So it has been a long while since I
have posted on my blog. I am so sorry. I guess I am just getting into the
Kenyan “pole, pole” mindset (which means slowly, slowly). Just kidding – I have
been terribly busy. I am sure you know the phrase “all work and no play makes
Jack a dull boy.” That does not apply here. I have had a great mix of work and
play. I would first like to update y’all on where I have been working. Since I
last posted, I was working mainly at Madodo/Street Children in the Mathare
slum. I was working with the boys to prepare them for their exams and
interviews so they can be placed in schools. Yes – every student has to have an
interview to get into any school, including primary school. I am pleased to say
that all of the boys (15 of them) were placed into schools. One of the best
things about this is that Madodo funds their schooling so the boys are going to
school for free. Thus, I have been running errands with the boys in preparation
for the school year to begin in January. I have taken half of the boys to the
tailor to get their measurements for their school uniforms. Most of the boys
were puffing out their chest during the measurements as they all were comparing
their size. Even the boys entering grade 2 took part in this. I have also been
doing home visits with the boys. I take a group of boys and, one by one, they
take me to their homes so I can speak to their parent/guardian to make sure
their home life is good and that they are staying out of trouble. These boys
are so much fun. There are two boys around 3 years old who are arguably my
favorite. One is named Ryan. I cannot pronounce the other boys name so I call
him Leprechaun. Last week, I was messing with them when I was asked to run an
errand. I came back maybe 15 minutes later to find bright yellow paint on the
office chair, a couple of books, and the floor. The boys were nowhere to be
found. I looked for them when I saw Ryan with yellow paint on the sleeve of his
white shirt. He was hiding in the kitchen. Leprechaun was found by his mother
(who is the chef) with yellow paint on his blue sweats. He tried to act as if
he was not guilty but, as one would expect, that did not work out too well. Again, the boys are so much trouble but so
much fun to be around.
Though I have been spending a lot of
time at Madodo, I have three new places where I regularly work and one place
where I occasionally work. One is called St. Maurus Academy in Mathare. It is a
school for the mentally and physically handicapped. The students are from age 7
to 22 and have a varying degree of disability. There are a couple students with
cerebral palsy, some with fetal alcohol syndrome, some with Down’s Syndrome,
and some had their mental development arrested at a young age. All of the
students are wonderful. I was able to take most of the students to a Special
Olympics event in Mathare. They were so grateful and happy. I even got to
participate in a three-legged race with one of the boys who did not have a
partner. We did not win but that did not matter to any of the participants.
There is one boy named Daniel from St. Maurus who is very good at soccer. No
joke – he represented Kenya on their soccer team for Special Olympics
International League earlier this year in South Korea! He is proud of that (and
rightly so). He has invited me to watch his games in Nairobi sometime. I hope
to make it there soon.
I have also been working with the
Missionary Benedictine Sisters next door. I can write an extremely long blog
post about each of the sisters attempting to express their awesomeness but that
would not do them justice. They have welcomed me as their brother and I have
had some great times working, praying, and hanging out with the sisters.
Anyways, Sister Emily asked for my help in organizing their store room. She is
in charge of their fantastic primary and secondary school named St. Scholastica’s
Catholic School. They have over 900 students in the school and they have one
tailor that makes multiple uniforms for each of the students. That man deserves
some kind of reward for his toil. I have helped him organize the store room so
that he knows exactly how many of each clothing item he has in stock. This is
not the most fun work but I know that it helps him tremendously. And everyone
who works at the school loves having me work there. I have been invited to have
lunch with them multiple times. I have accepted on a couple of occasions and we
went to what was literally a shack on the side of the road. They ordered for me
and I received a salmon fillet with kale and ugali. The first time, I was
confused because I did not have a fork. I quickly realized that I had to eat
with my hands. The trick is to use the ugali to pick up the other foods. It was
a strange experience but the salmon was surprisingly good. Anyways, the
teachers invite me to many things and I hope that I can visit some of them in
their villages over the holidays.
The Benedictine Sisters also run a
dispensary called Uzima, which is Kiswahili for life. One of the sisters found
out that I stuided Biology and referred me to the Superior of the House, Sister
Rosa. She is in charge of the dispensary and placed me in the laboratories which
are Biochemistry, Microbiology, Hematology, and Parasitology labs. Nerd moment –
the workers showed me around the labs and every single machine and process they
performed, I have done at some point in my college career. Props to the Belmont
Abbey Biology Department (Dr. Reilly, Dr. McLeod, Dr. Ellington, Dr. Baker, Dr.
Tompkins) and my Chemistry professor Dr. Martin-Schwan for preparing me much
more than I had realized. In fact, the man in charge of the Hematology
department tested my knowledge when I was looking for malaria in a patient’s
blood sample. He asked me questions about immunology and was taken aback when I
answered everything correctly. Yeah. I had some pretty sweet professors if I do
say so myself. I love working in the laboratory and plan to spend more time in
the dispensary.
The last place that I work, though
not regularly, is an AIDS orphanage called Cottolengo. It is in Karen, which is
about a 45 minute (or 2.5 hours based upon traffic) matatu ride from where I
live. I have only been able to work a couple of times as it is far for me. The
center has about 100 kids who have been orphaned by AIDS ranging from 3 months
old to 25 years old. The older ones do not stay at Cottolengo but have been so
successful that some have just completed their graduate studies. Most of the
kids have AIDS but there are a few who are lucky enough to be HIV negative. The
first time I went to Cottolengo, the kids saw me and charged me out of joy.
Everyone wanted me to hold their hand and hold them. It was so precious. What
my job entails is to just make the kids happy. I help feed the younger ones,
which includes bottle feeding the 3 month old named Vivian (talk about a happy
and cute baby). I also take them to the playground and make sure they are
having a good day. It is not too hard at all when the kids are already so
joyful. When I leave, they walk me to the gate and try to leave with me. The
poor security guard has to do damage control when they realize I cannot take
them. The only truly bad part for me about working there is that most of the
kids call me “Baba,” which means father. I think that they think I am looking
to adopt them. If I had the money and the resources, I would love to take care
of all of them.
So in case you cannot tell, I am
having a magnificent time here. I cannot believe that I have to renew my 90 day
visa next week. Then, I apply for an alien resident card! I only have five more
months left to spend in Kenya and I know that time will only pass by faster.
There is no way, however, that I will not return to Kenya. I am constantly
reminded how blessed I am for the opportunity to work and travel in Africa. I
would not have passed this up for anything. Since this blog post has been a tad
long, I will be posting in the next couple of days about what I have been doing
for leisure and fun. Trust me, you will not want to miss out on some of the
amazing stories I have to tell. Stay posted and thanks for reading. I truly
appreciate it!
