So, after a safari weekend and feeling a bit unwell last Tuesday I came down with a nasty bit of something Wednesday night. Thursday morning I was in a local private hospital and for the equivalent of $25 I was consulted, blood tested, and treated for . . . malaria. Oh, I know there are pills for that, was taking them. And have only two . . . TWO . . . mosquito bites on my body. Leave to one of those buggers to give me malaria.
A shot larger than a tetanus needle in the bum and some medication from Novartus in good ol' Suffern, NY and yesterday was the first day I felt 100%. Nasty.
Today was the children's last day of school and as Gloria mentioned in her post we're prepping for some reinforcement time in the mornings for the students. The grading system is interesting in Kenya. Students are ranked according to their class and also grade. Each grade is broken down into an North, East, South, and West where classes can range from 40 - 50+ students. Granted this is a public school, but I'm sure a union would flip at these numbers. In analyzing their strengths and weaknesses we hope to provide a little reinforcement over our last two weeks.
The firepit idea has officially ceased for now. I have the specs drawn up, but with the lack of contact with the landlord we don't want to do work that will get them kicked out of the house. The chicken coop project is a go. Omari's chickens are now up to 70+ eggs daily and we're going to create a separate room to isolate the cock and and few hens to guarantee some fertilized eggs.
Time is flying by unfortunately and there's definitely a need to have it slow down and stop.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
A Typical Sunday Dinner with the Family
On Sunday night Marc, Claire and I prepared a traditional Italian dinner for our host family and twelve other volunteers. It reminded me of the dinners I would share with my family back home. We prepared garlic crostini, and pasta bolognese. Everyone loved it and had seconds.It was the first time some of our host family had ever eaten pasta. I never knew I could make sauce and boil pasta on a propane tank. Another trick I've learned here. We all sat together in the family room laughing, eating and then watched a movie together. It felt like we were all one big happy family.
At Faraja the children are finished with school and received their report cards today. Marc is dividing them up by ability and we will each take a different group and work on reinforcing the math and reading skills they have learned during the school year. Some of the children are severely delayed and cannot receive the extra help and services they would benefit from. They are lucky to even be able to attend school. We are hoping to work with the more delayed children more intensively over the next two weeks and that the new volunteers will continue our efforts when we leave.
A warm welcome to Lauren, who joined us from Canada today and Lucy who is joining us from England.
I've set Momma Morra up on Facebook and taught her how to utilize it for networking. We also have a Faraja page set up. Please contact her if you are interested in volunteering or sending in kind donations.
Miss and love.
At Faraja the children are finished with school and received their report cards today. Marc is dividing them up by ability and we will each take a different group and work on reinforcing the math and reading skills they have learned during the school year. Some of the children are severely delayed and cannot receive the extra help and services they would benefit from. They are lucky to even be able to attend school. We are hoping to work with the more delayed children more intensively over the next two weeks and that the new volunteers will continue our efforts when we leave.
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| Top to bottom, left to right: Marc, Amy, Claire, Lucy, Hou, Lauren, Gloria |
I've set Momma Morra up on Facebook and taught her how to utilize it for networking. We also have a Faraja page set up. Please contact her if you are interested in volunteering or sending in kind donations.
Miss and love.
Monday, August 2, 2010
M stands for
Monday
Marc
Makes it over
Malaria
more to follow . . .
Marc
Makes it over
Malaria
more to follow . . .
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| The private hospital that delivered one hell of a shot of |
quinine
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Outreach Weekend.
Claire and I decided to spend the past two days working with the slum children of Mukuru and participated in a food project to assist in feeding the families at local Internally Displaced Persons camps. We also took on the physical challenge known as Hells Gate (hardest hike of my life) and discovered the literal meaning of pot shots.
Mukuru (KCC) is a slum located in Navasha. Until volunteer outreach the children were without a school in walking distance. Children in their teens could not read or write. Volunteers were able to build a school and employ teachers so that these children have an opportunity to learn. It was nice to see the efforts of volunteers paying off. The school is at full capacity and there is a wait list for children in the slum to attend. I went to find the children who weren't attending. I found many of them home caring for younger brothers and sisters and some orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS and alcoholism. The hope is that we can expand the school and set up a day care type center so that these care taker children can have access to education and so that the children wait listed can also have the same opportunities. The children want to learn.
Internally Displaced Persons are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border. After the 2007 elections it is estimated that up to 400,000 people in Kenya lost loved ones, were separated from their families and were forcibly moved off of their property. We visited some of the families impacted by the violence and provided them with food rations.
When we first arrived at IDP camp a woman in her eighties hugged and kissed me so hard I almost lost my breath. This hug was in response to my giving her a ration of flour, rice and cooking fat. If not for these donated rations she would have no food for the next two weeks. As it is the families at IDP have only one meal a day. Up to ten people are sharing a tent which by American standards could fit no more than four people for a weekend of camping. One of the families I spoke with had a photograph hanging on the tent of them in their former home with their father who was killed in front of them during a post election riot. I could not even imagine how they have survived such tragedy. I thank them for allowing me to hear their story.
Hells Gate was a nice opportunity to challenge myself physically after the emotional challenges of the weekend. I would place Hells Gate at a more difficult level than the Grand Canyon. It was definitely challenging for me and it felt amazing to finish it. I wish I had time to hike it again before heading back to the states. On your drive to the trail heads there are zebras, giraffes and buffalo all around you.
On a final note, you haven't lived until you pee and poop in a hole in the ground. I'm becoming an expert. Much love.
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| Lucy with school children in KCC |
Internally Displaced Persons are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border. After the 2007 elections it is estimated that up to 400,000 people in Kenya lost loved ones, were separated from their families and were forcibly moved off of their property. We visited some of the families impacted by the violence and provided them with food rations.
When we first arrived at IDP camp a woman in her eighties hugged and kissed me so hard I almost lost my breath. This hug was in response to my giving her a ration of flour, rice and cooking fat. If not for these donated rations she would have no food for the next two weeks. As it is the families at IDP have only one meal a day. Up to ten people are sharing a tent which by American standards could fit no more than four people for a weekend of camping. One of the families I spoke with had a photograph hanging on the tent of them in their former home with their father who was killed in front of them during a post election riot. I could not even imagine how they have survived such tragedy. I thank them for allowing me to hear their story.
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| Claire climbing in Hell's Gate |
On a final note, you haven't lived until you pee and poop in a hole in the ground. I'm becoming an expert. Much love.
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