This morning we were picked up by Bishop Stephen and taken to the school in the slums, and I mean slums. The homes are sheets of corrugated tin and mud walls eroded by rains. There is no running water and no sewer facilities except the open ditch paralleling what might pass for a road. Across from the shacks is the school yard and buildings. I would estimate the property itself is 250 feet by 120 feet. There are approximately 8 classrooms in the school with tin roofs causing the rooms to get quite hot when the sun is shining and quite noisy during a rain. Can you imagine the learning environment? They don't have the benefit of air conditioning or even a fan! The children range in age from 3 to 16. They start school at 6:30 in the morning and are given their first meal of the day at 11:00, a bean soup and a chipata or a deep-fried bun that is served and eaten outside where they sit on the ground. They get another meal after one o'clock. The children do not look forward to weekends because they go home to their shacks and there is usually nothing to eat until they get to school again on Monday. The families typically try to survive on $1.00 a day or 80 Kenya shillings a day. There are 160 students in the school. They wear a simple, inexpensive uniform, even if it is just a uniform shirt. A uniform will cost on average 1500 shillings or $18 Canadian. There are 22 students who have recently come into the school from the neighborhood who have no uniforms. It is one way to distinguish from kids in the hood sneaking onto the property during school hours. There are no school fees.
One boy, Alfred(14), was brought into the school with open sores on his left leg. We later put together a simple first aid kit to treat minor cuts and help prevent infection. Alfred was a cart-puller. It's basically a two-wheel car axle with tires and fitted with a wooden frame and pulled by a crossbar in the front. It's the local method of moving furniture, building blocks, cement and steel and anything else. I wouldn't want to do it because your feet are both the power and the brakes and if you're load is heavy or out of balance, it would be easy to have an accident or a runaway. I think that is what happened to Alfred as his legs were covered in bruises.
We had the opportunity to visit each class and each teacher, led by Lawrence, the headmaster. He has been doing this for 10 years with little pay, getting only enough to give basic support for his wife and child. For him, it is not a job, it is a calling. He is so proud of the students, some having already gone on to college. The students are studying for the country wide standardized tests held on Nov.11 and in particular, he pointed out students who scored over 400 points out of 500, and others who were over 390! These kids live with many disadvantages yet many have excelled in academics and done so eagerly. In Kenya, there are many classrooms with 70 students and one teacher, we are told. The largest class here had about 20 to 24 students. Branden was able to share with the senior class a little bit about the seasons in Canada that generated a few questions about surviving in the cold.
We were introduced to the dream for what might be on this plot of land in the middle of the slums that is already making such a difference. We went to the new office building constructed of concrete and nicely finished and painted. It is fitted with a washroom and shower room, a waiting room and office. We saw the plans for adding another floor and toured the adjacent development for a medical clinic. Plans include another floor for visiting physicians, eg eye specialists, gynecologists and ear,mouth and throat specialists to come and treat people in the locality. The third floor will become hospitality quarters for visiting professionals. There is provision in the plans for a dispensary after clients have seen a doctor and received their prescription orders. There will be another gate constructed to the medical facilities from the roadway. If the work on the office building is any indication, this facility will be a jewel in this community and provide an absolute miracle for many of the local residents as it serves the poorest of the poor.
After lunch, we were picked up by Pastor George and his wife, Regina to go on a goat and chicken hunt. It took awhile on very rough road, but eventually we found the farmer who had goats and cows. He had 10 goats and gave us a choice of two nannies. One was pregnant and wouldn't give birth for 5 months, then a 3 month wait before the kid(s) were off suckling. The other had a male kid and would be giving milk for human use next month. Both the same price. They decided on mother and kid and so we stick them in the back of the wagon. We stopped at a feed store and paid for 70 kgs of dairy feed and 50 kgs of chicken feed that will do for the first two months. There will be milk and eggs and hatchlings very soon. A couple of men are coming tomorrow to build the goat bedroom and dining room and chicken coop with nesting bins. The goats and chickens have to be locked up at night as it is very difficult to get a firearm to ward off predators, if you know what I mean. We picked up the chickens in two cardboard boxes and got the whole lot to the orphanage and stuck them in an extra storage room and LOCKED the door. We returned to the feed store to pick up the feed sitting in front as they had closed. Everything is shut down for the night.
While picking branches to push through the barred window of the temporary goat pen, Branden had a three-horned Jackson chameleon crawl off a branch onto his arm. Regina thought they were poisonous as they are used in witchcraft and said if they bit you, the flesh would turn black and begin to fall off. No,... he likes us. We'll take him back to the flat for the night. So we have a room mate for the night. We checked on the Internet and they do make very good pets, just illegal to export. Once in awhile Branden goes to the bathtub to check on Kevin and I overhear him talking to his new friend. Yup, its been quite a day!
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