A thank you letter from Tunza's

Alice and me

It is really painful to see you going and leaving us alone. This is the song now stuck in my head, which was sung to me by the orphans many times before I left Ngong. I'm writing from a snowy Denmark and can't believe it is all over.

The last bit of HOME business was done on Saturday, I ordered and paid for 100 chicks that are hatching on the 3rd of January. This breed will give eggs (fertilized for the incubator) and can be eaten for meat as well. The third farm building is done, so our little chicks have a home.

Photos will be up next week if not sooner. While I have internet access, the batteries are dead in my camera, so as soon as I can they will be up.

I received many going away notes from the kids and wanted to share this one with you all, as it is also for everyone who helped with HOME. It's from Alice, who is 13 and I haven't edited it.

Dear Kelcy and Alisher

Thank you for your support we are glad to have you back since 2007 until now 2009 we are glad to be with you and also we are glad to have Alisher.
Thank you for all the things that you have done to us you and Alisher we have a new cow and also
chiken. Thank you for that and aslo thank you for the merry christmas gifts that you have brought to us.
I would like to tell thenk you all and I also appreciate for all you friends that they have also help us. When you go back to Canada just greet all you friends and your family tell them that we appreciate for all they have done to us.
I wish you a merry Christmas to you all your family, friends and others in Canada. Merry Christmas and Happy new year. bye bye Kelcy and Alisher
from Angel Alice

Merry Kenyan Christmas!

Wow, we have less than 36 hours to go. This week has been a whirlwind getting everything done for HOME. Unfortunately it meant spending a lot of time away from the orphanage and I feel like I've hardly seen the kids this week. But we have the rest of today and all of tomorrow to take in all the fun we can get, including a dance party tonight.

The incubator has been ordered and paid for and will arrive on the 30th. On Thursday we picked up 100 day old broiler chicks. They will be ready to sell in about 4 weeks. This afternoon I will pay for another 100 chicks to be delivered on January 3rd. This will be a different breed which can give fertilized eggs for the incubator. It's all very exciting.

I apologize for those of you reading the blog, I put that the cow's name is Sunshine. It's not, she is called Sunrise, as first reported, apparently I was in a daze when I wrote that on Wednesday.

Yesterday was our Christmas party and it was excellent. Quite the production, as we had gifts for 108 kids, from the 3 month old baby Ramsay to the older kids. Wrapping took over 4 hours on Thursday night. Everyone got a new to them piece of clothing, plus something fun like a book or deck of cards. They all got an orange as well. We made chapatis for them and cupcakes and had drinks.

It was all very exciting. They did a performance for us, with songs and speeches. I made two speeches as well (glad I'm no longer petrified of public speaking, must be all those presentations at Rotary). The kids had so much fun and were so grateful. I would have to say it's been my best Christmas ever, just seeing how happy it made them!

It's pretty hard right now, as kids are already telling us how much they'll miss us and not to forget them (how could we). The big question is when will we come back, which I can only answer as soon as I can.

Wednesday we did a tour of Kibera with my friend Dan. He mostly helps people with HIV, bringing them food, cooking for them if they are very weak, taking them to the hospital, really anything he can do to help. He also has one patient who was shot in the post election violence by the police and is now paralyzed from the waist down. He has 3 small children.

Our day consisted of meeting people and taking them food. I bought 90 kilos of beans and 90 kilos of maize flour (for ugali, the staple maize porridge they eat in Kenya) from the HOME funds, which will feed about 40 families for a week. Many of these people depend on this program as HIV and related illnesses have left them too weak to work.

Well, time to get back and finish off everything. I'm off to Denmark for a week over Christmas and should have time to put photos up and write more about the orphanage, the project and the kids there.

Happy Holidays to you all and thanks for reading!

Introducing Sunrise

Here she is. Chickens in this week. The incubator will be bought tomorrow.

Today Alisha and I are touring Kibera (the slum I worked in last time) with my friend Dan, who works as an outreach worker for people with AIDS. Check out www.uweza.org for more details. I'll post a report on the day later.

Then before we head back to the sticks it's time to pick up gifts for our Christmas party which we are holding on Friday. Each one of the 106 orphans is getting something and it should be great!

The Latest

Went to see about the incubator yesterday. We visited one place where it seemed quite expensive, so I suggested we return to the orphanage to discuss with them. Their incubator is cheaper, but it's manual, so when the eggs are being incubated they have to be turned every 4 hours. Somehow they made a mistake and didn't turn them once and have lost 500 eggs!

So HOME will be shelling out for an automatic incubator with 200 eggs. We've decided to start there, as the kids and workers at the orphanage will be learning as they go. It's possible for them to just do 100 at a time as well.

We'll be building another chicken coop especially for the incubator and the chicks they hatch from it. The other coop, that is finished will be used for keeping broilers or layers.

So still some work to be done, but it'll be great. Thanks again for reading and your help!

Good News

The chicken shed is done and the cow shed nearly complete. Next Tuesday we go to see about the incubator with the staff from the orphanage so we can make a decision. I think it will be excellent, but someone is going to have to take responsibility for it to be a success.

We bought a cow yesterday! Now they will have two. There was one here when we arrived, named Glopa, and I bought one yesterday, named Sunrise. She should give milk by the new year. Apparently it is also good for the cows to have each other for company. And happy cows give more milk.

Paddy from the Tara Project, who built the orphanage, was here last week. He's rented the lot adjacent to the orphanage and had it plowed so it can be a vegetable garden. As long as there is more rain soon, it will be planted in the next few weeks. In the mean time I have been using some of the fund raised money to purchase fruits and vegetables for the kids.

I will get a photo of Sunrise and the completed structures when I find a computer that like working with my camera!

Thanks for the latest donations to Riyoko and Dale Charleston.

We're in business...

Wow things are moving along at last. Last Tuesday we went out and bought materials for the chicken coop. Solomon, one of the workers assured me it would be done in 3-4 days, so by Friday or Saturday.
By Friday some stakes had been put in and some measurements done. Alisha and I left at lunch to go to Lake Naivasha for the weekend. I left feeling confident the chicken coop would be finished when we returned Monday morning.

I was very disappointed when we arrived Monday. All that had been done was a bit of an extension(they decided it needed to be a bit bigger) but essentially no work had been done. I know it's all on Kenya time here, but I was pretty worried. This is step one in a seven step plan and with 3 weeks left...

I had a chat with Mike, who works at the orphanage and at that stage was in charge of building. I told him I was concerned about the slow progress. I suggested we might need to hire more labourers. He told me I should discuss this with Solomon and Mama Tunza.

So we had a meeting. Gosh I wish I spoke more swahili (I am learning but it is pole pole...slow!) as that was the language it was conducted in. I could tell Solomon and Mike were having some disagreement. I raised a small fuss, expressed my concerns and was assured that more help would be brought in.

And it was. A couple of guys showed up and by the time we left they'd made ton of progress. The older boys were helping too, which is great, as it gives them something to do, some experience and maybe a glimpse into what a career in construction could be. The foundation was done, the walls were going up and the roof started.

Tuesday was spent in town getting the remaining materials for the chicken coop ( we were short some lumber and iron sheets) and everything for the cow shed.

Interesting experience. We went to the lumber yard and hired a truck to drive all the supplies back to Ngong. It was an adventure, as travel often is. Me and Mama Tunza in the front of this ancient little pickup with the driver. It was riding super low as it was loaded up with lumber (beams, 2x4s etc), nails, iron sheets, cement, wire mesh and one other guy. We had a bit of a break down not far from Kawangware, where we picked up our supplies. I was suer we'd have another, as it tried to get up the hills to Ngong, but we made it. Oh Kenya...where there's a will there's a way here that's for sure.

Chicken shed is now complete, the cement has to dry. Monday we see about the chickens. It's all coming together.

I can't get photos up on this computer, but that's the goal this Saturday. I really want to show you all the progress.

Also thanks to Liz and Hugh Field and Tiffany Lansdowne and James Moore for donations. We are now up to 5976 in total donations.

Touchdown in Kenya

HOME has now raised 5339 Canadina dollars! I am so pleased and so happy to have everyone's support on this project.

First in HOME news, we are getting started with making plans for the chicken coop/cow shed. We have decided on 500 chickens, a mix of broiler and layers, so they can eat chicken and eggs. We're also looking into buying an incubator, to grow broiler chickens. I'm super excited about that. It can take up to 500 eggs. It takes 18-20 days to incubate the fertilized eggs, then they are hatched and kept for another 2-3 weeks. At this point they can be sold to the neighbours and give the orphanage more income.

We went to look at another orphanage in Ngong on Wednesday that has an incubator, with my friend Daniel. At Faraja Children's Home we met a guy named George who filled us in on how it works, costs etc. Now we just need to get Mama Tunza to agree.

Also a big thank you to Alberto Saavedra for his donation to HOME. Alberto is my friend from Portugal who was a fellow volunteer in 2007, working at an orphanage called the Sons of Manesh. And thank yous to Brett Davidson, owner of LadySport, my roommates Tom Bond and Rae Mitchell, and the best looking spectator/Funky Trunks model, Craig Simonetto for their respective donations.

In other news, Alisha and I are settling in well. This trip is already very different. We are living way out in the country, in Ngong Hills. It's a 40 minute drive into civilization, ie Junction, where I lived last time, where there is a huge supermarket and everything you would ever need or want. It takes about 30 minutes to walk to Ngong town, where there are Kenyan shops and 15 minutes to walk to the orphanage.

We are living with an ordinary Kenyan family (not a chief as previously reported) on their acre farm. They are Evans, who works in construction, and Alice who graduated yesterday as an Early Childhood Educator and runs a daycare. They have 3 kids, girls Favour who is 13 and Audrey who is 10 and a son Pistis, who is 8. And a bunch of dogs and a cat. We are settling in with them well.

It's a different world in Ngong from Kibera. The orphanage has tons of room, including a small playing field outside. They are still transitioning some of the kids, in fact we went ot Kibera on Tuesday to collect the year 8s, who have just sat their national exams. Yesterday, Cyrus, joined us. He is blind and attending a special school and will be there for the December holidays. In January he will start at a new school where he can learn Braille. Next Friday the rest of the older kids will come from Kibera and they will have nearly 100 kids at the orphanage.

I was excited that many of the older kids have remembered me and were very excited to see me again. The little ones don't, but they are pretty easy to win over. Push them on a swing, play a game of soccer with them, read them a book and you're golden.

That's probably it for now. I'm hoping to get construction started this week and the livestock out here before long.

I'm not by a computer very often, but will update when I can.

Countdown is on

Me and Peter, 2007

Off tomorrow night and I'm super excited. I can't wait to see the kids, though it will be Tuesday before that happens. It will be interesting to see how they've changed, who is still there and to meet the new kids at Mama Tunza's. I am especially excited to see little Peter, who was my favourite the last trip. He was 1 1/2 then and we were literally joined at the hip anytime I was at the orphanage. Peter was the child I saw change the most, when we first met he was a very quiet almost sullen little one. All he really needed was some attention and some fresh air, as soon he was a happy little boy, running around and singing. I've missed him terribly, but I'm bracing myself for the fact that he probably won't remember me. Mama Tunza's has a revolving door of volunteers and Peter is only 3 1/2 now, so his little memory probably doesn't have me in it. But I'm pretty sure I can win him over and we'll be besties again.

In donation news...

My auntie Kate is great. Last Friday, November 6th, she hosted a dinner at her house in Kelowna. It was African themed. Kate recently took an African drumming class, so there was drumming as well as plenty of African food. I wish I could have been there, as all reports are that it was fabulous and a lot of fun. And she raised $510 for the project! Yay!

Also a big thanks to my mom's Girl Guide friend Gail Rose and to Mama, my grandmother, and Linda Stevens from my work for their donations. Thanks as well to Mom and Dad who brought down a bunch of books for me to take with me.

Donation News

I have heard from a reliable source in Kenya that some of my estimated costs are high. Chickens especially should cost 1/2 to a 1/3 of what I quoted, so $5 to $7 a piece. The cows may be less as well. This is great news, as now the donations will stretch even farther. It may be possible to set up a contingency fund for veterinarian costs for the livestock, if there are any surplus funds after the animals are purchased and the barn is built.

I will also post a detailed account of how all the money was spent, on this blog, when I return.

Thank you again to everyone for your support
Kelsey

Today is brought to you by...

My auntie Susan and Uncle Mike Gardiner, Elaine Hughes-Games who is Fiona's auntie, my friend Leah Kimura from first year Ross, and my cousin Heather Gardiner and my friends Jen Chapman and Flo Sanchez. Thank you for your support!

A big thank you to David Saito at DeSerres for donating art supplies and to my sister Rebecca for donating a huge amount of clothing.

Last minute things

I had my last day off before the trip today (I'm working til Friday afternoon, we fly out at 9pm, crazy I know...)so I've been running around doing all the little things. Buying rubber boots (apparently it's been pretty rainy over there, so probably awfully muddy as well), laundry, packing and I got my H1N1 shot today. I hadn't originally planned on getting it, as I'm not too concerned about getting sick, but a pharmacist I know mentioned that she was more worried about giving it to someone. Since there are kids with HIV at Mama Tunza's it seemed like a good idea to get it so I don't give it to them.

I'm up to $3716 thanks to my dad's cousins Joyce and Bob Tremblay, my friend Mel Harmer from my UBC years, Steve Maltby who let me be his temporary roommate when I got back from Australia and was an awesome photographer at Ironman and my wonderful friends/cousins/former employers Andrea and Dave McFadden. Thank you!

Nearly at $3500!

Me and Hannah with our little family. Kevin, Kemto and Peter

First off I would like to thank my Mom and Dad who were the first to jump on board with a generous donation back in the spring when I first started thinking about the project. While they weren't completely thrilled when I decided to go to Kenya the first time, they came around quickly and visited Ethiopia with my Dad's Rotary Club last fall. Besides helping me with the project they are also involved in one there, paying for desks for a school.

More thanks go to Maggie Bowden from LSport, Rebecca Clarke who is a friend of Fiona's and my dad's cousins Michele and Richard Allegretto.

Even though we leave on Friday, it is now a week until we actually arrive in Kenya! We have an overnight layover in London. My friend Hannah, who was a volunteer at Mama Tunza's with me last time lives there and has been nice enough to put me and Alisha up for the night. Hannah spent some time back in Kibera this spring so I'm looking forward to catching up with her and hearing all the stories!

It hit me...

last night that I'm actually about to go to Kenya, as I took my first anti malaria pill. It's funny with big things like this, so much anticipation and then bam! you're almost on your way and you can't believe it.

Alisha and i got our placements. We'll both be at Mama Tunza's and living together with a chief and his family in Ngong. Interesting, I'm not sure what he's a chief of, but we'll find out soon enough.

Donations keep coming and I'm getting closer and closer to the goal. Now standing at $3286. Thank you to my sister Shannon and her husband Alex, our family friends Fiona Steele and Jessica Lemes Da Silva, Shannon Lawrie from LadySport, Becky Flanagan a friend from my KSS days, half of my favourite set of twins Meg Braem, (Hot) Beck Wiasak my lovely friend from Canberra and Mary Beckmann one of my mom's bridge partners! It's great to have your support.

More donations and a Facebook Group

I've now got over half the money needed, up to $2941 today. Thank you to my sister Rebecca and her tenant Jared, Auntie Mary Ellen and Uncle Mark, my good friends Gill Martin and James Markus, Tom and Wendy Paterson from the Sunrise Rotary Club, my friend Melisa who I've known since I've known since first year UBC and Lynn Royes from Canberra Girls Grammar, who I job shared with last year, all of whom made a donation!

Also I've started up a Facebook Group, HOME (Help Orphans with Milk & Eggs), if you want to join!

Thank you Rotary!

My dad has been a member of Kelowna Sunrise Rotary Club for a number of years now and Rotary has had a huge influence on my life.

My parents have hosted 5 exchange students, starting with Marie from France who stayed with us when I was 11. We've stayed in touch with Marie (I have seen her twice in France and Mom and Dad just visited her and her family in September). as well as our two brazilian sisters Ana Lu and Isis.

I thought Rotary Exchange was great and in Grade 12 applied to the program. In July 1999 I was on my way to Haderslev, Denmark for a year. I stayed with three wonderful families, attended school there and learned Danish. That year was pivotal for me. It opened up the world for me and made me eager to seek out opportunities to see and live in other parts of the world. I gained a huge amount of confidence that year and learned so much about myself and what I was capable of doing. I think it's safe to say without Rotary and their Youth Exchange Program I would never have considered going to Kenya.

I spoke to Kelowna Sunrise Rotary in December 2007, right after my first trip to Nairobi. This summer I presented to them again in hopes of getting them on board with my project for Mama Tunza's Children's Home. I am happy to say thank you to them for their generous donation of $500, which brings total donations to $2500, half way to the end goal. Thank you very much!

Thank You!

A big asante to those who have donated so far. Doug S, Lois S, Doris, Alyce from Australia, my cousin Seann, Lorraine and Mary Anne. That's a lot of chickens! Thanks so much!

New Team Member

I haven't mentioned yet that my lovely cousin Alisha is joining me on the trip. Alisha's taking a year off of university and wants to do some travelling. In the summer we talked about her joining me and I'm glad she is coming along! It'll be great to have someone to fly with, a family member close by and most of all someone to reminisce about the trip with once we're home.

This is a slightly old photo, from Shannon and Alex's wedding two years ago, but it was the most recent one I have of the two of us. There will be plenty of new ones to come once we get to Africa!

How to Donate

Archive December 11, 2007

The events/adventures/highligh

ts of my last days in Kenya

So here I am back in cold Kelowna (you all know that it’s nothing new for me to be cold but coming from warm Kenya has been a shock!), wanting to share my last few experiences, at least a shortlist of them!

For starters the orphanage got an outbreak of chicken pox. Mostly it was older kids who were affected by it. We did have a bit of a scare with Stacia, who is 5 and HIV positive; she had a very bad case and ended up in the hospital for three days. For most kids, chicken pox isn’t serious, but it can be quite dangerous if you have HIV. She’s fine now; back to her sunny singsong-y self.

I had a bit of a scare as well, thinking for about a day that I had shingles (the adult version of chicken pox), as I had some pretty gross sores erupt right when the kids got sick. Also I’d spent most of two days comforting Stacia before she went to the hospital, so I had my suspicions. Fortunately it was just an infection that some over-the-counter antibiotics have cleared up nicely…I just look really terrible in some of the photos!

One day Hannah and I took 11 boys, age 1 ½ (Peter) to 13 years old, to be tested for HIV. There are 3 kids with HIV at the orphanage so it’s important for the others to be screened on a regular basis, so if they do happen to get HIV they can get on ARVs quickly. The screening was done with a drop of blood, then you wait 5 minutes, if one bar shows, you’re negative, if two or more show you are positive (looks similar to a home pregnancy test). All 11 boys were negative…yay!!!!

I also had the privilege of getting a tour of Kibera with Mama Tunza as my guide. We actually ended up at Siloam orphanage (I mentioned it in a previous email, it is very very basic). I’m under the impression that having Mama T give me a tour was a pretty big deal and that she doesn't do it for just any volunteers, only the special ones.

I also snuck in a four-day safari. I was meant to go for 6, but wanted to spend my last few days with the kids, and that was the right decision by far. Don’t get me wrong, the safari was awesome and a must do in Africa, but by the end of four days I’d seen all the animals I wanted to see and was ready to get home to my darlings.

I went with my fabulously funny friend Leila from (R)Adelaide, Australia and we got linked up with 6 others. We almost didn’t make it, as our guide, Joshua got pulled over at a routine police check and almost got arrested. Leila and I tried to keep our cool as plenty of yelling in Swahili went on and then handcuffs were pulled out. We were then told by one of the cops that they were arresting Joshua, but forgiving him, as his insurance had expired. A few phone calls later (and maybe a bribe) and everyone calmed down and we went on our way.

We spent our first day in Lake Nakuru, which is famous for its flamingoes (which make the weirdest noise, kind of like thousands of orthotics squeaking in shoes!). We were fortunate to see a leopard (which I was told by a somewhat reliable source—Panda—that I likely would not see one, as they are quite rare). The next three days were spent at the Maasai Mara, where we saw: lions, giraffes, elephants, cheetahs, wildebeests, water buffalos, hippos, zebras, crocs, impalas, gazelles, baboons, warthogs (Pumbas!). I’d have to say elephants were and always have been my favorite.

Right now is actually low season (in terms of tourists and animals), so while we saw lots of types of animals (including the big five: rhino, leopard, lion, elephant and water buffalo), we didn’t see them in huge volumes. The upside was that there were only a few other safari vans, so we were usually able to get in quite close to the animals. Sometimes too close, as we got to watch two lionesses and a lion feast on a freshly killed pregnant wildebeest, something I could only watch for about 3 minutes, but my fellow safariers watched for about 30!

We also visited a Maasai village, which was super interesting…the women basically do all the work, they build the houses, take care of the children, do all the housework and cooking. The young men take care of the cows (which provide them with everything…milk, blood (yes the Maasai are the cow blood drinkers), meat and dung to build the houses), while the older men pretty much make their own beer (from fruit from a sausage fruit tree…aptly named because they look like sausages) and drink it. We got to try the beer, which was horrid. Found out later that I wasn’t really suppose to try it as only older women are allowed to drink in that culture. Whoops, won’t make that mistake again! Also, on average the girls get married when they are 14, usually to a 25-year-old man. A different culture, that’s for sure!

The last three days were a bit of a whirlwind. I slept at the orphanage my second to last night, as it was finally fumigated…no more bedbugs! The last days were spent playing with the kids, being a human jungle gym, tossing around an American football. Some of the older girls discovered that my hair is awfully fun to play with and this kept them entertained for hours!

The last day was definitely sad and it was hard to say goodbye. I was touched to be given gifts from two of the girls. Asha, who was in the class I taught and is 13, gave me a silver bangle and Milker, who’s about 10 gave me one gold earring and two blue beads. I got all teary eyed; these kids really have next to no possessions and still gave me going away gifts! The younger kids don’t really understand that you are actually leaving, but maybe it’s better that way

I had Mama Tunza and about 15 of the girls walked me home. I am supposed to greet all of you from all the orphans and Mama Tunza! They also wanted some reassurance I wouldn’t forget them; I don’t see how I ever could!

So I’m sad to be gone and I miss the kids so much already. I was amazed at how quickly I felt at home in Kenya and how I could fall in love with a slum! I really wish I was spending Christmas with them, but maybe next year (I have promised and I intend to go back to Kenya at some point next year…to which most of the kids replied, so we’ll see you in January? Not quite that soon!!). I can’t say this too often, these kids are amazing, they get along so well, they are so resourceful, they are kind, funny, thoughtful and sweet.

I will say I’m glad to be gone before the Presidential election on the 27th; Kenya and Kibera could be interesting (read: dangerous) places for a short while depending on the outcome. Already in the last ten days I could feel the tension is starting to rise in Kibera, where they are a stronghold for ODM, a socialist party. The feeling in Kibera is that is ODM doesn’t win and Kibake is reelected it will be because the election is rigged (currently ODM is ahead in the polls).

It is good to be home, even though I miss Kenya tons. Still really jetlagged and a little bit culture shocked (I’m waiting for it to really hit with Christmas). I’m looking forward to catching up with many of you! Have a happy holiday and all the best wishes for the New Year!

Love Kelsey

Archive November 28, 2007

The Final Countdown

Much to my disappointment, I’m left with only one week and one day in lovely Kenya.

But first, a big Asante (thank you) to everyone who generously sent money. You’ve provided the children at Mama Tunza’s with everything from diapers to shoes to food to textbooks to art project materials to toys to mattresses to specialized formula for the little ones with HIV. Thank you so much – I will send you each a detailed list of exactly where your money went to when I arrive home.

This past week has been wonderful. On Wednesday Hannah and I slept over at Mama Tunza’s . I can’t believe how excited the kids were—not just the little ones, but some of the older kids who can be a bit standoff-ish were too! Mama Tunza and I went to the butcher in Kibera to get meat fro dinner – that was an experience! I’m not sure how I managed to stomach it after seeing the complete lack of refrigeration there (thank you stomach of steel!). Mama Tunza served it up as best she could, with spinach and ugali (a Kenyan staple, cornmeal porridge—my first taste—they don’t serve it at the palace where I live).

Hannah brought nail polish to do up all the girls and we watched the Fantastic 4. Unfortunately both Hannah and I ended up with horrible cases of bedbugs (much worse than the ones I got in Oz—can you believe that Vicki?). Hannah’s looked the worst, but mine got really swollen. My right hand swelled up to about 3 times its size! Needless to say we have added “fumigate orphanage” to our to do list. I hope it will be done this weekend so I can sleepover once more before I go.

Thursday, my roommate Melinda hosted Thanksgiving at our house, complete with a turkey! I provided a Kenyan take on Mom’s famous sweet potato casserole. We were about 25, including 15 Kenyans, friends of my host mom and sister.

Friday afternoon I had the opportunity to attend an HIV support group at a Kibera clinic with my Kenyan friend Daniel, an aspiring doctor. The support group is the brain child of another volunteer, Jolene and it is awesome! One of the things they do is pay an attendance fee of 10 shillings, which goes into a savings pool. Then if member need money for something, say school fees, they can apply to borrow it. If approved, they draw up a repayment plan. As well, they are making jewelry and shipping them to a store in Victoria, BC where they are sold and then the profits are returned to the Kibera group.

Saturday 5 other volunteers and I visited the Siloam Fellowship Ministry Academy, an orphanage on the less developed side of Kibera. Apparently this is what Mama Tunza’s was like two years ago before they got sponsored by my organization…no electricity, no natural light, no mattresses up until last week when Melinda got them some and their walls are just mud and garbage. Fortunately Aussie Hannah (not the Hannah I work with) will start there in December and has some fundraised money to use there. VICDA will send more volunteers there as well, who can initiate projects to improve the conditions there.

In the afternoon I went to an ex-pat barbeque hosted by Mom’s friend Lyn’s in-laws. They live in quite a swanky area, out by the UN and all the embassy residences. Fabulous food and great company.

Sunday a bunch of us went to paint Aussie Hannah’s library. For her project she built a library at the school she was working at. I still haven’t seen the finished project, but even on Sunday with only the base coat and no furniture or books yet, it looked great!

This week has been about fitting in as much time with my little darlings as possible. Yesterday was the last day of school, so now it will just be the orphans. Last night I had one of my best nights in Kenya. Hannah and I took 5 kids, Brenda, Alice, Valerie, Frances and Dennis to the movies to see Stardust. It was fantastic…the film was good and it was so much fun to sit beside these kids and watch them! They have been to movies before, but none of them could remember the last time and for most it was only the third or fourth time they’d ever been. Then we took them out for ice cream, which they loved!

So I have today and tomorrow, then I’m off on safari. I’d originally signed up for six days, but took it down to four, as I want to spend my last few days in Nairobi with the kids. It‘s going to be so hard to leave them, they are so amazing! But I know I’m not done with Kenya or Africa yet.

This will probably be the last email before I get home. I promise to get photos up ASAP once I’m back in K-town!
Love you all
Kelsey

Archive: November 15, 2007

Escape from the slum

Last week Hannah and I took pretty much everyone from Mama Tunza's out of the slum to visit the animal orphanage at Nairobi National Park. We rented two buses that were likely meant to hold 50 people each and crammed 131 orphans, 8 teachers and Hannah and myself into them.

The only bad news was that we had to pay for the orphans to go in (we had heard they would get in free if we had documentation they are orphans, but apparently not) but it was well worth it. They had so much fun and we had so much fun watching them. They pretty much ran around for 2 1/2 hours, checking out cheetahs, baboons, lions, ostriches etc. It was so awesome just to get them outside in the fresh air, they are so cramped at Mama Tunza's. Plus I got to meet some of the other kids who aren't in the class that I teach, so that was great.

The really fabulous news is that the kids will soon escape the slums for real. Work has just begun on a new Mama Tunza's in Ngong, a rural area on the outskirts of Nairobi. Hannah and I checked it out on Friday and it is amazing. They have purchased an acre of land, so there will be plenty of room for the kids to have a playground and a field.

Mama Tunza's in Kibera will remain a school and they will still have kids come for the day program (where they feed the kids and look after them...how i spend my time when I'm not teaching). The orphans will move out there as well as some of the teachers for the younger grades. I am so excited for them.

I do a bit of teaching for the grade 4 class. I gave them all dictionaries yesterday and they were so excited. Also cause a bit of a fiasco yesterday handing out stickers. Otherwise I hang with the little ones. With Hannah's help I've been taking them outside in shifts. Some of their favourite activities to do with me is play with my hair (which they can do for hours, it's such a different texture from their own) and trying to rub off my freckles (they always rub the dirt off my legs, you get flithy walking in Kibera, and think my freckles are dirt too)!

Archive: November 6, 2007

with Kemto outside the hospital

Through the first two days at Mama Tunza's. A little background...Mama Tunza is an actual woman, who runs the orphanage. There's over 50 kids here and another 10 or so who come for school. Recently she got electricity and running water installed at the orphanage.

Yesterday I got the tour, then spent the morning with Hannah, another volunteer who has been there for 3 weeks. We are trying to organize for the orphans to visit the animal orphanage. They get in for free (being orphans), we just have to pay for the bus to take them there. This should be great as the kids don't get many chances to get out of Kibera.

In the afternoon we went to the hospital with Humphrey, a Kenyan who works at the orphanage, to get Mama Tunza out. She has been having some stomach issues. We also took little Kemto, who is two and a half, to get a cough checked out.

The hospital was very basic with two women crammed in each bed. Some of them even looked like they were dying. But it was quite clean and seemed pretty well staffed. Mama Tunza couldn't wait to get out of there and I don't blame her. We got Kemto's cough looked at and then headed back to Kibera. Once we were there we visited the chemist and I bought Kemto's medicine, which he'll take for another 2 weeks.

Today I went in and played with the really little ones. One girl takes care of about 10 kids under the age of 2, so I figured she could use some help. The older kids are in school and well taken care of, but these little ones don't seem to get much stimulation or attention. I had them all crawling all over me. One little girl, Michelle, came in crying and headed straight to me for a cuddle...so sweet. It will be hard not to try and take them all home.

One thing I'm super impressed with in Kibera is the sense of community you get here. I feel very safe walking around here during the day (thought night time would be totally different and something I won't attempt). It seems like people help each other out as much as they can and are very cooperative.

Fundraising Plea

Jambo

Many of you remember hearing about my last trip to Kenya in November 2007. I spent 6 amazing weeks volunteering in an orphanage in Kibera, the world's second largest slum, located in Nairobi. Mama Tunza's Children's Home was then home to 50 orphans and included a school and daycare program.

Kibera has a population of around a million people cramped into 8 square kilometers of land. The children had very little outside space to play in. As with most slums, Kibera lacks infrastructure so there are open sewers, garbage everywhere and limited access to health care.

Mama Tunza's was very lucky to move out of Kibera in August of this year. A charitable group purchased an acre of land on the outskirts of Nairobi and another group built a new home for them in the spring. They now have 100 orphans living there.

I am returning to Kenya on November 15th for another 5 weeks of volunteering. When I returned the last time I struggle with the fact that while I had done some good , I had not left anything long lasting behind. I have been in touch with the orphanage and they would like to get 2 dairy cows, chickens and a vegetable garden for their land. Each cow would produce 30 litres of milk per day. They have room for up to 500 chickens. Any excess eggs would be sold to their neighbours and profits used for projects at the orphanage such as art supplies or field trips. The older children at the orphanage would be responsible for caring for the animals. The eggs, milk and vegetables would be a great addition to their diet, which consists mostly of rice, beans and ugali, a cornmeal porridge.

I am looking to raise $5000. Each cow cost $1000, chickens are $15 a piece and there will be construction costs for a barn. Any donation you could provide, even $5 dollars,will make a huge difference. You can email me at kelseykenya@gmail.com for more information on how to donate.

All of your donation goes straight to the project. I am paying my own expenses.