Could you give £15?

The funds for roof repairs have been raised!!! And i have already been grilling the roof repair men to get the materials moving and get started, i shall keep you posted! Thank you to everyone who is supporting so far, you’re awesome, so now we can start planning the bedding that will stay dry for this continuing rainy and cold season. On average we need about £15 per child’s bed to buy the new mattresses and sheets. If we raise extra then we can buy extra blankets too which would be great. Can you give £15? We also need a few new bunk beds; these cost about £80 each. If you have donated through the website please let me know so i can chase it up but mainly please message me directly if you would like to join in and help with making this refurb project a final success!!!

“Ups and Downs”…then a few more “Up’s”

“Monday” i say to myself optimistically as i wake at 5am and start getting ready to help with the morning’s breakfast and school preparation “what have you got in store for us?” I remember that today we have two more of our children starting a new secondary school (Jane and Willy) for form 1 as they have had to wait for funding to support desk fees and missed the first few weeks but alas they are ready to go for today! After the usual hustle and bustle i start to get worried that the breakfast Mandazi’s have not arrived and after enquiring i find out the local supplier has had to go away and hadn’t done today’s quota. This doesn’t bode well and the children are down about it as this means leaving for school at 6am and battling through hard studies till lunch on an empty stomach. So after tea and some encouragement we just get on with the day where i walk with Kamama to her school bus pick up 30mins away, Kamama has lost her sight at an early age and attends a school for the visually impaired however this does not deter her from being almost completely independent in familiar environments, she is such a brave girl and very playful too! On the way we discuss maybe going for a run in our football field when she returns from school today and this lifts the mood from not having any breakfast.

But Monday hasn’t finished with us as we miss the bus then i have to negotiate with a motorbike driver to assist us to make it to school on time, i don’t have a leg to stand on as he knows we’re stuck and decides to only over charge me double the normal price which is quite good for mzungu prices! So we laugh, i congratulate him and vow to get the better of him next time.
I return to find that some of the children have decided it is “Children versus Volunteer Day” with a few debates over school items and requirements, Boshra, Matron, Emily and i spend most of the day reconciling these issues and also then walking to different schools with children in tow to meet Head Teachers to explain some of these short comings…as i’m walking i’m already strategising and preparing what do i say to this principal that doesn’t earn me 2 hours waiting in the sun for the issue to be dealt with and after much stress i come to the conclusion that i will just tell the truth!
My day brightens up at about 5pm when Krop arrives back from school and comes to greet me in the usual manner, which is a handshake followed by some pretend boxing moves between us then at least a minute of wrestling…he is only 10 and about 3ft tall so i’m very proud to say that i win pretty much all of these encounters. We spend the next hour together doing an email to one of Krop’s friends from overseas whom used to be a volunteer at the centre, the email is very sweet and we attach pictures too. I slowly start to forgive Monday and warn Tuesday that they better not think of behaving the same tomorrow.

The week certainly keeps us going; “Lomurion” one of our older boys and i journey to town to collect his specialised prescription glasses. Julie one of our Directors here had previously arranged appointments after long term problems with his eyes were only brought to our attention recently and had managed to get these ready very quickly. Lomurion was delighted at the immediate difference when we tried them on in the optician in town, a little bit shy with them on to begin with but this will undoubtedly help his school grades and his confidence once he adapts to wearing them so really great news!

Boshra our other Director has let slip it is her birthday this week and quietly tells me she doesn’t want a fuss, so i do what any respectable colleague would do with such confidential information and arrange with all the children for us to surprise her with a present, cake, candles and singing! The cake went down very well indeed! Happy Birthday Boshra!

We have had quite a few medical challenges this week and just because the medicine cupboard is in my room i am perceived to be medicine man, this is definitely not the case but having two children i know how to patch things up from minor bumps and bruises to scrapes and cuts, knowing when fevers and other symptoms are a problem and need more investigation and use what i can for treatment. Thus we have had a few malaria cases, sickness, diarrhoea, continued ringworm treatment, plenty cuts and scrapes and have a couple of hospital appointments scheduled too for chest x-rays, chest clinics. You forget sometimes how young some of these children are as one child (Emmanuel class 3) in the background below, he had a nasty head knock and even after treating him he was shaking and upset for hours so you can’t just send them back to their dorm as you would with some of the older boys as they are really tough but he really needed someone to hold him and be with him while he recovered, so i had him camp out for the afternoon in my room while i was online and i could keep a check on him too.

This highlights the fact that we are still seeking someone for the position for Volunteer Nurse at the children’s centre in Nakuru, Kenya and also we have a medical sponsorship programme to help fund for supplies, treatments and hospital appointments for over 70 children here. If either the Volunteer Nurse position or the Medical Sponsorship Programme interests you please follow the below links.
http://www.ihfonline.org/volunteering.php
http://www.ihfonline.org/medicalsponsorship.php
The weekend was shaping up to be a great one!
Especially when late on Friday we had boys clothes donated from a very generous friend of Emily our local volunteer at the centre! Thank you Emily and Friends!
Saturday was the best family feeling day ever as we had clear blue skies, the children were up early and busy, the girls were cleaning dorms and all doing their hair outside; the boys had done litter pickups and were all washing their clothes together early in the day for a change!
On Sunday we had a fantastic fun day with the Kenyan Red Cross; 12 volunteers had arrived to have a family services day with the children, we had lots of singing, some talks, a karate lesson followed by the most organised lunch I’ve ever seen here thanks to the children (Lomurion and Sharon) for cooking and arranging everything especially for our visitors. We were delighted to receive gifts of maize, beans, flour and bananas that was a truly wonderful touch, this was followed by the serious stuff of our inter centre 6-aside tournament which the visitors joined in and had a great time too! I only lasted two games back to back in the heat and had to be left abandoned at the side of the pitch which our volunteer coach “Harrison” thought was hilarious but i honestly did control the entire midfield area and nobody scored against us while i was on the pitch, respect.

I am Fundi

So for a few days i have felt like “Fundi” which is repair man but not because of a couple of plug sockets and door locks…it’s mainly repairing relations with Primary and Secondary School Head Teachers and showing that we are serious at our centre about the children’s education and future.
So, many parent meetings later (waiting patiently as they were in Kiswahili), showing maximum respect when greeting teachers, asking for permission for everything and expressing thanks at every turn plus i have found the secret to head teacher meetings when you turn up with a child whom is registering late…you basically side with the head teacher in everything, even stand beside them and join in on the lecturing to the child! This has earned us direct lines through to these principals now! So yes for a short time i appear to be “Fundi”.
This week has been strange as the nights and mornings have been very cold even for my hairy Scottish body but some of the days have been really hot indeed coupled with being sick for a few days has pushed me physically as most days involve a lot of walking, waiting and some more walking but alas what has helped along is seeing how resilient these children are here…I look around my room and i consider it a picnic compared to their dorm, regardless of the conditions they are in, regardless if they are ill, they are up way before daylight, they wash, they get ready for school, study hard all day, then return and wash uniforms for the next day but after that it’s playtime till early evening study time and then bed. They are very hard working, tough but immensely playful all the time… and i don’t know how they do it really, i hope that i can learn more from them in the coming weeks.

So only a handful of children remain in the centre now during the day as we are still trying to either secure a place for them in a school and or fund their school fees, the money we use for this is either coming directly out the centre funds which is extremely difficult to do when we budget our weekly food spends so tightly, or when we are very lucky and new sponsor requests come in from our website wishing to sponsor children for their education so this could be as little as £7 / $10 per month or up to £25 / $35 per month for some secondary schools.
If sponsoring a child’s education is something that interests you please follow the link and have a look on our website. http://www.ihfonline.org/sponsor.php as this would assist us greatly as we are so close to having all of the children in schools.
However this does not deter the ones that are not funded yet as they are always busy either cleaning, helping on the farm or of course having fun, singing and a bit of body popping as usual…especially when they know a camera is around!

The heavy rains have not subsided as every couple of days or so we have an almighty downfall which is fantastic for the crops we have newly planted and gives the farm hands plenty to do but this week we saw a lot power cuts and hours of darkness so with the power of candle light and thank goodness i have my i-Phone with me in my bag and Boshra has her Nokia so with many hours of playing games all is not lost and calm is soon restored in my room!

I’ve had so many lessons this week from both the children this week and Ann our Matron it has been very humbling, for quite a while now i have become accustomed to our usual meals of Githeri for Lunch (stew of maize and beans) and Ugali with Kale or cabbage for dinner…it doesn’t vary much and then on the occasional evening i will be spoilt watching Ann cooking these same dishes just for the staff but with the odd little twist here and there and all of a sudden it tastes so different! Boshra is not convinced and occasionally i am led astray in Nakuru town and sometimes find myself with a plate of chips and bottle of coke feeling really guilty that nobody at the centre is aware of this…i must confess soon as the pressure is too much!
The best lesson i think was while i was doing my weekly washing (in buckets of cold water) young Plilan and Krop come by and are immediately angry at me and start chattering in Kiswahili… soon i am told that i cannot wash clothes properly and ask me what i am using? To my embarrassment all i had was fairy liquid and had used this and been scrubbing with a scrubbing brush. So the boys take over by emptying the bucket and starting again with less water in and just a small bar of soap and literally put my washing skills to shame with soap and a scrubbing action i could not copy and had managed to remove marks that i had given up on weeks ago. They had soon finished and had hung my clothes out for me where i sheepishly wait for them to return; Plilan casually comes back in, tosses me the soap and leaves with the usual grin on his face. Schooled i think the term is.

School Week!

So just before school week got underway i had my first experience of a typical family meeting of the centre involving all the children, the staff and the lead director Julie. To begin with it was all very ominous with everyone sitting around waiting for Julie to begin…maybe the children were expecting something i wasn’t aware of so i chose a safe position in the farthest corner of the room and hid behind Krop and Plilan just in case.

But my fears were unfounded as we covered some new rules for the children regarding everyone’s commitment to education and respect with some time aside for general questions but then it got really interesting as the rest of the evening automatically turns into a mass hip hop dance off with all the children body popping and the like, it really struck me how good they actually were where i then tried my best to hide again behind my two bodyguards Krop and Plilan so that i wasn’t asked to show off my non-existent dance skills.

I had thought that because i have two children of my own and have done the whole school uniform preparation thing and gone to schools to meet principals for many years in the UK that I’d be a seasoned veteran at this…what i hadn’t counted on was the immensely strict guidelines and requirements there are and usually vary from school to school here like badges have to be on a specific space, styles of blazers and jumpers so to turn up at registration with a child and to be asked very sternly by a teacher “Why have you not brought their spare uniform with you?”, “why is this a blue striped tie and and not a navy blue striped tie?” or the best one was “Where is your letter of intent?” as if i knew what they were referring to! So the responsibilities of these short comings were directed to me being the representative and have now had 3 stints of sitting outside a principal’s office for over 2 hours waiting to have a strip torn of me with subsequent flashbacks to my school days…Principal’s in Kenya really know how to turn the screws on you! But alas the good news is going into next week the team and the children have worked really hard and we’re confident we have all the necessary extras and are ready for round 2 of the Kenyan school administration Olympics…and if i find myself again in a principal’s office next week i shall just resort to humour to get me through the meeting as that worked in my old school days.

Funding school fees each term is such a huge part of the IHF centre work here in Nakuru as maintaining consistent education and ultimately finishing their schooling after fourth form is absolute make or break in life for these children, when we are short it means children are missing school and will have to repeat a previous term or even worse they may miss a term altogether and will not be accepted back in the system…either of these scenarios is unacceptable but unfortunately does happen and at the moment we are still negotiating for some of the children to attend school and pay fees late so we are so immensely thankful for current funding and what this provides however we would truly be grateful for even more school education sponsors for our children.
My greatest joy this week has been the journey to Kitale some 300km away to assist one of the older girls “Sharon” in collecting her things in preparation for starting a new school here in Nakuru. So i naively Google Map the journey and think “och aye nae bother” as Google says it’s 3 hours then it must be so…3 Matatu’s, 2 motor bikes and 9.5hours later we arrive at the school!

We receive a very gracious welcome as i’m a visitor to Kenya so in my honour i get a football display from their national title winning girls team plus get roped into doing a speech with 30seconds notice about football in my country…of which i dutifully do my best and hope no one asks about Scotland’s world cup appearance record. We say our farewells and all i can think about is the return journey, the ridiculously bumpy road and will the battery on our iPod last!

Friday morning and i decide to get into a routine of getting up even earlier to be around when the children are getting ready for school just to encourage some of the younger ones to wash a bit more properly or tidy their uniforms and occasionally some of the older ones to tuck their shirts in…which they just love me picking them up for it i can tell. Watching the rushing about in the darkness to get some Tea and Mandazi’s down their neck before some of them leaving for school as early as 5am and 6am to walk 30-60mins I laugh to myself thinking i wonder what my own children would say to this and consider doing a trial week with them! But after keeping a numbers check on how many have left i decide to check the dorms to see who is still hanging around and notice that there is a group of 13 boys either new entrants awaiting school fees to be funded or children that have uniform issues that need fixing…a fantastic opportunity for later this morning i think to do a litter pick up in our grounds and think how can i pitch this and not get mobbed so i decide to refer to our family meeting this week and label it “Who would like to show respect to our home and help me clear up the rubbish?” kind of gave them no room to refuse really but actually ended up being quite fun especially when they got their reward afterwards of a nice cold juice from the market.

A week like no other!

A journey packed with anticipation and hardly any sleep saw me arriving pretty knackered but was instantly energised when i saw a friendly face at the airport, David my driver i met on a previous trip to Kenya and kept his contact details as deep down i knew i was coming back here, we laughed and joked while recalling fun memories of some of the trips we had done together.

Over three hours later we pull up at the gates and are greeted very kindly by Mary the security guard and shown in. I notice at the peripheral of my vision there are little children darting for cover and begin to look around, it is only now i am very aware of my appearance and what must i look like to the children? I can’t help but feel like “The Gruffalo” from the children’s story books, haven’t washed or shaved properly for days, i am tired and a bit grumpy from the heat and really hungry so no wonder the children are peering at me with their little curious eyes from behind corners so i do what any respectable Gruffalo would do and pull faces at them so they giggle and leap off.

Upon meeting Julie the current centre director and doing the tour of the grounds it hits me really hard not only how basic the conditions are for the children but how little they have also…i thought i was prepared for this but obviously you can’t really till you arrive somewhere. It’s at this moment i am instantly wrapped up in Julie’s plans for improving conditions and realising the potential of the land and the subsequent value that would follow to assist an even stronger environment for these children, it’s at these moments you realise how lucky you are to have people like Julie around that are just beacons of responsibility and commitment…by now I just want to get stuck in.

A few days later the children are getting used to mine and Boshra’s (the new centre director that travelled in with me from the airport) routines with a mix of curiousness, mischief and playfulness.

This week i have been waking really early to go running round the football pitch and after a while i am pleased to notice a procession of children making their way through the grass from the centre to come see what this strange mzungu (white person) is doing. In no time at all i have 7 or 8 children running with me in line and we are clapping hands and singing while jogging, i stop after a while and watch the children continue running round and reach for my water bottle to where i left it and realise it’s now in the hands of little Chumbalaw cheekily glaring at me triumphantly that she beat me to it!

Once i reach my usual perch outside my room to rest after running my two main boys arrive to greet me as usual “Krop” and “Plilan” they are concerned i have no breakfast and they fetch me tea and some Mandazi’s (a from of fried bread made with sugar and coconut milk) then we begin the usual daily chit chat of life and learning about each other…these two are very clever and cheeky so i’ll need to watch them!

To my great pleasure i have now experienced trying to organise and get something done in Africa! Julie the centre director has asked me to call and make sure the Tractor comes on her day off to plough a 4 acre stretch of land so that we can begin planting and farming our own vegetables, the quicker we do this the better as the we would save a lot money on our food spends that would contribute to school fees and materials. So i duly begin this on Julie’s day off and 4 hours later and as many phone calls i realise that there is a lesson to be learnt here!

“Soon” could mean days, “Soon Soon” could mean today, “Now Now” is usually today but you really need to get them to commit to “Now, Now Now” this and only when you have agreed a price and stress you could get someone else to do the job… that they still only MIGHT turn up when they say they will! But as miracles happen Jeff and his Tractor arrive the next day and have now since ploughed where we are now only waiting for them to finish levelling the area so that we can soon start planting! Very exciting times!

It is still the rainy season which is great news for our farmland however during these heavy rains in the afternoon and evenings our roofs are in desperate need of repair along with some windows so unfortunately some of the children’s bedding and mattresses were soaked so late in the evening we had to get some of them to move from their beds (one of which was Plilan), wash and share another bed nearby until we were able to dry out the bedding the next day. Plilan was quiet and obviously sad about it and i felt so bad for him but once we got him to wash and settled with his cousin we headed back down to our own rooms. There were no leaks in my room and my bedding wasn’t soaked, i was still upset with it and it was a long night of thoughts about fundraising ideas to help speed up the repairs needed.

The last couple of days of this week has been all about preparing for school next Tuesday and has been absolutely frantic especially so for Emelie (local Kenyan volunteer) and Ann our matron also a local Kenyan where if not for them i don’t really know how the children would have been as prepared as they have been as they have done a fantastic job working really hard… for all 76 of them that attend 11 different schools and all have different uniforms and school requirements etc, but the best part for me was offering to cut some of the children’s hair and save some costs as i had my trusty clippers with me…Almost 30 haircuts later and those that needed to have theirs done were ready. Funding for school fees, uniforms and materials are a huge important part of this centres function as getting into a good school and securing a solid education is absolutely vital to the future of these children and there is no room for complacency as each term needs to be funded.