A Call For Your Help!!!!

Hello Everyone! I need to chat with you about a few things. This is a call for assistance. The orphans at Good Shepherd desperately needed a new kitchen. I have a included a picture of what the previous kitchen looked like. I know beyond belief. So Rocky and I scrounged together enough timbers and iron sheets (some re-used) to start a new kitchen. Nothing fancy, still a dirt floor and well not even all the walls on yet but it's WAY better than what they have. I have included a picture of what Rocky and I completed this weekend. The issue is we need a few more things to complete. All very little costs but CTC does not have the money. We are so over stretched at this point.

So here is what we need for the kitchen. 9 iron sheets for the walls and roof at 800 ksh each so a total of $96. And we need to build them a kitchen table for inside so there is a place to put the basics. That will be 4000 ksh so $53. I included a picture of what the current food prep table looks like. Not pretty.

And the third huge issue are the mattresses. I have included a picture of what the children are currently sleeping on. Yeah I know..not right. We need 6 mattresses at 1500 ksh or $20 each. A total of $120 for all six. There are also some odds and ends like new pots for the fuel efficient stove and some cooking utensils. But to be really honest I want to focus. We need to first three things ASAP.

I know life is hard now for all of you. This whole economic meltdown is horrible. And my call for help is not to make you feel bad if you can't be part of this project. I completely understand. CTC has always been dependant on individuals. We have no grants or institutional financing. So when it gets hard for you it's the same for us. If anyone is interested please send me an email. CTC and I would truly appreciate any support. Thank you!!!!!

Paint, Our Best Friend

Last week we finished a little upgrade. As you have seen from previous blogs recently, many of our rooms have been repainted and added a clear section to the roof. Basically, we are trying to clean up the rooms, make them lighter and brighter for the children and mothers. The last room to be finished was the Malaika Moms. They desperately needed some fresh paint and the room was really dark. It's in the back of the facility and get little sun from the sides. So we asked the ladies if they wanted us to paint the room for them and give them a day off or do it themselves. This does not surprise me anymore, they wanted to paint. So Rocky and I gave them the paint and supplies and let them go to work. You can see by the pictures the mothers worked all day to put the finishing touches on a sky blue room. And of course, in typical CTC fashion, had fun putting hand prints all over the room. I included a picture of what the room looked like before. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!!

A few days before Rocky and I had put a clear sheet of siding on the roof so that now the ladies have a sun roof. One of the pictures shows it really well as the light is reflecting off the wall. It also helps CTC as now there are no lights needed and reduces our electricity bill. Which in Kenya is no joke. Power is expensive here. It's amazing to see how much happier the women feel and they keep commenting on how they feel better in the room now. A friend here saw the pictures of the before and after and asked me "Ah you moved them to a bigger room?" Nope just a bit of paint and a sunroof!!!!!!

Pigs or Muslims?

I know.... what an odd title for a blog. And I swear this one is light. Need a light note to cancel out the previously heavy pontification :)

So I was told the other day that the Muslim children who are coming to Good Shepherd Orphanage that we support are no longer coming for school at the facility. Rocky said they had found out about our "plans" of raising pigs as a way to help them sustain themselves and the parents freaked, immediately pulling out the children. The little cultural aspects you learn through making mistakes. Well, what is odd is we never really were planning on moving forward with pigs. And Rocky had taken it on himself to do the numbers of what it would cost to set it up and had mentioned it to Jane who takes care of the kids. (This is a good thing that Rocky takes it on himself to run with projects but this situation got out of control) We were in a pickle. We would NEVER jeopardize any children for the sake of pigs or anything else for that matter. So now we are patching the wounds. All children and families have been told there will be no swine and they are always welcome. PLEASE COME BACK!!!

It's such an interesting look into cultural awareness. Most of the children, say 90%, at the home are Christian. But we never thought of what a pig project would mean to the small group of Muslim children. I wonder if this is not a reflection of how we as people often think. We make decisions without looking at how they will influence the minority and ow we may ostracize a group when there is no need to make that division. I feel really bad for not seeing this coming and making those children not feel welcome. We are learning for sure and in the end it falls on my shoulders. I need to be more aware! But then isn't that also the tag line for CTC, BECOME AWARE ! Guess I am learning also to open my mind constantly. To look at situations from all angles. Even if for a short time it seemed we chose pigs over Muslims :)

Thugs in blue!!!

Most of my blogs are light and energetic about Kenya and our programs here. But this one boarders on rage and touches on a much deeper problem within the country that foreigners and Kenyans deal with on a a daily basis. WELCOME TO KENYA!!!

On Saturday night around 10pm, I was going to meet friends in Nairobi. On my way I stopped at a store to pick up a few things. Coming out of the store was a round about, maybe 50 feet or so. Standing in front of my path was a police officer. Normally, I don't stop for police at night here. There are too many cases of officers not being what they seem and either being totally corrupt or someone pretending to be a cop. Bad news!!! But he was standing in the middle of the road and told me to pull over. Another thing in Kenya is very few cops have cars. They simply stand on the side of the road or at check points and flag people down. So I stopped and he came the window asking for my driver license. No problem, I produced it and he told me he'd stopped me for no seat belt. Now yes he was completely accurate. It's one of my pet peeves to always wear one. I just had not put it on yet and well......ok he got me no problem.

But this is where it gets VERY tricky. They don't write tickets here. They say they are going to arrest you. they want you to take them to the police station to deal with the ticket. In Kenya a no seat belt is a MINOR offense of maybe $4-5 penalty. I now know after this situation that it's illegal for police to get in your car. But he did it anyways. And so did another cop in the back seat. He told me to drive and almost immediately was asking how we were going to deal with this. Kept telling me to pull over on our way and "work it out" . I said no let's drive to the police station and they told me, let's just deal with it, only a SMALL thing. Which means, pay me money and you can get off. I know from friends that this generally costs about 1000 ksh so about $13 and it's all over, no police station. So I pulled out my wallet when stopped and produced 1000 shillings. But here's where it gets even more sticky. I had just gone to the ATM and had 5000 shilling $65 in my wallet of which he immediately saw. The police in the back told me now I was being booked for corruption and bribery since I gave them 1000 shillings even though they had brided me for it. Big fine he said. Basically, now the threats came because they wanted all the money. This went on for awhile and finally after a 1000 shilling note after another I was left with no money in my pocket. They had gutted me of everything. There was even a point when they said I had more after giving them 5000 and I had to have an ATM card. Even telling them I worked to help Kenyans they simply did not care.

They got out of the car and the one police actually asked me if we sponsored any people outside Maai Mahiu and if CTC could help his family. So they wanted all my money, which they got, and now wanted CTC assistance. Are you F... kidding me? I was so nice during this process but that was the instance where I nearly punched the guy in the face. I simply said no and kindly drove on.

purposely avoid the government officials in town because if you let them in the ask for money. They openly ask, Oh so you are developing a community center to help my So what do you do in that situation? See this is not a rare instance in Kenya. This happens ALL the time. I was just unlucky this time. Kenyans have to deal with corrupt cops daily. They have to deal with them even going as far as raping their wives, beating husbands and well you get the picture. And yes that happens, no need to keep blinders on....it's tough here. Further, this is also how the entire government acts. CTC in Maai Mahiu purposely avoids the government officials. They will ask ...So you are building a community center to help my constituents.... what is in it for me? There is no shame to corruption here. They will ask and even put it in writing. It's sad. I felt violated for sure and had a hard time not opening my rage on someone. But then I had to think. I'm an outsider and these acts of misuse and abuse of power are what's ruining this country. My run in with the police was a minor situation, though it felt absolutely horrible. I feel for Kenyans who are abused daily and live for another day. Truly admirable!!!!!!