Week 11 – Smiling again…..

It has been a great week – especially after last week’s low point.  (Thank you to so many of you for your encouraging messages.)  I am back to my ‘usual self’ (scary thought, I know!) and it feels good… So this is what I have been up to…

Last Thursday was the last day of May and marked my last day at King David school after spending the month there.  I loved being there – the teachers try so hard, they are so caring towards the pupils (many students coming from extremely poor families and poor home situations) and I became very fond of the children.  (I like to think it was mutual!)  On Thursday they had a special assembly for me and the older classes sang a song they wrote for me (!),  I was the ‘special guest’ at their first term prize giving ceremony – where they reward high achieving and ‘most improved’ students in each class with a small gift – a pencil or a notebook.  People love ceremonies here – the students being rewarded paraded in separately and were wearing caps and gowns!  Following that they had a celebration lunch for me with the teachers.  I hadn’t been told about it – but I must admit that when I saw the cook arriving with a live chicken earlier in the day I suspected something might be up!  The gift of a meal that included meat and cold sodas from a school that is so poor and where the teachers have not been paid for two months, needing to wait until parents pay their school fees – it all was a real honour.

Friday was Independence Day in Kenya so was a holiday.  So it was a long weekend for the children – no school, no extra classes – just time to play – and do the daily chores, of course – lugging water, washing clothes, mopping the floors, cleaning the compound…..  We had 250 shillings left over from the two week’s food allowance (250 shillings out of 65,000 – amazing budgeting Ion Edina and Benta’s part I think!) – so wer able to purchase meat for the children.  More specifically, intestines.  Needless to say I ate supper on my own at Edina’s house that evening… Many of you know that I don’t ‘do’ organ meats….!  But for them, it was a great way to mark the national holiday.

Saturday, Benta and I travelled to a nearby town to visit Jonathan at his boarding school.  He is in form 2 – grade 10 – and was so happy to see us arrive!  It is a long stretch of time for him to be away from home.

The irony is that he arrived back to Home of Grace from school on Tuesday.  Here is an all-to-common scenario…. The school demanded that all students pay their  third term school fees early (third term doesn’t begin until August) so the entire student body was sent home – at their own expense of course.  (It seems that the reasoning behind this is that the school had just purchased a bus and it seems that the loan is due.  There is always a reason…)  That is 15,000 shillings – close to $200 Canadian dollars.  Not easy to find for anyone – but especially here where people struggle daily just for food. let alone schooling.  \Having a child study at a secondary school is a huge sacrifice.  Here at Home of Grace, where we just don’t have that kind of emergency funds sitting around eihter here in Kenya or in our bank account in Burlington (who does?), unexpected items like this take planning and negotiation.  We were able to postpone some upcoming expenses (including my mini-trip to Kisumu to renew my visa) so that the fees could be paid and he could make the return journey to school.  Frustrating?  absolutely!

Sunday, my body finally succumbed to a stomach bug.  I had been expecting to react to the food, the water, or the germs much earlier in my journey.  My doctor had stocked me up on antibiotics and gastrolyte just for this – so Sunday was my day.  It meant that I spent a quiet day at home reading and sleeping (among other things!!).  I had been scheduled to visit a church some 50 kilometres away to preach and visit, taking four of the children with me, so that will be postponed for a few weeks.   By Monday morning I was back to ‘normal’…

Monday was my first day at Kiamabundu Secondary School – I am there for the month of June.  Wilfrid – the oldest child at Home of Grace – is in form four there (grade 12) and will write his final national examinations in November.  He was so anxious for me to spend time at his school that he pretty well arranged it with his headmaster (principal) all on his own.  How could I say no to that kind of initiative??

It is a small community school, serving the families in this poor neighbourhood.  By comparison to Jonathan’s boarding school it is a day school and the fees are 2800 shillings per term (about $35). They provide the students with tea and lunch.  It is not a ‘good performing’ school – in other words, the students writing their final national exams here do not score very well (high scores are important for proceeding to college or university) and the teachers struggle to work with them – but they do their best.  (Some teachers of course do more than others – but that is no different anywhere…)  And for someone like Wilfrid who arrived at Home of Grace with very little elementary schooling it was the only type of secondary school that would accept him.  (Students are ‘invited’ to attend a secondary school, all based on the marks they achieve in their Class 8 national exams)

That being said, the students are lovely and extremely hard-working and motivated.  They know all too well how essential education is for their future – for most of them their parents and younger siblings are counting on them to succeed.  The headmaster tells me that over half of the students are orphans – either partial orphans (one parent dead) or total orphans (both parents having died) – and most live with relatives or ‘well wishers’ who pay their school fees for them.  There are several who live alone, working on small farms in return for meals, a place to sleep and money for fees.  This is a good place for Home of Grace to have a presence since it is in our immediate community.  Winona, the social worker, has already connected with the administration and there are several students who we will help in any way we can.  The level of desperation for these 15 and 16 year olds is palpable, yet is countered by a strong faith, hope and optimism for the future.  It truly is amazing to witness.

So for June I will be helping the students with their English – for them it is either theiir third of fourth language.  I will teach composition each day to every class and will  ‘hang out’ for students (and teachers!) to practice their spoken English as they quiz me about life in Canada.  Since English is the language of instruction (and examination!) they are keen to practice.  Being with older students is a nice change – they do not bombard me with shouts of ‘Teacher Cathy!!’ or requests for me to sing with them (!) – but in their own, teenage way they are happy to welcome me.  My years as youth pastor are once again paying off – God obviously knew…… – as well as my years at Oakwood School and Micah House with so many english language learners.  I’m starting to think I should take an ESL course when I return in September….  So – it will be a full, fun month.  But a lot of marking – 200 compositions each day to give feedback on.  Good thing my home chores don’t include cooking, mopping and laundry like my colleagues!

It is a 35 minute walk through the hills of Kisii to the school – good exercise, beautiful scenery and excellent company – either Pastor or Massai accompany me each way, They say it is a way of ensuring my safety from bees(!).  But I know differently.  People in this neighbourhood are desperate just to feed themselves once or twice a day.  As I walk by their huts I see them toiling in their tiny fields and I see countless children helping instead of attending school.  Muzungus are rare here – for most children I am the first white person they have seen up close.  And to them muzungu equals money.  So they are anxious to talk with me and request help.  Who can blame them?  I am able to tell them – through my escorts! – to connect with Home of Grace.  Winona and Edina find a way to help – not often financially but with food, a listening ear and a positive place to ‘be’.  The most desperate cases in this neighbourhood have come to live at Home of Grace.   Daily, I walk past 6 year old Shadrack’s family and exchange greetings.  His mother’s shy and respectful ‘hello’ (she has a variety of needs – not all are financial….) is an indication of how grateful she is.

The presence of a muzungu at Home of Grace, in fact, puts the orphanage at risk.  This is something I had been aware of but am experiencing each day.  Even the staff who work here are pressured by people in need – since they work ‘for a muzungu’ it is felt that they too have money to share.  Only last evening, to give just one example, we received a midnight phone call from a neighbour to say that people were trying to climb the walls of the compound – with the power outages it is extremely dark and, therefore, dangerous.   Desperate times call for desperate measures….  I must say, I almost can’t blame them for trying.  The new chicks arrive next Monday together with a feed grinder (a generous donation made possible by a group of schoolchildren in Hamilton!) so we will have to be extra vigilant.  That, together with two groups of Canadian visitors this week are adding to the safety and security challenges faced each day….

Speaking of visitors – in spite of what I just wrote, the staff and children really love to have visitors.  The encouragement that their presence and interest provides is so important as they work day by day to meet the needs of the children and the community.  Christi (one of the Home of Grace Canada board members) and her friends Carrie and Jill spent part of Tuesday and Wednesday this week at Home of Grace.  They had lots of fun with the children and gifted them with a meal of beef and soda.  Heavenly!  And me?  The recipient of two large chocolate bars – thank you Christi!  Three other visitors will be here with us for the weekend – we’re looking forward to them too!

But a word of warning. Some of you have dropped hints that you’d like to come – the travel bug must be flourishing, now that summer holidays are on the horizon!  And of course while I am here it makes sense to join me for a bit.   Visiting here all sounds fun and exciting, but is not easy.  It’s not a simple matter of buying the travel tickets and arriving.  To truly have an experience that is valuable to you and to the community here it is so much more!  This is Africa – this is rural Kenya – this is definitely not tourist country.  If you have never traveled to rural Africa before, or have never traveled and really spent time in a developing country there is much preparing and learning to do before you come, much to experience while you are here and much to process afterwards.  And, to be fair, there is much required on the part of the staff and even children at Home of Grace to accommodate guests.  If you truly are interested be in touch with Craig and we can have a longer conversation…..

As well as visitors, this week brought huge excitement for the children – A SWING SET!  To us in North America this may not seem like such a big deal.  Here?  Unbelievable.  It’s not like there are playgrounds here or play equipment in parks (*what is a park?”) or at schools.  So having a swing set is amazing.  The swings were made by the local welder using a sketch Maxwell and I came up with.   (It’s not like it could simply be purchased at Canadian Tire)  Metal here is extremely expensive – I guess it comes from Hamilton! – so Edina had to spend the day at the welder’s shop, standing guard over the pipes as the ‘fundi’ worked to piece it together.  The result would not meet safety standards in Canada but is strong and durable.  I spent yesterday afternoon helping the children swing on it – most, for the first time.  (yes – the staff enjoyed it too!)  The pleasure on their faces of the swinging sensation (and, for a few, the terror!) was fun to watch.  Guaranteed, it will be a huge crowd pleaser.

Craig apparently has begun counting the days until I return.  He admitted he was even tempted to take a peek on the KLM website to see how much a ticket would be.   Yes – I am past the halfway mark.  While Christi and friends were here they kindly treated Edina and I to dinner at a local restaurant.  The ‘real’ kind where executives from Nairobi eat – with a menu, live music, soft seats and everything.  I was totally overwhelmed and could hardly make a choice, let alone eat (except for the cold mango smoothie)  – a taste perhaps of what kind of adjustment I will need to make when I return to Canada?  We’ll see……

I realize this is a LONG blog post.  A little reward for those of you patient enough to read through to the very end.  This is my favourite picture of Edina so far….

I hope you are all well.  Happy June to you all!!

Until the next time,
Cathy