#waithaka

[partymedia]

These Streets by Mi Casa (ThExchangeProject Remix) by Dj Satelite http://ift.tt/1svKcVo

[sushiraw]

WAITHAKA REMIX SESSIONS

ITUNES

[departuresfromnormality]

agape week one

I have spent the last week at Agape Hope Children’s Center, also in Nairobi, and this is the first chance I’ve had to really sit down and write down how the experience has been so far. I have been extremely busy, because with a couple hundred children (42 of whom board at the orphanage), there is always work to be done! I feel very useful though, especially at the orphanage, and I absolutely adore the children.

I moved into my new home on Monday, and by now I feel like I’m part of Maggie and Oliver’s family. My last placement gave me a lot of time for reflection and adjustment, because I had my own room and was staying with an “older” family (my host mom’s only son was in his mid-twenties), but here, I share a room with the nanny and two of the daughters. It means less quiet, sure, but often quiet is overrated.

Maggie and Oliver are two of the most compassionate, generous people I’ve ever met. They opened Agape Hope Center in 2003 and have since hosted probably a thousand volunteers. At their busiest, they have hosted 14 volunteers at once! The apartment is small is without electricity for all but one outlet, has been mostly without running water since my arrival, and has small roaches that run around at night, but it feels homey and more authentic (some heavy-duty insect spray and a mosquito net help me to cope with the bugs). The climb up to the apartment is a good workout—I think we’re about 5 stories up, but Oliver and Maggie say the benefit is that since we’re closest to heaven, God will hear our prayers first.

I spent my mornings at the school last week proctoring mid-term exams. Admittedly that wasn’t so exciting, but it gave me extra time for observation. I was interested in knowing what the students were learning, so I looked through the exams as I administered them. I was at first surprised to see how specific the questions are, but as I continued I became mostly surprised at how poorly written the exams are. The science exam, for instance, asked which option is a produced in photosynthesis, and the answer was not glucose, even though it was a choice (“oxygen” was marked as correct on the key). I don’t think I would have passed the English exam, because it had a long fill-in-the-blank section that offered multiple appropriate alternatives for each question, and the reading comprehension section contained some questions for which none of the answer choices was suitable. When I graded the exams, I found that most scores were in the range of 30-40%. I blame the test for some of the low scoring, because I doubt that many would do well on these poorly-constructed exams regardless of educational background. But it’s also clear that many of the students were guessing answers, rather than, for instance, choosing consistently between two close choices.

The educational environment is not great. The only thing that is advantageous is the small class size; there are only 9 students in standard 7, though I believe this is one of the smallest classes. The walls are made of iron sheets nailed to wooden framing and the window does not have any glass, so there is no escaping the noise from other classes or from children running around outside. I had to leave the classroom a few times during the exams to request that the younger children stop banging on the iron sheets that comprise the back wall. The students are also without essential school supplies. I’ve gone through my personal supply of pens and pencils trying getting them through exams, because otherwise the children end up wasting time trying to borrow pencils from siblings in other classrooms, trying to find sharperners, or requesting erasers from across the room. At least you can be pretty confident that the supplies you distribute will appear in the child’s hand again the next day, at least with these older students, since they appreciate the value of a pen.

During breaks I got acquainted with the kids in the class I was supervising (standard/grade 7), and they asked me the usual questions: name, country of origin, marital/family status, siblings, and educational background. When I asked about them, I got some pretty interesting fabricated names, ages, and family stories from the boys, but luckily a couple of girls in the class set their stories straight for me. Oh, and Susie, if you’re reading this, one of the boys wants you to come to Kenya so he can date you—I told him I’d pass the message along.

I spent Wednesday and Thursday afternoons at the schools in Dagoretti at which I have been teaching about HIV/AIDS for the past several weeks. The students at one of the schools are especially engaged, and we had a really good conversation about sexual transmission of HIV and the issues that push these girls to become sexually active when they’re young. While we were talking, one girl (one of the 13-year-olds) brought up the topic of trading sex for sanitary napkins. She explained that some men take advantage of the poverty of young girls, offering things like pads in exchange for sexual favors. Some girls, not wanting to skip school or use an unsanitary alternative, will submit to such an arrangement, exposing themselves to the risks of HIV, other STIs, and pregnancy. The girl was asking for advice on whether I thought it possible to take advantage of such an arrangement by accepting the pads but then refusing sex… the specificity with which she discussed the scenario hinted that she had put some serious consideration into the idea. Additionally, I learned that one myth that has circulated around here is that HIV can be cured by having sex with a virgin. When one of the girls shared that, I had to ask her to repeat it to make sure I heard correctly. Initially, when I began teaching here, I was surprised at how young some of the girls placed in the group were given the topics we discuss. But as I have come to learn more about their situations, I have realized that if you don’t equip these girls with information and confidence when they’re young, odds are good that you’ll be too late for prevention.

The orphanage has a lot of needs. The water that is used is stored in a big tank that has to be refilled weekly to keep up with consumption, but one major issue is water treatment. Over the past few months, many children have been sick with illnesses related to the poor water quality. Most medical treatment is also not affordable, and some children have more advanced medical needs than simple check-ups. In addition, the orphanage is in need of more foam mattresses and beds for the children (currently some of the children are sharing beds). The children are fed through a crafty arrangement by which a local company donates string beans that don’t meet the minimum length requirement for their sales. The children eat about half of the donated quantity, and the rest are sold by a woman in the area who then uses the money to buy food like porridge flour, beans, and maize. Still, they tend to eat very similar meals each day that usually consist only of starches and vegetables.

Many of these children come from complicated backgrounds, and are either orphans (some because of AIDS, so some are infected themselves) or vulnerable children (e.g. street children or victims or abuse or negligence). I don’t want to share more information than is appropriate, so I’ll just say that reading through some of the case summaries has been simultaneously enlightening and depressing. As much as is needed at this home, surely this is an improvement for these children. Nevertheless, smiles obscure their sad histories, and they run around the yard chasing balls made of plastic bags, shaking maracas made of sticks and bottle caps, and dancing. The kids get along, well, like siblings do. Every now and then someone gets hit for interrupting a jump rope session or someone throws someone else’s shirt in the mud, but overall their unity is impressive.

My favorite part of the day is right around dinner time, after Maggie and I have finished cooking the massive ugali and veggies, when everyone sits around a fire to eat, while telling jokes, singing, teasing each other, and chasing the multitude of very naïve puppies away from the fire. It’s at this time when the orphanage feels most like a family and when I appreciate just how beautifully optimistic and strong these children are.

I spent my weekend at the orphanage, as I couldn’t think of anywhere I would rather be than with these energetic, unpredictable, and loving kids. The children are raised in the Christian faith, and they have a praise and prayer session on Saturdays and a church service at the orphanage on Sunday mornings. Both are a lot of fun, and I’ll have to remember to take pictures next week. I’ll be leading the worship service next Sunday; I’ll share more on that later.

Tomorrow I’m going to re-vamp the Facebook page for the orphanage and hunt down previous volunteers to engage them in the Center’s online network. I’ll also be showing Oliver how to update the page so that he can keep everyone in the loop and more effectively solicit and follow up with donations online. I’ve written up one report/request for funding since I’ve been here, and I think I’ll be working on another tomorrow, as well as attending a meeting with Maggie and Oliver. It will be another early morning and late night (the beauty of working in a compound is that I can stay at the orphanage until 10pm), but I’m looking forward to it (and being eaten by mosquitoes, which is a good indication that it's bedtime)!