Peace Corps Volunteers were hosted by several families in Nairobi for Thanksgiving. I was assigned to a fantastic family. They both work for USAID and she served in the Peace Corps, here in Kenya. It was fun to hear stories about what it used to be like. Boy has things changed, mostly in the area of security.
I had my own room, with a bath (including the porcelain toilet), an incredible bed with clean sheets, and a balcony over looking a huge backyard. I was able to wash my clothes in a machine! That was a first in Kenya. They even had a dryer. I either gained a lot of weight over the holidays or the dryer shrunk my clothes.
A large group of PCV met at a campsite hostel after Thanksgiving. It was the first time many of us had gotten together since moving to our sites, so the stories and comparisons were a lot of fun. Some people have all the amenities. Some have no real job and are getting bored, and some are considering leaving early. Many are going home for Christmas and a group of us are heading for the coast. It was really wonderful seeing everyone. We are getting togehter again for a training in Nairobi in a few weeks, so we’ll get to share some more Holiday Cheer before Christmas.
I left the group early to attend the funeral of Father Angelo D’Ag0stino. He was an incredible man who opened the first orphanage for HIV positive children. His work brought tears to my eyes. I visited Nyumbani in Karen and couldn’t believe the organization of 95 HIV+ children. They live in houses like a real family. They have house mothers and brothers and sisters. The staff knows every ones name. They have toys, clothes, and shoes. Each house has a TV. It was amazing. There is a playground with swings, teeter-totters, slides, monkey bars. The kids are so clean and well cared for. You can feel the love in the air. I’m serious. It was so amazing I wanted to move in.
I was given a tour of the grounds. We walked pass the garden to a fences off area where they have a small cemetery. The hideous truth of reality sat in and I was grateful for all my healthy children. It’s like the guy who complained of having no shoes until he met a man with no feet.
I can only hope that the work Father D’Agostino started will continue. His funeral was attended by President Kibaki and First Lady Lucy. The church was packed with people standing outside. The children of Nyumbani sang songs, performed dances, and read poems they had written. When he died thousands of children endured the loss of yet another parent. His newest home in Kitui opened the day after his funeral. It’s is a new approach to helping the guardian continue to raise the child. Often the Grandmother can not afford to keep the children, Nyumbani in Kitui is to house over 1000 residents and they will be taking in the Grandmother! Isn’t that incredible? Please read about it on their work at http://www.nyumbani.org/village_need.htm and don’t miss the incredible outreach program Lea Toto link. I believe this is the only real logical approach to raising a generation of orphans. It fits into the Kenyan culture much better than institutions.
After the funeral I stayed the night with a new friend, Melinda Wheeler. She is the Kenya Country Director for HOPE Worldwide. She volunteered in Somalia two and a half years before coming to Kenya. She recently married a man from Ethiopia. He is a widower and has a precious little six year old girl. They recently moved the child here to live with them in Kenya. She is learning English and slowly adapting to a different life. She invited me to a tea party. She was so cute serving imaginary tea to me and her doll guests.
I was gone so long from Cura that I began to miss it. I wanted to come home to see my own children. School is out of session, so half of them are visiting their guardians. It’s very important that they maintain relationships with their aging Grandparents. It is through them that they will inherit property. (Well, at least the boys will inherit). I came home to find twenty children had missed me too.
Close your eyes and imagine trying to get through them and unlocking my front door. Lucky for me I brought back sweets (never pass up an opportunity to teach good dental hygiene). I tried to lure them away from the door, but it was useless. I started in on my favorite front door chant, “Back Up, Back Up”. I don’t think they really understand it, but they know it means -- MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!
After the candy was gone I put the kids to work carrying my water. I had to laugh when little Margrate came through with a spilling bucket of water shouting, “BACK UP, BACK UP”
Home Sweet Home
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Here are a few links and some information on Father D’Agostino.
www.nyumbani.org/
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/22/BAGCJMHQNF1.DTL
One of the incredible things Father did was fight to get education for HIV positive children. Class 1 though 8 is now free for all children in Kenya. I am told he has 100 acres of land in each province and plans to create Nyumbani towns in each of them.
This is a posted transcript of a CNN broadcast aired January 1, 2004 http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0401/01/i_if.01.html
GLADYS NJOROGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here are orphans HIV- positive and now caught in the middle of an elementary school court case. Almost all of the potential students in the Nyumbani Children's Home in Nairobi raised their hands when asked how many of them want to go to public schools."They refused us admission, because we have AIDS," says this 7-year- old. Even though what it fully means to have the disease is somewhat of a puzzle. Nevertheless, informal classes go on at the home, even as those old enough going to find a place in public school.
FATHER ANGELO D'AGOSTINO, FOUNDER, NYUMBANI CHILDREN'S HOME: We have three who have gone in without them being identified as Nuymbani. When that happens, of course, they are able to get in. But as soon as they're identified as coming from Nyumbani and therefore being HIV-positive, that's when we run into a problem.
NJOROGE: Prompted by this, the home's Catholic founder took the government to court this week with, as the lawyer puts it, the demands that:
ABABU NAMWAMBA, LAWYER: And we've got (UNINTELLIGIBLE) who should be in school today, but they are not in school because they're living with HIV/AIDS (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
NJOROGE: Within hours of the court case hearing, four students were placed in the public schools that had (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for the last 10 years. The school's principal, who declined to appear on camera, maintains (UNINTELLIGIBLE) discrimination, there was just no room. And the home couldn't afford private schools for them either, so they just have to stay at home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Money (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and every (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and nothing (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we are spending a lot of money for (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
NJOROGE: Half of the 93 children depend on a daily dose of those ARVs (ph) until (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and getting as many of them to public schools would (UNINTELLIGIBLE) therefore lengthening their lives. But until that happens, these children have to continue to fight the war to win society's acceptance. Gladys Njoroge for INSIDE AFRICA, Nairobi.
