Kenya

I know I have a little catching up to do. It’s been a busy few days and I’m still trying to process what I have seen.

Thursday was a great day. It started with a phone call to Mum and Dad. It was brilliant to chat to them and to let them know I am here and safe as they have very limited access to the internet. The rest of the day was spent at the orphanage and visiting a group of remarkable ladies with HIV/AIDS who spend their time making beaded necklaces and bracelets to sell.

Thursday was also a sad day for the HIV community. We went to visit a lady by the name of Emily. She was 36 and died not long ago. Not an uncommon event, but upsetting all the same.

I took my first ride in a Matatu last week which was interesting – they are these tired old vans pimped up with flat screen tv’s and great stereo systems. They are the quickest form of transport and you will find them absolutely everywhere. They will drive off when you are still trying to get in, so you need to hang on and they often don’t stop fully when dropping you off. They cram in passengers and scream through the traffic with frightening speeds and accuracy. In here is also where a lot of the pick pocketing takes place – we were well informed at our orientation and it was fascinating to hear how they do it and what they look like.

On Friday, a bunch of us went on what’s known as an ‘Outreach Weekend’. It involved visiting rural communities. Just over an hour out of Nairobi, we come across this tiny school made of 3 rooms. God only knows where they lived, there were very few homes nearby – the kids were gorgeous, and thanks to previous volunteers they have basic teaching and were fed a meal of porridge every day. We spent a few hours with them drawing and playing games - basically having a load of fun.

The weekend also involved spending some time at Hell’s Gate National Park. After visiting the kids and grabbing some lunch for ourselves, we reached the park, jumped on a bike and rode 7km winding our way on a dirt track to the beginning of the walk into the gorge. The ride out was so scenic and vast. I saw my first Zebra, Buffalo, Baboons, Warthog and Gazelle! Absolutely brilliant – the Zebra’s and Baboons were so close, I had a moment to ponder on how fast I thought I could peddle on a bike with flat tyres and inability to change gears to gain speed. Definitely a heart starter. We also rode right by pride rock from the Lion King. The walk was actually pretty tough and there were a few minor falls/misjudged steps. It took about 2 ½ hours walking through a scene out of Indian Jones and a movie Angelina Jolie made. The view from the top was worth every blister and wet through shoes. We then rode the 7km track back to the van on sunset – simply beautiful on such a stunning landscape.

Some of us then went to the market and brought bulk flour, rice and fat (butter). The rest of us headed to the hotel to have dinner and get set up. It was almost 8pm by this stage and we were tired, dirty and hungry, so of course on the way we got a flat tyre. It was dark and cold (yes cold in Kenya) and with every few minutes that passed, a few more locals began gathering not far from the van ogling. We made it out of there safely about 15 min later.

In the middle of nowhere we randomly saw kids walking, usually in groups, on the side of the road in full uniform from school – on Friday night after Hells gate and just before we got the flat tyre, we picked up 8 of them and drove them home – again, very random, but it was late and there were no more matatu’s going past to pick them up – we took them I don’t’ know how many kilometres, but it would have been close to midnight before they had walked the distance on their own. They were so cute – I think we fit 8 of them in which meant 19 people in an 11 seated van – and we could have easily fit another 3 or 4 in! :-)

After dinner (around 9pm), we had to divide all the bulk food into approx 180 portions for the families we were to visit the next day. I was on the ‘fat’ portion splitting team (yeah, it was pretty messy) and that took us a couple of hours, so a bed and shower was a very comforting sight.

Friday night we stayed at this modest motel, that had awesome showers (thankfully our room had hot water – 4 of the 6 rooms didn’t! – its luck of the draw on the night) it was the first shower most of us had had since being here – it’s usually a quick wash with a bar of soap and shallow bucket of cold water. Refreshing!

The next morning (Saturday) we visited the IDP (Internally Displaced People) camp. Before visiting the families, we went to the newly built school (5 tin constructed rooms) and built 5 large blackboards for each room. It was an awesome feeling actually ‘doing’ something. It took a few hours to saw, nail, mount and paint each board. Everyone pitched in, even the drivers.

We then walked to each camp – there are 3 independent sites, each at different degrees of poverty. Seeing these families would break the hearts of the toughest people I know. You can’t help but think – that could be me, or someone I know. It really is devastating to the core. They are so very appreciative of us being there and providing them with food, as very basic as it is. I will be back there to help, and hopefully purchase some land for them to expand the school.

We visited a lady who is a week overdue giving birth to her 9th child. The entire family lives in this tiny hut, no bigger than an average sized bedroom where they sleep and do their cooking and chances are, she will deliver the child in her teeny home – again. There is no transport and the closest medical facility is an hour and a half walk – when you are a healthy walker!

The following 2 camps were a little more established. The second still had ripped, torn and repatched tents and little luxuries – a few did, however, have the odd tiny garden and lanterns. There was one lady we visited who was HIV positive (therefore ostracised from the community) and her most precious thing in life was her Kerosene lamp. It did not leave thick black marks on her roof like the last – it was also extremely hard on the lungs – the previous family of 10 (and most of the other families) have the old style. They are grateful however just to have the light and you wouldn’t’ ever hear them complain.

I honestly don’t’ know what to do – where to focus my attention, who to help, even where to start. It is extremely overwhelming. There are so many people in desperate need; I have never felt so helpless. It is only a thought at the moment, but I am considering extending my stay in Africa and perhaps doing South America another time. This place already has a large part my heart. It’s a real challenge to take a deep breath, step back and analyse each situation without jumping in and making an impulse decision to help every time I see a need.

Other than food and water, they are in need of simple things like any clothes (especially children’s), lamps, mattresses, books, pens, shoes and plastic for the rooves of their huts which we are slowly trying to accumulate with other volunteers.

They have every reason to give up on life and complain – but they never do. I am very humbled to be in the presence of these people every single moment of every day.

The drive back was sombre. There were a few tears and a lot of thinking. Although a tough decision after what we had just experienced, we still stuck to our original plan and made our way to dinner at Carnivore Restaurant – twice named in the top 50 restaurants in the world. It was definitely worth the trip. The entire compound was heavily secured and the food was amazing. I didn’t’ care too much for the crocodile (tasted too much like fish) but I did like the Ostridge. We had no time to change (even though I had been wet through from hip to shoe on my right side from a distraught child wetting herself – there are no nappies here), so despite the disgusting, dirty, sweaty clothes and tired bodies, we all had a great time. It was good to have the break.

A have a few projects I am looking at focusing my attention on, but I still need to do a little research and thinking, not only with my heart, but also my head before committing. I know some of you were hoping to send things by mail, but the postal system here is very unreliable and it is very expensive to collect any form of parcel from the post office. It is also brilliant if we could keep the money in Kenya to support the local economy, so I will be sure to pass on further details on different forms of sponsorship soon for those of you who would like to donate.

Yesterday I visited 4 separate medical clinics, all located in the slum where I am staying and each in walking distance (perhaps 2km apart) 3 of the clinics had extremely limited supplies, and Cim and I have found one that only opened its doors 3 months ago and we are the first volunteers to see them. There is a lot we can do and we are excited to help them get better established. We are officially starting there tomorrow, so will write more when I have experienced it more first hand.

I also have a mobile phone number here now so be sure to email me if you want it.

Take care
Tarsh