Eating crocodile and the kids

July 24th, 2009 by Ruth Graham

Hey, just to reassure those of you who were worried, I just ate the crocodile, not the kids! Last night Dana and I met up with some of the other volunteers who have become really great friends. We met at a restaurant called Carnivore, and it is famous for it’s random meats. Unfortunately there weren’t too many of the random meats, I think due to recent regulations (apparently you use to be able to sample giraffe and zebra!), but I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much meat in one sitting in my whole life! The men carved the meet off the skewer staight onto our plates. We had chicken, beef, lamb, chicken gizzard (surprisingly tasty – although a tad dodgy looking), turkey, pork, ostrich and crocodile. I think it would be my Dad’s idea of heaven – lots and lots of meat, unlimited infact. It was a good experience but once again I didn’t like being in such a touristy and therefore white people place. It makes me so sad that very few of the people of Kenya get to experience the beauties of their own country, not necessarily talking about CARNIVORE here but Mombasssa and the national parks we covered on Safari.

We’ve been at the centre all week this week and it’s been really great. We’ve had some great laughs with the children and we’ve enjoyed, although at times nearly burst with frustration doing the books that we’re helping the children to make. I think they should look really good, we’ve got the kids to write about their favourite colour, food, things to do and we’ve taken their picture. Thomas the Tank Engine is still coming out to play and there is less and less cheating and shoving going on which is good, although the cards are quickly looking tattier and tattier and I did remove them today because they weren’t playing properly, but you know, small steps at a time!

There is one little girl called Mary at the centre who must be about 4 and she never joins in the games the kids play. She sits and drinks her porridge slowly and she never smiles. If I approach her she usually moves away from me, sticks her tongue out or pulls a face and she shrinks away if I dare to touch her. But today, we played frisbee together and she wanted to play enough that she fought for the frisbee with another kid. While this is obviously not to be encouraged – whoopee! She showed some enthusiasm for something involving another person! Later on, although she wouldn’t fully interact with me in a synchronised game we were trying to play, we did wave at eachother for a while as she left at the end of the day – double whoopee! Small steps and she may well be back to her normal isolated uninteractive self by Monday, but any sort of positive feedback will always be warmly received.

Dana and I also got to see the other centre at Kataka this week, which was very interesting. It’s not as good a centre, the floor in the two classrooms is dust, there is only one teacher, the desks are the standard pew type and the outside is on a pretty steep verge, making the game of football we attempted very interesting, with the ball just always running down the hill. The kids are generally younger than tat the centre where we’re working and I think volunteers might be needed more there than at the one we’re working at, but for various reasons that is not where volunteers are directed.

I love the kids here, perfectly genuinely and I’m doing my best to communicate that to them. It’s so difficult when volunteers are only here for such a short period of time, the kids won’t remember us individually when they’re older but that doesn’t make my love for them any less real. I’m just praying that they are loved by the families they have and that any good experiences they have with us are noted down in their subconscious as quality times with people who cared about them and if not that they do actually remember good times with us. This has maybe become a bit too deep/wishy-washy/emotional, but I think it’s me still trying to work out how I can best serve the people here in the short time I have left.

Tomorrow Dana and I are taking a walk round Kibera – the second biggest slum in the world, just outside Nairobi. We’re also planning on doing some shopping since Dana leaves on Thursday, although the new Harry Potter film is presenting itself as a very real contender for tomorrow’s entertainment.

Lots of love, once again thanks for all the thoughts and prayers and all that jazz xx