Back Home

Well, after a layover in Amsterdam (complete with a visit to the Anne Frank House) Matt and I made it back to the USA safely yesterday afternoon. We had an amazing vacation. We went on safari to Amboseli (park in front of Mount Kilimanjaro), Ngorongoro Crater (Tanzania) and Lake Manyara. We saw tons of zebras, baboons, wildebeast and elephants; lions mating; and 5 rhinos (very rare)! I'll try to post some pictures on Facebook tomorrow. We then spent a few days in Ngong before coming home. Matt was able to spend a few days with the kids and my host family, which was great.

Leaving Kenya was really hard. It's strange being back. It's so calm and organized here, and I sort of miss the chaos. I'm definitely having some reverse culture shock, but mainly I just miss the kids (so much!!). It's been a little rough, but I think it may be worse once it all really sinks in. I'll write a final post in a couple of days, but I wanted to let everyone know that we made it home okay.

Gumboots and Back to School

It's been raining more lately, and it is MUDDY! I wore gumboots (rainboots) all day yesterday and still needed them up at Sidai today. It's been impossible to keep the floors at the children's home clean, and my socks are completely red from the mud. Also, the stairs leading up to Sidai are so muddy that it's practically like a slip and slide. Luckily, I've managed to avoid wiping out on the mud so far.

I visited the school where I'm enrolling Frances today. I wanted to put him in the best school I could realistically afford to commit to paying the tuition for. I ended up enrolling him in the 3rd best school in the area, so I'm really happy and excited. He starts on Tuesday. Matt and I will be on safari on Tuesday, which will be amazing, but I'm a little sad that I won't be able to take him to his first day of school. Yes, I feel like I'm his mom!

I leave Kenya two weeks from today. Although I miss all of you, I'm starting to get really sad about leaving. Frances has been waking up in the middle of the night calling my name. Another girl didn't leave my side for 2 days after I got back from Uganda/Rwanda, and the oldest boy surprised me by saying that he's going to cry when I leave. I know that they have volunteers come in and out, and also know that they bounce back really quickly after volunteers leave, but I still feel terrible about it. Plus, I simply don't want to leave them! I feel like I grow closer and more attached to them each passing week. Hopefully, I come to terms with leaving in the next couple of weeks.

One bit of sad news - the boy that Austin and I met outside Sidai (who was living on the streets b/c his mother is a drunk who beat him) is no longer at the home. While I was in Rwanda, his mother showed up (drunk) with his younger sisters and took him home. Apparently, she was beating him and the boy (Daniel Joro) was crying b/c he didn't want to go. If he comes back to Sidai, Lucy is going to take him to another children's home in Kibiko where hopefully his mother can't find him. Since the mother has legal rights to Daniel, there is unfortuately little else we can do for him right now.

News from Kenya

Since I heard this hit CNN, I thought I'd update about the latest Mungiki news.

As I've written about before, Mungiki is an extremist/terrorist group that is part of the Kikuyu tribe. The mainstream Kikuyus, however, are very against what the Mungiki stand for. This week, a group of Kikuyus decided the police/gov't weren't doing enough to stop the Mungiki and attacked a number of suspected Mungiki members in Karatina (abt 2 hrs from Nairobi; where I was originally supposed to be placed, actually). The Mungiki then retaliated...and you can see where this is heading.

A news crew went into the area and found a suspected supporter of Mungiki, a woman, close to death on the grass outside her home. They asked their police escort to call an ambulance, but the police refused saying it was too dangerous. They watched the woman die.

All of this is extremely sad, obviously. The people aren't happy with the police response to Mungiki. Taking the law into their hands, however, is scary. Their acts of revenge are most likely going to spur additional acts of revenge from Mungiki...and so on.

It's very frustrating to see this on the news every night. Tension b/tw Mungiki and the Kikuyus (which my family and many of the kids at Sidai are part of), not to mention the rest of the country, is getting worse and worse. Combine this with the political tension here (people of certain tribes will never vote for people from other certain tribes; people are extremely unhappy with gov't; etc.), and I'm really concerned for the future of Kenya. I would not be in the country during the next election (if they even make it that long w/o major upheavals or violence). You can see how there is the possibility of tension and violence continuing to expand.

I'm not trying to worry anyone (sorry, Mom). I feel completely safe here. My concern is more for what is to come in the upcoming years. I really hope the government can come up with a way to dissipate some of the tension, but my confidence is the government is definitely lacking.

Here are a couple of news articles if anyone is interested:

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/590848/-/u64bc3/-/

http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144012430&cid=4

Back home in Kenya

After the worst bus ride EVER, I'm back in Kenya. I'm in Nairobi checking email b/c 1) it's faster here and 2) to avoid getting back on a bus for a little longer. It was only 12 hours (short compared to the 24 hrs to Kigali) but was definitely a worse experience. We were on a crappy bus, and we know just enough Kiswahili to know people kept talking about us. Now the roads in Kenya are terrible - sometimes they don't even really exist and you have to drive on the shoulder. However, if the driver had not felt the need to drive like a total maniac, I probably would not be sore all over from all the bumps! Oh well, despite having no seatbelts, we made it safely back to Kenya.

ANYWAY, besides the bus ride home, our trip was amazing. After Rwanda, we went to Uganda. We spent the last couple of days in Jinja. We rode kayaks in Lake Victoria and up part of the Nile. I also went swimming at the source of the Nile. I skipped the Class 5 rapid trip (I place blame on a certain float trip in Tahoe where I almost died), but it was absolutely beautiful. A year ago, I never would have imagined that I would have been hanging out around the Nile River!

I still need to post on Rwanda, but I need some sleep to deal with that one! More soon...

Safe in Rwanda

We survived the 24 hour bus ride and arrived in Kigali, Rwanda on Thursday afternoon. Rwanda is AMAZING! I hadn't even realized how stressful Kenya was until I came here. People don't harass us nearly as much, and I'm also much less scared of getting hit by a car here. :)

We've been to a number of genocide memorial sites (it's the 15 anniversary). I have so much to write about all of this, but I'm going to wait and write a longer post when I get back to Kenya. It's amazing how Rwanda has been able to completely turn itself around in just 15 years. I can't describe how meaningful this trip has been so far and how impressed I am with this country.

We are leaving Rwanda early tomorrow for Kampala, Uganda. Happy weekend!

Off to Rwanda and Uganda!

Yesterday morning, Dannie and I took a motorbike to visit Letoya and Moses (2 boys who are being sponsored to go to private school) in Maasailand on the other side of the Ngong Hills. Although we primarily just played keepaway w/ Letoya's shoes, we had a lot of fun. On the way home, we saw giraffees and baboons. Even though I've seen both here before, it's still really cool to see them so close to where I've been living.

Jen, Chris and I leave for Rwanda and Uganda this afternoon. We're on a 24 hr bus ride to Kigali, Rwanda today. We don't have any other definite plans for our trip but will be stopping in Kampala, Uganda on the way back to Kenya. We'll go to some other places in Rwanda and Uganda as well, but we're just playing it by ear for now.

I accidentally knocked the camera off a table yesterday and now won't turn on :( I'm really bummed but will make Jen and Chris take lots of pics for me.

I'll try to update while I'm in Rwanda/Uganda but will definitely update when I get back in 7-10 days.

Miss you all!

Who has the right of way in Kenya?

Pedestrian or vehicle?
Answer: Vehicle

Pedestrian or cow?
Answer: Cow

Cow or vehicle?
Answer: It's a toss-up.


Well, I'm in Nairobi. A bunch of volunteers are staying at the volunteer house, and I'm having a really nice weekend. It was a tough week. Not only was there the bad news re Angelina's test results, but there is also some drama about where two boys from Sidai who are starting boarding school next term (which itself is amazing) will be staying during school holidays. Currently, they are with their family who did not treat them right, which is why they were at Sidai in the first place. I had to say goodbye to a boy who was crying when he walked away from me, so things have been tough. Anyway, it's nice to get away for a couple of days and just relax.

HAPPY EASTER!!

Very Sad Day

So...a few weeks ago, I was talking to Lucy's daughter about Ruth (the little girl who was HIV+ when we took her to get tested), and she mentioned that Angelina (7 yrs) was positive but then took medication and her next test was negative. This made absolutely no sense to me until I reasoned that she must have had a positive test when she was <18 months old. Babies can have HIV+ test results that are actually just due to their mothers' antibodies and later test negative.

The other day, however, someone again mentioned how Angelina had been positive when she came to Sidai. This was making me nervous, so today I took her to get tested again. Unfortunately, her test was positive. I can't describe how disappointed I felt when I saw the test results. It was terrible when Ruth tested positive, but I was relatively new in Kenya and hadn't had the chance to get to know her well yet. Angelina, on the other hand, is one of my favorites at Sidai. Plus, I had thought she was perfectly healthy. She is hilarious and so full of life. I have no idea how she had a negative test a couple of years ago, and I am so sad and frustrated that she hasn't been on medication. At least we now know, and she started her meds today.

Anyway, sad day for me. On a sidenote - the nurse asked me if the kids shared everything, such as food, toilets, etc. I said yes, like a family. The nurse then told me that the kids with HIV shouldn't be sharing. When I said that you can't get HIV by sharing a toilet, she said "sometimes kids scratch when they use towels, and that could spread the disease." Okay, HIV is not spread like that, but I just told her that the kids don't share towels (ha - they don't even have towels!!). Lucy later was worried about the kids w/ HIV sharing toothbrushes. Now, I've given the kids several lectures about not sharing toothbrushes, and I really don't want Ruth and Angelina sharing w/ the other kids b/c I don't want them exposed to more germs than necessary since they have weaker immune systems. However, this again is not how HIV is spread. It's amazing how despite the fact that 20% of the Kenyan population has HIV/AIDS, people still are completely clueless about the virus (apparently even nurses).

Anyway, I'm heading to Nairobi for the weekend. I need a little break. HAPPY EASTER!!!

Mungiki

I think I have mentioned the terrorist group Mungiki before. Antony, Dannie and I were supposed to go to Nairobi this morning. I wanted to buy medical supplies in bulk for Sidai and Dannie was going to get some more school supplies. When I got to Ngong, however, I found out that Mungiki is making threats again, so it's too dangerous to go to the city. Also, the matatus are on are strike because it is really dangerous for them to run now too. Even if we still wanted to go to the city, it would cost a ridiculous amount of money because only a few buses are willing to run. Needless to say, we will try again later this week.

I'm pretty sure I'm going with Chris and Jen (two other volunteers) to Rwanda and Uganda next week. We still haven't bought bus tickets (24 hr bus ride to Kigali - yay) or made any arrangements, but hopefully it works out!

Random - I was reading the newspaper this weekend and happened to look at the "Soulmates" section (basically classifieds section for relationships). SO MANY of them had things like "HIV positive man seeking HIV positive woman" and "HIV test a must." It's just crazy (and incredibly sad) that HIV is such a part of daily life that it has to be mentioned even in want ads.

Dentist

Dental checkups don't really exist here. As a result, dental problems are really bad, and people only visit the dentist when they have a major problem. Two of the kids at Sidai, Simon and Esther Wamboi, were having problems, so Danny and I took them to the dentist in a nearby town yesterday. We waited over 3.5 hrs to see the dentist, so the kids were already unhappy by the time it was our turn. I assumed the dentist would do some kind of dental checkup/cleaning but nope. He just looked at the problems and decided that each of them needed a tooth pulled.

What a nightmare!! Simon was really brave up until the point when the dentist pulled the tooth - then he started crying and screaming. They gave him an injection first, but it still really hurt him. He's only 7 - so sad! Wamboi (8 yrs) was next and completely freaked out. She tried leaning against the wall to avoid the dentist, so I had to pick her up and physically sit her on the chair. She was crying and saying "no, Sara, no, Sara!!!" I felt absolutely terrible. At least it's over. Afterwards, we took them out to lunch to try to make up for it. They never eat anywhere besides Sidai and church, so they were pretty happy.

It's sad but dental health just isn't a priority here. So many adults have missing teeth. Many people I've asked don't even know what floss is! I made the kids promise me that they would brush their teeth at least 2x a day. Otherwise, I threatened to never bring in treats again! :)

I'm going to dinner with some other volunteers tonight, which should be a lot of fun. It'll be nice to do something different - and not eat beans and cabbage! Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Daniel

Yesterday, my friend Austin (another volunteer) came to visit Sidai. Since he didn't know where to go, I took one of the little girls and met him along the main road. On the way back up to the children's home, we met a boy who was probably 10-12 years old. I didn't recognize him and asked him where he lived. Luckily, his English was fairly good, so we were able to talk to him. He told me that his parents were dead and that he lived on the streets in Ngong town. As he told us this, tears welled up in his eyes. I didn't know what to do, so I told him (Daniel) to come back to Sidai with us. He clearly wanted help and even offered Austin a pair of sunglasses as a gift (Austin didn't accept).

Back at Sidai, he told Lucy the same story. He said that his mom kicked him out and and then his mom's friend came and told him that his mom was dead. Lucy took Daniel to Ngong to verify his story (and make sure he didn't just run away) and talk to the chief (a government official). As it turns out, his mom is alive but is a drunk living in a village about 15 min from Ngong. She used to beat Daniel all the time and forced him to collect plastic, which would be sold for bar money. When he was very young, she made him go to the bar with her and would make him drink alcohol. Apparently, Daniel has 2 younger sisters that the mom also does not support. The neighbors even told Lucy that Daniel's mom told everyone that Daniel was dead in an attempt to get money from them! So sad!!! Lucy wasn't able to find the mom anywhere, but she assumes that she was drunk somewhere (according to neighbors, at least).

Daniel has been living on the streets of Ngong for awhile now. I can't even imagine, especially since it was raining earlier this week, and the slum was SO MUDDY. Since Daniel says he wants to go back to school, Lucy said he could stay at Sidai. He stayed there last night, but some things have to be worked out w/ the chief before it can be a permanent arrangement. I really hope it works out! He seems like a really nice boy, and I'm so happy that Austin and I ran into him yesterday. It's definitely a sad reminder of the problem Kenya has with respect to street children. I will definitely keep you all updated on what happens with him.

Rainy Season

So the rainy season is here. Well, it's starting at least. It's been raining quite a bit the last few days. When I asked my host mom this morning whether it was time for me to get out the gumboots (rain boots) I bought this weekend, she just laughed and said "not yet." Things are already getting pretty muddy, so I'm a little nervous about how muddy things will actually get. Jane (past volunteer who moved here) told me yesterday that she fell in the mud last year - except it wasn't actually mud. Umm....yeah, the sewage systems aren't the best here. She proceeded to wash 4 times and dump a bottle of antibacterial gel over herself.

For the most part, however, the arrival of the rainy season is a very good thing. The drought has caused so many problems here - maize scandal, people are still starving, etc. Plus, hopefully food prices will begin to drop! I really hope so, b/c currently Sidai is low on funds, and we need cheap food! :)

Yesterday, after a meeting about putting some of the boys in school (will discuss in another post - good news!), Lucy, Antony, Jane and I met about Sidai and what needed to be done. I never expected to be part of "management" here, but it's great to be so involved. Last week, I even met w/ the househelp to help clarify expectations, etc. At first, I felt a little weird about taking on the position of "boss" with the women. However, as Antony reminded me, I've been at Sidai longer than they have! We're currently doing a lot of work to fix stuff up around Sidai so we can hopefully pass a health inspection and HOPEFULLY get registered as a charity someday. More about all of that later, but at least we're making progress!!

My Week

First the good news - the kids are doing great. I've had a lot of fun with them this week. Since we have power again, we've watched Shrek about 3 times! I've realized that since they don't understand most of the words, they don't get sick of movies like I do. We've also played on the new swingset and tonight I'm bringing them cookies!

This week was, however, a little frustrating for me due to exams (we are ending a term). Sidai just bought the exams from a vendor in Ngong. The exams are HORRIBLE! Misspelled words, incorrect subject/verb agreement, improper grammar, etc. I was really frustrated when I saw the exams. How are we supposed to teach the kids proper English when their tests are incredibly sloppy? Unfortunately, there was little we could do about it. Danny and I read most of the exams outloud to Class 2 so that we could correct/explain the mistakes.

The content of the exams was also frustrating. I didn't even understand what the exams were asking on several questions. Also, little of the exams corresponded to the level the kids are at. The math was too easy, the English was too difficult, etc. It was pretty frustrating, and the kids didn't do all that well. What makes more sense is to teach the kids the next logical thing for each unit and then test accordingly (which is what Rachel and I informally did each Friday).

Education here is very "sink or swim." If a kid is smart enough, they will figure things out. However, if a kid isn't as bright or has any kind of learning disability, the chances of them doing well in school are extremely slim. There is little personal attention, and teachers basically just have the kids parrot what they are saying and copy what is on the chalkboard.

I'm pretty sure Matt and I are going to sponsor Frances, the boy I'm in love with. The private schools here aren't great, but at least they are better than the school at Sidai or government schools, which are incredibly overcrowded. Rachel is also working on finding sponsors for several of the Masai boys in Canada, which is awesome.

So...all the problems with education have been tough for me to deal with this week, but things are going well otherwise. Ha - except for the deworming issue!

Power Failures

Sorry for the delay in postings. Power has been out in Ngong a lot lately, so I haven't been able to use the internet.

Unfortunately, this one will have to be short, because I still have to go buy water before walking home. Hopefully, I'll be able to post tomorrow.

One bit of news - I got de-wormed today. No joke! I took some kids to the hospital w/ stomach issues, and the hospital thinks they probably have worms. There's a decent chance I have them too - so gross! Anyway, I just had to a chew a pill, so at least the treatment isn't bad. It's just so disgusting to think about - even though I know it's not a big deal to people here at all. I think I'm going to buy a big container of de-worming meds for the kids. They are supposed to take them every 3 months, but they ran out about 4 months ago. (Note to Rachel - might want to check in w/ your dr!)

More soon! Happy Thursday!

POWER!

Sidai FINALLY has power again! It's crazy how long things take here. You can't just make a phone call and have someone come out and fix your service. It takes several trips to Kenya Power, gathering various docs, etc. The good thing is that it is finally back on. No more nights sitting around the kerosene lamp. Well...the power did go off again last night. However, it was the entire neighborhood and only lasted about 20 min.

The school term is almost over. I only have to teach this week and then the kids have exams next week. They are then on break for a month. Teaching got a lot better. The hardest part is trying to explain things to the kids in English when English is their 2nd or even 3rd language. I'm not sure how well I've done, but hopefully the kids I've been teaching are at least a little better off! If nothing else, I know the kids' English has improved, which is great.

My weekend was good. Friday was sad b/c we dropped Rachel off at the airport. I miss her already! I went to Nyeri on Saturday morning to visit a couple of other volunteers. We didn't do much - mainly hung out, chatted, etc. It was nice to get away for a little bit and see them though. I had planned to stay in Nyeri until this morning, but I missed the kids so decided to come back yesterday.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Rachel's Last Day

So...Rachel leaves today :( I'm going to miss her!

The party yesterday was really fun. We had a swingset built for the kids, and they were able to try it out yesterday. They loved it! We also made a couple of cakes and had soda for the kids. Rachel also had goodbye gifts for them. They were so excited - very cute!

Since Rachel is leaving, I wanted to list some of the cool things we've accomplished since coming to Sidai Children's Home a little more than two months ago:

- put in WATER!!
- had bookshelves and shoeracks built
- helped two boys get into school (bought uniforms, built a desk for a "donation" to get them into school, etc.)
- built a divider for the Class 1 and Nursery classes
- bought a bunch of books for the kids
- swingset for the kids - 3 swings!
- stocked school supplies
- sending another boy to boarding school in May and hopefully sending two more to public school
- bought a bunch of food for the kids
- gave the kids tons of shoes

I'm here in Ngong for awhile longer, but I wanted to list some of the things we've done since it's been an amazing two months!

I'm going with our family (our host mom's sister has a car, and Rachel is paying her family to drive) to drop Rachel off at the airport tonight. I'm leaving to visit two other volunteers in Nyeri (near Mt. Kenya) tomorrow morning. I'll update again early next week.

Happy Friday!

Developments

Rachel and I (along with former volunteer Jane and Lucy's son Antony) had a meeting with Lucy today. It actually went REALLY well. We discussed the progress we've made and long-term goals for Sidai. We expressed our concerns that Sidai wasn't really working for the older kids, b/c they end up running away. We explained that we want Sidai to produce successful, productive and educated citizens - and not to be a good place for younger children. Although Lucy was reluctant to move away from her ways (beating the kids for bad behavior), she agreed to give our methods a shot. I'm so excited! It might take some time, but I feel a lot better about the children's home now.

In other news, the new volunteer, Danny, made a few comments about how dirty the kids are. The funny thing is, I'm just used to at this point. I realize that everything I wear will be covered in red dirt by the end of day...and then I'll wear it a few more times before doing laundry :)

Rachel's last day is Friday, so we're having a party for the kids tomorrow. Rachel bought a bunch of soda, and we're baking cakes at Grace's sister's house (we don't have a working oven at home) tomorrow afternoon. Okay, I'll probably hang out more than bake. The kitchen isn't really my thing, but it should be a really fun day.

One sad note - the former househelp and mom of Grace and Frances (the kid I'm in LOVE with) still hasn't been back to see the kids. It's been around a month, and no one has heard from her since the first week. I hope everything is okay, but I have no idea how to find out where she is.

Anyway, I'll report back soon with details from the party!

Magadi/Masailand

We made it back!

We left for Madagi on Saturday morning via matatu. What a temperature difference! It was 110 degrees in the SHADE there. I have no clue how hot in the sun (and probably am better off not knowing). We saw a bunch of flamingos on Lake Madadi when we first arrived, which was very cool. Since it was so hot, we sat outside a hoteli for a few hours waiting for it to cool a little. It was still super hot when we started walking, but at least the sun was less strong.

We stopped to take a break under a tree (literally out in the middle of nowhere) and met some Masai men. All weekend, everyone was really curious about why two white girls were walking out in the bush. Everyone kept asking Mushila (Lucy's son) where our car was. The men we met were dressed in traditional Masai clothing. In Ngong, some women use traditional dress, but it's really unusual to see men doing so. We also saw some zebras in the distance while talking to the Masai men.

We made it to the Masai huts where we were spending the night shortly after dark. Unlike the Masai homes close to Ngong (which are a little more modern), the Masai out there live in traditional huts. These are short, small buildings made of branches and cow dung. Since it was so hot, however, we did not sleep in the huts. Instead, everyone (us and the family) slept outside on cow hides. The stars were amazing! I wouldn't say I was exactly comfortable, but it was great to sleep under the stars. Plus, the moon was so bright that when you woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, you didn't even need a flashlight to walk out into the bush :)

I might have mentioned this before, but the famine problems are extremely bad in the Magadi region. The family we stayed with had NO food. Luckily, we were able to give them some vegetables. Also, Rachel and I only ate half of our noodles and gave two of the little boys the rest.
We woke up early on Sunday to walk to the hot springs. Rachel and I put our feet in, but that was as far as we went. It was around 10:00 when we got there, and it was already getting pretty hot. The hot springs were at least as warm as a hot tub and didn't exactly feel refreshing in the hot sun! After the hot springs, we walked to a cluster of trees where we sat the rest of the afternoon. We also saw two dead giraffes who had been torn apart by lions - kind of gross but definitely interesting.

We stayed with another Masai family on Sunday night. The man had two wives, and each wife had a side of the compound. Their huts were simply made of sticks, and there was barely enough room in them to cook. The goats stay in an area in the middle of the compound w/in a fence also made of sticks. The man left to get food for his family, but he never returned. Unfortunately, Mushila told us this was fairly common. We gave the family the rest of our bread, some fruit and the rest of our noodles. I wish we had more to give them. Once again, we slept outside on a cow hide.

Yesterday, we woke up at 3 a.m. to catch a truck into Magadi. Since Monday is market day in Kiserian, many Masai were taking goats into town to sell. We sat on a makeshift seat on TOP of a cab of a large truck (more like an overland truck than a pickup). It was definitely not the safest transportation, but we made it to Magadi fine. It was actually pretty fun, but I would not have wanted to ride up there on a busier road.

Anyway, it was an amazing weekend, but I'm glad to be back with the kids - and back in a place where you can walk outside in the afternoon w/o overheating!

Hope everyone is doing well!

P.S. I have posted a few photos from the weekend on Facebook.

The Key Incident

So...on Tuesday when we were in Maasailand, our host mom contacted Rachel and me b/c she could not find the key to the house. The spare has been lost, so we hid the key under the door. Rachel knew she put the key under the door, so we couldn't figure out what happened.

As it turns out, a girl from Sidai, Esther Wamboi, stole the key (the kids can see our house from up the hill, so she knew where we hid the key), broke into the house, ate some of my snacks and hid the key in the yard when she left. Wamboi at first denied it, but Lucy suspected her b/c the househelp had seen Wamboi coming from the direction of our house. Lucy and Grace promised Wamboi cake if she told them where the key was, so Wamboi confessed.

Of course, Wamboi got into big trouble. I'm pretty sure she got beat. Even more upsetting for me, however, has been that everyone has given up on this girl. Lucy calls her a bad girl all the time. Grace told me Lucy had called Wamboi bad before but Grace did not believe it until now. Even Grace now seems to think this is a bad child.

The thing is, Wamboi is EIGHT. Yes, she did something very wrong. However, telling her that she's bad all the time and beating her for what she does wrong just causes her behavior to become worse. I've been really upset b/c it basically seems that everyone has already given up on this girl - but she's only 8 years old. I don't think she's malicious. I honestly think she steals, etc. for attention. She's been at Sidai for years. Lucy doesn't really interact with the kids, and Wamboi has never had a consistent parental figure in her life.

This seems to be the theme at Sidai. As much as I've complained about Lucy, I don't think she's a bad person. She is, however, uneducated and does not understand how to interact with and discipline children. When the kids get older, she seems to lose patience with them. They start rebelling (probably for attention). In return, they get punished more frequently and then begin running away. Eventually, they get kicked out of Sidai for "bad behavior."

It's just very sad to see this happening already with respect to a little girl who is 8 years old. If Lucy, neighbors, etc. all call her "bad" and expect her to be bad, is it really any surprise that she acts out?

What Wamboi (and many of the other kids) really needs is positive reinforcement. Someone to tell her they believe in her and that she can be a great person. I'm going to try to talk to Wamboi. We were fairly close until the key incident. Since then, she whispered "pole" (sorry) to me but is primarily avoiding me. I'm upset with her, yes. Mainly, though, I'm worried about her future. I'm only here for 2 more months. I'm going to try to help her, but she really needs a consistent, positive parental figure. It doesn't seem like that's going to happen.

Sorry for the rambling post. This has been on my mind the last couple of days, and I needed to vent.

Rachel and I are off to Lake Magadi for the weekend. We are hiking and spending Saturday and Sunday nights at Maasai homes. It should be interesting. It's also supposed to be one of the hottest places in Kenya, and we have to hike with our clothes, food, gear, etc. I'm sure I'll have stories and will update early next week. :)

Have a great weekend!

Pictures

I managed to post a few more pics on my Facebook page, if you're interested.