 |
Expanding Opportunities April 2006 Newsletter http://www.exop.org - info@expandingopportunities.org |
Table of Contents
Hello Everyone,April started off with a flurry of activity with all the North American volunteers except for Jesse and Saima going back to the states. We made a trip to Nairobi to see everyone off, then returned to the Joseph Waweru Home School. Since then things have been pleasantly quiet, and we've been slowly working away on our various projects. Here's an account of our progress.
Gardens
Corn and beans in our garden
Kenya contains so many more plants than you ever would guess if you only came here during the dry season. When we arrived in January, everything was dead. Our compound looked like a desert, as did most of the country. But now that the rain has come, things are sprouting faster than you'd believe.
One of the primary dishes of the people of the Kikuyu tribe, with whom we live, is a mix of beans and corn called githeri. Since this dish dominates meals, it must also dominate the fields. The whole town of Mangu has been busy in the last month planting and tending these crops, and we're no exception. On our one-acre compound, almost every space that doesn't have a building on it has been planted. About half of our plants are corn and beans, and the other half is mostly greens such as spinach, kale and cabbage. We've also planted tomatoes, along with a few novelties that volunteers brought from the states such as basil and sunflowers.
Although it's raining now, the dry season will one day be on us again. In an effort to keep cultivating the compound, we're setting up a drip irrigation system. We'll have platforms built to hold several large water tanks, and the water from these tanks will run into a perforated hose and then gently drip onto plants. We've purchased the necessary materials, and are now slowly working on punching holes all the way along the hoses.
Corn and beans in our garden
One of the primary dishes of the people of the Kikuyu tribe, with whom we live, is a mix of beans and corn called githeri. Since this dish dominates meals, it must also dominate the fields. The whole town of Mangu has been busy in the last month planting and tending these crops, and we're no exception. On our one-acre compound, almost every space that doesn't have a building on it has been planted. About half of our plants are corn and beans, and the other half is mostly greens such as spinach, kale and cabbage. We've also planted tomatoes, along with a few novelties that volunteers brought from the states such as basil and sunflowers.
Although it's raining now, the dry season will one day be on us again. In an effort to keep cultivating the compound, we're setting up a drip irrigation system. We'll have platforms built to hold several large water tanks, and the water from these tanks will run into a perforated hose and then gently drip onto plants. We've purchased the necessary materials, and are now slowly working on punching holes all the way along the hoses.
Our New Employee
Mwangi poses at the JWHS
Expanding Opportunities (Exop) has recently welcomed back an old friend. Mwangi Waweru, son to the Joseph Waweru Home School's caretakers, Pastor and Mama Mwangi, has been a part of the organization since it started. Now he's been given an official position and come to live at the JWHS. Bev Stone, Exop's executive director, is only in Kenya for three months of every year, which is not enough time for her to pursue all the projects that the organization could undertake. But now, with Mwangi around the other nine months of the year, the organization should be able to tackle a lot more.
One of Mwangi's primary tasks while he's here will be to help forge connections with similar groups across the country. The Rabondo Community Improvement Project is one such group. In January, Bev and some of Exop's volunteers went to Rabondo to meet with Timon Bondo; the group's executive director. Timon has built a primary school and a secondary school in Rabondo, and, like Exop, he has hopes of eventually creating a distance learning center. Mwangi will try to work with Timon to ensure that both groups are successful. It's Mwangi's goal that projects such as a distance learning center could eventually raise money for Exop, in addition to being valuable to the community. Then eventually, "Expanding Opportunities can stand on it own; generate its own income and sustain itself," Mwangi says.
Perhaps the most important task Mwangi has taken on, though, is to help the boys living at the JWHS. He wants to remind them of where they came from, and what they should work towards. "You might bring in kids, give them a home, give them school. You feed them. But if they don't realize why you are doing this to their lives, it is useless. You need to put into their minds that this opportunity that has been given to them is to develop themselves: to make themselves useful in society."
Like many American teenagers, the boys' school reports are full of comments about how much potential they have, and how much better they would perform if they would just apply themselves to their work. So, Mwangi has taken on the task of helping the boys learn to study, and to be responsible for their own work. Each week, he will sit down with the boys to ensure their school work is going well, and address any problems that arise. "If someone is failing," he says, "there is something wrong, something to be taken care of."
One day, Mwangi hopes, a young man will come up to him and say, "Mwangi, remember me? You helped me learn, you fed me, you took care of me. I am working now." And that, he says, is the ultimate goal of Expanding Opportunities.
Mwangi poses at the JWHS
One of Mwangi's primary tasks while he's here will be to help forge connections with similar groups across the country. The Rabondo Community Improvement Project is one such group. In January, Bev and some of Exop's volunteers went to Rabondo to meet with Timon Bondo; the group's executive director. Timon has built a primary school and a secondary school in Rabondo, and, like Exop, he has hopes of eventually creating a distance learning center. Mwangi will try to work with Timon to ensure that both groups are successful. It's Mwangi's goal that projects such as a distance learning center could eventually raise money for Exop, in addition to being valuable to the community. Then eventually, "Expanding Opportunities can stand on it own; generate its own income and sustain itself," Mwangi says.
Perhaps the most important task Mwangi has taken on, though, is to help the boys living at the JWHS. He wants to remind them of where they came from, and what they should work towards. "You might bring in kids, give them a home, give them school. You feed them. But if they don't realize why you are doing this to their lives, it is useless. You need to put into their minds that this opportunity that has been given to them is to develop themselves: to make themselves useful in society."
Like many American teenagers, the boys' school reports are full of comments about how much potential they have, and how much better they would perform if they would just apply themselves to their work. So, Mwangi has taken on the task of helping the boys learn to study, and to be responsible for their own work. Each week, he will sit down with the boys to ensure their school work is going well, and address any problems that arise. "If someone is failing," he says, "there is something wrong, something to be taken care of."
One day, Mwangi hopes, a young man will come up to him and say, "Mwangi, remember me? You helped me learn, you fed me, you took care of me. I am working now." And that, he says, is the ultimate goal of Expanding Opportunities.
News On Job
Job at the JWHS
Since Bev has gone back to the states, Mwangi and an Exop volunteer named Karanja have been overseeing the care of Job: a nine year old orphan inflicted with HIV, TB and several minor ailments. Job has been doing well in the last month, since he started getting proper medical care. Exop has found a member of his family who is willing to act as a caretaker, and she is now living with Job in a house that his mother left him when she died.
Mwangi and Karanja have found a school at which Job should feel very much at home. The school has several other children in similar situations, and so, as Mwangi says, "when they [the teachers] see him, they won't see a different person." He and Karanja will travel to the school sometime before the students return from their spring break to ensure that Job has all the supplies he needs, and that the teachers and the school's principal have all the information they need to make sure Job is at home.
Everyone at Expanding Opportunities is quite relieved that the organization has found a donor willing to give the $150 per month that's necessary to supply Job with medicine and food, and to support his caretaker. Job's doctor says that, with the medical care that this money can supply, Job could live to be twenty years old. By that time, maybe AIDS research will have provided better treatments that can continue to help him, and if not, Job will have had the opportunity to enjoy a childhood. Thank you so much to the person who has made this possible. The organization now needs to work on raising the money for all the one-time expenses that are necessary in setting Job up in his new home. He needs clothes and blankets and a school uniform, and the house must be furnished. Any donations are welcome, no matter how small!
Job at the JWHS
Mwangi and Karanja have found a school at which Job should feel very much at home. The school has several other children in similar situations, and so, as Mwangi says, "when they [the teachers] see him, they won't see a different person." He and Karanja will travel to the school sometime before the students return from their spring break to ensure that Job has all the supplies he needs, and that the teachers and the school's principal have all the information they need to make sure Job is at home.
Everyone at Expanding Opportunities is quite relieved that the organization has found a donor willing to give the $150 per month that's necessary to supply Job with medicine and food, and to support his caretaker. Job's doctor says that, with the medical care that this money can supply, Job could live to be twenty years old. By that time, maybe AIDS research will have provided better treatments that can continue to help him, and if not, Job will have had the opportunity to enjoy a childhood. Thank you so much to the person who has made this possible. The organization now needs to work on raising the money for all the one-time expenses that are necessary in setting Job up in his new home. He needs clothes and blankets and a school uniform, and the house must be furnished. Any donations are welcome, no matter how small!
News on Brian
Brian looking very cute
Brian is the Joseph Waweru Home School's newest addition. This two year old, whom the JWHS adopted in March, is fitting in to his new home well. He enjoys the attention that his older "brothers" and the volunteers give him, and relishes all the new experiences that the JWHS brings. He's also amazed by the plethora of new foods available to him. When he first ate a mango, he said to Pastor Waweru, "Do you know this is very sweet?" Pastor found this very funny.
Brian looking very cute
Feeding Program
Last month, we mentioned that Sammy Waithaka, a Kericho resident, had plans to expanding the feeding program there to include clothing as well as meals. This month, he took all the boys to get new clothes instead of a meal for one week, meaning that they now all have an extra pair of clothing. This should help them improve their personal sanitation considerably.
Sammy is continuing to work towards giving these street boys work cleaning up the city in which they live. He's currently gauging the interest of the boys and the local government, and hopes to come to an agreement soon. This would give the street boys a valuable opportunity to be useful to their community, develop a sense of responsibility, and give them something to occupy their time in a productive way. Sammy hopes that it could also provide them with experience which some day will help them to find a permanent job.
Last month, we mentioned that Sammy Waithaka, a Kericho resident, had plans to expanding the feeding program there to include clothing as well as meals. This month, he took all the boys to get new clothes instead of a meal for one week, meaning that they now all have an extra pair of clothing. This should help them improve their personal sanitation considerably.
Sammy is continuing to work towards giving these street boys work cleaning up the city in which they live. He's currently gauging the interest of the boys and the local government, and hopes to come to an agreement soon. This would give the street boys a valuable opportunity to be useful to their community, develop a sense of responsibility, and give them something to occupy their time in a productive way. Sammy hopes that it could also provide them with experience which some day will help them to find a permanent job.
The Boys
Collins playing soccer
The month of April is a break from school for Kenyans, so the boys at the JWHS have been home, relaxing for a small holiday. Or, so they hoped. With the rains here and the gardens overflowing with weeds, they boys have been busily working away on the grounds of the compound. In addition, four of the boys that are nearing the end of their primary education (and the associated Kenya-wide exam that follows) have been back at school in the past week, reviewing material and getting a head-start on the school work before classes begin again in early May.
All this work has done little to dampen their spirits. These boys, like most Kenyans, are used to putting in a full day's work while still enjoying themselves. They chat and laugh with each other and the volunteers while weeding furiously, making the time fly by. Collins, one of our oldest kids, has also had a chance to play soccer with their school team over the break, something he enjoyed very much. Still, when asked if he's happy to be returning to school next week, Langi, another of our boys, answered, "Yes!" When asked if school was easier than all the work in the garden, he smiled and nodded sheepishly.
Collins playing soccer
All this work has done little to dampen their spirits. These boys, like most Kenyans, are used to putting in a full day's work while still enjoying themselves. They chat and laugh with each other and the volunteers while weeding furiously, making the time fly by. Collins, one of our oldest kids, has also had a chance to play soccer with their school team over the break, something he enjoyed very much. Still, when asked if he's happy to be returning to school next week, Langi, another of our boys, answered, "Yes!" When asked if school was easier than all the work in the garden, he smiled and nodded sheepishly.
