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!!!!!!

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!!!!!!!