Tragedy in the Village

This morning I received word that 2 of the children in the Village drowned. It had finally been raining there and they were playing in a sand dam and drowned. I talked to Nicholas but the connection was poor and I didn't get any details. He sounds terrible, and since he always takes responsibility for everything I know this is hitting him very hard. It's a lonely job being the chief. This makes me so sad, I can't imagine the pain and the grief of all the families there. The kids are all very close. I'm happy to be home but my heart is there.
I will put more details on the blog when I get them, and more details of my homecoming soon. It's just hard now, as happy as I am being with my family it also feels a little like I'm in the wrong place.

I'm Coming Home

This has been the hardest best thing I've ever done.

Saturday Night

Just had a great good bye dinner at the Rusty Nail,(only here would they celebrate the cause of tetanus) back in time to tuck the D kids into bed. The boys are having a hard time, there were some tears. I reminded them that I promised before I would come back and I did and I will again.
Spent the day in town, last matatu rides, stopped by and said goodbye to Heather and Augustus, the people at the post office, the cyber cafe, the taxi drivers.... everyone who is part of my life here.
Here's 2 funny things: one day my old roommate Keirsten and I were on the matatu to town when I had to tell her that I thought I was hallucinating could she look out the window and confirm what I thought I was seeing. It was real, 4 camels walking down the middle of the road.
When we were leaving the cemetery the other day we saw a big warthog roaming around and eating the flowers off the graves.
24 hours to go.
Stay safe Officer Tim x0x0x0 Little Boy

The Philosophical Entry

Amongst all the frantic running around saying goodbye I’ve actually had time to sit and think about all the things I’ve learned these past 10 months. I learned I could do it. 10 months ago I didn’t know how I could bear to be away from my family and my life. The culture shock of being here again, getting used to how things are, the sheer distance, seemed insurmountable. But I did it. And it wasn’t always easy and fun. I can be on my own. I have the life skills to live independently, even competently, phone issues notwithstanding. But a big part of who I am is the people I love. That’s what makes coming here and leaving here so wrenching. Sunday nights are the hardest, everyone is home with their family and I’m here in my room alone. Then I mention it to a friend here and suddenly I have an invitation every Sunday night for dinner. The kindness of people is to be cherished.
Time offers you all sorts of opportunities. I think of all the relationships I’ve developed, some quite unexpected, and the conversations and things I’ve learned that have resulted. All because the Fulbright gave me time to live here, not just visit here.
I can take being hungry, and dirty, and a curiosity, but it all goes down better if you remember to laugh. And you always need to remember that what is “an experience” for me is their life. I get to get off the matatu and on a plane, they don’t.
The expertise I came with and that I developed is best shared, that is the value of me being here. I can’t live my life knowing I have skills that I keep to myself or for myself. That just seems wrong for me, I don’t want to be the one that does it all, I want to be the one that gives back so they do it all. That’s where the meaning of my education and my opportunities is found for me. Everyday I am thankful for the chance to live what I believe.
I’ve learned that restaurants and cabs are expensive but sometimes you just need them, that they play the Kenyan national anthem at the start of every movie and you all have to stand up, that a hot shower and electricity is a gift not a right, that when you pay by the minute you talk faster, that a backrub lets a child have a more peaceful night sleep, that the American Embassy is home, that 23 year old roommantes are quite fun, that Lamu is like no place on earth, that we are all more alike than different and we all want the same thing: to be safe healthy and happy and to know the truth.
That it’s a thousand times worse to watch a child suffer than to watch a child die.
48 hours to go.
Stay safe Officer Tim xoxoxo Little boy

The Last Little Details

I have been heading all over town, meetings, finishing things up, saying goodbye. It's physically and emotionally exhausting but it also feels good to put an end to some things. Today a friend took me to Ken's grave and I said goodbye. I needed to do that, and it somehow makes leaving easier having done that. We then went to a lovely outdoor restaurant where she treated me to lunch., don't think I'll be eating outside for vere much longer. My favorite taxi driver took me to Kangemi to meet with Nicholas, my great friend and the head of the village and lea toto programs. As usual I arrived before he did so my driver Mike and I went to get a coke and visit for awhile. had to drive forever thorugh the slum down dirt rutted streets crowded with animals and people and music, finally arrived at a place with cold Coke but we had to drink it in the car, no safe place for me to be. Still, we had a lot of laughs and talked about all sorts of stuff. I told him how in the US we could find a Starbucks or a McDonalds just minutes away. He thought that was pretty cool.
Ended the evening with backrubs for all my D boys.
Stay safe Officer Tim xoxoxo Little Boy

The Jukumu Letu Tour Stop

Spent yesterday at the daycare center. My cousin Pete donated enough money to pay for food for the kids for a month! They all shouted a loud Asante Sana to him. They've had 5 new admissions so I was able to do admission exams on them, there are now 52 children under the age of 4 enrolled. 2 of the new kids are sibling girls, 3 1/2 and 1/1/2. Their mother had kept them locked alone in their hut everyday while she looked for work. When she found work it paid about $1 for hours of hard labor. The older child cared for the younger one. Being connected to the daycare will very likely save their lives. Examining them was one of those personal and professional experiences that will alter my heart forever, words can't describe it.
Caroline has done such a fantastic job there, her center is now a cornerstone of the Ngong slum. It has been an honor to have been a part of it.
Today it's a big meeting with PEPFAR staff, picture taking with the D kids. They're clinging tight.
I hope you enjoyed the video, the correct website though is nyumbani.org
More tomorrow.
Stay safe Offficer Tim xoxoxo Little Boy

Kind Moments

Over the weekend we had some very special guests here at Nyumbani. There was a volunteer here in 2002, a young American nurse named Mia. A few days before she was supposed to go home she got malaria. The medicine she took interacted with medicine she was already on and she had a cardiac reaction and died. This past weekend her mom and dad, sister, brother, sister in law and aunt came to visit. They were seeing Nyumbani for the first time, where she lived, the children she cared for, the hospital she was taken to and where she died. They met Protus, who called them at 2 in the morning with the awful news. It was my job to welcome them here and start the visit. It was actually a tearful healing weekend for them, they loved it here and could see why she did. So many of the children remembered her, and shared their memories. We had a very special Sunday Mass where everyone prayed together and felt her spirit here. Sunday night they took all the volunteers and senior staff out to dinner. They left Monday morning more whole they said than when they arrived.
Sunday afternoon I spent with Warren, the former PEPFAR staff from Kericho. He is 32, arrived 5 years ago as a Peace Corp volunteer and is now a well respected member of the international aid force here. He is now with CDC and is in Karen taking a course on international diplomacy and emergency humanitarian relief. (I want to take that course!) Anyway, we have become great friends and he has been a tremendous resource for me. We matatued to the Sunday outdoor Masai market so I could finish up some shopping. He is fluent in Swahili. While we were walking to the market we were approached by 2 young street boys. There are many begging street children by there and it's always so difficult. If you give money to one you are quickly overwhelmed by many. Then there's the questions about whether you should even give money, or should you give food? (I will be relieved to be where just going to the store doesn't involve an ethical dilemma.) Most people, including me,just don't make eye contact and walk on by. It was so touching to watch how Warren dealt with them. They were fitlhy dirty, looked about 8-10 and were brothers. They had walked all the way from Kibera, many miles. He drew them aside, put his arm around them,talked softly to them in Swahili. He told them to watch for us to come out of the market. When we did he again spent time talking to them, and arranged for them to meet us after we had lunch. We went across the street and ate, then he called them over to the parking lot, out of sight of everyone on the street. Again, he spent time talking to them, his arms around them drawing them close. You could see them respond to the attention, to being treated like human children. He then handed them a bag of food he had bought for them and told them to go home and eat it, so they wouldn't have to share it with the other street kids, they could share it with the rest of their family. As we walked back to Ngong Rd to get the matatu they walked ahead of us, their arms around each other.
One thing I have seen here is that the children take care of each other, better than their families or the world take care of them. 5 days to go
Stay safe Officer Tim xoxoxo Little Boy

Video of Village Library Dedication

The Farewell Tour

It’s Sunday night and I’m sitting outside my room in capris and a t shirt. I can only imagine how cold I will be next week. A week from right now I will on the plane waiting to take off. The flight leaves at 10:20 and every night I hear it fly over Nyumbani. I will tell the kids that, and they will know that’s me saying one last goodbye.
It’s been a great week, the start of the farewell tour. I went to the village on Thursday morning, we saw about a dozen giraffe in the wild! Nicholas, the director of the village and a great friend had arranged the official opening of the library. I shelved the last 2 boxes, it looks great, then the kids came in and sang and danced. They all thanked me and the kids from America. The good news is there was a photographer there who took a video and is putting it on my blog, should be up in the next day or 2. Enjoy! I won’t be able to see it until I get home. Later that day we distributed the clothes that Elvehejm School in Madison and Alpha Omega Epsilon had collected and sent. A big asante sana to Ashley who did all the work and got them here. We put them out and let the kids pick, they had never seen such an array and had great fun trying them all on. Later as I walked through the village they were already wearing them. It was hard to say goodbye the next morning, I love walking through there and hearing people call out my name. It is another place I get to call home.
Michael the photographer and Jen the journalist and I matatued back to Nairobi. That was quite an adventure. The Nyumbani driver took us to the road from the village, with numerous stops along the way. He then waited until the matatu came, and negotiated with the driver. After reaching a fair price and assurance that the matatu was indeed going all the way to Nairobi we went to get on. As we crossed the road they opened the tail gate and from a space no bigger than 6” wide out came a goat! At least it got out before we got in. We traveled to the town of Machakos picking up all sorts of people on the way, where we were informed that it was no longer going to Nairobi, we would have to take a bus the rest of the way. We were parked in a crowded open market area, lots of people, music playing, lots of vehicles. The driver led us to a bus and then proceeded to get into a fist fight with another bus driver who wanted us to go on his bus. After it was settled, and we chose the bus without the 70 live chickens tied to the top we were finally on our way. Only to realize that one of the passengers was a preacher who proceeded to preach in a very loud voice for the next hour. We finally made it to Nairobi 3 hours later only to sit in traffic. I pretty much crawled back into Nyumbani! To be greeted with a big hug and kiss from Sammy K. All the Kenyans here were very impressed that I had done it, they tell me that I am a true Kenyan now. All it takes is a long matatu ride and having at least one phone stolen!
More tomorrow, there is a lot more to say.Watch for the video.
Stay safe Officer Tim xoxoxo Little boy

Pictures

For some reason I can't get the text to line up by the pictures... so here is what you are looking at:
Me and Mary's mom
Making mukimu (potatoes, green maize, peas)
Fidelis
Eunice and me on the day she arrived. First mizungu she's ever seen!
Eunice and her new big brother, John

Dwindling Days

Every time I look at the ticker at the top of the blog and see the numbers getting smaller it gives me a jolt. I can’t believe how little time is left but how good it will feel to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner with my family.
I am continuing to wind things up, lots of meetings. Went to the US Embassy for a town hall meeting with the ambassador. It was pretty interesting, he discussed security ( no real improvement,) street crime is still very common but doesn't seemed to be directed at Americans or other foreigners. It's more if you have a nice car, mobile phone etc., the upcoming Kenyan presidential elections (expect sporadic tribal violence but generally free and fair) Americans get an 85% approval rating from Kenyans, but that doesn’t include the current American govt. (no surprise there), American aid accounts for 16% of Kenya’s GDP. He also said about one American a week dies in an MVA here, considering the state of the roads that is really not a surprise either.
My roommate, Kiersten, left at 6 this morning. It was hard to see her go, as crowded as the room gets all my roommates have become great friends. It’s one of the best things about volunteering at Nyumbani, you meet all kinds of people you never would have the opportunity to befriend at home. All the young ones provide invaluable computer help.
I spent 3 days watching 16 month old Augustus, it was great fun. He is a great kid and reminds me a lot of Jack.
On a sadder note we have lost 13 children in the past 3 weeks in the Lea Toto clinics. HIV continues to take a terrible toll on the children in the slums. We have almost 3000 children we care for but only about 800 are on ARVS. TB is also a big problem and adds to the mortality rate, especially for + kids. Sometimes the unfairness of life is unbearable.
A few weeks ago I went upcountry with a friend and her husband. I met Mary, a retired counselor, on the city bus. They took me to meet her mother, who is in her 80’s and still lives alone in a little farm on the side of a really big hill. From the top of the hill I could see Mt. Kenya! All her neighbors came to greet me and they made me a wonderful lunch. They killed a chicken and cooked it, taught me how to make mukimo, and oohed over the pictures of my family that I brought. I had brought her some lotions and fancy soap which she proudly displayed for everyone They spoke very little English but with Mary translating and lots of sign language we had quite a great time. I asked her mom how she got water, food etc because it’s really a long hike up. She said that she depends on neighbors because she has pain in her knees and can no longer go down the hill. So she’s pretty much confined to her farm which is very isolating. I asked if she had seen a doctor and they all laughed and said the nearest doctor is many many hours away and nobody can afford to go. I also had some Advil with me and figuring she had arthritis I gave it to her and told her how to take it. I spoke with Mary the other day and she said her mom was delighted, the pain in her knees was gone and she could now go up and down the hill!! A simple cheap intervention and it changed a life. Mary said if I ever go back there the line to see me will be up and down the hill!
I am going to the Village on Wednesday for 3 days to finish up there, officially open the library and bring 2 big boxes of clothes donated by one of the Madison schools and a UW sorority. The kids are going to love those. They wear their school uniforms all the time because they don’t really have anything else. There are now 208 children living there, 130 on a waiting list. They are getting ready to build 50 more houses. It’s a hard drive to get there but Nyumbani has the best drivers, no worries.
Elizabeth is going to post pictures for me tomorrow, you'll see new D girls!
Counting down.
Stay safe Officer Tim xoxoxo Little Boy