Kenya through Kaitlin's Eyes

(Blogspot by Kaitlin Backes, fellow nurse and friend of Jess and Catherine).

When Jess and Dave arrived this week, we were hopeful that they'd had plenty of rest on the plane because we had a busy week ahead of us! Our week was full of meetings about the land and building the new house. Buying land in Kenya is complicated enough for Kenyan natives, and it seems 10-fold to us mzungus. At least through our meetings, we met some awesome people who are doing great things for Kenya. The most impressive meeting was with Florence, a woman who runs an organization that sponsors  orphans who stay with relatives and provides them with lots of educational and spiritual support. They even run a micro-financing group among the guardians. Florence was an inspiration and told us to never give up.

We were also very impressed with our contractor, Michael. He seems like a very efficient, hardworking man and we are very excited about the house plan! We spent our walks to the land admiring other roofs that Michael has done. 

Jess drawing up blueprints 

Catherine revising house plans

Another meeting we had was with the house’s oldest boy, Joshua. He completed form 4 last year, and is sitting in limbo right now awaiting his next stage in life. We talked about the options he has for school, and set up a plan for him to take some short-term classes before polytechnic college starts in the fall. We’d also like for him to gain some experience shadowing people in fields he might be interested in. Like many American teenagers in his position, he has a lot of options before him and little experience to evaluate his options. But he is a kind, smart boy, and we’re excited to see what his future holds.

Valentine's treats for Jemo sweeties

 The rest of our week consisted of another pad talk and hanging out with the kids. Jess brought supplies to celebrate her favorite holiday with them (Valentine’s Day) before we took off for safari. Catherine and I’s last day in Maseno started with a sunrise hike, which was a challenge but worth the effort. 

A mountaintop experience :)

Our afternoon had an unexpected meeting, when a man that Jess and Dave met on the plane called and needed some wound care from trained nurses.  All the public hospitals are closed and have been for 2 more the because the doctors are on strike. Good thing nurses come prepared with sterile strips, and antibiotics  can be purchased over the counter here :) 


Kaitlin.  

Pool Party!

Kaitlin and I wanted to do something fun with all the kids one of the days, which is kinda complicated because kenyan kids are in school for more hours than American kids. I don't think I would have survived the school system here  (I'm not kidding). The kids need to be at school by 8 am and have class until 3 (our kids then are tutored until 5:30 pm) Monday through Friday and then Saturday anyone in class 4 and up goes to school from 8 am- 3 pm. This means that the only day everyone was home was Sunday...

We brainstormed some fun things to do in Kisumu (the closest big town) and decided on swimming.  We might be a little crazy to have two swimmers with 12 kids but what can you do? Jess took the kids swimming about 3 years ago and then the older kids swam when they went to Nairobi, but that means the most the kids have ever swam has been 2 times. The kids were so excited to be going to the pool but also going to Kisumu. We rented a Matatu for us to get down to Kisumu-which the kids loved. We happened to drive past the airport when a plane was taking off, and I think that was the highlight for Arnold :)

The crew at the pool!

Brian, Janet, Naomi and Griffin keep a tight hold on us :)

This is the biggest smile I've seen on Millie :)

We found the perfect pool for a bunch of children of different swimming abilities.  It had 3 pools- one baby pool, a 3 foot-ish pool and then a large pool. Each little child had an older child who was technically their buddy in an attempt to keep everyone above water. Ultimately it was just Kaitlin and I who kept scanning the pool and counting to make sure everyone was accounted for. But the kids all loved the pool!! The little ones loved the little pools and it helped keep Kaitlin and I sane. The older kids enjoyed the bigger pool. They were many moments when we both had two children hanging onto us as we swam! The kids all got cold and were shivering in the pool but would refuse to get out and warm up until we forced everyone to take a break!

Sweet boys after a long day of swimming :)

The plan was after the pool we would get lunch together and then surprise Jess and Dave at the airport on our way home. Sadly that didn't work because of some travel delays, but it was probably for the best because all the children fell asleep before we even started the ride home. The kids decorated a welcome sign for Jess and Dave that was waiting for them at the guest house when they arrived. The pool was an exhausting but fun experience for everyone, including the chaperones :)

Jess, Dave, Kaitlin and I will have time to work more on the land, meet with the contractor, do another pad presentation and then go on a little adventure to the Masai Mara.  We'll keep you posted!


Catherine

Karibu Kenya Kaitlin!

(Blogpost by Catherine Shumaker)

My first week in Kenya by myself went really well! It is amazing to get to see the kids all growing up so much since I first met them almost 2.5 years ago. All the kids are healthy and "fat" as they like to say in Kenya (I would say just a healthy kid size). They all are highly capable of eating way more food than one would think could possibly fit into their bodies! They are doing well in school and get along (at least most of the time). It is heart warming to see what a good home environment can do to a child in only a few months!

Janet has been with us for 7 delightful months now

Selah has only been with us for a few weeks, but seems to be adjusting well and loves having a house full of brothers and sisters :)

In other news Kaitlin Backes is now an international Traveler!   It was so exciting to know that another friend from work will be joining me in Kenya for a few weeks! I couldn't wait to introduce her to Kenya and the experience and people that I have come to love. We spent the night in Nairobi at a friends house where we ate amazing food! Kaitlin had a first Matatu ride that was unlike one I had ever been on. Matatus are 12-seater mini buses that enable you to get around Kenya on the main roads. They are cheap and reliably uncomfortable due to the fact they usually carry 20+ passengers. It is not uncommon to find a chicken strapped to the top of the car or inside the van, but this experience was a first. We stopped at a town where market day was happening when suddenly a goat was placed in the trunk, which is open to the rest of the van. The goat wasn't well tied and ultimately got loose under the backseat and was agitated (he hit his head on something when he hit a bad bump) and was rolling around on top of all of our feet. He ultimately bled all over my legs (yes the vegetarian had her legs covered in blood).. Thankfully Kaitlin and I weren't the only people who were horrified about this goat being loose and bleeding everywhere. He was retied and we went on our way. Looking back on the situation, it was a great Karibu Kenya (welcome to Kenya) for Kaitlin :)Just in case anyone is wondering, it apparently isn't legal to have a goat in a public car according to one of our Kenyan friends.

The kids were highly confused when meeting Kaitlin because hers is not a name used in Kenya so the kids just kept asking "what is your name"-which threw them off of their usual animated selves but only for a short time. Kaitlin and I kept busy visiting several hospitals and clinics. We ultimately made several trips to this small dispensary and clinic run by two nurses and two support staff. It was fascinating to see what was being managed by these nurses! We absolutely loved this experience! We saw lots of malaria, active chicken pox, some nasty wounds and a variety of other conditions.

We also made four sanitary pad presentations to local primary schools and a secondary school. The classrooms were all pretty standard for Kenya. The are many desks which the children usually share between 3 students.  One wall is painted with chalk paint for teaching, and some have electricity.  If there don't have it, they just use natural light from windows. It is also an extremely eye opening experience when you enter a classroom in Kenya and compare it back to the US. Many of the kids do not have shoes on, are often wearing their one and only uniform, and are carrying an old cooking oil bottle that is filled with water since the schools don't have access to clean water. We were able to give the schools underwear for some of their girls since you need underwear to be able to utilize the pad kits. We also were able to take some of the schools some soccer balls, which meant all the kids could play with a true ball as compared to a ball they made out of plastic bags and rubber bands.

Kaitlin on the back of a piki, following our load of pads

Catherine

Twister and New Sisters

(Blogpost done by Catherine Shumaker, project manager for TLC).

Karibu Kenya! Getting off the plane in Kenya is one of the biggest rushes of excitement for me!  This trip to Kenya has been a little different than other trips. For the first time I spent a week alone in Kenya in an attempt for Jessica and I to be able to spread our time further. It has been  eye opening, exhausting, but also wonderful. 

We were lucky enough to add two new girls full time to our house. Two of the girls we were sponsoring at home were no longer in a safe environment. We attempt to keep our children with family as long as possible, as long as it's a safe place to be.  Thankfully we were able to remove the girls from the home quickly and without resistance once we became aware of the situation.  Millie and Selah were put in a new school, which is where our full time kiddos go, so it helped ease the transition a bit. They have been thriving at our house since coming which makes all of our hearts so, so happy!

(Millie and Selah on their first day at their new school)

In addition to getting the girls moved to our house, my first week here was filled with other new and exciting changes.  We are getting ready to not only expand, but to buy our own land to create our permanent house! We are so very excited to be creating our own space, designing it for our needs and making it our own! The land is about 1.5 acres with a small fish pond and spread around the land are mango, banana and avocado trees! The house will be sitting up a bit over the fish pond and the land beyond with a beautiful view of our space. There will be plenty of land for us to grow our own crops in an attempt to be as sustainable as possible. The land appears to be extremely fertile with lots of crops currently growing on it, and all the neighbors seems to be lovely!

In the meantime, the kids love the game Twister so we decided we would create a Twister mat on the cement pad next to our current spot. They got Twister last year, but the mat did not survive as long as the board, so they could no longer play... The kids were the lead painters once I showed them how to do it, and they absolutely loved painting it. When we were done I found all their toenails had been painted with oil-based house paint... What can you do? The kids and adults have all enjoyed playing on the mat when they get home from school.

So my first week was busy helping get our new girls settled into our house, dealing with visiting the land, meeting with the contractor at our land to discuss the best location for the house, but also many nights filled with knowing the girls were safe, lots of laughter, smiles and pure child joy! What more could you ask for?

Catherine

Pizza and planes in Nairobi

Last weekend we took our older kiddos to Nairobi for the weekend to broaden their view of their lovely country and encourage them to dream big.  And also just to have a great time :)  It was wonderful and exhausting, and I will say it again-I DON'T KNOW HOW TEACHERS DO IT.  If your child has ever gone on any kind of a field trip or excursion, you need to write their teacher a thank you note right now. 

The weekend was full of a lot of firsts, the most significant probably being their first time on an airplane.  They were delighted.  When we reached cruising altitude and all you could see below us were clouds that appeared to be unmoving, James asked why-with a note of alarm in his voice-we had stopped moving and how long we could hang in the air like that before we started to fall.  We explained how different things look when you are so far above them, and we were still actually moving very fast even though it looked like we weren't.  I've never thought about it before, but he was right- it looked like we were simply hovering in the air.

I found myself having to explain things I've never had to explain before, like how an elevator works, what a breakfast buffet is, and what wifi is.  Carol had never been to a pool before, and insisted on swimming in the outdoor pool the first evening we were in our hotel, despite the fact the rest of us were in long pants and sweatshirts.

We went to the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, which was Eddah's favorite, and the giraffe center, where we all got licked in the face by big purple tongues.  We spent an afternoon at the Nairobi National Museum, and lastly, visited the campus of Nairobi University.  We talked about how the different schools work within the university, and want living on campus is like.  They all now plan to go there :)  Since Nairobi literally has everything, we took the kids to Pizza Hut for lunch.  The were all big fans, except Eddah, who said she still preferred ugali.

Huge thanks to Ray, Dana, Lynet, and especially Natalie, for helping me plan and pull this fun but slightly hectic weekend off.  I think it was a success :)

Jessie

Paperwork and Panties

Time is flying by here as usual and I can't believe Natalie  (my little sis) is already here.   We have been keeping very busy, and Nat has jumped into our work and handled jetlag with the utmost grace :)

We have been visited several new schools and enrolled them in the pad project.  Natalie is a teacher by day, and was a natural in front of a jam-packed classroom, despite the fact that we were discussing a generally embarrassing subject while trying to bridge the ever-present cultural gaps.  The teachers and the girls were so appreciative of the pads and our program, and once again I am so thankful we are able to do this work.   Thanks to our wonderful donors we were also able to distribute lots of pairs of underwear to the  girls as well.  Obviously the pads become significantly less useful if you don't have any undies, and once we become aware of this problem we have been bringing over as many pairs as we can.
 

(Natalie in the middle of the welcoming committee at Ratta Primary School where we went to deliver pads :)

This was not in my plan for my last few weeks here, but we have spent the good part of last week working on the registration paperwork for a CBO (community based organization).  Although we are a registered non-profit organization in the US, we needed an official registration over here.  And silly me thought it would be a few forms to fill out and we'd be done..........as the process stretched on and on and we began to need things like a constitution,  behavioral plan, by-laws, etc.-I started to have panicky flashbacks of the IRS paperwork I had to do for our non-profit that took 3 months to finish.  Much to my delight, since Natalie has spent the lasr 3 yrs helping to start a charter school, she knew exactly what needed to be done and whizzed through the tasks I found daunting.  As always, God has provided us with just the help we need, just when we need it.

Jessie

Surprises and Sunday Dresses

Janet

Janet is now officially ours and I can't believe the resiliency of that little soul.  We went to pick her up last week.  She was ready to go and dressed in her best Sunday dress.  We spent some time sitting in the dimly lit living room with her family and neighbors.  They all wanted to express their gratitude for Janet's chance a brighter future.  Her grandmother seemed the most relieved by Janet's good fortune, and I have a feeling she loves Janet the most.  Her grandfather and uncle will be coming to Jemo House this week to see where she lives and where they can visit her. As I sat in this dingy room, filled with this small community, and what felt like support, I wondered why Janet was pulling at our hands and so ready to leave with us.  I know not everyone there was delighted that she was leaving though, especially since she was doing a lot of work for them.  More work than any child should have to do.

Janet (purple dress) and her cousins and neighbor kids

Janet's grandmother, Jacky, Janet, Me and Praxcedes (our social worker)

After we had shaken each hand several times, taken photos for their family, and been given countless blessings, we finally set off down the road to Janet's new home.  She was running and jumping and skipping in from of us, and chattering non-stop.  I cannot wait to see how she fits in with our family.  Naomi has been the only little girl in the house for quite some time.  Janet, I have a feeling, is going to shake thing up a bit.  The house-moms and I have already talked about this, and plan to do our best to make it a smooth-as-possible transition.  

Getting a new child is like opening a package that you have no idea what's inside.  I love the surprises.  I have never seen a child so fiercely delighted with life.   She loves her new uniform.  She can hardly stand the fact that she can't go to school for another week because the term exams are still finishing.  She's always smiling.  She doesn't just get up to play, she skips and hops all the way to the door to go outside and play.  She makes Jacky laugh all the time, those your-laugh-makes-me-want-to-laugh-too kind of laughs.

We are very blessed to have this sweet girl.

Jessie