Allow me to introduce you to Somar! I met her at the Mt Kenyan retreat a few weeks ago. She is Australian and started her own NGO in Kenya 2 years ago. I cannot believe how similar our backgrounds are! We come to Kenya through the same organisation for the same reasons just 12 months apart – we were both billeted out to the very same Kenyan host family and similar volunteer programs – and a program each of us only stayed at for a few days before finding our own projects. Our passion to help was greater than maintaining already established systems. I found FreMo’s Medical Centre and Somar found street boys who were scrounging through rubbish heaps looking for food and sniffing glue to suppress their hunger.
We hit it off the first day we met, probably because we both share the same passions, speak at lightning speed, can have 4 different conversations going at once while still completely understanding each other. Uhh, it was heaven.
Last weekend we had planned to join a group of donors from the UK and make our way to Dadaab (Nth Kenya) as a larger group. Unfortunately they did not call Somar with enough time for us to purchase and portion the food so they went as an independent team but also with a very well-known MP here (Sumrah). As their fortune (or not) would have it, they were actually able to cross the border to Somalia because of Sumrah's presence. On Monday, just hours after they got back, we all got together over dinner (about 16 of us) and they shared their stories. My heart stopped at what they were telling us. The closest thing they could relate their experience on the border too was the movie ‘Black Hawke Down’. 10 year old boys with machine guns, ammunition strapped to their chests and snipers on the ridge - complete and utter devastation. For their security they had the army escort them all day and put themselves between them and the snipers. Intense.
So instead of going to North Kenya, we visited the boys shelter Somar started. It is home to 22 boys about an hour East of Nairobi. Somar stays there regularly but I was the first other than herself to stay since it’s opening almost 2 years ago. We had a brilliant time. They are adorable kids but hearing their stories tore me apart. Most of them were molested either by their families or on the streets. They all sniffed glue and ate others rotten left overs for years. They have all come along way, but as you can imagine, not all of them made it. Some returned to the streets. It’s a sad reality Somar has had to face. The boys absolutely adore her and call her Mum. She loves it!
On the way to the shelter we stopped by the shops to get a few supplies. Somar was just saying that bread and milk was their favourite meal (and what she took them on the weekends as a treat) and how much she wanted to do fairy bread for them. I nearly knocked over a food stand when Somar shrieked the very moment she found the sprinkles. Passers-by thought we were crazy jumping around, laughing and clapping our hands like 3 year olds. We then maintained our newly branded ‘hardly normal’ reputation, sat down for a coffee, cleared the table, laid out the bread and started buttering it then plastering the slices with sprinkles. Haha, I will forever laugh at the thought. What an awesome day. The boys were funny – although the look and taste was strange, they loved it. All schools are currently on holidays, so on the way to the shelter, we stopped by a few of the boys who were visiting their extended families. One of them was Steven, a 14 year old boy who has been abused and in the last 2 years, practically started school from the very beginning. He leaned into Somar’s window of the car and whispered ‘is that the one going to Brazil?’ Yes!she said, surprised that he remembered a passing comment to a group of them weeks ago. His face beamed.
He is obsessed with Brazil and his ultimate dream is to play soccer for them. He caught me looking at his beaded ring he had on his right hand. He took it straight off and gave it to me as a gift (pictured). It hasn’t been off my finger since. I am now sponsoring Stephen through school and for his food and board at the shelter.
That night we shared many stories and ate local food followed by a few sweet treats. :-) The boys asked if I like to cook and as soon as I said ‘sure I do’ they delegated me chief chapatti maker the following day. Whoa, making half a dozen is one thing, but almost 100 was something else.
Apparently good entertainment watching the little white lady crying from the smoke and burning her fingers on the hotplate. But gee they tasted good! It was great to see some of them smile too – 11 of them had circumcisions (aged 8 – 14) just the week before. They were still in a lot of pain. We then had to high tail it out of there to meet with one of Somar’s sponsors. It’s a shame I won’t get another chance to see them before I leave.
Ok, going back………. Thursday, before we went to the Shelter, Faith, Grace and I made our way to Giwa IDP Camp (about 20 min NW of Nakuru). A couple of weeks prior, Faith organised the hire of the van and a short medical camp for pregnant women and babies through Izzo. So on the way I was able to share with them the IDP Camp I lived with, worked with and helped build the school at last year. I was so happy to have them there, even though most of the medical concerns that people had were not to do with pregnancy or children. It was an incredibly busy 3 hours!
Faith did what she could to examine women comfortably. She was so respectful and gentle; the women were trusting and grateful. Grace kept herself busy with the kids outside. There were so many volunteers there it was awesome, the community really has come ahead in leaps and bounds thanks to Marafiki Community International. The school library and kitchen are being completed and the medical clinic and church are in construction. It was so very wonderful to see.
We got to Giwa just before dark. Faith showed us the volunteer house that she stayed at last year and that burned down just months ago. We took with us, David, a local builder and also the guy who practically single handily saved FreMo’s from its construction blunder. He was there to give a quote on rebuilding the volunteer house – Faith intends to turn some of it into a home for volunteers and clinic. I believe they start construction next week. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay with them (due to our expectant trip to Garissa the following morning) but I promise to return next week for a few days. I’m looking forward to going back – its’ very different to Maai Mahui. Although a lot greener, most with basic homes and small crops, they are still in great need, especially for a medical recruit. I’m not going to like being back to Kawangware without them. The place simply won’t be the same.
This weekend we have teamed up with an amazing group of people – renown humanitarian worker, Dr Mohammed Sheikh, Local Aid (Somar), Service for Peace (another local NGO Somar has teamed with) and Warda (the on the ground specialists and NGO in Dadaab, Nth Kenya). I know it will be hard, I think I am underestimating just how difficult but I am keen to get there. Fingers crossed this trip does eventuate, I want to help. From what I have seen and heard - this is the place that really needs it. This is why I first come to Kenya 18 months ago.
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