Newsletter October 2008: Changing lives one by one….

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed in the slums. With problems are so vast, where do you begin?
Green Pastures is a good place. Behind its new steel gates and secure wall you can forget about the horrors of what is now thought to be Africa’s largest slum. The water tanks are full, the computers are running, lunch is cooking and bright-eyed children wave library books happily before joining their friends in playground games.

We met with the teachers who remember Green Pastures before there was the second building, the water, wall, books, food and computers, and where fees debts meant children would often stay away for long periods or drop out. They told us they are now able to do their job properly, and asked us to convey their thanks and greetings to all the donors who have made this possible. It may be just a drop in an ocean of need, but it’s a good drop!

6 months ago things were less up-beat. The political crisis that brought violence, looting and terror left Kibera’s residents without the casual work and small businesses they survive from. Part of the money raised for the relief effort supplied about 120 families with food through the crisis, and on our arrival we discovered that the last food handout had been kept for us to distribute!  
Many people ask me how we found Kenya after the political crisis last winter. It felt as safe for us as it ever had been, but there were definitely changes and underlying tensions, and the root causes of the conflict, one of which is the grinding poverty of so many, remain. Each time we go we visit a selection of homes of the students sponsored. Last year the Mutindas insisted we were accompanied round Kibera by armed police. But during the crisis the police did not endear themselves to the people, so this year we were given an escort of parents in preference! They took excellent care of us. I won’t say we exactly “blended in”, but – well, we tried!

Handing out relief food - somewhat uncomfortable in our new celebrity status, but we did enjoy meeting the parents!

One of our favourite times is present opening. Many sponsors sent us with gifts and others with money to buy them. This is when our children become invaluable, able to break the ice where we cannot… and get the smiles!

When sponsors send money for a birthday or any other occasion, the children are given a voucher, which they can redeem through the school after consultation with their parents. Many asked for clothes, school equipment, or like Brian here, shoes. But one of the gifts that most touched me was that requested for little Jareld – a mattress to sleep on! More comfortable than the floor, for sure.

Last winter was pretty bad in Mathare slum too, but there the parents couldn’t say enough about the way the school had responded and handled the children and the families. They praised the teachers, especially Polly, who heads up the pre-primary section. Polly was a volunteer teacher when we first visited Tumaini in 2005, but since then as well as receiving a salary she has been supported through college. This year she became a fully qualified teacher! The school, too, looks very different from 3 years ago – their new building painted up and buzzing with children and computers! We were thoroughly entertained with songs, dances and skits, after which we reduced the place to chaos by blowing up balloons!

The Giraffe Project is all about individuals, and we were reminded of that over and over again. Several victims of the crisis who benefited from grants or gifts welcomed us to their homes. Effie’s mother, pictured outside the house she now rents, ran with her children from her burning home in January, and spent a month in a refugee camp. She gave us samples of the table cloths she now makes with her new sewing machine. James’ Dad, whose timber business was burnt, showed us his new stock, and David’s Dad is pictured here in front of his shop, ransacked in January, now restocked with goods for sale, whilst his youngest son James smiles for the camera!

Kennedy’s delightful and exuberant grandfather Matthew paid us a visit. Last year he was saved from a second term in prison for debt when some of you paid it for him. The debt arose when he took a loan to pay Kennedy’s school fees and was then robbed of the vehicles which were his livelihood. The gift you sent not only paid the debt and the lawyer, but restored some of the goods that had been seized in part-payment. He told us excitedly how he had bought 2 cows, both of which calved, and he now has milk for his family and to sell in the village.
Our hearts went out to the family when we learned that Kennedy’s mother bore him at a very young age, and was alone and mentally ill. Both she and Kennedy have been cared for by Matthew and his wife ever since.

We duck through alleyways, dodging stones and rusty edges of the corrugated iron roofs and trying to avoid slipping on the muddy stones as we stride across rivers of sewerage. A brief but violent rainstorm had left a lake in front of Job’s house that did not drain away in a week. There were gaping holes in the roof, and three children slept on sacking on the floor which was potholed like the Kenyan roads. I had thought I couldn’t be shocked any more. As is typical, landlord and tenant are on opposite sides of the tribal divide, and it suddenly became easy to appreciate the feeling of exploitation that can boil over into violence. This lady was a single mother raising 5 children, and we were able to move her to a better property. Much harder, though, than helping Job’s family, was walking away from the next house in the row, where another Green Pastures family lived.

Of all the goals we set for this trip, one of the most challenging was the Enna borehole. I won’t begin to describe the numerous meetings, visits and discussions that took place before finally the day before we left the contract for the drilling of the borehole was signed! The result is better than any of us dreamed – the bore hole IS NOW DRILLED on public land 500 metres from Enna School. The water company agreed a partnership with us, whereby they will install a 50,000 litre tank on a 10 metre high pillar to store the water, and they will pipe it to Enna School one way, a government primary and secondary school the other, and to 2 water kiosks for the local community to buy water from. The supply is very good, and up to 2000 people in a poorly served area will have a reliable supply!!

Our second biggest challenge was finding vocational training courses for our secondary school graduates. Our Kenyan Administrator, Stephen, had already done the groundwork here, and we were introduced to a vocational training college with 2 impressive campuses in Nairobi and just outside. Unity College offered us a partnership which gives us a 50% cut in fees, and the first batch of students, pictured here, are currently signing up for courses in catering, tour guiding, business skills and auto mechanics.

Here with her baby is Irene, who escaped the horrors of her grandparents’ home 18 months ago by marrying, and had to drop out of school when she fell pregnant. Her husband then abandoned her, but she has gone on to take a course in hairdressing at Unity. We look forward to her graduation in November…watch this space!

At Dagoretti High we were entertained with song and verse by some very fine young men with high aspirations and excellent grades. Some of our graduates from there have secured highly prized places at national universities.  Samuel and Dennis, pictured here, hope to join them soon. Dennis is the school Captain – yet he like so many others almost had to drop out of school, until he got a sponsor.

Here are some of the girls we sponsor at Enna School and Equator Girls’ School. They come from various slum areas around Nairobi. Some are orphans, others from single families. They each have a story to tell, and being in school is the best part of it.

In Korogocho slum there are no secondary schools. Or there weren’t. Now Kao la Tumaini (Door of Hope) is a functioning school. It has the only 2-storey building in the area, text books and qualified teachers, and so far about 100 students study and eat lunch there every weekday.

All of them are from extremely poor homes, and many are orphans. Some walk for an hour to get there. Others have to work for their relatives for their keep. You’d think they wouldn’t have much to laugh about….
And 10 minutes walk away is their vocational training centre – tailoring and dressmaking, hairdressing and IT courses are being given there. Some of the dresses and suits look very professional and are being sold in the slum.

A few more highlights…  the Green Pastures parents’ day, at which none of us got away without a dance..

Meeting Daniel, the disabled artist whose cards will be on sale in the coming months, and of course our own beadcraft group…

Finally a few recreational activities…

THANK YOU to all of you without whose support none of this would be possible.

The Team