Strong and Fat

Oh my......this trip is already an adventure :). Firstly, I am traveling with my Faj, my little sister Sarah (the wildest and free-est of all the sisters), and her two good friends. The three of them haven't traveled much yet, so seeing them experience it for the first time is like watching a baby realizing they have hands. Pure delight.

The adventuring began in Amsterdam, where we had a 12-hour layover. Just enought time to explore the city with 45 minutes of sleep under our belts (how can you sleep on a plane when there is so much to do, like eat snacks and watch movies?!). Of course we climbed the I AMsterdam sign, wandered the canal streets, and sampled treats of a bitterballen nature. We may also have reenacted the wizard chess scene of Harry Potter at a park, narrowly missed a few bike-pedestrian collisions, and unintentionally left the guide (me) at a bus stop. It was all great fun.

On the flight to Nairobi I was given the greatest gift of all......3 seats to myself. Best sleep of my life. It gave my immune system a little time to pull itself together, since it dependably poops out on me right before every big trips like this. We arrived in Nairobi healthy and fresh as daisies, and ready to get to work. The ambulance that picked us up from the airport was literally packed to top with our 15 gigantic bags of mostly maxi pads. It was a quite tight sqeeze on the way to Maseno, but since you've gotta brace your knees against something on that ride, I prefer a bag of pads over a metal bar.

Truly the greatest joy of the trip so far has been introducing my watoto (children) to Sarah, and having Dad see them again after 5 yrs. As the ambulance lumbered into the yard, I had to look twice to make sure the kid running up to us was Zedekia. The shape of his face has changed since his little mouth isn't full of rotten teeth anymore. He's gained weight, he's significantly taller, and much to my relief, his adult teeth are already almost all the way in. He is talking a little and laughing a lot. He can run and climb the hill. I am beyond delighted. They are all taller and healthier, or as they say here, they are all strong and fat. (Fat means well-fed and well taken care of, so its not actually an outrageously offensive comment here-as it would be at home, although I find the term much less endearing when it is applied to me personally :).

(Naomi, Griffin, and Zedekia couldn't wait to get their hands on Sarah's long hair).

It took the kids about, oh.....30 seconds to warm up to this group. I think Sarah was running around with 2 children on her back within the first afternoon, and Caroline and Anthony had a child hanging on each arm as they toured the grounds. We know when school is out because there is suddenly 3-4 little heads peeking over our window sill, beckoning us to come "play chase" or jump rope. They've all been working and playing very hard. I don't know who was more worn out the last few days, my children or my college students :)

I will soon have some more pics of our progress on beautifying the children's home, but until then, enjoy a few more of our travel pics. More updates to come soon.

Jessie

 

 

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Roast Meat and Rescue Girls

Per the usual, we wrapped up our time here with a trip to the Maasai land. In a transportation combination of an ambulance, a bus, and a car, we got there after a mere 8 hours. We spent a night in Narok, which is really the last town before the savannah starts and the paved roads end. Since we had a little more time than I usually do, we took the evening to explore Narok a little bit. We found a cute little hotel (restaurant) that had a second floor balcony that allowed us to overlook the street without being spotted as "mzungu!" From our fly on the wall position, we watched the street activity as the sun went down.

Right when we arrived we stopped to grab some food since we were famished. I've eaten in Narok several times with big groups of students, but we asked my friends Tony to take us to his favorite place because I wanted to see the difference. I had to introduce the girls to the local specialty here, Nyama choma, or roast meat-specifically goat. Like any good meat-based eatery, this one was attached to a butchery. You actually had to walk through this one to get to the seating though, so I was lucky these girls were nurses and no stranger to innards and unpleasant smells ;).

(Every true Kenyan restaurant has a hand washing station, which is good since they are also your utensils;)

We bought the meat by the kilo, and the waitress brought it out on a slab of wood and cut it into manageable pieces for us. It was, of course, fantastic. We complemented our meal with the tradional ugali and sacumawiki, so it was a completely utensil-free meal. And no celebration is complete without room temperature soa in glass bottles. Liz is particularily addicted to Stoney, a spicy, nosing-tingling ginger ale, so she got her daily fix ;)

The next day we visited Masikonde Primary School and gave pads to the 7th and 8th grade girls. Not to brag, but my chalkboard illustration of a uterus and Fallopian tubes is getting pretty good. We had a good chat with the principal and made plans to come back on our next trip and supply the high school as well.

Next came our trek off the beaten path out to the Mara. Its all dirt roads from there on out, but even those were being "improved but not finished yet", so there were large rocks laid across the road every 50 years or so, to "encourage" motorists to use what I would describe as "car paths" through the bush along the side of the road. Yup. That drive took a little longer than usual :)

(55 pad kits y'all-woohoo!)

We stopped at two more schools to distribute pads. We dropped in on one school unannounced, because we had extra supplies. We walked through the school yard and saw a good number of teenage girls, which was perfect because we had over 50 pad kits to distribute. I was surprised to find then, that there were only 12 girls in their grades 6-8. I asked if they also had high school classes. No. Finally I asked why there were so many older girls outside if there were only 12 in class. "Oh, those are the Class One rescue girls"-which means first grade. It turns out the Maasai are one of the most traditional tribes, and one of the last to embrace the education of girls. If families can't afford to educate all their children, the girls are still the ones stay home, which means they are often expected to get married at age 13-14ish. Now that education is more available on the Mara, some girls run away to go to school. This leaves the burden of housing them, feeding them, and covering their school fees up to the schools themselves, which is where the girls usually run to.

I have always asked the schools for their number of girls in grades 6 and above, but I think I will have to change that, at least on the Mara. When we asked them to gather all the teenage girls that had hit puberty, the number jumped to 55. Wow.

We spent our last day exploring the Mara, enjoying the lovely sunshine. No matter how long my life is, I will never get tired of this endless expanse of sky and wild land. Wind tangled hair and sunburned cheeks are such a necessary therapy, I wish it for everyone. I have seen few things as beautiful as these magnificent animals freely roaming, golden lion eyes, and the blazing sunsets that end these days. I wish it for everyone.

#thishappyblessedlife

Jessie

 

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Are You Warm Enough?

Today was a crazy, hectic lovely day. I'm not sure if there is anything else when you're surrounded by 7 kids ;).

The kids had off of school for a holiday, so we took Eddah and Vinicinet with us to go clothes shopping for the whole house. They have never gotten to pick out their own clothes before, so I thought it would be fun. The little ones did not come since that would just be a circus ;). Now shopping in the market is a little different than what you may be picturing. (There are very few textile industries in Kenya, meaning there are almost no clothes made here, and very few clothing stores. This is mainly the result of the US sending over haybale-sized bundles of used clothing that are then resold in the local markets for 20-50 shillings a piece-which is between 25-75 cents. No clothing manufacturer can compete with those prices. But that's an Econ lesson for another day........).

(Karen and Eddah on the search for a multitude of sizes)

The market has a feeling similar to an auction-for you fellow treasure hunters out there-both in the noise and the thrill of the hunt. There's people all around you also shopping from a large heap of clothes, so you have to be quick and not claustrophobic. Our mission was 7 pairs of shoes, lots of socks and underwear, and jackets for everyone. I struggled to understand why we needed heavy duty jackets for the balmy 68 degree nights, but I was overpowered by 7 little sets of eyes telling me it got so very cold at night ;)

(Eddah, Vinicent and I shopping for shoes)

Eddah and I started in the shoes area, found everyone's sizes and had them tucked away in our backpacks before setting out into the clothing section of the market. Vinicinet was absolutely no help, but what did I expect from a 13 yr old boy, right? He did manage to find a jacket that he absolutely loved. It was the type of jacket you'd see on someone heading out on an arctic expedition, but he would not be dissuaded. I ended up over-paying for it since I couldn't get the guy to bargain down much, but that probably had to do with the fact that I was white and Vinicent was already wearing the coat and absolutely beaming. Oh well.

(I use a very official method for determining the kids sizes......)

(Jacky, Eddah, and Anne)

(Notice all the other kids are in shorts/t-shirts, but Arnold could not be wrestled out of his new jacket:)

The little kiddos were delighted with their jackets as well. Arnold also proceeded to wear his jacket, over his shorts and t shirt, for the rest of the day. When I asked if he was hot he vehemently shook his head.......I was hesitant to believe him though when the sweat started to bead up on his forehead. I started asking him, "are you warm enough?" and he would break out into his little gap-toothed grin and dash out of my arms reach, and I just couldn't make him take it off. Oh well, I just made him drink more water so he wouldn't get dehydrated ;). I did take it off him after he fell asleep, just for the record.

(Daniel and Naomi watching the rest of the jacket distribution)

Best shopping day I've ever had ;)

Jessie

 

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Smiles and Simple Joys

As usual, things are getting busier and busier here. Liz and Karen have been busy working with me in the hospital, going on home health visits, and working with the kiddos. I finished up the pad talks in this area, but we'll be doing more in a few days when we head out to Maasai land. My last group was a class of 6th graders, who proved to be especially challenging (props to all you great middle school teachers out there, like my dad:). Now these are still Kenyan students, so they're at least well-behaved, but they were just exceptionally shy, giggly, and difficult to engage in the question/answer section. I found most girls would raise their hand, then jerk it back like they touched a flame if I made eye contact, and hide their face in their arms. Thankfully, I found if I bent over their desks they would whisper their question into my ear, then I could relay it to the rest of the group, who appeared to be wondering the same thing. They hit me with some simple but tough ones like, "How should we wash the pads if we can't afford soap?" And "What should we do with the pads if we don't have any underwear?" Ahhhhhh.............I am rarely speachless, but I had little in the area of suggestions since both of those things are kinda crucial for a reusable, cloth pad to work..........so, it looks like there are some areas to improve/expand this program a bit :). I talked with the teachers afterwards about getting each school a small stash of soap (that can be cut into slivers for distribution) and underwear, so it looks like a little fundraising is in order.

(This is the culturally appropriate way to accept a whisper-question from a teenage girl.... ;)

In other news, my kids are doing great. Zed is adjusting well to life at the TLC house, and the other kids seem to have accepted him as one of our own too. I am delighted to report he has started whispering a few more words, which makes me hope that most of his deficits are nutritional/stimulation, and not cognitive and permanent. When he first arrived he was having frequent fevers-a result of chronic pneumonia, which has now been treated ans he's thriving. He's also been de-wormed and had 5 more teeth pulled. Poor little man. I'd feel worse if he didn't look ten times better than he did a few weeks ago. Now that he's got this smiling thing down he seems to love getting his picture taken. Since he's the shortest, he's found he can jump in front of anyone who appears to be getting their picture taken (see below) and will make it into most pics.

(Zedekia in the front, with Daniel and Arnold)

Liz and Karen have proved to be great and adventurous travelers, and I've really enjoyed showing them the best of Kenya. Which includes, but is not limited to; ugali, mandazis, sunrises at the top of the mountains, cold Tuskers, Stoney, playing rummy by candlelight, and the simple joy of playing with children-even when you don't speak their language. They have embraced and excelled at all the above :)

(Sunrise Hike)

These 3 matchbox cars kept 7 kids (and 2 adults ;) happy for a long time ;).

#itdoesnttakemuch

Jessie

 

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Kids Day at Kiboko Bay

Too Little Children has officially pulled off its first field trip, and it was a raging success, if I may say so. On Sunday we took the kiddos to Kiboko Bay Resort, where they got to go swimming for the first time. It was quite a sight to see. Since we only have bucket showers at the house, they've never been fully submerged in water-EVER. And I just couldn't have that. I was very happy to have Liz and Karen, (two of my visiting volunteer nurse friends) here to help herd the children, who wander like cats.

(Me and Zed getting used to the water)

It was really fun to watch the kids in the water. Most of them got in the water right away, but they didn't seem to know what to do once they got there. It wasn't until some other kids got there and gave a demonstration of splashing and jumping and general horseplay, did they seem to get it. Vinicent was the most taken with the water, and spent his time perfecting the belly flop. Precious, Anne's daughter, was the one who surprised me. She absolutely loved wearing her "swimming costume" but screamed like she was being boiled alive whenever we tried to get her near the water. She ended up dancing around the pools edge, and splashing in the little outdoor shower all day instead. Whatever makes you happy, I guess ;)

(Karen teaching Eddah how to take her feet off the bottom of the pool)

(Vinicent, Daniel, Aronold and Naomy liked racing, even though Naomy always cheated with a head start :)

When teeth started chattering we took a break from the pool and went out on a boat ride. We went out in search of hippos, which live in Lake Victoria, but it was the middle of the day, so they were all sleeping. We may have seen one asleep, but we also may have watched a rock for 15 minutes.....hard to tell. It was also all their first time on a boat, so that was entertaining. We got to see the fisherman mending their nets on the shores, since a lot of fishing is done here at night.

(Vinicent couldn't keep his hands out of the water, especially when he realized he could spray the people behind him ;)

(Fishing boat)

(Tired happy kids at the end of the day. Watching the comings and goings on the water. Naomy fell asleep shortly after this pic :)

 

Great day,

Jessie

 

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Teen Talk and Tooth Extractions

I am happy to report Zedekia is doing so much better. The first few days yanked my heart strings so, I was seriously questioning my decision to take him, but he is now thriving. He especially loves Precious, Anne's daughter, and they have become jointed at the hip. He is consistently smiling now, which is a significant improvement. He is able to tolerate 3 meals a day now (he was used to one), and his potty training is much better. His new ability to smile has revealed some atrocious looking teeth, so I'm trying to track down a dentist ASAP. We've already removed the two worst teeth manually, but I think the others will require a little more invasive means. Poor babe. Here's hoping the rotten ones are all baby teeth and his permanent teeth are still intact and salvageable. He can make sounds though, and even whispers some words. I realized yesterday the word he whispers when he sits in my lap is "jes-cah". Love. That. Boy.

(Zed and Precious)

(Zed and Virginia doing a little light reading ;)

Zedekia is especially taken with books and loves to point out ever car in the books he flips through. Don't bother trying to teach him with about anything else on the page, he is only interested in the cars. If you get distracted by the colorful pictures of animals, food, etc, he will take your finger and bring you back to the cars, which is the only reason we started reading this book in the first place, silly mzungu :)

(Giving the pad talk at Emmatsi Secondary School)

Virginia and I have also been busy with the pad project. We've visited several different schools to distribute the pads, and we've also been promoting the project by traveling to new schools to talk with teachers and principals and tell them about the program. We enrolled two new schools yesterday. Virgnia jumped right in and was unphased by the tangible awkwardness that permeates a room whenever you approach the toics of menstration and sex with a room full of teenage girls. When we talked with the secondary school girls (high school), we were peppered with questions at the end for over an hour. Just shows how much they need the education, as well as the pads. A good portion of their questions revolved around virginity and what qualifies you as a virgin-since these were older girls, I assume it was especially pertinent because it pertained to their dowries. Not quite the same type of questions we get in the US............

(Girls at Emmatsi Secondary School )

We have another pad talk tomorrow, and our big field trip to the swimming pool this weekend, so stay tuned ;)

Jessie

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Palliative Care and Window Panes

My travel adventure for the week consisted of a trip to El Doret, a city 3 hours from here. My friend Adam has been working there for the month, and I went to see what another hospital with an international influence is like. My day started as the sun was coming up and I hopped a matatu to Luanda to catch a bus. I had to find the bus that was going to Nairobi, but was going the Kapsabet route, and not the Nakuru route. Needless to say, with the language barrier and the inconsistency of Kenya, I was only about 75% sure that I boarded the right bus. But what is an adventure without a little anxiety, right? Thankfully it was the right bus, and to add to my delight, they played Gangsters Paradise and Mariah Carey, You'll Always Be My Baby on a loop, so I was never without nostalgic entertainment.

(Me and Adam doing a little exploring in Kisumu)

Adam is working at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital this month, which is a huge, public hospital, and I got to go on rounds with him while I was there. It was more common than not to see 2 patients to a single bed........pretty much ever infectious disease doctor's worst nightmare. He was working as part of their palliative care team, which is bigger and better supported than the palliative care team at Duke. I'm not sure if that means Moi is just that good, or Duke is just that bad.......anyway, never have I seen such a place that warrants a good palliative care team. There is some pretty intense suffering in this world, and no matter how long you do this it is never easy to see. I have never been so thankful for a team of people devoted to easing the suffering of others.
On a happier note, I am delighted with the newest member to our small but scrappy team of Too Little Children staff. Her name is Anne, and she will be joining Jacky as a house mom. She will be spending the days with the kids while Jacky is working at the Rotary House. Jacky will still be with the kids at night, but her work load was getting to be too much with working at both houses. Ann is a great addition to our team, and we now have staff that speaks both Luo and Luhya-the two tribal languages surrounding us. Her daughter, Precious-and she is quite literally-comes with her as well, and has become besties with Zedekia. Adorable. They like to hold hands ;) I have made it my mission to catch it on camera, but so far they have outsmarted me.
My summer and fall intern, Virginia, who is a Duke undergrad student, is also here now, and has jumped right into orphanage work and the pad project. Per the usual, I have a lot of maintenance/upkeep chores to do on the two houses, which has kept me pretty busy. And per the usual, I was quoted mzungu price for a lot of the repairs. I bargained most of them down, but there are some things I refuse to pay more for-strictly on principle.......so Virginia and I ended up fixing the 3 broken window panes at the kid's house. We are becoming quite the handy women ;)

(Virginia quickly mastered the art of window paning)

(The neighbors came out and offered me a job doing their windows when they saw me perched on the side of the house like this :)

(Tying mattresses to the roof of the ambulance during our much needed supplies run to Kisumu)

Virginia and I start our pad distribution in the next few days, so I'll keep you posted on our progress!
Jessie

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