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!!!!!!

A Day of Play!!!!

This past Saturday we saw another visit by Rift Valley Academy to CTC. Last time we spent a day at Good Shepherd finishing the garden and the boys dormitory. This Sat., 7 high schoolers came down the hill to spend the morning with the Malaika Kids. This was special for both sides as normally the children at our facility don't come in on Saturday. You could see that they were a bit surprised to be there are a Sat. but still VERY excited. The RVA kids don't get that many chances, if at all, to interact with disabled children. It's always interesting to watch new people come to the facility. Generally, there's some time where they don't feel comfortable. There is something about being with adults/children with disability that really both pulls at the heart strings and also our own very personal comfort level.

It doesn't take long though to cross that barrier. Once the RVA kids realized that the children are just like all other children, full of joy, excitement and love......the wall came down. We did an introduction for the first part where the children sang the normal morning songs, recited a few bible verses and hellos. After a quick tour of the facility with an overview of who's CTC and why we work in Maai Mahiu, I divided the RVA kids into 2 groups. One spent time with the children who have cerebral palsy. The second was put into the play room with rest of the Malaika kids. Both rooms were play day really but in very different forms. It always touches my heart how attached people are to Dan, Henry, Francis (the boys with cerebral palsy). For most this is the first time they have ever had very close contact with children who are VERY restricted in all ways. The RVA kids jumped right in playing with the boys, opening hands to work on dexterity, blowing up balloons, playing games to entertain.....the kids loved it!!!!

In the other room what started out as managed areas for games soon turned into a free for all. Have to love how planning seems to disintegrate with children. Some of the RVA kids are great at making balloon animals. Can you imagine? Our children have NEVER seen anything like a dog made out of a balloon. It soon turned into a volleyball competition to see who could keep the balloon in the air longest. Both groups, Malaika Kids and RVA, bonded in these moments of play. Nothing really to think about but letting the child run free. Pretty amazing to see :)

Oh!!!!! And George. RVA brought nail polish for the girls. Wonderful I said. But it didn't take long for the boys to notice the fun the girls were having. So George sat down and needed his nails painted. He was so proud of having Corvette red nails. And once those were done he started taking off his socks to get his toes painted. And then that started a trend. Mike was soon to follow. You can see in the picture with balloons and the children, George's fingers painted. Who says nail polish is just for girls?

I've included a few pictures of the day. As you can see the Malaika Kids really appreciated their new friends. Thank you Rift Valley Academy for picking up these children and running with them.

Making Music

A funny thing happened the other day. A totally spontaneous musical ensemble. Could be considered a band by some standards. OK, let me explain. The wall toys for the Malaika kids have been used daily as the kids came back to school on Monday. You should have seen the faces when they came into the room for the first time. Excitement is an understatement. I was a bit worried as I thought they might rip them off the wall with pure OVER joy. But that didn't happen, SEP and the parents made very industrial toys. The kids gravitated, in the first week, to the noise making walls. Well, on Thurs. I heard a huge commotion as Rocky and I were trying to hold a very serious meeting (at least Rocky and I thought so) with the Malaika Moms. But no worries this is so normal. Really, it just sounded like all the kids at once going to town making as much noise as possible. Who can be irritated with that, right? So the adult meeting went on and so did the children's meeting/racket. But then I noticed about a half hour later that it sounded more like a beat. I had a break in the meeting so went to take a look. And what do I see? 5 kids have created a make shift band. No teacher was guiding them, they were left alone to play. And one child was creating a beat with a roller and wheels. The other four were either spinning shakers or squeezing squeakers. It was an actual beat. I could not believe it. Many people have said to me that disabled children really gravitate towards music. And I have seen that with our morning songs but this was truly impressive. They were looking to each other to hold the beat. Now it was no Beatles, Marley or the Stones but it's got me thinking. What can we do with this? Where can this go? I have included a few pics of the children making "glorious music". Oh by the way I should probably reference Iron Maiden as that was probably the decibel level. No soft elevator music for these children.

Also, I included a few pics of the children playing with some of the toys made by SEP and the parents of the children. One is of a matching game, the second is a ring throwing game and the last is of a memory game where you put items under the cups and children have to guess where could matching part be....always loved these game. Wait what do I mean? I played each of these with the children and my story is I beat them in every game. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I am the king of Malaika games.........I so wish that was true :)

THANK YOU !!!

Hello my friends!!!!! I wanted to make sure to send you a note before the year ends. We have gone through a lot during this past year. As 2008 is closing, I need to thank you.

Personally, so many of you have been there for me both with my own crazy life and also this wild ride called Comfort the Children. I don't think I can really write how deeply I love you and how much you mean to me. But I can try. What I feel is without you none of this is possible. I would not be the person I am today nor be able to take on these challenges if I did not have such an amazing support structure. I am a blessed, I know this. We all have hard times in our lives but with you I know I can accomplish anything. So here's to you, why the hell you even want to be my support structure, now that is the crazy part :) I try to run from myself at times so knowing you stick around is mad. Thanks for being those endless rocks in my life.

I also want to specially thank all those who over the past year have supported CTC and the projects in Kenya. Your donations and positive words of support are what have always kept us going. I am so happy to know we have added so many new CTC members to the crew and your kindness through making donations makes me personally proud to call you a friend. You never have to make any effort and that you do says so much about your love for others.

So Happy New Year my friends. I wish you were all here with me so we could throw a huge party and ring in the new year together. I will cheers you tonight and look forward to seeing you soon.

Love you!!!!!!!

New Classrooms Completed

We are expanding!!!! Well, yes, sort of growing but really just improving the current classrooms for the disabled children. Basically, we are taking one of the larger rooms we currently use as a store room and turning that into a classroom. And one of the dukas (shops) next to our current office vacated recently so we took over that and converted a huge room to a classroom. The previous two classrooms were great but small. The children were cramped. Now they can spread their wings and create more havoc. CTC has not given up the smaller classrooms though. What we have done is convert one into Mama Peter's (the malaika kids cook) kitchen. Currently, she is cooking in a side little alcove on the ground. No doors and not sanitary enough for the children. We were originally limited on space so we made it work but now even Mama is moving up :) The other old classroom has been turned into our new store room.

As many of you know my Bro, Luke, is in Kenya visiting and has been a rock star. He's been helping with any task put in front of him. The big challenge for the two of us was to get the new classrooms painted and ready for the children who return on Jan. 5th. It took a few days to get it complete but with Luke's great help painting we were able to complete a few days ago. The large wall hangings you see in the pics are the same as I wrote in a recent blog. They were donated by SEP (Special Education Professionals) and made by the fathers and mothers of the children. They look fabulous now with newly painted walls. I'll be updating with pics soon of the children using the new classrooms.

Personally, completing jobs and having a visual outcome to look at really does make work here all that much more enjoyable. Every day for me seems to be another adventure and rewarding experience. To be able to work along side my brother was a blessing. And to know our work has really nothing to do with us, nor benefit us personally in any way is .........Well you know at XMAS when you get a gift it feels one way. Wonderful, sure. But to give a gift. Now that is something COMPLETELY different. To watch a loved one open a little treasure from you and see the reaction is something special There is a deep, pure loving feeling that comes from giving. And I know Luke and I surely felt this during our painting expedition. I just hope the children will enjoy the rooms as much as Luke and I did to prepare them.

Until next post............

Drip Feed Pilot Program

We are off to the races!!!!  After our very successful community garden in town of which you have all seen pics, the next challenge....How do we get drip feed technology into the hands of the community?   Rocky and I have been working to develop a plan to roll out small, individual drip feed systems that are cheap and easy to install.   We have developed a 5 row, each 17 feet long with a 5 gallon bucket to supply the water.  Most of this system is sources locally in Maai Mahiu which also supports us supporting local community.  We had two well wishers out of the States (you know who you are and THANK YOU) who were very excited about this program and came forward a month ago to fund the initial 10 systems.  Each system costs $20 and that includes employing a local young man, John, to set the system up with the family.  So we not only give access to new technology for a family but also employ young, hard working individuals from MM.  One of the big issues with the town is lack of employment.  

judge the progress and if it works then move forward with another 5.  My hope is we have these systems installed in 50, 100....who knows maybe hundreds of families in Maai Mahiu.  We will also install sack gardens eventually which work out to be $3 a garden completely installed.  An very important part of this project was total family commitment.   The family has to be present for the installation and help through the entire process.  If they don't show up we don't install.  There needs to be ownership and through the installation John can education the family on how and why the system works.   

We have currently installed 3 systems with the other two being done this week.  The first was to one of the HIV patients we help support with food.  He has not been able to work so they are very desperate.  I included a picture of a man with his children working.  Truly amazing to see a person work even though he's so sick.   The second two families are those of grandmothers (ShoShos) from our community garden project.  They believe in our systems and constantly talk about how well the garden is progressing.  For us this is great press within the community.   The hope is those families surrounding the ones already with a drip system will talk and ask for the system also.    I also included a photo of John our project manager.  He had a long days work in the hot sun taking a well deserved rest.   In the future it would be nice to know we can employ him at least part time installing systems.  Who knows maybe we can turn this into a multiple employee business.....

I'll be updating pictures in the next month or two and show progress on the systems.  Thank you again to the donors who have funded this project.  CTC is low on funds currently so those who decide they want to adopt a program really help take off stresses.  Also, many new ideas are hard to get on the budget so working outside the box is pretty quick and successful.....

What would we do without partners?

What would we do without partners? Special Education Professionals (SEP) came to Maai Mahiu last week for one of their amazing toy making workshops. They hold these all over Nairobi building wall hanging, interactive toys for many facilities that take care of disabled children. Karolien, Edmond (physical therapist) and her two carpenters came with all supplies for a full day of work. They were very clear with us that they will bring the materials and expertise but we needed to supply mothers, fathers, brothers etc. who would work to make the toys. Not only did every mother participate, but so did various men from the families. We invited many but never knew who would show up. In fact, there were at times to many chefs in the toy kitchen but then we are not ever going to complain with extra help. It just goes to show the constant support shown by the community of Maai Mahiu.

The first picture is of one carpenter building feeding chairs for Danson and Francis. Both of these boys have cerebral palsy and cannot do much without the constant aid of those that look after them.. How their mothers do it on a daily basis and for an entire life is truly beyond dedication....it's sainthood really. The new chairs were built for the boys at their homes. Currently, they both have chairs at our facility just like the ones being built that were measured exactly for them. The issue is when they went home after our daycare and on the weekends there was no chair to aid. Back to laying on their backs. So SEP graciously volunteered to have home units made. I'll update with some pictures in the near future of the boys at home in the chairs. The second picture is of Francis who is in the standing aid supplied by SEP. This came last time they visited and allows these boys to look upright and work on standing muscles that have atrophied from years of inactivity. All donated by SEP!!!

The third picture is of Karolien who runs SEP and John our resident artist. One comment she made was that normally things like sewing and artistic touches are not around during a workshop but since we have all the ladies sewing just next store and John who is a great painter, it allowed for an easy day without interruption. John is putting the face on a lady who Karolien has made hair by which the children will play, putting clips and braiding to practice hand eye coordination. The fourth picture is of the men painting and working on a big domino set used by the children to practice matching and numbers. Damn I love dominos!!!!! These children have no clue what they are in for, domination :) I swear these toys are going to be used by me more than any little one. Ah well there have to upsides to it all, right?

The last picture is of my "little" (he'll hate that) bro, Luke. He joining in on the normal morning songs that start the day for the children. I was so impressed by him. He arrived from San Francisco the night before and by the time we got home and in bed it was 1AM but he was up at 7 and jumped right in. Talking about thrown into the fire head first. But he thrived. And that is so impressive. It takes people some time to feel comfortable especially around the children with disability. I think for people these children can show the weakness in human beings. And so with that we feel very insecure and awkward. But Luke did not, he bonded very quickly with them and they loved him for it. What we all realize working with these little ones is they are the same as any other child. They just have a bit more to struggle with in life. But that does not damper their spirit in any way. They are truly Malaikas .......Angels!!!!

We are retrofitting two new classrooms for the children before New Years that will be much bigger and better laid out. New paint, etc. Also, I'd like to start in the New Year employing on a part time basis a physical therapist to work with the children to improve motor skills. If anyone is interested in contributing to buying new mats for the floors, paint for the walls, additional learning material please let me know. Also, CTC has no funds to employ a physical therapist and anyone who wants to call this their baby we would be greatly appreciate. I have not done the exact numbers but it will be less than $100 a month for a therapist.

Thank you all for your constant support and please keep in touch we me. I know I am far away but I love hearing from you.