Week One in Kenya Summary

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This is the first chance I've had to update the blog -- I haven't had internet access since last Tuesday.

Edwin Angote wrote a post last week about my visit, please find it here.

Last Wednesday, I had intended to go to the clinic with Boaz to do a checkup on his eyes. Unfortunately, in truly Kenyan fashion, we were unable to make it because of the dozens of inconveniences and delays that pile up in a typical Kenyan's day.

On Thursday, we met with some Kibera children and visited the site of the land that is currently being purchased for the new school. The Collette Foundation has been our partner on this task and is completely funding the land purchase. They have been incredibly patient and steadfast through the many ups and downs of the past few years.

On Friday, Mama Margaret and I got up at 4:00 and caught a taxi to Kenyatta airport to fly to Eldoret. It was Margaret's first time to fly and she was a little nervous initially. We landed in Kisumu briefly before touching down in Eldoret. Now Margaret gives flying the thumbs up!

We stayed at Jennifer's place. Jennifer is a blind woman who is sponsored by a generous donor that enables Jennifer to have a suitable place to live. It's amazing what Jennifer can do despite her physical challenges. She cooks and cleans her place better than most sighted people. She's an inspiration to me. Another donor donated some great Braille materials (see picture) and the entire Bible on CD, together with a CD player!

The slums of Munyaka were the location of some of the worst post-election violence, and when we visited, we could still sense the after-effects of those horrible times. We saw the children of our sponsorship program there, including Monicah, Nancy, Loice, and Victor. We also met with Jane Waithaka who directs Eldo-Excel, the school the children now attend. Finally, we went to Lewa Children's center to visit three girls who are sponsored there. It's a wonderful place for abandoned and neglected children, and the three girls were doing great in the loving environment provided by Mama Phyllis.

On Sunday night and Monday morning we visited Lucy in Nyahururu and were delighted to see her big smile and bubbling personality. We visited her school which is excellent and she can now attend thanks to her sponsor (see photo in her class).

I also was able to see the progress in her wound healing. In 2007 she almost died from a huge gaping sore on the back of her leg, almost as deep as the bone. She had a skin graft and a few months ago some of the "permanent" stitches were removed (there were also some dissolvable ones). The removal caused the wound to reopen, but it's now about the size of a nickel. They can't restitch it, but it is slowly healing and the family puts honey on it daily so bacteria will eat the honey and not eat the flesh. It's been an incredibly rough road for Lucy but she always keeps smiling!

On Tuesday, we visited Shadrack at the Treeside School, a boarding school that serves children with special challenges like those of Shadrack. They told us that Shadrack is well-loved by teachers and classmates and has made a lot of progress. They are trying to help him develop his short-term memory, which has been one of the things he sometimes has a hard time with.

Then we picked up Kitonga and his three children -- Shiro, Samwel, and Maggie -- who rode the bus from Eldoret. These children will now be living with Margaret and going to school at Tenderfeet (for Maggie) and a nearby school that is for older children (the same one where Alice, Faith, and Stephen go). Kitonga wants the best for his children, and has really struggled to take care of them. We believe the new environment gives us the best chance for their future. The kids are wonderful, and it is clear that Kitonga has given them so much love, even though he has had such difficulties.

First Few Days In Kenya

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I've arrived safely and everything is going smoothly. I'm enjoying the warm Kenyan hospitality and staying with Mama Margaret's wonderful family.

Yesterday, we visited the Riruta school location and got to see some familiar faces like Cathy Khulman, Everlyne Nyambura, and Nigel Vetto (pictured right).

We also escorted some of the older children who now are ready for the next level (3rd and 4th grade) to their new school, called Bensese Primary. These children are Faith Wambui, Alice Wanjiru, and Stephen Gichuki (pictured below). All three of these children fled Kibera during the post-election riots. They are adapting to their new environment and we are looking forward to seeing them grow at the next level of their educations.


Then Margaret and I sat down for a few hours and discussed all of the goals and tasks we need to accomplish during our visit. It's going to be a challenge, but we will do our best.

We also went downtown to get some supplies, and one thing I noticed is that it's about 50% farther to get to downtown from Riruta than from Kibera. While downtown, Margaret showed me at the market how much food prices have increased in the past year or two. It's clearly a struggle for families earning a dollar a day to afford staples like rice and beans.

Today (Tuesday), we visited the Kibera school and met some families. I got to see Edwin and his wife Christine, Teacher Karen, and saw familiar faces like Boaz and Winslet for the first time since my arrival.

We spent the afternoon visiting the guardians of Phelix, Wickliff, and Sharon Kwamboka. Each had their own story to tell, and each was tragic in its own way. Wickliff and Sharon are orphans, and Phelix's mother is a widow. Each of these families struggles to survive.

For instance, Sharon's guardians are her grandparents. Her grandfather is bedridden, and her grandmother washes clothes when she can find the work. She maybe can earn 500 shillings per week, about $8 US dollars. They have received assistance from the Tenderfeet orphans fund and Sharon's new sponsor, but even now they are 2 years behind on their rent and get threats from the landlord that they will be kicked out (the rent is about $15 per month). There are four children and two adults sleeping in a 10x10 ft room. Because of Tenderfeet and the child sponsorship program, there is hope for the future for Sharon.

Tomorrow, I am going with Boaz to his eye doctor appointment and running some other errands.

Going to Kenya

I'm leaving for Kenya today, to visit for two weeks. This is a self-funded trip, just as the last one was. No donations were used or will ever be used for any part of my expenses during the visit.

There are many reasons for going, as you can imagine. Here are a few...

• oversight and accountability: making sure funds are used properly and records are in order
• learning: to better serve the children, it is important to see their situations first-hand
• communication: 8,000 miles is a long way, even with internet and telephone; by talking face to face, we can make sure we are on the same page on all the aspects the project
• mutual discipleship: Lahash has a beautiful concept of partnerships based on two-way discipleship, which can take the form of encouragement, prayer, service, sharing ideas, and growing together in faith and love through Jesus Christ
  

Last time I went, I learned a lot, but feel that this time I need to dig much deeper. I will be staying at Mama Margaret's home, so that will help a lot. Last time, I was at a guest house (like a small hotel), and so had to leave the project site in the evenings. Now I will have the chance to talk so much more and discuss many important issues in greater detail.

Thank you to friends and family who have wished me well on this trip, it means a lot to me. I hope to take advantage of the opportunity to the best of my abilities. I'm also hoping to be able to update this blog from time to time if I can get access to the internet once in a while.

I would appreciate your prayers for my wife and two boys while I'm gone.

By the way, here's a slideshow of my last vist in 2007

Kibera: One Year After the Riots

An interesting article was published today about the rebuilding of Kibera one year after the riots following the Kenyan elections in December 2007. You can read the article here.

According to Margaret, tensions in Kibera still remain. She does not feel safe visiting certain parts of the slum because ethnic hostility is present and noticeable in these areas.

Nevertheless, it's remarkable that the situation didn't spiral out of control more than it did. Yes, it was terrible, but there was a fear one year ago that there was no end in sight. Fortunately, as the article points out, as soon as the two political leaders struck a power-sharing deal, peace returned to Kenya.

One Dollar A Day

Edwin Angote, the Lahash representative for East Africa, has a good post on the Lahash blog about the opening of Tenderfeet. Please read it here.

I came across a superb documentary from the BBC on what it means to live on a dollar a day in Kenya. The web page for the documentary is here, and the MP3 file is here. A related article is here. The documentary was made in 2005 -- but is still very relevant and timely.

Although the documentary focuses on a rural area in western Kenya, rather than the urban life in Nairobi where Tenderfeet kids live (see photo), it still gives tremendous insight into the real people facing extreme poverty.

As you listen, please notice how these victims of poverty are articulate, hard-working, and extremely concerned about the wellbeing of their families. This has also been my experience.

Regarding developmental programs and foreign aid, overall these things are a positive for people. Hospitals, schools, and public transportation are available that would not be without the investment of foreign aid. And poor people do sometimes go to the doctor, have kids that get educated, and are able to get back and forth to work.

However, all these things cost money, and often are such a financial burden that it can be an incredible struggle to eat three meals a day with the money left over.

In other words, foreign aid can and does improve life for the country as a whole, but the individual poor families often suffer as they fall in between the cracks.

What level of responsibility do these families have for the circumstances they find themselves in?

For instance, do I wish parents would choose to have fewer children so that they could better support the ones they have? Absolutely. Do I think every parent or guardian of a Tenderfeet child always makes good decisions for the long term? Of course not (although I would also ask -- what parent anywhere doesn't sometimes make bad decisions?).

About the role of adults in making decisions, two points can be made. First, the children are innocent of the decisions made by their parents. Second, the best way to ensure the children will make better decisions when they grow up is to educate them.

Finally, based on what I've seen and learned, I believe that for most people living in extreme poverty (at least in Kenya), no matter how hard they work or how clever they are, they are still essentially trapped. The opportunity to achieve one's dreams we see in the United States and other industrialized nations is just not there. The barriers are way too high for the vast majority.

But we still keep working to change all that at Tenderfeet, and education is a great place to focus in attacking the problem.

Lucy in 2009

One of my favorite young people in Kenya is 12 year old Lucy Muchoki (pictured here during my visit in 2007). Lucy is not a student of Tenderfeet, and instead we came to know her through the project Lahash had in Eldoret, Kenya.

Lucy has had a difficult life, a lot of it due to being paralyzed from the waist down. She has missed a lot of school because of her health and we were afraid she was going to die a few years ago, when she was in the hospital for over a month. Read more here. Her family was also in terrible danger during the riots but was fortunate to be unharmed and have since relocated to Nyahururu.

Despite all the challenges she's faced, she is a fun-loving, sweet, and happy child. Thanks to some kind friends that have helped with the school fees, Lucy has been able to attend a very good school this past year in Nyahururu. Some of these same friends have sponsored her wheelchair and have been there finacially to help her to get critical medical care.

I spoke with Lucy today on the phone and she is excited and ready for the new school year to start on Thursday. She tells me her favorite subject is math and her least favorite subject is Swahili. Lucy got to spend Christmas with relatives in Nairobi and was thankful for that.

She is making good progress in school and works hard to improve. It's been tough because of all the school she missed in the past, but her wonderful spirit keeps her always moving forward.

I'm looking forward to visiting Lucy and so many of the other great kids in our program. I'll be visiting in a few weeks and will certainly be posting new photos when I get back.

Happy New Year from Tenderfeet

The new school year begins in a few weeks and it is an incredibly hectic time for families across Kenya. School supplies and uniforms are often purchased now, and children are moving to the next level of their education. Some are leaving pre-primary going to primary and some are going to secondary.

We are so grateful to our donors who are assisting many needy children with school supplies and uniforms.

Speaking of uniforms, for many of us not growing up in the Kenyan system, the national school uniform requirement (tracing back to the British Colonial days) seems like a harsh and unnecessary burden to families. Every school is expected to require their students, no matter how poor, to buy a matching uniform with good quality black shoes (leather if possible). See picture to the right of two Tenderfeet girls in their uniforms (Happy and Yvonne).

On a personal note, I would be thrilled if kids weren't required to wear uniforms. School uniforms have been a neverending source of frustration from day one. Compared to sandals and second-hand clothes, which can be bought very cheaply in Kenya, a uniform is a major expense to poor famlies. For families with more than one child, the cost of uniforms can be as much as a month's wages!

But I have come to understand that the uniform is a deeply ingrained part of Kenyan culture that we have to live with. Although most schools for poor children, such as Tenderfeet, tend to look the other way when it comes to uniforms, such a situation is frowned upon. More strict schools -- such as those attended by former Tenderfeet kids still receiving assistance -- will send a child home if not wearing a uniform.

I am also mindful that to Kenyan children, a uniform (in decent condition) is a source of pride, reflecting the great importance Kenyans place on education. Kenyans also value modesty and tend to dress much more formally than people in many other countries. Sadly, for most poor children that do have uniforms, their uniforms are so tattered and threadbare that it becomes instead a source of embarrasment. So I try to remember this situation when I think about school uniforms.

Those that gave to the Christmas fund for school kits are doing a great service to deserving children. It's not too late to help out with uniforms, you can donate here. Be sure to specify Tenderfeet and uniforms on the donation screen.


Shadrack recently had a nasty eye infection, but thanks to the Tenderfeet Emergency fund, we were able to get medication and treatment for it.

He has now recovered completely and will be going back to the Treeside school, thanks to his sponsor, Corby's Castle.

By the way, Shadrack is wearing the T-shirt Brittany sent him last year. Brittany has been a special friend to Tenderfeet for a long time, and still helps through the Ten for Tenderfeet program.

In other news, we are glad to have new sponsor for one of Tenderfeet's neediest children, Sharon Kwamboka. Our new sponsor is named Kevin and he lives in Toronto, Canada.

Sharon is a six-year old orphan girl who lives with her grandparents. Her grandfather is in poor health and often bedridden. The photo to the right is of Sharon and her grandfather picking up some food supplies (rice and beans) made possible through the Tenderfeet Orphans Fund. Her grandmother works whenever she can find a small job, usually washing clothes.

Sharon has been attending Tenderfeet in Kibera since the beginning of 2006. Like many Tenderfeet children, she is a victim of AIDS, which claimed the life of her mother when Sharon was very small. Fortunately, Sharon tested negative when she took the HIV test.

Thanks to the child sponsorship program, Sharon will receive assistance with food, shelter, and educational needs. The Tenderfeet sponsorship team works with each family to ensure the child is helped in the most effective way possible.

We are still looking for sponsors for some of the other especially needy children of Tenderfeet. Please visit this page for more information.