This week has been quite fun and also, surprisingly, relaxed. Even though I have stayed up late (past one) during the week and of course was up late at La Liga on Friday – I have found myself feeling more relaxed. My kids are unbelievable, as usual. Everyday Glory and Angela make it even harder for me to think of leaving this place. I have to apologize because I haven’t been blogging lately. I have found it hard to commit myself to sitting down and really typing out a decent blog. I am so consumed with the everyday events and with trying to cherish my stay here.
So, where to begin? I will start with my first trip out to Kaloleni. Kaloleni is an area out near a gigantic dump on the outskirts of town. The people that live out here have either been ostracized or forgotten about due to where they live. The community is literally a hedge away from a huge dump. The dump is just piles among piles of trash. Sibo found this community and had a desire to help the people here by starting a women’s group in hopes that educating the women will give them opportunities to get jobs and to then help their community economically. Sibo always amazes me – from UPAA to Uru to Kaloleni – he sees a need and immediately works to change it. I admire him very much and aspire to be like him. I want to work here and do something truly meaningful for the children. I hope that when I see what I want to do I will just do it and not be inhibited. So…that being said, Kaloleni is a great location for volunteer work and it brought me to tears the moment I saw it. The women here used to dig through the trash each day and bring back things for their families to eat and use. With Sibo’s help and the infusion of volunteers the women now have a chicken coop full of chickens and they receive education in English every other day. The classroom is a small square area where they lay tarp for carpet. It is open and has a ledge lining it where the women sit. There is a board that one would tack messages and it was painted with black paint that can be used as a chalkboard.
My first day there we taught the women introductions and worked on singular and plural pronouns. We taught him/her, us, we, me…etc. The women here changed my life. They range in age from twenty something to seventy something and they are incredible. I don’t even have words for how amazing these women are. They are warm, loving, funny and they have a huge desire to learn. I immediately fell in love with them and decided to go once a week with Becca. I cannot explain how beautiful and wonderful this community is. The women love to learn, they love to laugh and joke and they are surrounded by impenetrable warmth. It’s so refreshing to be around people that don’t speak your language and be able to fully communicate and connect with them!! After teaching the women we walked to the chicken coop and then when Sibo arrived we stopped at the dump. The dump is just around a set of tall hedges. It is so massive and overwhelming. The moment I saw it I began to cry. Not only was it HUGE and next to Kaloleni, one of our women was digging through the trash (along with others who were standing on top of the hills of trash) to find food and other items. I couldn’t handle seeing this…it not only broke my heart but it really inspired me to keep helping these women. It made me want to do everything in my power to improve their lives.
So…basically being anywhere that Sibo is affiliated with has really affected me and I admire him so much!! I want to be like him…to see a need and do what it takes to address it and take care of it. I also just do not want to go home. This is where I want to be!! I am going to start planning my next trip out here (hopefully for next summer). Sibo said that’s not soon enough, but I think it will be June because of school.
So, after this first experience of Kaloleni I had a pretty normal weekend. Normal meaning we went out a lot and I cried a lot because people were leaving. The Friday before TaChyla and Amanda left we all went out and it was so amazing. I will never forget my nightly soulmate chats on TaChyla’s bed or my moyo to moyos with my Canadian Amanda. We all had an amazing bonding moment at La Liga this night because we all did the line dance together. This line dance originated in South Africa and it really is the most atrociously boring dance I’ve ever done. It is a diluted verson of the Electric Slide and the Africans LOVE IT. I truly do not understand it. It is so boring and no one ever does it all in the same direction and it literally lasts for a minimum of 10 minutes once it starts. The songs will run and run and continue and people will just keep doing the dance. Oh my goodness. It’s awful, but in a funny way. Afterall, TIA. So on this particular night all of my closest friends and all of our local friends were on the floor and we all did the line dance together and to be honest – it was just magical. The next day I cried a ton and we said goodbye to TaChyla and Amanda…I still miss them terribly to this very day.
One weekend we went on a free coffee tour with Kira and her mom. This was amazing!! We went with Oscar (from Pristine) and we had quite an “organic” experience. The coffee tour begins with an explanation and of how coffee originated and how they began to make it. Then, you get to see a coffee plant and the beans on the vine. Next, you get to make the coffee by going through the process of de-shelling the beans, picking out the bad ones, roasting them over a fire and hand grinding them!! After this we drank our coffee and began to hike to the waterfall. The waterfall is unbelievable!! It is 80 meters high and the face of it is smooth rock. When we walked up to it we all lost our breath. It was truly unbelievable!! When you stand near the waterfall you get drenched in its spray due to the wind. We drank hot coffee at the base of the waterfall, took a million pictures and then began to walk back. The day was such a beautiful one and we saw a bunch of chameleon, yuka leaves and a banana slug while on our way back. I also got to talk to Kira’s mom which was really great. She is an amazing woman and she has been through some incredible experiences. I really hope to be adventures and fun like her as I get older and become a mom!
My placement/school has been running well. Not too many hitches except that some new volunteers came and they had no interest in being with the kids or working with us. I won’t lie – I am very protective and possessive of my kids. I know I don’t own them or anything, but after 7 weeks with them I truly would do anything to help them out and each one of them has a place in my heart. So, when a set of volunteers came (volunteers that were actually PAID with our tax dollars to come and paid to go on two extravagant safaris) it was hard to have them be disinterested in the kids and their learning progress. I am very invested in helping the kids at my school and making sure they have individual profiles, test scores and ways to track their progress. This is something I have been working on since I arrived and I’m very passionate about it. So, I am very tied to them and like to keep them moving forward and the other volunteers were a little bit difficult to work with. Otherwise, things have been great!! My kids are fun, they all like to yell “Teacher Jennica” when we are walking or driving away and they will always say they miss me when I’m gone. J I am in love with them, truly. I can’t even BEGIN to imagine leaving them.
Things went pretty smoothly the following week until Wednesday. On Wednesday Becca was walking to Kaloleni by herself and a few children accompanied her. Becca has walked to Kaloleni alone quite a few times and it has never been a problem. This time, however, there was a young man waiting a mere 100 feet (if that) outside of the town’s edge on the path. This guy said hi to Becca and she said hello back and went on her way. A moment later she felt a tug on her shoulder and then saw the same guy running away with her purse. He had cut the strap of her bag with a knife and stole it!! She chased him quite a way until he disappeared into a forested area and then she ran back as fast as she could to Kaloleni. The minute one of the women heard what happened the ENTIRE community went out looking for this guy. They searched and searched and after Becca came back to Home Base they found a way to trap the guy and then Becca had to go back out to meet him. This meeting consisted of a Sibo, Ibrahim and Daniel taking Becca and Chelsea out to where he was (in the CCS van, mind you) and then accosting the guy and throwing him in the van and taking him to the police station. The entire day was so crazy. There was a lot of yelling and confusion and Becca was caught in the middle of it. It was a really PFS day…so we made sure the take good care of Becca after that.
Since then we have done a lot of wonderful things and spent a lot of time with wonderful people!! I have been really glad that I can talk to people at home and stay plugged in. It is also really great to make local friends and connections. This facilitates coming back next year (or anytime) and aids in my hope to pursue continual work here. I have to write a separate post about Ramsey’s day at Upendo with Sibo, the Upendo House and my feelings as of late. Amani na Upendo.
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