The bath is complete :-)

I have been working for some weeks now on a big bath tub for my backyard. Back in SF, we have a amazing hot tub in the back yard. Wow..... so spoiled. I used go home after a long days work and sit outside with a cigar enjoying the stars. It's actually one of my favorite memories with my Dad. We would sit outside for what seems like hours smoking cigars and well if you know my Dad listening to him and his stories. I figured why not make a poor man's hot tub. So I had Alex and his workers, build a BIG tub. It's 6'x4'x4'. Definitely bigger than the tub at home. As all projects seem to get more complicated as they proceed this was no different. The tub was easy to build but filling it was another issue. I had to install an new hot water heater. Now this sounds like a cost and it was, but I also realized the first time I tried to fill the tub that I could not see my hand just a few inches below the water line. Disgusting!!!!! The old heater was so rusted through that it simply poured out red water. I was wondering since I arrived in Kenya, why I always seemed to dirty. I'd take a shower and the water was brown at my feet with my funk. But now I realize I was actually taking a shower of rust. I don't know if this has any benefit to my skin but I am working to find that out.

I took my first bath the other night. FABULOUS!!!! Something about sitting under the African stars with my hookah pipe next to me was truly amazing. Only issue I had is that Julius, the Masai guard who watches my home every night, thought this was a great opportunity to chat. So here I am sitting in my tub, trying to relax and take in all that is a beautiful night, and Julius is sitting on the edge looking down at my naked ass and asking question after question. I like my ass and all but it did make a bit uncomfortable. Now that I think about it, maybe it's just the same as home. I had my Dad at home , now I have a Masai. So I guess who can really complain, I never knew my Dad would come back as an African :-)

Day of play for the Bodwell students

This past Friday the Bodwell students spent a half day with the Malaika kids and half with the kids at Good Shepherd children's home. It was truly a magical day. At the Malaika kids the students played the various educational games and bonded through play. The Malaika kids love having people around and bond so easily to strangers. Bodwell really adapted well in the situation, making connections so easily. We also had SEP that day working with some of the children, so Bodwell had a chance to watch very experienced special needs teachers work individually with the kids.

The second part of the day was at Good Shepherd. As you have seen in the previous posts, these kids also LOVE having people visit. We spent some time playing soccer of which turned into more of an adult game than for the kids. But they don't care, they just run around following the ball and giggling. Bodwell brought a bunch of kites of which the children absolutely loved. At first there was no wind so the kids would get the kite up by running as fast as they could through an open field. It was hilarious to watch, a group of children sprinting to keep a little kite up. Then the wind picked up and it really became an enjoyment for them. Watching their kites bounce around in the air. We also brought tons of art material and the two groups spent a long hour painting and drawing. Lots of Canadian flags of which I had to bite my tongue being the proud American. But hey who cares right? The kids loved it. They also were given a tour by Jane and the kids of their dormitories. Bodwell is also a live-in school and I think the conditions truly blew them away. So much we take for granted being priviledged and when you see conditions so polar to your experience, well it's heart breaking. But it's good for everyone to see. A great perspective making each of us appreciate what we do have and enabling us to help further.

What a fun day to watch. Most of the day I spent running kids back and forth in the car from the two facilities but that was a small price to pay for each group to have a once in a life time experience. Bodwell surely has made a mark on Maai Mahiu and I am humbled to have been part it.

Garden at Ngeya

The second project we have been working in tandem with the kitchen is a garden at Ngeya. It's somewhat a copy of our previous Sho Sho Shamba with many improvements. If we had known all we do now about gardening and the proper way to set up a shamba we would done various things differently. The goal of the garden is really two fold. First, we have the opportunity to add nutrients to the lunches at Ngeya. Currently, the 2000 kids get the same meal everyday. Maize and beans or called Gutheri in Kenya. It's very plain and misses many important vitamins.

The students from Bodwell have been working everyday with 10 local students. We are bringing the two countries together. So we had 20 plus hands to help with both the kitchen and garden for three days. We split the team into two groups of 10 and had them alternate between the two projects. First, we built raised beds and then laid out all the drip irrigation system. We have 13 raised beds with 3 rows each. All fed by a 5000 ltr. tank. In addition, CTC has always tried to increase the amount of trees in Maai Mahiu. De forestation is a MAJOR problem. And this garden and the Ngeya facility is a great opportunity to keep this tradition going. We purchased 100 indigenous trees. The environment club at Ngeya, Bodwell students and local students all pitched in to plant 40 trees on the boarder of the garden. Also, we planted another 60 behind one of the building, fencing it off to ensure no damage by the goats. A local saying "Kill a goat, save a tree". We are not into killing goats so fencing is our solution. These trees will be taken care of by the environment club at Ngeya, teaching them more about the importance of tree planting and the environment

Again, the students worked their butts off to make the garden ready for our first crop. Included are some pics of process. I am very excited to bring you an update in the near future of the garden FULL of vegetable. Thanks again Bodwell, you ROCK!!!!

Visitors are here!!!

and experiencing the town on a daily basis they have also been doing some fabulous work. This year we are focusing all building projects at Primary School. It's a government run school of 2000 children. Each class has 75-100 per class room. Yeah, hard to believe and seeing it is even more unbelievable. CTC has it's first team who have come to MaaiMahiu for a week and a half to work and offer a lot of help to our programs. Bodwell High School from Vancouver, 10 students and 4 leaders, arrived last week. Besides being shown Maai MahiuNgeyachidrenCTC has always helped the poorest of the community, those who have everything weighted against them. The students at Ngeya are these exact individuals as it's the free schooling for those in the community with no other options for education. And to say the govn't does not adequately funded the school is a huge understatement. Over the past few months Rocky and I have sat with the head mistress at the school and looked at the biggest infrastructure needs and identified a long list. The first objective is to help the school better it's current kitchen/cooking situation. Currently, the cooks make all food in an old classroom with dirt floors, no tables and the large pots are put on stones. The cooks simply keep pushing wood under the pots to keep them going. It's not sanitary and also makes the school pay nearly 5000ksh a week, $70. This is a huge cost for a school with no money figuring the govn't pays for none of this. It all has to be donated by the already struggling families.

Bodwell has brought a good sum to finish the kitchen. The school had build four walls, no roof or any details of the kitchen, as they ran out of money. So we had the roof put on to prepare the kitchen for the students to start working. While they have been here we spent 3 days working to lay the concrete floor, finishing the walls with concrete and installing the door and windows. I have included a few pictures of the process. By the time the team comes back from it's trip to the Masai Mara this week the kitchen will be complete. We still need to purchase fuel efficient stoves (no funds found yet) to help with the high costs of wood and also try to help reduce the already de forestation that is currently happening in the Rift Valley.

Thank you Bodwell for tirelessly working and putting your hearts and bodies into the project. The kids at Ngeya will truly appreciate the kindness and as always CTC would not be able to complete these types of projects without your assistance. THANK YOU !!!!

Little Lauren in Kenya!!!

Both the CTC children and I had a wonderful visit from a close friend of mine from San Francisco. Lauren came for a 10 day visit to experience Kenya and Maai Mahiu. We spent two days in MM. Because she was here for a short visit we really had to pack in as much as possible without wearing her out. 20ish hours of flying is never easy, nor is the jetlag. She brought with her two suitcases, and one was fully stocked with items for the children. 50lbs of fun....Basically, she went on a shopping spree before leaving. She brought play dough, diapers, dolls, toy cars, a parachute, crayons, markers, bubbles and the list goes on. It really was a toy store in a suitcase. I have included a few pictures with the girls and their new babies, the kids playing with the toy cars and a few with Lauren and the kids at Malaika and Good Shepherd. It was amazing to see the reaction in the girls when the dolls were pulled out. I guess all children love gifts of toys but they really seemed to fall in love with the little babies. Carrying them around, kissing them, coddling, smiling and talking softly to the dolls. None of these girls have ever had anything close to a real looking baby. AMAZING! We handed out diapers to all the families who have children that we normally change every day. Normally, the mothers take sheets and wrap them around the children and put a standard plastic shopping bag over and wrap that around to seal it. As you can imagine it does not seal that well and the sheets are not good atm opping up the mess. But the diapers that Lauren brought, good ole American quality, will surely due the trick. The Mothers were very thankful and have mentioned to me about the "blonde" girl to thank her for them again. So Lauren THANK YOU!!!!

We then went to Good Shepherd for the always overwhelming welcome as the children rush out to say hello. Beating on the car for you to open then mobbing once you set a foot on the ground. They really took to Lauren. By the end of our time at GS, they were asking me to leave her behind. They wanted her to sleep over. Even asking for us to sing a song and if we could not then I would have to leave her. I was tempted leaving her but figured Lauren might have some issues :) Nah just kidding she was always coming with me. They showed us the new seedling garden recently planted and were so proud to explain how each child has a certain part and manages that part. And they built each one in a shape: triangle, square, circle. So creative. Oh yes, I then proceeded to kick Lauren in the face with the foot of one of the boys as I twirled him around. Smearing mud on her clean face. Damn, the bull in the China shop was in full affect that day. Also, whacked her , by accident, two times as I tried to describe something, using way to much arm action. Ok all you who know me stop laughing right now. Sorry again Lauren, I try to not hurt people when they are around but most people know me on this blog and know.... well it does not always work that way. And I am the best at hurting myself :)

Anyways, I really wanted to take a moment and thank you Lauren for coming. Thank you for taking the time to fly all the way over here and bring such wonderful gifts for the children. They will never forget you and have asked about you often. It's people like you that make CTC possible. So come back soon, OK?

On the 17th we had the pleasure of hosting Sarakazi again. You may have seen some blogs previously about recent visits. They are a Danish funded NGO who supports the performing arts and already works on a weekly basis in various hospitals in Nairobi with children who are sick. They have partnered with CTC to come down to Maai Mahiu from Nairobi on a monthly basis and entertain both the kids at Good Shepherd and Malaika Kids. This past visit was all about painting. The brought all the needed paints, paper, brushes etc. and let the kids go to work. The first was time at Malaika
Kids. The bottom two photos show Dan doing a very impressive painting of which he is so proud. It hangs in his room at home. And the other is of a group of children making a good ole mess. Then we went to Good Shepherd and as you can see from the photos, the boys performed various skits and puppetry of which the kids about fell over laughing. It's great to see the children at first wondering who are these new people to adoring them towards the end. Then the kids also got paint and play games for a few hours. I was really impressed with some of the paintings. Little budding artists. It's a wonderful
escape for them. All in all it was a great day of bonding and play. And of course I enjoyed it as much if not more than the children. Guess if you can't be a child at heart why be an adult at all? Thanks Sarakazi to another amazing day!!!!!!

Boys get the goods!!!!!

This past week we had a job to finish and thanks to a caring heart back in California it's done. As you might have read from the previous blog, the boys were left out at Good Shepherd. We took 6 mattresses to the girls but did not have enough money for the boys. The boy's beds were just as soiled and nasty. The boys were happy for the girls but definitely bummed. I heard recently that a good friend from St. Tim's days, Sharon Dekker-Pisani, wanted to contribute to our work here. She had come to my Mom asking how she could help. This allowed me to go in search of mattresses in Maai Mahiu immediately. I guess you ask and it will be provided. I have included some pics of us in search of the mattresses and delivery to Good Shepherd. Yes, that is me on the top bunk. After the delivery, I thought, maybe I could sleep here now? But I think the boys would be a little cramped from my long, lanky self.

When we showed up, the boys kept saying "Bless you Nathan". But really this blessing goes out to Sharon. I wanted to take a moment and thank you. It has always been contributions from the individual who have made CTC work in Maai Mahiu possible. So thank you, Sharon, from me and especially the boys of Good Shepherd.