A broad volunteering, part 6

Ahoy, family! It's been a busy past couple of weeks and there is much to share. As always, I'll try, but not succeed in, condensing it down.

A couple of weeks ago VICDA (again, our partner organization in Kenya) decided to have the new volunteers' orientation at our volunteer house (however, the newbies aren't living with us). With them were a group of people from the Global Volunteer Network (GVN) including the founder, Colin Salisbury, and it was pretty neat. Colin is very down to earth and not at all self-important, and it felt very comforting to have them there. I know this will sound terrible, but sometimes it's so nice to be around white people! But it wasn't just that, it was also enjoyable to watch VICDA be on there best behavior, as GVN is pretty much in charge of them. We all have our own issues with VICDA. One being they often berate Charity and have said very insulting things to her (ie, pretty much insinuating she has relations with the male volunteers, which is more than absurd). And two, that they get money out of program fee that covers our rent, breakfast, dinner, etc, yet when more volunteers come to live at the house, they do not up the allowance given to Charity for her to do shopping. It remains the same whether there are two volunteers or twelve. Not only is this an incredible source of stress for Charity, but makes us wonder what our money is going towards, if not our groceries? After speaking with Charity, I have decided to call VICDA and simply ask how our money is being dispersed. As a whole new crop of volunteers are coming up this weekend, I don't think it will seem entirely out of place.

Aside from that, I have been keeping myself busy by visiting a couple of other children's homes as well as an IPD camp and Kibera. I think I'll continue to go to various homes throughout my stay, as it's not only a nice break throughout the week but also offers a more comprehensive idea of how homes are run in Kenya. It's helpful to compare and contrast, and also just interesting to meet new people.

As my two month mark approaches in two weeks (Kenya believe it?), I have the option to change placements, and per usual, I am having a tough time deciding what to do. What I would ideally like to do is begin teaching at the Rehabilitation Center, where other volunteers I live with work at. It is for teenage boys and I suppose it's meant to be a sort of juvenile detention, but not really. Most of their crimes were absolutely petty, but Kenya is harsh. I wouldn't be able to leave Caroline's completely (I love the children too much), so I'd continue to go there once a week. But what I'm also thinking very hard about is spending some time at the IDP camp in June. IPD camps are for displaced families (many as result form the election violence that broke out in 2008), and are bare bones and impoverished. I've already seen the digs I'd be living in, and it's really not bad at all. I'd be with a host family, but have my own quarters and, besides, I'm thinking of only doing a couple weeks. The area around the IDP camp is gorgeous and so different from where I am now. My location now is much more lush, but Nakuru (the area where the camp is) is absolutely vast and a whole different Africa. Much more safari-esque. My visit to the camp was lucky enough to coincide with the completion of a new school GVN has built with the help of various sponsors. It is very posh for Kenya standards, and we were salivating over the new books and fresh paint. It was nice to meet other GVN folks and the sponsors (who were dressed so "I'm European and going to Africa"-like, if that makes sense). We even got to register a few kids, who are a mix of IPD children and those from the community. I spoke to the headmaster, and should I decide to live at the camp I could help teach a bit.

Some children at the camp.

Gives you an idea of the camp and also how pretty the landscape is.

Side note: I found out recently that Charity's husband was killed at the very start of the election violence. He was a taxi driver and got caught in crossfire, or something to that nature. Charity, having two girls and no job or skills, was put into an IPD camp and separated from her girls until she was able to get a job (which was becoming our house mother). She's so cheerful, you'd have no idea this happened to her, but I suppose her story isn't so shocking to other Kenyans, since so many lived it.

What else, what else. I went to Kibera on Sunday. In case you don't already know, Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi and I think it's safe to say one of the largest in the world. I've seen pictures and just watched The Constant Gardener, which partially takes place there but, oy, does it feel more extreme in person. I mean, obviously it does, especially when you add heat and smells to the mix.

Like smells from the garbage and sewage that get removed ONCE a month.

Although, the views when you walk along the outskirts are pretty incredible. That right there are the Ngong Hills. I was supposed to hike them last weekend and hopefully will soon and I just might pretend to be Karen Blixen while doing it.

We had a lovely guide, Peter, who actually was a site coordinator for The Constant Gardener, and lives in Kibera. He was so proud to talk about the movie and show us a copy of National Geographic he was featured in. For Kibera, his house was not so bad. It was definitely small to house him, his wife, and three children, but it was clean and had electricity.

Front door of said house:


In other news, yesterday I found out the Teresia has HIV. I don't know why, but I had thought Mama was the only one. I felt pretty dumb crying in front of everyone when Josefa told me -- you know those moments when you are willing yourself not to, but you can't help it so you start crying in your hand because you're too embarrassed to look up? Ugh. Also, a married couple arrived yesterday and I had literally met them five minutes beforehand. OH, HEY GUYS! WELCOME! I mean, duh, lots of kids have AIDS here, but it's so different finding out after the fact. Teresia has been my bud from day one and I love her much more than the way I love the kids I babysit or used to work with at camp. It's a bit difficult to explain, but, anyway, it's a hard blow.

Last bit of news is that all of the volunteers, aside from Amanda, are leaving this weekend. Three already left over the past couple of weeks, and I'm sad to see everyone go. As mentioned before, we got two new people yesterday and will get around five more this weekend. It's strange to think, but I'll be the veteran in the house, showing them how we do in Kenya. Think I should do some hazing? Oh, I hope they aren't weirdos.

I'll leave you all with a pic of sweet Teresia.

Too much, eh?

Love you all, miss you loads!

xoxo Lisette