Junior ambassadors

On Wednesday I took 8 kids from Nyumbani and Rosalia to the US Embassy for the day. The kids were the ones with the highest academic scores for the last term, they ranged in age from 8-13. We picked Rosalia up the afternoon before in Kibera and she spent the night here at Nyumbani. We briefed them all the night before aboout what to expect. Some of them, when they heard American Embassy thought they were going to America!
They all had a great time starting with the security clearance procedure. They had never been wanded before or searched! I don't have pictures because you can't take cameras there. Their eyes were so big, we went first to the main lobby of the embassy where we were greeted by the cultural affairs and educational affairs attaches. They're the ones I report to, and have been so supportive of me. They loved the idea of bringing my Fulbright work right to the embassy. The kids were of course most enamoured by the bathroom, automatic flush toilets and motion sensor water! There were lots of bathroom visits, even had to send Justus the cultural attache after the boys when we heard they were playing with the spray in the boys room! Kids are the same all over.
The ambassador came down and spent about a half hour with the kids, he really enjoyed meeting them. The kids were charming and inquisitive and very well behaved. They took a picture of all of us, hopefully they will email it to me and I will post it. We had tea, watched a video about PEPFAR which the kids actually enjoyed and learned from. Then they played outside for awhile, needed to run off some energy. People were coming down and talking to us, commenting how you never see children there and how wonderful it was. Everyone was warm and welcoming. We then headed across the compound to the USAID building where we met the PEPFAR staff and people from USAID. The kids each said their name, age, what they want to be when they grow up and "thanks for the medicine." This is where all their ARVS come from. (We had talked here about how important it is for the kids to realize how hard people work to get them their meds, they don't just magically show up.) The staff was so touched, saying how they are so buried in paperwork and budgets, it meant so much to see children whose lives they had literally saved by their work. Soon the boys were wearing the mens' suitcoats, kids were sitting at desks playing with computers, making copies of their hands on the copiers. It was actually great fun. Then, the head of PEPFAR, Buck Buckingham, sat down with all of them sitting on the floor at his feet, and told them that he too is HIV+ and has taken "dawa" (medicine) for 18 years. He told them if they always take their dawa, take care of themselves, do well in school and work hard they can live a long healthy life. You could see in their faces what his words meant. I don't think they will ever forget it.
For lunch we had chicken and mashed potatoes!!! How did they know that's my favorite?! We all headed home with lots to think about, well fed, and for me very proud to be American.
On a sadder more frustrating note: Kennady is not doing well. He has been here for 8 months, has been on ARVS for all that time and his CD4 count is 35 and his weight is actually going down. He's withdrawn, has a bad pneumonia. We couldn't get an IV in so his meds are by injections. he has no fat or muscle, the needle hits bone. It makes me want to throw up when I do it, and he's screaming in pain. He is losing his will to live because he knows he is losing the battle. I think his body was just so damaged by the years of unchecked virus and severe malnutrition. I don't know what the answer is here. I fight for him when I can but it's the Kenyans call. Margaret all over again.
Stay safe Officer Tim, xoxoxo Little boy