Jukumo Letu

That's the name of the daycare center. It means "Our Responsibility." It was started by one of the Kenyan social workers who worked in Lea Toto for Nyumbani. I visited there with Melissa and was so taken by the children and the staff. Since then, because of the long rains they had to leave that space. It was flooded with raw sewage. As disruptive as that was they found a new place that is easier to get to, not so deep into the slum. It has a lot more windows too. No more exams outside! There's no electricity or plumbing, but overall it's better. I went there on Tuesday with my roommate Jody. I finally had a chance to sit down with Caroline to talk about the center. She's an amazing woman, very committed to the kids and the community. She had met with people from the village of Ngong to understand more what their needs were. Most are single mothers, they do what's called "casual labor" working when and where they can find it, selling vegetables crafts etc. A big concern is that they had no place to leave their little children, they either spent the day on their backs, literally or were left alone in the houses for hours. kids as young as 2. So, Caroline decided to open this center with her own funds. When it opened they had only planned on 25 children, there are now 49. People were leaving them at the gate. Eventually they think they will have about 100. Only 12 have been tested, 4 were +. The staff is volunteer. The moms help out one day a month. Caroline was able to fund raise to lease 2 acres of land, they now grow food to sell and for the center. They have also started microfinance projects like soap making, bead work and basket making. Caroline and I drew up some plans for the medical care, I will come at least every other week, probably once a week. I'm developing charts and forms. The docs who come visit me will do exams on the kids so each one has a good baseline exam. I'm going to teach the staff classes on hygeine, care of the ill child, care of the + child. They in turn will lead classes for the parents. When Dr. George comes back in late September he can take over the medical care, hopefully when I leave in November we'll have a system in place so there will always be coverage. So many of these kids never get medical care. With all our committment and everyone's generosity (and would it be awesome if my niece Tess could come paint the walls!) some nutritional guidance/help from Ammen's Stephanie, this will be a sustainable program. More lives saved.