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!