It’s Nzuri Sana

March 21st, 2010 by Alison Drummond

Hello all,

It feels like it has been forever since we have had a chance to use the internet…though it is likely that it is because SO much has happened in the last while (I apologize in advance if there are mucho-mucho spelling and grammatical errors in this message, many keys on this keyboard do not work).

Two weekends ago we trekked across the equator (it was actually only a 1.5 hour matatu ride) to Nyharuru. There we visited the famous (locally so at least) Thomson Falls- which were beautiful! It was also there that our shower, or rather the exposed electrical wires which heat the water, ignited into flame. Luckily neither of us was in the shower at the time and so we can laugh about it now!

On Monday when we returned from our relaxing weekend, I went with my friend Sophie, who is in Form 2 (10th grade) in high school. By God’s grace I was able to pay some of her school fees and she was able to return to school on Tuesday!!! She was asked to leave in January because she had a large balance remaining from last year. Many teen girls are struggling to complete primary and secondary education here. We have observed that families seem to prioritize paying the school fees of boys before girls, and thus many girls are not able to finish school. As a result (at least in part I believe) many, many young girls are single moms struggling to get by. All this to say, it was a great afternoon and Sophie was really excited to get back to school with her peers.

During this visit with Ezekiel (the school principal who is truly a kind and compassionate man who desires to help these students), I was informed that Beatrice, another secondary student (also in form 2) we have sponsored with school fees (I mentioned her in one of my first posts) is in the top of her class and is expected to ace her national exams!!! Ezekiel feels she could easily earn scholarship money if she continues on this track!

Tuesday was a busy clinic day and Mr. John, who has now been working as a Community Health Representative for two weeks, was with us in the clinic learning about dispensing medications and treating minor injuries. Now that he has completed his First Aid course, and armed with the copy of “Where There is No Doctor” that he gave him, he has been keen to learn and independtly caring for many needs. Teresa the volunteer nurse is happy to have him helping and it is great to see community members taking over before we leave.

Wednesday morning we went to the ECD in camp (a nursery school for ages 3-5- like pre-school in Canada). If I haven’t yet mentioned, the “Fun Day” on the previous Saturday was a disaster and after two hours of trying to organize the 300 hundred or so kids that turned out, we had to shut it down due to violence and rioting (literally). Anyways, not to be defeated by that event, armed with balloons, bubbles, and Vitamin C we headed off to the ECD to produce some smiles. We spent about 2 hours blowing up about 200 balloons, blowing bubbles, and dispensing “sweets” (Vitamin C) to the kids….it was crazy but the teachers (unpaid IDP teachers) helped maintain a bit of control and all-in-all it was great fun!!

In the afternoon we had a meeting with the medical committee that started ~ 2.5 hours late (African time). The committee was disappointed we decided not to fund a chicken project, though they seemed happy with the work we had done to date (school fees, plans to move orphans to orphanage, plans to purchase malaria tests, and many donations to the clinic). They were very glad that Mr. John was going to be working in the clinic, which was a huge relief as there are MANY unspoken politics and rumors about corruption in camp.

Wednesday night we learned to make chapo (chapati) with our house mama, which was a lot of good fun…pictures to follow when I get home!!!

We headed off for our weekend adventure to Nairobi on Thursday…prior to that though we trekked through some local fields (absolutely beautiful with a great view of Lake Nakuru) to a gov’t school about 5 kms from camp. We became aware that our little infant friend Lucy, who we thought was being solely raised by her ailing carpenter grandfather, has a mama who is around and is not a boarding student but rather gone all day at school, only to return to caring for her infant in the evenings. She is nearing the end of form 3 and is doing quite well, but due to a huge balance (almost 2 years worth of fees) she was asked to leave. Again with provision we were able to pay some of her fees and she returned that afternoon (Mr. John will find anyone, anytime).

On arriving in Nairobi we finally found malaria tests!!! For weeks we have been searching for these tests and finally found some…for a somewhat decent cost. We are hoping this will prevent some of the urgent cases we have sent to hospital and decrease the amount of unneccessary treatment we give at the clinic. A truly great moment!!

After a sketchy taxi ride, we arrived at our volunteer friend’s accommodation at the Day Love Orphanage in Waithuku (very sketch- we were almost robbed 2 times over the weekend).

Friday was by far one of the best days of my life!!! I will be brief because I cannot begin to describe in words what it was like, but I met my World Vision sponsor child, Sei, who is from the Masai tribe, and lives at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was a truly wonderful reception and after enjoying some Nyama Choma (freshly slaughtered goat), we exchanged prayers, gifts, and words. I was welcomed into the family and adorned with traditional Masai jewellery by both the first and second wives of Sei’s father!

On Saturday we visited the world’s second largest slum located in Nairobi (second only to Soweto in S. Africa) called Kibera. Peter, a born and raised Kiberan (sp?) showed us around and took us to a vantage point where we would visualize the ~1 million mobati (corrugated tin) homes. Truly humbling, though, having been in an IDP camp for 5 weeks now, it was not quite as shocking as I expected.

In ther afternoon we spent time with some lovely and gentle giants- giraffes! We were permitted to “kiss” the giraffes, which was a bit gross but definitely a new and nique experience! In the evening we enjoyed sushi in Nairobi…wierd, I know, though not too bad! The fish is flown in from Norway!

We decided to subject ourselves to the craziness of the Masai Market on Sunday morning before we headed back to Nakuru. It was madness, but we had our insane bargaining friend, Kevan, who helped us score some great things!

On the ride into Nairobi from the market we were almost mugged…the second time that day. Get this, both times in almost happened (praise God it didn’t) we were in a neighborhood which is notorious for theft and murder called…Prestige.

Last night our host family again put us in an awkward place through opening the dinner hour conversation with a request for sponorship to Canada. It makes it rather uncomfortable to sit and take chai tea with someone after you have had to explain that you cannot afford to assist them with immigration.

This morning my amazing future husband and my incredible friends (shout out to Beth, Laura, and Am) called! So great to hear voices from back home…especially this near to the end of our trip!

Afterward we rounded up the orphans and their relatives, and thank the Lord who went before us, the matatu driver I had contracted to come for this private trip, showed up almost on time (though I did call or text him almost every day this weekend). Sadly one family, who apparently abuses this child, refused to allow her to come today..we are hopingto work on this issue later this week, but for today we took the 11 instead of th 11 kids.

The kids, who I am pretty sure have not been out of camp since they came here from Nakuru showgrounds almost 2 years ago, were commenting on everything and were soooo excited! It was amazing to see…cannot wait to post the videos!!!

On arrival, the group was awestruck that they each get a bed (bunkbeds) and mattress. Most of the families in camp share a single bed or blanket to a family of 8-10. I am sure they haven’t all fully understood yet but they were running all over the grounds (which are vast and clean) doing cartwheels, singing, and playing on the swings. I heard a few of them, who looked a little overwhelmed at this, probably the nicest place most of them have ever seen, quietly utter “nzuri sana” (very good/very fine). When we left, all the kids were busy playing with the older kids and staff and did not look back for a moment- a great day feeling! Tomorrow some of the kids who are HIV+ but have never been on treatment are being taken to a local CCC (free HIV/AIDS treatment centre) to begin treatment. Truly a great day!!!

This is our last week in camp. On Thursday night we will take the night bus to the Mombassa on the coast and next Wednesday we will return to Nairobi to fly home!!!

Missing you all and praying that you are well!

Love,

Ali