Wana Duma Children’s Project

Well, Kenya has gone from a serious drought, where so many animals and people died, to a serious, never ending, monsoon rain.  The ground can’t take it all in and we are having massive mudslides and horrible flash floods…once again ruining crops and killing many people caught off guard.
Our house (in Nairobi) is becoming electrically unstable from the amount of rain and we have to be very careful what we touch…especially showers as ours have the instant hot water heads and Mary has gotten a few small zaps!  Me, I take my showers at the club….not taking any chances. The weather man says at least another month of this!

The last of our troubled kids is getting sorted out… just has taken so long with all the red tape in Kenya.  But the worst is over and they are accepting their changes (downgrading in status among other students the most embarrassing unfortunately). My last afternoon in Gilgil we ran into three of our Cu-cu’s and had tea and good talks….one was in bad need of medicine and another had been out of food for days.  We fixed her up with a big load and then gave her pikipiki (motorcycle) money to get her home (6 miles out that she had walked that morning!)  Susan and I popped into another store for something and as we came out we saw 87 yr old cu-cu on the back of a pikipiki speeding down the road.  Couldn’t help but start laughing at the sight as she bombed down the road waving at everybody like a homecoming Queen.
Today I meet up with Susan at the Maasai Market to pick out goodies to bring back…..such fun!  She’s bringing her eldest daughter with her as I haven’t had a chance to see her yet this trip.  She is a busy college girl who is a very good student…makes Susan happy.  Susan never got the chance to go beyond a 5th grade education although you certainly wouldn’t know it! She knows 7 different languages and is very clever.

Last Friday when we came into town we had a chance to stop by Honorable Karume and thank him personally for donating the land to Wana Duma.  He is incredibly busy and people wait for weeks to get an appointment with him….we were lucky and I feel better that we were able to.  He mentioned coming to the land in September when I return and walk it with us. That would be special indeed.
Ok off the Maasai Market and the hot sun (during the day we get very hot sun before the rain starts again!!)

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Well this has been a very trying three weeks to say the least…..don’t even know where to start. Can’t really…too many difficult stories to even try and get down.  Bottom line we pulled 5 teens from expensive boarding school because of very poor performance and attitude.  One of our Primary Boarding students has basically been taken by an Aunt and turned into a maid……Cu-cu is hopping mad, we’re upset, the Aunt, who has two daughters in expensive boarding schools is thrilled to have conned this child into being her house and “hotel” (small ratty cafe) maid.  We have no power to do anything right now but thank goodness the Headmaster of her school is a caring man who has the power to stop her from being transferred and is bringing in Child Protection Services.  So this will probably play out for the next couple months but at least something is being done!
Then because the kids we pulled have tanked so badly in their grades it has been a nightmare trying to find a school to even take them!  The Kenya school system is very difficult to deal with…lots of red tape and jumping through hoops…unreal costs that end up in other’s pockets…..extremely time consuming and frustrating to say the least. If we can make it through the next week we will be over the worst of it and then it is up to the kids…they now see how serious we are…no more fooling around.  Take this chance at a better life or take a hike.  Sounds mean but they are only wasting my time and theirs….we are all learning the hard way!

On a better note the younger kids love to come and spend time with us at the house drawing and reading….a couple of our older boys are coming over in the evenings and we are having so much fun with them. One exhausted, “had enough” morning one of our Cu-cu’s knocked on the door early…Susan was in Nairobi, I was feeling blue.  Cu-cu came for her monthly food pickup and was so grateful and overwhelmed that tears started down her cheek (and then of course mine).  They work so hard for so little and appreciate what we are doing….but I’d never seen tears running down her cheeks.  It was nice seeing we actually made someone’s day a little brighter and full of hope,…. made mine a little brighter too.
So along with the tough days there are sweet moments tucked in here and there that keep you hanging in there!

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Loving the new house but there are some trade-offs….like the old revival church the band for the Boarding School behind our new house plays in practice field…this morning at 8 am the music was blaring so loud you couldn’t figure out the song for the static! Band practice sounds like they are practicing for the next revival…. bad and out of tune!!
Everything in the house in pink…every room, all the tiles, the iron work and even the gate is painted pink! Feel like I’m living in a giant bag of cotton candy!!  But it is clean and finished nicely with beautiful parquet floors and white ceilings. Even the outside finished with cinder block walkways and driveway….in other words no MUD!  I do miss the dogs though!

Thought I’d be alone this weekend as Susan went home to Nairobi with her kids …..then at 5pm Mercy and Elizabeth pitched up hungry and out of Boarding School for the weekend!  No food in the house except the leftovers I planned to eat and that wouldn’t do for them|! So sent them back out for meat, potatoes and chapati’s.  They happily danced around the house loving their new room, colors and every nook and cranny.

Never know who will pop in next…always someone! Two of our boys built a nice doghouse for Bahati in Nairobi.  He has to be outside alot and is terrified of the thunder and lightning (also the AK-47′s that fire off in the next neighborhood….a step up from a slum)…so he has a nice cozy “cave” to hide in now.
Rains are a coming and have to get the clothes off the line….

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After our week in Nairobi Susan and I headed back to Gilgil and moving day.  Our new house is a palace.  New and beautifully finished with a clean compound and a contractor for a landlord (maybe he will build our children’s home?????????????). For very little more per month we are getting so much more house.  Plus leaving the Revival church behind, the noisy road, the promise of water (the valve is in our back porch) we have found a sweet restful haven.  The kids love it and visitors won’t cringe when they walk in the door!  We are still getting ourselves sorted out but enjoying the process.

This coming week won’t be as fun as we have to pull 5 of our kids out of Boarding school for not performing well…….more tough love.  They will go back to staying with their Cu-cu’s and walking to Secondary Day school.  They won’t be happy but they have been warned and they didn’t step up to the plate…..so ever onward. I think they will be happier after the dust has settled…..so wish us luck!

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While in Nairobi last week Susan and I finally managed to catch up with our Aoko family of 6 in the Korogocho slums.  They meet us at the Catholic Church where we have become friends with Father Paulino.  He has always given us good advice on our project and the kids that are HIV positive.  They also allow us to leave funds for the Aoko family (mom Maureen) to be able to pay their rent and food thru October.  This relieves Maureen of a lot of stress and she doesn’t get sick as often.
We told Father Paulino of the land that Honorable Karume donated just north of Gilgil and he excitedly told us of land that Hon. Karume donated to the him (Catholic Church) to build Comboni Polytech 20 years ago.  We then were proud to tell him that two of our boys are attending carpentry school there.  It was a neat connection. We then went out to take the kids clothes shopping, food shopping (including treats they usually cannot afford) and school uniform shopping.  They are now set for the next few months and if they need anything and while I’m gone Susan can assist them. It was a fun day with them…full of smiles and good reports on school.
Anthony, a jewelry maker, met us at the church as he has a workshop down the road he wanted to show us.  Anthony has been making me jewelry for a few years now and usually sells at the Masai Markets. We followed him through the muddy, smelly maze of the slums and came to his small workshop nestled in a room surrounded by other small living areas…the cement walkways hanging with dripping laundry freshly hung by the nearby mommas.  We stepped over a small child sleeping in the doorway and made our way down the walk.  His workshop was nothing to brag about but fun to see him in action and his jars of every kind of bead and bone imaginable filling every available space. We didn’t stay long as we had to get back into Nairobi. By noon the days are hot, hot, hot as a build up for the next rain.  They are getting a good long rain this season….the first in 7 years.  Crops are growing, animals getting fat again and milk is plentiful.

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Have been having computer problems the last month and have been afraid to blog as so many things just disappear….thanks to Rockisland, my server, “upgrading” and somehow I got “downgraded”.  It has been an action packed month with Professional Photographer, Kathleen King, staying with us to do a Photo Exhibit of the Cu-cu’s (Grandmothers).  After she had heard about our project and read about the Cu-cu’s she felt very strongly about telling their story of strength and courage.
Kathleen arrived the same day that the kids (57) got out of school.  We barely got in the door and they started coming about 5 minutes later hungry and not only excited to be out of school for the month but to have a visitor.  Kathleen was great and bonded with all instantly. So with the kids in and out and the 9 puppies and two momma dogs underfoot and the neighbor kids rushing over to meet the new mzungu (white person) and hopefully get some cookies and juice we were a bit chaotic but happy!

We had an amazing two weeks of photo shoots. Incredible to see how Kathleen was able to capture the cu-cu’s on film.  The cu-cu’s really enjoyed themselves too and their moment in the spotlight!  We kept teasing them about being Hollywood Movie Stars as they did many poses. This was also a good time for Daniel, Susan and I to check on their well being and issues they may be dealing with. The kids all in good form too….everyone at this point healthy.  Amazing how many health problems these kids have…..lots of colds and flus which I can’t help but think it’s related to the water they drink.  We have many teenagers and with them they bring the usual “growing pains”!  So we have been sorting out a lot of issues.

As for the puppies, 9 are now in new homes that we found and 2 the landlady wants to keep.  Why I’m not sure as she doesn’t care for the 3 she has! Feel bad for the two left behind as they are the sweetest little things with great personalities! Our gift to Momma dog was to have the vet come and give her a shot so she can’t get pregnant again (also her daughter).  She was so worn out when we arrived two months ago and now is strong and healthy and hope she can stay that way.  Susan ended up keeping one puppy that she took to Nairobi to give to a friend and in the end couldn’t let him go!  He has brought so much joy to their house that they named him Zawadi (gift in Swahili)

Ah… then came Sunday.  We awoke to a beautiful shiny day.  Kathleen had read my earlier blog from last year regarding the Revival Church behind my bedroom and thought “my, isn’t she just a little touchy and sensitive”. About 15 minutes into their Sunday ritual she came tearing into my room asking what that horrible noise was!  I told her that was nothing compared to last year’s revival the church held.  Kathleen was able to enjoy this for the rest of the day plus Tuesday and Thursday afternoon practices and whatever they were doing a couple Saturdays ALL night long! It was nice to know it wasn’t just me being sensitive!  I do have to admit that on Easter Sunday they did have one lady who sang quite beautifully….but only one song which I loved. But then the karioki microphone hogs snatched it away and that was the end of her….

We were so sad to see Kathleen go and begged her to stay but she had commitments at home.  Lucky she left when she did as her plane was the last allowed to leave Amsterdam because of the volcano!  The airways shutting down for that length of time also hit Kenya quite hard.  Kenya has a huge green house business where everyday flowers and fresh veggies are flown out to Europe at night to arrive at dawn and be on the streets by 9am.  The trickle down affect was huge as so many people whose livelihood depends on working the fields had to go without.  They say it will take time to recover ….

Last Sunday we got the rest of the kids back to Boarding school and Susan and I were in Nairobi for the week.  Susan to be with her family and catch up with her regular customers that depend on her for doing their hair and I was house sitting the Nairobi house where I rent a room and took care of the chickens, Bahati (our rescue dog from last year) the cats and the vervet monkey that just took up residence in the corn patch.  Was a good time for me also to catch up with friends, venders and my accountant.  The week went amazingly fast and by Sat the 24th we were on our way back to the Gilgil house to pack up and move into our new digs.  Didn’t think we had that much but after two years we managed to accumulate a lot! It felt nice to leave that horrible place, it just got to feeling evil.  The landlady would turn off our water and say the pipes up the street had burst when in fact she had turned off the water and then used it on her garden.  Mind you we paid for our water…. she would do this for days at a time before we catch on to her game.  That wasn’t all but best to leave it in the past and enjoy our new house which is stunning, a palace compared to where we had stayed for two years.  The only sad part was leaving Momma dog behind.  She loved us so much and followed me everywhere. We will go visit and bring her juicy big bones…….

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Kathleen King arrived right on time safe and sound and raring to go! As she arrived late at night we went to the Nairobi house for the night and then had Susan and her cousin Simon pick us up early Thursday to head up to Gilgil. It was raining in Nairobi but by the time we came over the escarpment into the Rift Valley the sun came out good and hot. We headed right to the house to unload and make sure the house was ready for our kids coming in from boarding school. No sooner did we come in the door then Patrick came up the stairs and right after him Ndula my friend’s nephew who stays with us coming and going from boarding and Samburu land.  Others trickled in at a steady, hungry, pace!  So we got a bit bogged down in the dinner process and we still had to get a few shots in while we had a car. As soon as we could we headed out to Cu-cu Kagure’s….Kathleen got some really great photos, cu-cu was thrilled and still talking about coming to America with me!
The day was getting short quickly and we opted to drive north a bit to show Kathleen and Simon the property.  Then back to town to get groceries, the house in order and let Simon head back to Nairobi before dark. In all the rush and excitement we forgot to feed poor Kathleen!  So we plied her with wine and she forgot we forgot to feed her…pretty tricky!
It does get a little crazy around here with sick pups and all the kids coming home from school and trying to sort out where to go for photo shoots.  We have so many places to take her and trying to get the logistics to flow can be tough…but all is going so well and Kathleen is getting some fantastic photos, having a great time with the cu-cu’s and the kids enjoy her so!
Friday we went to see cu-cu Mercy and Kathleen got some great shots with her weaving baskets and her Grandkids.  Then onto have lunch with Miriam and her two young sisters our little Lucy and Sarah…along with Bismack, Denis, and our two Hannahs. And learning from yesterday – we loaded Kathleen up with a good chicken, veg and chapati meal that should last her at least a week! :)
We have Mercy, Elizabeth, the two Hannahs, Denis and one night Ndula staying with us as well as the pups coming and going as they know their way up the three flights of stairs to the good grub that awaits!
The rains slowed us down a bit today but the breather was welcomed by all….Kathleen spent time on the laptop organizing all the photos she has taken so far and there was work for Susan and I to catch up with as well… then to town for the computers and were we’re stuck  with a monsoon rain for a bit….tomorrow is Easter with a few of our kids coming to celebrate with us…..
so Happy Easter to all….save some peeps for me!

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This weekend Susan went home and I stayed with dog duty…Two of my sick pups are well enough to join the others (and one was even adopted out) and the other two are taking their time getting well…but they Well some days can be what you may consider unbloggably (did I just make up a word??) boring.  This happily sleep next to my bed and last night was my first good night’s sleep in over a week. Sweet!
I was fighting one of my strange fevers for most of the weekend and besides cooking and cleaning up after the dogs and entertaining the neighborhood kids who come to color and eat bisquiks (cookies) it was pretty quiet. We are finally fed up with the landlady and her control of the water shut off valve! We found a beautiful place to move into for only $40 more a month….if she hadn’t gotten so weird we never would have thought of moving and never would have known we could be living at the Ritz!  So now have to just paste that smile on my face whenever I see her and hang in there for two more weeks while the house is being finished…..and yes it is brand new! 

The rains are here….get the big rain every afternoon starting around 2pm…..it really dumps a lot of water…people clear the roads as everything floods and gets washed away. The news says it will be around through May! I’m going to Nairobi tomorrow to get errands done and pick up friend and volunteer Kathleen King who will be with us for two weeks and doing a photo shoot of the Cu-cu’s.  She wants to document these strong inspirational women in a photo exhibit for which she already has a booking to exhibit.  The cu-cu’s will love it…..I’ve told many already she is coming and they ask every time they see me when is the day….they love having their photos taken! The day Kathleen, Susan and I return to Gilgil is the day all the kids get out of school for a few weeks…4 of our girls will be staying with us and the other kids will be coming and going…it may be a madhouse but one thing for sure it will never be boring!

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 A bit overwhelmed with landlady’s dogs and sick pups that I had to bring in the house and take care of…the big rains are back everything is back to mud and yuck.  Haven’t slept or eaten much for days because of our schedule and just as I was about to throw in the towel we had an amazing thing happen…………… Tuesday morning we had an appointment with the General Manager of the property next to the land Daniel donated…his land being too hilly to build on we were trying to get a few more acres next to us.  It has been a struggle as it belongs to a co-op of people and is being redistributed by Honorable Kirume former Minister of Defense for Kenya and in charge of this parcel.  He is an old friend of Daniels and was impressed with our project and said if an American woman can come to here and do this for the Cu-cu’s and children of Kenya the least he can do is GIVE us 2 absolutely gorgeous acres to build our Children’s Home on. We were standing on the property enjoying the magnificent view when he told us and we were floored….Susan and I couldn’t stop the tears and Daniel couldn’t stop smiling.  Thank you, thank you, thank you Honorable Kirume for your big heart and generous donation to Wana Duma Children’s Project and for believing in us! I must say the lack of sleep and food was quickly overcome by the rush of adrenaline and joy…..

The day continued in good form as we had Wendy, Dale and Dani of Cat Haven in Fresno California stop by to drop two huge bags full of vitamins for the kids along with books, school supplies, shoes and backpacks….it was like Christmas all over again!  Wendy and her husband Guy sponsor one of the new girls to the project, Freyda, 16.  They have sponsored her the last couple years.  Susan and I had a chance to meet her a couple weeks ago and found her a joy. Dale and Wendy are coordinating a cheetah refuge on the Soysambu Conservancy backing up to Nakuru Park.  It is all very exciting to think we will have cheetahs back in the area.  So they will be coming over from the US many times as they pull it together. So another thank you to those that donated to Cat Haven to make this possible. The vitamins make such a difference to the children’s health especially those with HIV. Now have to get back to it as it is market day and we have cu-cu’s looking for us!

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All of our days are the same and yet different.  They are full of kids and cu-cu’s just the names and circumstances keep changing.  Tuesday we walked to town to do our errands and walked another hour to check on cu-cu Grace (87) and pop down the road to see Samuwel’s sister who he lives with and supports.  She has AIDS and a 4 yr old daughter also infected.  We had our backpacks full of food for both. As we walked we passed an old cu-cu physically crippled and unable to get around except like a crab as her legs were horribly burned in a fire.  She was crying for help and some food….we felt lucky to have backpacks full so we gave her a loaf of bread and a packet of milk that we had bought for cu-cu Grace (we can buy more, later!) It was the first food she’d had in days.  We told Cu-cu Grace about her and she knew of her and told us her story.  She lost everything in the fire that disfigured her and she has a rich son in Nairobi who won’t help her at all.  Unfortunately this is the Kenya we have come to know.

Samuwel was at home and after visiting and meeting his sister for the first time he walked back to town with us. He’s very quiet and private so it was a good time to get him to open up to us about his life and future dreams.  Samuwel is our motorcycle mechanic and dreams of having his own shop.   We then got a call that one of our kids (Elizabeth) was sick at school and to please come and get her. We spent the rest the day at the clinic and getting meds for her (two bacterial infections and bad sores in her mouth) beginning to worry that the school has bad water as these kids get sick more than any others in the program. We brought her home and got her to eat and rest.   Our big girl Grace came to spend the night too and offered to do Elizabeth’s hair.  So that lifted her spirits!
 
Wednesday was basically the same routine just a different sick child (Lucy) and cu-cu (Kagure).  We brought Cu-cu food and rehydrates and found her in good form…always a big smile and a promise to come home with me to America where she will teach me the Kikuyu language and I can teach her English!  On the way we stopped and took Lucy to get more medicine and her favorite treat “chips” along with big sister Miriam and little sister Sarah….these two are so darn cute but not a word comes out of their mouth…they just sit there with their big eyes and munch on their chips!!  Once we got home it was one long string of visitors.  Samuwel came with Peter, then cu-cu Mercy with woven bags and beaded jackets and Cu-cu Lucia for something I can’t even remember…we serve sandwiches and tea and they leave smiling.

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