GOODBYE!

So we have only two more days at the orphanage before we head off on safari which is really sad but also really exciting!

We have just been teaching again this week but it has been really fun. I now prefer taking the pre-unit and baby class. The teachers are a lot more helpful in this class which makes our job a lot easier! Clare had a book about how to dress yourself and the kids read through it with us saying 'Nooooo' everytime the bear in teh story put his clothing on wrong. We then had people the Clare had drawn and lots of items of clothing all cut up that we gave to the kids and let them glue them on their people and 'dress them'. We did a practice one with the whole class and one of the babies, Lucy, was called up to stick the shoe on and she actually put it on the ear! It was very funny the whole class just burst out laughing.

We were unfortunate enough to have Ugali for dinner the other night, which I can't stand! It was funny though because we ate all the spinach with it and then put our plate out and then turned around to run out before Mama caught us! All the kids started laughing and yelling 'run! run!' as we went out the door. we got away with it :P On other food note, we finished our lunch, like the whole thing (we got given two bowls full of food just to serve ourselves) and our cook came in to get our plates and she started jumping up and down saying 'thank you, thank you', just because we ate all the food!

We ended up seeing 'Meet the Spartan's' which is a like a mock of the movie 300 and for anyone reading this I don't recommend you go and see it. It was amusing but only because we sat there paying the film out.

We spent yesterday afternoon doing beads with Ann and Jane and it didn't start off so well as I broke my needle.... OOPS! The bracelets we are making are really funky though, I'm quite proud of myself... we haven't finished though, we have to wait till this afternoon. Ann also asked us when we were leaving and we told her on friday night and she started telling us that we would be missed and we had done so much for the kids with all our teaching ideas and were so creative with the activities we came up with, Clare and I just went silent, i think I will miss this place!

I went out to play basketball with the kids afterwards and then played with the older girls, just mucking around while Clare was inside with all the little kids. We then came out with nail polish to start painting with the older girls. In the end Clare got ehr nails done by a security guard who came over and sat down and joined in. I ahve also lost my ipod because one of the older girls took it to bed to listen to the music!

Later that night we had a torch flashing in our windows, I know, deja vu! It ended up been the security team we had met ealreir coming to 'check' on us and exchange numbers. It's quite eventful over here!

Thats all for now, we met up for brekkie with the other volunteers this morn to say goodbye. Back to the orphanage to teach for the next two days before we head off. We are hoping tocome back and visit one day before we actually leave though!

So for now I am off to see lions and HIPPO's (Clare's fav) and hopefully not get eaten by them!

Crazy Weekend!

Clare and I are absolutely exhuasted!

It was a very crazy weekend. We did end up going out to dinner on Saturday night with all the other volunteers and then we went back to a Guest House in Spring Valley where two volunteers were staying. It was a reasonably late night before we headed back to the orphanage and then we were up nice and early the next day! One thing we have learnt while staying at the orphanage is that 5.30am is wake up time. We are lucky enough to be directly below the boys dorm and for some reason EVERY morning (not exagerating) the kids are up at 5.30 and there are beds scraping along the ground. It is pretty impossible to sleep! I think Clare's still getting used to early mornings over here :P

We started playing with the kids on Sunday but then got in trouble because they were meant to be in Church so we were told to go to the Guest House so the kids couldn't see us and would stop leaving the Church. Oops! We decided that was our cue to leave and Clare, Jack (one of the volunteers who satyed over) and I headed off to Junction for lunch. We then went to 'New Life' which is a babies home and was so cute! We spent 3 and a half hours just nursing babies and feeding them their bottles. There were ten of them in the room we were in, all really really young, but there were 48 kids altogether under the age of 3 at the orphanage.

Clare slowly got used to holding the babies, although I thin she was more than happy to go back to the bigger kids. She did have a favourite baby though, Henry, while I had George :)

We taught this morning, it was very frustrating because we were doing a word search, which none of the kids understood so needed a lot of help with. The teacher just sat at the front reading her book while Clare and I were struggling to explain to them how to do it, she eventually got up and told them in swahili then sat back down again while we had to deal with all the kids who STILL didn't get it. Lucily we got out of class this afternoon, meeting up for a movie with the other volunteers which should be good!

Kenyan Birthday

So another year older! No longer a teenager but still as immature!

I had a very interesting birthday here in the orphanage. Luckily Clare was there because it was a teaching day and I told Clare that it was my birthday so I didn't have to teach :) It worked like a charm and I spent the morning sitting at the back of the classroom making up worksheets because the photocopier was broken!

At lunch time Clare and I sat down to make party hats (they're prettttty cool) and all the kids would walk past our house and just burst out laughing when they saw us. We wene to class and had ALOT of kids in there, we thought it would be fun to make party hats with them. It was actually quite stressful stick the crepe paper and tinsel on all the kids hats but they did all look really cute! I was then extra special and had a big chorus of 'Happy Birthday' sung to me, it was in english but a different version to our one. We also gave them lollies at the end which was extra exciting for the kids. I took pride in walking around in my party hat for the rest of the afternoon, although decided to take it off when we headed off the shops.

We went to Karen and I met up with Crystal, Cameron, Christina and Kelsey where we enjoyed chocolate cake and mango smoothies. YUM! I also got homemade birthday cards form all of them (actually I believe Crystal made them and the others signed them) but it was really nice! Then it was back to the orphanage where we played basketball and soccer with the older boys. I had threats that they were going to tip water on me because it was my birthday but in the end the truth got out and they were all too scared of Mama to actually do it!

We bought cake for dinner that night and the kids were very very very excited. I got another chorus of 'Happy Birthday' and Mama had great fun cutting the cake and handing it out. The kids were like vultures and just snatched at it! We also had lollipops to hand out. One of the older girls came up to me with a birthday card that had a poem that she wrote for me on it which was really nice!

Thats about all over here, Clare has headed off to the Giraffe Center which I passed on, still no desire to kiss a giraffe. I do believe we are off to a guest house tonight for a bit of a social outing with the other volunteers.

Only one more week at the orphanage! It's very sad to think we will be gone next sat, as exciting as the safari is!!!

Oh and Clare got her hair braided today, they tried to et me to do mine but I refused, I know, I'm boring. It looks very funky hahaha, her scalp is very white!!! I'm waiting for it to get burnt :P just teasing!

More photos!

So its looks likes more pictures have uploaded! Its pot luck what images actaully manage to upload so here you go.

Catch up!

Wow! It has been quite a long time since I have written in here properly.

Here is a quick catch up for you all...

Well last friday the teacher called in sick (no-one told us though) so we were stuck teaching kids who didnt understand us! I spent most of the morning teaching them english songs which was good, they all enjoyed it. Now as we walk around the orphanage kids will come up to you randomly and start singing to you! It wasn't till after morning tea that someone told us that the teacher was away (no-one had even come to check on the kids who would have just been left there alone!) so after we went and joined with the other class for the rest of the day. Dinner was a very exciting event because I finsihed ALL my food! I got a round of applause at the table because it was the first time! I'm not even sure what I was eating (it was dark) but it tasted good!

Florence went away on th saturday to Lake Naivasha, so I spent saturday waiting for CLARE to arrive! She was meant to be there at 2pm, but knowing Kenya time, wasn't actually there till about 5pm. It was chapati night and we went to help the girls cook, I am useless! They even got me to actually cook them and I burnt myself and refused to go back.

Sunday, we were good children and went to Church. Luckily I was able to borrow a skirt from Clare since all my other clothes are brown now! It was a good experience and our singing voices got quite a good workout :P It was embarrassing though as we were asked to stand up and introduce ourselves! Right at the end of the service though a little baby ran in (she was about 2!) and waved at us and ran across the Church. Then as soon as people started leaving she ran striaght over to Clare and I and started shaking our hands and just smiling at us. The only word she knew in english was 'yes' and just kept saying it over and over again. After the english service they had the swahili service and ALL the kids play outside while the parents are in church. The guard even came in and handed us his little baby son for a few minutes while he walked off. Clare and I had a blast! Clare is going to be the one bringing a baby home, she had a little girl who was falling alseep in her arms. Unfortunately for Clare that girl wasn't an orphan!

We went to eat lunch with the kids afterwards in the hall and there was a little boy there who was SO frightened of us because we were white. He started bawling his eyes out and Mama just started laughing and explaining that we scare him! In the end they had to take him out of the room to eat his lunch.

Monday Clare and I had our first teaching experience together. It involved doing puzzles with the kids and we even had to teach Rachel the teacher who was struggling to put the pieces together. After break Clare taught them 'The Ants go Marching' (I was her back-up getting the kids to repeat after her) and we made a big poster with ants on it, witht he words to the song on the back. We spent lunch time scrunching up tissue paper for the kids to stick on and decorate a butterfly. I don't think they had ever done anything like it before because they were amazed by it!

On tuesday it was off to visit Hosana's college (for me the second time!) and it was SUCH a tiring day. Firstly, I made us get off the Matatu too early (we naturally had no map) and we walked for an hour, 15mins of it in the wrong direction, before we finally managed to get a cab to pick us up! We were then early soooooo we went shopping :) Then it was off the college, where Hosana turned up 30 mins late but we sat and ejoyed the show. Finally Hosana came AND Clare was conned into by one of the guys to dance. Yes, do not worry I did film it although the camera moves up and down because I was crying with laughter!

We had an interesting experience to end the day at the Masai Markets. These guys pounced on us straight away, taking us around the markets (seperately might I add). I kept telling them I wanted to go back to Clare but they would point her out and say see she's fine, she's fine! By the end I think we got majorly ripped off! It was an expensive experience, but compared to our first offer I think we did bargain quite well! (maybe not enough though) Gem, I got my first marriage proposal today as well. I was given a business card with a number and told he was looking for a White wife so when I was ready I should give him a call. He also offered to take me out for beer and dancing on my birthday :P

By today we were exhausted. We got up at 7.30 to teach but went straight back to bed for the morning. We didn't start teaching till after morning tea. We were with pre-unit today so we just repeated the activites from monday which meant another round of 'The Ants go marching!' We have been playing outside with the kids all afternoone involving chasing, piggyback rides, shoulder rides and spinning around. We are ready for bed BUT instead we are in Karen meeting all the other volunteers for dinner!

Clare says: 'Hi Mum and Dad...I'm safe!'

Flick says (yes me again): 'Happy Birthday Pat!'

Slums

Ok. Well. The other day we went into the slums and it was the saddest thing I think I have ever seen. What made it worse was the fact that we actually knew the kids who lived there from the orphanage from the school. One of the social workers, Jacinta and Ann one of the teachers took us into the slums to meet the families. I had tears in my eyes as we were walking around!

So thought I would post what I wrote to give you an idea of what it was like.

'Today you opened your heart to Africa. You felt pain and sadness. You cried for those you did not know.

Before today you had walked out into the streets of Kenya, acknowledging expected signs of poverty. You turned a blind eye. You ignored that little girl who followed you down the road asking for money. Hapana. No. Poverty is everywhere across the globe. You have become desensitised to the pleas of beggers on the streets... to the needs of those less fortunate. You are sympathetic, you offer money, you support charities. yet through all of this you have subconciously distanced yourself from the problem.

Today you not only step beyond the gates of the orphanage but beyond any prior knowledge or understanding. You are leaving to recruit children from the streets for the school in the orphanage. Mentally you are prepared, clutching on to an image of your poverty stricken neighbours, an image that instantly shatters. You walk further into the slums and for the first time you open your eyes, accepting the orphanage for what it is. A safety zone. Comfort. Food. Education. These children are fortunate, they are provided for. You mindlessly wander. You focus down on the rocks and stones jutting out in every direction along the dirt path. You look up...pain. you want to stretch out your arms, just to hold one of the children. you are jolted back to a harsh reality; you are there to watch, to experience; that is all.

A mother of six welcomes you into her home. Home. That is what she calls it as she takes the opportunity to kick some cups across the floor of dirt to clear some space. You struggle to accept what you see, wishing, hoping that your eyes are deceiving you. All you see is four walls sheltered by tin. You stand at the door, allow your eyes to tour the 'house'. One bedroom, one kitchen, one sitting area... one room. A home for six children, yet only one bed. She carries the youngest in her arms. No more she is told. No more children or things will get worse. You want to laugh but you know better. You cannot even begin to comprehend this notion of 'worse'. Only one of these six children was to be offered a second chance, an education. Just one. You say nothing. You smile and walk away.

A Mother sits nursing her daughter on her lap. She welcomes you in. You duck as you enter, allowing your eyes a few moments to adjust to the dim surroundings. It only takes you a quick glance sideways to take it all in. Her house. A house that could not even sleep three children. You are told the eldest sleeps at a neighbour's. You don't even look surprised... there is just no room. The middle child was deprived of his education. This family couldn't afford the exercise books or uniform, he couldn't go to school. You watch the little girl carefully, admiring her innocence as she smiles shyly from her mothers lap. You say nothing. You smile and walk away.

A mother and her two-month-old baby boy greet you at the door. She is flustered as she finds the key to let you in. You want to ask what belongings she could possibly be protecting behind the locked door. You know the answer before you even walk in. She has been working. Casual work...washing clothes. There is no-one to look after the baby, he goes too. You walk into a room. No...you walk into a home. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the blankets on the ground. Once again you want to speak, you want to question... you want to be wrong. Her bed. Not even a mattress for her and her three children. You say nothing. You smile and walk away.

A little baby sways at his mother's feet. He peers down at his belly, lifting his shirt to get a better look. You smile for a second. You are told a story of abuse, a story of a violent husband. You are told lies. This mother leaves for days on end, leaving her kids on there own. She tells you she is escaping abuse, really she is escaping reality. She is a drunkard. Her husband is a drunkard. Her children are alone. You allow your mind to wander...What will happen to these children? You say nothing. You smile and walk away.

A grandmother smiles as she leads you into her home. She warmly accepts your company, truely glad you have come to visit. Her daughter is dead. A woman in her 80's she is left to raise the children. She is struggling, too old for casual work, yet determined. You take the opportunity to gaze across the room. There are two beds in this house...two! Then you discover there are nine children, other abandoned children in her care. Suddenly it doesn't seem so much. She grins at you and thanks you again for coming to visit. Once again you find yourself questioning, What will happen to these children once she is gone? The truth is harsh. You say nothing. You smile and walk away.

As you make your way back towards the orphanage, you hang your head, buried within your thoughts. You think of the double bed you sleep in alone, while some of these families are left without a mattress. You think of that steak you sent back because it was overdone, while some of these families have no food. Some no work. Most no fathers.

At the orphanage you are in the classroom teaching. You teach them about numbers and shapes and colours. You watch them smile and you smile with them. You watch them laugh and you laugh with them. Now you have been to their homes, the place they go at the end of each day. You fight back the tears. They don't cry, you cry for them. You want to say something now. You want to shout and scream in frustration. You want to...but you don't. You cry for the world you have come from. You cry for the meals you couldn't finish. You cry from the comfort of your bed. You cry for their smiles, for their laughter. You cry because you realise, you just took the first step to becoming desensitised.'

Anyway, yes Clare is here now which is great! We are both safe and sound!

Photos!

Yay photos are working. (1) The first one is of four of the babies (these are the youngest kids) In the picture is Grace, Lucy, another Grace and Victor. (2) The next one is of dinner time! They weren't meant to be sitting on the tables like they are in the picture and mama came out shortly after to yell at them! Thats good old beans and rice though! (3) The next one is our animal masks that we made in class! These are all the cats standing at the front of the class. (4) The last one is me (in there somewhere) on my first day at Day Love. All the kids just ran over to us and our cameras!
Well thats all I have been able to upload! Plus there is one photo in my last blog! The net has decided to cut out so thats all folks! Hopefully one day there will be more up here!