Feeding Program

Sammy is still working with the street boys in Kericho. He's assisted Eugene Lugao and David Onsare, the two boys who wanted to go home last month, in returning to their parents. One of the boy's parents was actually looking for him, and was delighted to have him back.

A third boy, Robert Kiplangat, who is a local of Kericho, has also returned to his family. His mother says that Robert left his home of his own accord, never having liked his school or his family life. She thinks that Robert has now reformed and is willing to be part of the family, and for that she's quite glad. Sammy is helping Robert to start a business selling plastic bags, from which he'll hopefully be able to make enough to support himself.

Two more boys have shown interest in returning home. Both have parents who are far away from Kericho, so this month Sammy will have to spend some time travelling to see their parents and find out how they feel about taking the boys back.

Aina Moja

When we return to the United States, we'll be bringing with us boxes of crafts to be sold via Aina Moja: Expanding Opportunities' website dealing in African art. Check out the website at www.ainamoja.com! There will soon be many new earrings, blankets, sculptures and greeting cards.

The Boys

We've set the boys up with a communal email address, and they've been enjoying communicating with people back in the United States. Everything related to computers is new to them, and they enjoy even the simplest parts of the process, like moving the mouse and typing their letters. Besides providing practice using technology, this project has also encouraged them to improve their English writing skills. We've all been having a lot of fun with it.

The boys had a long weekend this month because an agricultural show was in town, and their teachers wanted all students to have time to go to the show. The boys came back raving about the gigantic cabbages and spinach that was half as tall as they were. At home, they've also been gaining practical agricultural knowledge. The harvest season is starting, and the boys are busy shelling beans and peas and picking greens.

Our Parting Thoughts

People talk about darkest Africa. We went to brightest Africa. When we left in January for our six month volunteering stint with Expanding Opportunities, we didn't expect Kenya's consistently and exhaustingly bright days. We'd had conversations with the Brooks, Maine-based organization's director, Bev Stone, in which she tried to prepare us for the journey to her organization's orphanage, both in terms of cultural and environmental aspects. But nothing she could have said would have simulated being there. Likewise, we cannot describe in writing the subtleties of the things we've seen and the lessons we've learned. Some things you just have to experience for yourself to understand. But we'd like to relay a few of the issues that have been on our minds lately as we've been thinking about coming back to the United States, and the adjustments it will entail.


Culture brainwashes.

Before coming to Kenya, we'd both had some experiences with people from different cultures, mostly because our universities are flooded with international students. But we'd never had real trouble communicating - there were occasional funny moments, but they would pass.

Here has been vastly different. Whether it's because the Kenyan culture is unusually foreign or because of the length of time we've been in the middle of it, there have been several occasions when we just had to give up trying to talk to the locals. It's shocking that being raised in a different culture can make the absurd (to us) seem obviously correct (to others).

Everyone is a product of their culture's brainwashing, which is something we "knew" before, but now it's real. The environment you grow up in has an profound, and probably indelible, effect on who you are. This has made us give thought to how we see the world, and whether our views have intrinsic value, or if they're just the current trend.


Racism is alive and well.

People here believe that if you have white skin, you are rich beyond dreams. On the street, we're asked daily for money. Not just from beggars and street kids; often from someone just passing by that notices we're white. Even more disheartening is that every one of our friends here has, at one point or another, asked us for something. A backpack, a laptop, a flashlight, a ticket to the USA, anything.

On the one hand, it's hard to blame them; we do have these things, and they don't. On top of that, Kenya has a culture of sharing. For example, when we engage in the North American custom of complementing someone's clothing, the recipient often offers to give us the article.

What's frustrating, though, is not that they ask for things. It's that they ask us. Street kids flock to us, running past dozens of other people to demand money. People on the street, especially kids, address us, "wazungu," meaning, "white people." They are, in a strange way, a country of racists. Even though the stereotypes associated with Westerners are fairly positive ones, we're still treated differently. The same thing appears within Kenya, between tribes. There are 42 tribes in Kenya, and no one seems to think it's bad to attribute them stereotypes.


Education is critical.

One of the most painful realizations for us has been that all the aid organizations in the world can only do so much to help this country. The real solutions are eventually going to have to come from within. The people are going to have to demand an efficient, fair, functional government, and for that to happen, the people have to be educated.
Only within the last few years has primary school tuition been abolished in Kenya. Students still have to buy a uniform, books and other supplies, which, sadly, makes it out of reach of many families. High school is definitely not free, so less than half of high-school aged kids are enrolled in school. University is out of the question for the vast majority of the population. As outsiders, we've found the lack of education amazingly evident. It's not just that people don't know how to add fractions, or what King Henry the XIII did, but many of them have trouble reasoning about everyday things. For example, a friend of ours told us that he used to bring an empty briefcase to school each day because the teachers insisted every student have a bag for their books. But our friend didn't bring his books to school. "Why did they require a bag, but not require the books?" He laughed, and couldn't offer any explanation.  People here often have never considered the reasons behind seemingly senseless situations.

When we noticed that all the orphanage's kids were have trouble with algebra, we decided to help them. When talking about order of operations, we told them about BEDMAS. For those of you that don't remember this, the letters stand for the order of operations you apply to simplify a mathematical expression: Brackets, Exponents, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction. The boys recognized it, but they said they used BODMAS, not BEDMAS. We asked them what the "O" stood for. They told us "of," meaning multiplication. "OK," we said, "then what about the M?" It was multiplication, too. "Why do you have multiplication twice?" They didn't know. They'd never questioned it. We later confirmed with other students that they actually learn this in school; it wasn't just a mistake on our boys' part.
   Kenyans are generally smart people, but they have little practice with critical thinking. The problem, we think, lies in the quality and quantity of teaching, and in the school buildings themselves. At Mangu Primary, the school our orphanage's boys attend, the window frames have no glass in them. When it rains, students huddle near the middle of the room, trying to stay dry. It's no wonder the kids have trouble learning when they're concentrating on dodging raindrops.

People, in and out of Kenya, are aware of this plight. Hopefully in the next few years, the Kenyan government and foreign aid organizations will improve this country's schools in terms of the buildings, quality of teaching, and accessibility of education, empowering the citizens of Kenya to make a better future for themselves.

Goodbye!

March--Jordann and Ian paint the kitchen.	March--We get a new boy from this equatorial village.
March--Ginger Wilson unpacks donated medical supplies	May--The boys enjoy a trip to a swimming pool.
June--Pastor Waweru and Mama Mwangi pose for a picture	June--Pastor, Mama, Saima, Ruth and the boys pose during our goodbye party.

That's all for us! Hope you've enjoyed reading our newsletters.

From,
Saima and Jesse