June 28, 2002
Nairobi, Kenya
hi everyone. here is my update...
Life here has been moving slowly, but the days pass quickly. I've just come
from LTK yesterday, so my body is tired from the roads. Half of the drive is on
dirt and rocks and dust. The earth becomes a fine sand or clay so that you can
easily get stuck in it and many times we get off the road because driving
off-road is safer then the road itself. God has been good to me and kept me
safe and he has also been showing me many things. I just wanted to tell you all
a little of what I am doing.
Most of my time has been spent in Loitokitok (LTK), on the southern boarder of Kenya. It is right at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro and I wake up to the roosters crowing and the cows mooing every morning. Because the mountain is so close it makes the place cooler and I wear my coat and knitted hat every day to keep warm. The days are often filled with random assignments and duties. There are about 50 girls living and schooling within the compound. The kids wake up early to do chores and prepare for classes. They spend so much time studying. The girls are so amazing and I wish you could see them. Each child has a sponsor, who pays I think 30 dollars a month to take care of the child. Its amazing to see the other side, having sponsored a child thru World Vision in the past, it is so different to be with the kids. They become so much more real, as I see the daily joys and struggles they go through.
I have been getting to know the girls better and each one has their own story. Some of the kids have no parents, and others have parents that can not afford to take care of them. There is one little girl to came to HCI when she was 4 years old. She just came up and knocked on the door and said, I want to learn. She is 6 now, always full of energy and a smile is always found on her face. Besides going to classes, the girls also have clubs, and each day they do different things such as singing and debating.
This past week has been a big struggle for many of us. Almost 10 girls have gotten sick with different illnesses and it is really making the kids stressed. I’ve just come from Nairobi yesterday to bring Kasave, a 12 yr. old girl, to the hospital here for appendix surgery. There is a hospital in LTK but it is not the best, and most of you would be afraid to go there yourself. Since my arrival I have spent a lot of time taking care of medical needs for the kids, and both the kids and I question the hospital. Last week was the 'Day of the African Child' and to celebrate we took all the girls into the market and the hospital and had them pick up rubbish.. (Many girls got their fingers pricked with needles while at the hospital.... so sanitary and safe wouldn’t you think?)
We have power in LTK, but it is not safe to use except for a few hours in the evening. The city turns the water on twice a week if we are lucky, and we fill up all the containers we can. When we run out of water we have 1 km. to go to the hospital and carry the water on our backs. The organization has many needs, one being a car for LTK. It is so hard to carry a sick child to the hospital, or even when we need to go to the market to buy food or to fetch water. It is also very much agreed upon that the girls need to have a "mom and dad"; a couple to come and be parents to the kids. Volunteers come and go, but they need a stable role model. The girls need someone they can open up with, so they can start dealing with their past. There is a counselor, but she is also a teacher and there is such a cultural barrier between teachers and students. So those are a few of the things you can be praying for.
My Birthday - I had a great celebration with the girls. Kenyan tradition is to 'wash' the person, so they threw buckets of water on me all day. I was so cold and wet. They did not even mind going to the hospital to fetch the water, as long as they could wash me. :). Also I went down to a local farmer and bought and carried back 10 chickens. We then killed, cleaned and cooked them for the girls to eat. It took so much time to make that much chicken, but it was a real treat for the girls. Because of the cost, they had not eaten chicken since Christmas. I also kept it a surprise, and the girls thought that I was going to eat all of them by myself, ugh... I’d be sick from eating so much. The food is good though and I cook a lot. We have bread and chai (tea with milk) every morning and the milk is straight from the cow.
Right now I’m in Nairobi and making preparations for my trip to Congo. After I’m through with this letter I go to get my transit Visa’s for Uganda and Rwanda. I will probably stay for a few days in Uganda while waiting for my escort to join me. I am excited to see this country I’ve heard so much about, and to bring you news on this place where my heart is.
Well, I should be on my way, but please email me any and
all questions so that I better keep you in touch with my work and experiences.
Much love and many thoughts,
Sarah.