News from Kenya - #14

Journal Entry 14-Day 28.29

Sunday April 25 2010 10.30 PM

I’m alone in the flat right now- waiting for Pamela to come back. I talked to her about 30 minutes ago and she told me she was taking Mamma to Russia hospital for evaluation. She is having chest pain and diarrhea. They were waiting for a Tuk Tuk to come to take them. Rom is still sick. His pressure is still high although down a little. He states he feels very tired and he has a fever of 39 degrees Centigrade. That is fairly high. He is supposed to go back to the MD tomorrow AM. I won’t be surprised if he ends up in the hospital. I wish medical care was better here. I am very worried about him and mamma.

I said in my last journal I would come back to writing about Friday. Here goes:

As Rom and I were walking to the doctor’s office we met a woman and her three children waiting outside the Nakumatt. Rom explained that he had asked them to come and meet with me. They said they would wait until we returned.

As I’ve already written our visit to the MD was fairly quick so about an hour later we returned and they were still sitting there waiting for us. They followed us back to the flat.

Rom had not told them why he wanted them to come but I knew.

One of our friends wanted to sponsor three children from Kenya who were somewhat close in age to her three grandchildren. She has a girl 4, and two boys, age 6 and 7. She said she hoped the children would communicate with each other on a regular basis and if everything worked out she would try to sponsor them right up to college. She had already sent 50 dollars for each child to cover books, uniforms and remedial fees required in primary school.

The three children of the mom waiting for us at the Nakumatt are: Bernard age 10 in class 5, Regina, age 9 in class 4 and Christopher, age 7 in Class 1.

When we entered the flat the mom indicated she wanted to pray. That is very common here in Kenya. They all lined up and started singing a song asking the Spirit of the Lord to bring love, peace, hope and many other qualities to everyone. It was in English and very touching. Again I was “hooked” and decided these children would be the “match” we were looking for. The woman’s husband died in 2007. Her name is Mary Lillian but she goes by Lillian. She tries to sell some things in her slum village of Nyalenda to make a little money but it has been a struggle since her husband died.

The children are all quite bright. The oldest boy, Bernard ranked 5/65 in his first term of school. His English was excellent. Regina, age 9 ranked 21/47. That is in a C+ range. Little Christopher scored well in his first grade class. His English is coming along. They all wrote letter to their new “pen pals” back in USA and I took their pictures. The sponsor had sent pictures of her three grandchildren so I gave them copies. We spent about two hours together. They all enjoyed the games on my Ipod. Paul helped them play them while I talked to mom and filled out applications. Paul also coached them in writing the letters. He is such a wonderful kind generous man. Rom sat rather quietly throughout the visit but added comments when necessary. He said he was feeling better.

When it was time for the family to leave they sang another song, this time in Kiswahili. It was expressing gratitude to God for his kindness. I videoed and took pictures of them to share with the sponsor and her grandchildren. I hope the connection will be a lasting one. It is such a creative and generous offer on the part of the sponsor and I am grateful.

The same person also paid $150 dollars to sponsor a young man for vocational training. We have not made a definite decision re the recipient. There is a 19 year old man in Usoma who finished class 8 but never went to Secondary school due to lack of fees. Paul recommended him. I want to be sure he is really motivated to pursue the training.

Paul suggested an auto mechanics program. Paul will bring the person to the flat soon and I can get a feel for his level of ambition. He needs to be willing to work very hard and take initiative to find a job following completion. Jobs are almost impossible to find here.

After the family left, Rom and I talked some. It rained very hard for quite a while. Rom noticed that the little light on my computer cord was not on. After playing around with the outlets it was evident that the problem was the power cord. I was upset as I use the computer for several hours every day. The cord is a weak point in the Mac computers as far as I’m concerned. This is the second cord that has stopped working on me in the three years I’ve owned the computer. I still have a plan on my computer that will cover the cost but the closest store with Apple products is in Nairobi-six hours away by matatu or bus. I tried calling them but they were already closed. I will try again on Monday. If not I will have to wait until I get home. Thankfully Rom’s computer is working.

Today, Sunday, Paul and I traveled to Ober to see Nelson and the orphans. It is where our first well was built. When I arrived I noticed the two filtering tanks that had been added 2 years after the well was completed due to muddy water, were lying on the ground. Nelson explained that the wind had blown them down. He also said that the pump has been repaired many times and it works for a few days and then breaks down again. He said they need a new one. They have been using buckets to draw the water and they purify it after they pull it up. There have still been no cases of cholera or typhoid since the well was built in 2004. The repairs to the well will cost about 1000 dollars.

We proceeded to go into the house where the orphans stay. The children were all crowded into the living room- about 25+ of them. They greeted us with clapping and singing. They told us to sit down and relax and they gave a performance for us including singing, introducing themselves, reciting “memory verses” from the Bible. One girl in form one recited a poem about the effect of the post-election violence. It was very enjoyable. Nelson them spoke and introduced the widows who help with the orphans. It is a home based orphanage. Only 8 children live in the orphanage itself. About 25 stay with local widows and 9 are in boarding school. They are all supported by the orphanage. They have not had much outside funding in several years and Nelson requested help. He is very organized and resourceful. He is the inspector of 27schools in Kisumu and travels around a great deal for his job. The orphanage is a “side job” He lives next door to the orphanage with his wife and 7 children.

They have had some donations of books and have started a small library to help prepare the students for their KCPE and KCSE tests at the end of primary and secondary school respectively. They have started growing sugarcane. They get paid 2500 KS per ton of sugar cane (about 33 dollars). I wondered if it is worth all the work but they seem to think that is a good amount of money. They have cleared a field to plant 200 papaya trees but they have not been able to purchase all the seedlings yet.

After coming back from seeing the fields for planting there was a group of about 25 young men gathered in a group sitting on the ground. Nelson brought me over and one of the men explained that they were a new group of youth from Ober ranging in age from 18 to 35. A few are still in Secondary school but most have finished but have not found any work. A few drive boda-boda’s to make a living. The purpose of the group is similar to the women’s groups- to work together to save money. They also have a goal of emotional support and educating themselves on healthy habits. They requested some “capital” to help get them started. The spokesperson stated he thought $500 would get them off to a good start. I will give Nelson and the group our new proposal form. So they can prepare a proper request. The board will have to look at the requests and respond as our finances allow. FIOH-USA is totally dependent on outside donations for support.

We went back into the orphanage where the children were still gathered. A few of the women made requests of us and then I said a few words to the group explaining that FIOH-USA would do the best we could but would not be able to meet all their requests.

We have one boy in form 4 from Ober, Kennedy Onyango. He lost his sponsor and FIOH-USA has been sponsoring him directly since form 2. Of course he hopes to go to college. He like so many other students needs sponsorship.

The visit to Ober took much longer than we anticipated and our Tuk Tuk driver was patiently waiting for us. At last Nelson invited us into his house to have sodas and mandazzi’s. They are similar to the Italian sphinges (sorry I don’t know how to spell it), and are very good. They were still warm. Our driver, Charles, joined us for the snack. We said our goodbyes and were just about to walk to the Tuk Tuk when a girl about 7 years old came up to us carrying a chicken as a gift. I gratefully accepted the chicken and gently carried it to the Tuk Tuk. It seemed relaxed in my hold and I stroked its head. It will replace one of the chickens that died.

The roads to Ober are very muddy and full of holes. Our Tuk Tuk got stuck in one on the way back. Paul and I got out to lighten the load and a passerby on a bike helped push the Tuk Tuk. We were quickly back on the road. We got home about 4.30 PM. I gave the driver an extra 300 KS because he waited over two hours for us in addition to the 45 minute drive each way over rough terrain. His total pay was about 14 dollars and he was very happy with that.

Paul and I then went shopping at the Nakumatt as we were almost out of everything. We went over to RK hotel for supper and both had Spanish omelets and chips (French fries) and tea. The total bill came to about 8 dollars and it tasted very good.

Paul headed home with the chicken in a bag with holes poked into it I hope the chicken arrives safely. As I hold these soft gentle birds I am beginning to feel like I can’t eat them anymore. It is a gut feeling. I still know I like to eat chicken but when I look into their eyes and pet their heads it just doesn’t seem right to think of eating them. I will have to sort this one out.

This brings me up to writing this journal. Pamela arrived back about an hour ago. Mamma was admitted to Russia hospital with a diagnosis of pneumonia. Pamela needs to go back there by 6 AM to bring her a basin and soap to wash with. The hospital does not supply much of anything for the patient. Pamela said they tried to assign her a bed with another patient. Two in a bed is common practice. Pamela insisted she be given a bed of her own as there were several empty in the 20 bed ward. They had started her on pain killers an antibiotic and IV’s. I hope they don’t do more harm than good.

It is late now (almost 2 in the morning). Please pray for Rom and mamma and all the people I’m encountering here.

End of Journal 14