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!