update # 5
on Beatriz Pujol (Kenya), 05/Jan/2009 11:57, 34 days ago
Mwaka Mweu (Happy New Year in Kikamba)Where to begin?? It has been such a full few weeks. I have no idea how to share all that I have experienced. I will start by telling you that I had a wonderful vacation and have returned to Kitui feeling refreshed and ready to start my job and learn to live among the Akamba people. I really did need the break in order to get some space and perspective on everything.And nothing is more relaxing and wonderful than the Ocean. And the Indian Ocean at that! I spent a glorious week on the island of Lamu. Lamu is a gem in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Kenya. Swahili settlements here date back at least to the 13th century and on some accounts much earlier. Historically, it was one of the early slave trade routes used by the Arabs.The island is completely magical. As the lonely planet describes it:“a place of fantasy and other-worldliness wrapped in a cloak of medieval romance”. I felt like I was in a mix of an Arab city with some Roman architecture, Rasta beach boys and some Greek islands thrown in with a few muzungu tourists. There are only two cars and I saw one motorcycle. The streetsare very narrow and there are donkeys (and donkey poop) everywhere!I met up with other volunteers and in all there were 10 of us. I only new two other people so I made several new friends. We had loads of fun and our highlight was our Christmas Day dhow trip. Dhows are essentially wooden sailboats. We spent all day sailing and snorkeling. We anchored at a tiny island and explored while the crew cooked our freshly caught fish and prepared and an incredible meal (yes, I ate fish!). Other highlights included: swimming in the Indian Ocean, attending a Muslim wedding in the old Lamu Fort, a sunset dhow trip, a terrific tour of the old town and visiting an orphanage. I found an orphanage that is run by Spaniards. It is really nice and I am thinking of returning to visit Lamu and spending a week at the orphanage. There was one little boy named Babu who I fell in love with!!! (I am trying to upload pictures of all this to mobileme.)So, after Lamu I spent a week on the Coast visiting different volunteers and seeing some of the projects they are working with. My friend Mike is working for a place called Bombolulu. It is a workshop for people with a variety of physical disabilities. They live and work on the premises with their families. They make all sorts of things including: woodwork, clothing, jewelry, art, steel work, recycled art and more. They sell their goods around the world (10,000 villages carries their things). The compound has a restaurant and cultural center and they host conferences and provide entertainment. It is a really neat place! Their website is: http://www.bombolulu.org/.I also went to Watamu, which is a beach resort full of Italians. The Kenyan beach boys would come up to us and talk to us in Italian. It was really strange! They were thrilled when we spoke any Kiswahili, so it made me look good with my minimal greetings! We had great pizza and gelato! (I think Kitui could use some Italians!)I spend a day with other volunteers and went to another orphanage that really impacted me. This orphanage was started and is run by boys in their early 20’s. They were street children themselves and have started the orphanage to keep other kids from having to go through what they went through. In just 2 years they have rented a house and now have about 16 kids. They also have started a school and an anti drug campaign. They are really amazing. Of course they are struggling financially. I will keep you posted as to how you can help support them if you are interested.Unfortunately while I was in the Mombasa area I got sick. Some yucky stomach thing! I had one really bad day that I had to travel from the S. Coast back through the city of Mombasa up to Mike’s house at Bombolulu. Thankfully one of my Kenyan friends was with me and helped me get safely back to Mike and Rachael. It was not a fun day!!New Years Eve I spent in a town called Voi. It is about 2 hours West from Mombasa on the road back to Nairobi. One of the volunteers there, Chris, had invited all the volunteers to his NYE party. It was the day after I had been sick so I was still recovering. I enjoyed the evening and met lots of his friends in Voi. Was in bed by 2 am because Rachael and I were heading back to Nairobi the next day.Jan. 15thAs you can see I have been busy since the New Year! Sorry for the delay in the update. Jan. has been really full. I got back and started work two days later. The last 2 weeks have been non-stop. The program opened (if you recall I was unsure as to what would happen in the new year) and students started arriving on Jan. 5th. Right before Christmas our main donor, CBM, agreed to a limited budget. However, the final budget has not been approved yet and therefore we have not received any money from them.Thankfully the local bank where the center does it’s banking came through with a small cash donation, which is keeping us afloat (that and lots of credit at local stores!). Overall I feel better about the program and am full with work. My days are long and busy. But I am enjoying things overall. The kids are great and I try to spend a little timeeach day with them. I am planning to spend a few hours each week in the nursery classes and also visit the two primary schools each week. I think the kid contact will keep me going and balance out the administrative work. The nursery teachers are starting to teach me Braille, which is fun! The little Albino kids are really special! I am acting as the Hat Police and am drilling in them the importance of wearing their hats. I pointed out that I too have to wear a hat to keep from burning my face and getting skin cancer. Now they catch me if I walk out of the office without my hat on and ask mewhere my hat is!!!The problems at the center are huge and the list of needs is endless. A lot of my work right now is connecting with donors and networking with existing NGO’s in Nairobi and Kenya. I am working hard to help the center move away from full dependence on 1 International donor and to start to find local and national support as well as to improve and increase their income generating potential. Of course, some intl. support will continue to be necessary. The movement in Intl. Development work is to really help organizations and countries become self-sustainable. VSO really pushes this and I feel it is crucial for the developing world (or majority world) to achieve self-sustainability in order to compete with the so-called developed nations (or minority world). Right now we are hiring for a manager and other positions, which we are in need of. So, my job (as well as the acting manager and accountant) is a mix of positions until those are filled.The financial situation in the world as well as the many problems facing Kenya at the moment make finding new funds all the more difficult. Kenya is in a terrible drought and famine has begun. Many of our children have not shown up yet because their families do not have the money to bring them from their rural homes. When families do show up most of them do not have the money to pay the hostel fees, uniform fees and often the children do not come with basic needs such as shoes, soap, hats (for Albinos), etc… Regardless, we never turn down the kids and this of course drains our funds even more. Many of the mothers beg for some food to take home for their other children. This is impossible as we barely have enough food to feed the kids. Usually the parents stay for a meal or two and on occasion they get a little maize to take home. Many other problems are facing Kenya. The govt. is corrupt and making poor decisions for their people. There may be a teachers’ strike next week. So, all these things affect the kids and staff. The staff at the center has not been paid since Nov. since there has notbeen any money. We gave them a little something last week when we got the check from the bank. We are expecting a donor to come tomorrow and give us more money. But until the check is in hand I won’t hold my breath! It is really difficult to see the staff suffering. I am trying to understand howand why the money was so mismanaged last year. But as many of you know finances are not my strength (is that an understatement???)!Somehow, things continue and people show up to work. I am certain it is because they are so dedicated to the kids. (And there aren’t many work alternatives.) I am learning and growing each day. It is all exhausting and I arrive home whooped!But, I arrive to my wonderful new home! I moved almost two weeks ago and am slowly getting settled. It is quiet here and serene. The walk is nice and sometimes I get a ride if it is late or I am tired. The house has running water (the other day it was even running through the ceiling☺, but that has been fixed!). I also have a toilet and hope to have a toilet seat soon! I have a shower and will have hot water soon. I have electricity but no outlets yet to plug in my wonderful new fan or charge my computer and phone. That too will come soon. My guest room will be ready by nextweek and I will eagerly await guests!!Otherwise life goes on. I am making new friends here in Kitui and getting to know my co-workers and neighbors. I am heading to Nairobi next week for some meetings and will celebrate Obama’s inauguration with a fellow American, Sandy! I can’t wait!!!!Life in Kenya:• Helping the staff measure the Albinos for uniforms. I was tracing their feet in order to buy shoes that one of the donors is paying for. Imagine: outside with a bunch of kids, a tailor and some teachers. Kids standing on a table one at a time (in order to have a flat surface) and I am tracing each one’s right foot and writing their name. I wish I had my camera!• After I finished writing the update last night the rain came!!! Late in the evening and early morning it rained so hard. The force of it was amazing. I walked to work today in the rain. Loving my new rain boots (thanks Tam!) and my rain jacket that I bought several years ago and which has gottenlittle use until now!• Amazing sunsets on my street! Will take photos!