ago (when she was aged 3). We lost her but we’ve found her again!
We’ll never forget Isaac and his children and how their lives changed (due to your overwhelming kindness and generosity - more about how he and his family are doing in the next newsletter.
Finally, I hope to share with you our plans for the future - our dream of building another nursery school thus becoming more integrated within our new community.
As ever, if you want to be part of this amazing journey and want, like us, to have some small part in effecting BIG change in young lives, then please, I would love to hear from you. Thank you so much for your continued support and loyalty, Julie@Kenyankids.org
