More mums and babies!

On Friday we went to a project which runs a Child Survival Program (CSP). As we stepped out of the car we were greeted by about thirty mums with their babies on their backs, singing welcome songs to us and dancing. It was beautiful!!!

Once inside, we were grabbed one by one to dance with them - Ben had to be the funniest 'dancer' there - I took video footage, so stay tuned for a youtube video upload!!!

We got play with the little ones in their playroom - it was so much fun! They are all so adorable, I can't wait for our own little bundle of joy :) We also got to spend some time chatting with older students too and learning lots of Swahili from them - although I don't know how much we will remember in a few days.


The women had amazing testimonies. One lady had experienced three miscarriages before she joined the CSP program, and then she was able to learn how to take care of herself during pregnancy through pre-natal classes and regular health check-ups - and now she has a beautiful healthy baby boy named Samuel. Another women's husband claimed the baby was not his when he found out his wife was pregnant for the third time and he tried to get his mother to perform an abortion. But after he saw the pregnancy kit and supplies provided by the CSP and the support his wife was receiving, he changed his mind and they now have a gorgeous daughter. It was a very inspiring and uplifting day.

Babies and LDP

Thursday saw me stay at home in the morning for some much needed rest while the others made the 2 hour bumpy ride to a project to do some interviews. If only I'd known there were going to heaps of mums and babies there, I might have faced the ride!

Ben had a great time photographing all the cute little bubs, with the help of his handy assistant Ben (Bernard). Ben is an LDP graduate - it stands for Leadership Development Program, and it's a Compassion program. When kids show outstanding leadership qualities, have great academic results and are also actively involved in prayer/devotions/church life, they are nominated by their Compassion teachers for LDP. Those that are chosen for the program are able to go to university, their fees are paid, they are given food/board allowances and also mentors. it's been amazing to hear the testimonies of some of the LDP students and their dreams for Kenya.

Ben walked with the team through corn fields at one stage, to visit one of the children's homes. When a siren rang, they were told to run - as rocks go flying everywhere everytime they set off explosions in the nearby quarry! Apparently each time the siren rings, the locals go running to the next village! I'm glad Ben was ok :)

In the afternoon I joined the team and we visited another project in the city of Mombasa. We had a ball taking heaps of photos of the kids in the classrooms and around the school. Some of the girls tried to do my hair, but it's too soft to braid - they can't believe how different our hair is to theirs! I'd swap any day of the week for some gorgeous African hair, although it'd look pretty silly with my pale white skin!

Mombasa

Wednesday started at 6am, as we needed to catch our flight to Mombasa, which is on the coast of Kenya. Once there, we drove a very bumpy hour and a half to the M'bungoni Methodist Child Development Centre (CDC). Along with the centre, they run a HIV/AIDS support group for Compassion parents who have children who are positive or who are themselves positive - it's called "People Living Positive".

They provide education and support, as well as health check-ups and assistance in receiving treatment. The mums were full of so much energy and were all great friends by the look of it. It was, however, heartbreaking to see one of the mums with her little baby girl, both positive. She has hopes and dreams for her daughter, even though the life expectancy of children born positive is only 15 years. She holds out hope that a cure will be found.

In the afternoon we visited the home of a seven year old boy who is HIV positive. His aunty looks after him (as both his parents have died, presumably from AIDS) and he himself doesn't know he is infected. Most parents wait to tell their children when they are old enough to understand. The stigma attached with AIDS is another reason they try to spare their children the knowledge earlier on.

He was the happiest child we have met yet, and while his aunty was interviewed, we ran around with him, visiting his goat and grandmother, whose name happened to be Sarah too. She was fascinating - full of wonderful stories and energy. At eighty years old, she still cuts and carries firewood, thatches her roof, digs in the garden and more. She told us that bodies are like machines - you have to keep working them or they will break down!

Beautiful Rironi

On Tuesday we drove to a project outside of Nairobi city and it was beautiful. Such a contrast to Mathare Valley. There was plenty of space and fresh air. Again, the children danced and sang for us. At one stage they even dragged a few of us up to join in the dance (yes, me included).

The weather was lovely - it was higher up which meant cooler weather than in Nairobi. Narelle and I skipped with the girls (briefly - before we lost our breathe and then just watched them skip!). Ben took heaps of great photos and Malcolm did some interviews with the kids and some of their mothers.

We then visited one of the girl's homes, which was great fun. She lives with her grandparents, and they have lots of animals and a massive garden too. Compassion gave them a cow, and when it had a calf, they were able to sell it and buy a donkey, to help cart water and also the milk that they sell from their cow.

The grandfather was really lovely and showed us through his garden. He has grafted multiple trees, some with three or four different varieties of pears or peaches on the same tree. We had a lovely afternoon there with them, and Ben didn't want to leave!

Mathare Slum

On Monday, we headed to the slum in Mathare Valley, and while it is not the largest slum in Kenya, we have been told it is the worst. Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw - I don't even know how to describe it. Tiny little structures made out of corrugated iron and other scrap materials fill the valley. Large families live in rooms no more than a few metres square. There are no toilets - except flying ones...you do your business in a bag and then sling it through the air. Rubbish and waste is everywhere, and so are children. Beautiful children, often bare foot and hardly clothed, playing amidst the filth.

As we walked through the slum on the way to the Compassion project, we were greeted by these children, yelling out 'how are you?' and some shaking our hands. Martin (one of our Compassion guides) told us that when they go home, they will tell their parents that they saw six 'how are you's'.

Makeshift breweries line the river and are owned by very dangerous, wealthy cartels. We were warned not to take photos as we walked past, as what they are doing is illegal and they are very wary about the police. Later, we were able to visit them for 5 minutes and take a few photos (which we paid them for). But even our local guides were uncomfortable being there and we left fairly quickly. The 'illicit brew' they make has a very high alcohol content (with a bit of jet fuel thrown in there for punch), but it is the cheaper alternative for those who cannot afford vodka and want to leave their hard lives behind for while.

After winding our way through dark narrow walkways, we finally emerged at the Mathare Community Outreach centre and it was a breathe of fresh air. Gorgeous Compassion children performed songs of praise to God for us and we met some of the amazing people who run the child development centre (Compassion project). The difference in the children is wonderful. They are in school uniforms, learning, dancing, singing and they have such an incredible hope and faith in God.

They still have to cope with so much, as we saw when we visited two little Compassion supported girls in their homes. The first lives in a child-headed home, as her parents died five years ago. There are four children that live together, and another two that are are married and live elsewhere. The older sister's dream is to finish her studies in mass communications so she can get a good job and move her family out of the slum.

The second little girl lives with her mother, alcoholic father and six brother and sisters in a 5x5m concrete room, on the second floor of a rather unsteady looking concrete block of a building. Her mother welcomed us warmly and thanked God for us, for Compassion and also prayed that our trip would be fruitful - it was an extremely humbling experience.

What a day. Now all that is left to do is work through how what we saw today changes the way we live; about how we think about God, about what we actually need, about how we use what God has given us. Questions that won't be answered easily or quickly.

Note...

Just a note to let you know a couple of things:

1. As we are shooting for Compassion, we aren't putting our best stuff up, as we feel we should be keeping it for Compassion! The photos we put up are hopefully giving you an idea of what we're seeing (but I wish you could see all of them - Ben's amazing!)

2. Whenever I talk about specific children and their stories, we won't be putting up images of them, to protect their privacy (especially stories about HIV or abuse). So, any images on these posts will just be random photos from the day and NOT the actual children/families talked about.

Our African Adventure begins

It's taken a while to get this blog started (sorry) but from now on we'll try to be more organised and not so tired that we just crash at the end of the day.

Our flight to Kenya was a long haul...it included two 9.5 hour flights, a stop over in Bangkok in the wee hours of the morning, delayed departures and arrival (finally) at our hotel exactly 24 hours after we left Australia. After waiting a few hours to check in, we were finally able to have a much needed shower and a two hour rest before heading out for the afternoon with the team (who had arrived the day before).

We were able to take it easy for our first day, as it was a Sunday, so we headed to the "Bomas of Kenya" for an amazing display of traditional Kenyan dance, song and even acrobatics. Afterwards we saw some typical Kenyan huts - which included separate huts for the first and second wives!

We had dinner at a great Indian restaurant in Nairobi (go figure) before heading back to the hotel for sleep and foot elevation (I have discovered that pregnancy+long flights=extremely swollen feet and ankles. I could hardly walk my feet were so fat). WARNING: The image below is not pretty!