Challenging times

When I got back from Mombasa I heard from John (the person that rescued Juliet) that there was a school in Kiambu that was willing to take her on despite her exam results being below the required level as they sympthied with her situation. However, we did not know that school and had to go there to check where exacly it was, what their faclities were like and also the costs involved. So on Monday I travelled with Juliet back to the primary school she attended to collect the leaving certificate and also the original document with the exam results from the children's home she was staying at previously. It was quite a hectic day as we had to get to Thika and back to Ruai before it got dark - it is not safe at all for me to walk around after dark where Motherly Care is located... After some initial challenges we managed to get it all done in good time and on Tuesday I was able to travel to Kiambu with John to visit the school. Again - it was a long journey, across whole of Nairobi (it takes almost 2hrs in traffic to get to town from Ruai and then over an hour from town to Kiambu...). We met with the owner of the school and she was a very nice lady. We also saw all the facilities, classrooms and the dorms. It all seemesd well and I was certain that Juliet would be happy there. The school is situated in a rural area, it is very quiet and lots of green around. I took some photos so Juliet could get an idea of where she would be schooling.

After that I did not manage to do very much as I was getting very stressed over the situation at MCCH. There have been some issues for a while - mainly about money, not getting enough of it more precisely - but I was convinced that it would all get sorted out one way or another and this is why I did not mention it before. I just wanted to concentrate on my time with the children but even that was disrupted because of the money issues. I was feeling worse and worse and had to stay in bed for few days as I could barely walk because of the pain... I was very worried I would end up in the hospital and I really wanted to avoid it.

While I was sick the children were popping in to see me and it was always making me feel better :) But in the end there were told not to come, I dont know why. However, they still kept coming even if it was for a few minutes and I really appreciated it but at the same time i did not want them to get into trouble.

When I finally felt better on Monday I decided to go to town as I had had enough of staying in the room for such long time and needed to get out of there. I went to meet with a friend and we discussed the issues of Motherly Care. I was also told some more things that apparently the management of MCCH was spreading around about me - none of it true! It was then I felt I had no choice but to leave and started to prepare for that. I asked another friend if I could stay with them while I am getting myself organised again and they agreed. I planned to leave on Saturday as on Wednesday I needed to go to court with Juliet and then had some mtgs on Thursday... I was going back to Ruai in a better mood as I knew the problems were coming to an end... However, what I heard when I got back to Motherly Care made me excelerate my plans rapidly. I called my friend and told him I could not stay here until Saturday and I wanted to leave the next day. We agreed it was the best way forward given to what I'd just been told. I dont want to dwell on this whole situation and therefore will not go into details but I am still disturbed by all that happened, I never expected these people to turn on me like that while I was helping them. I packed my bags that night and organised for a taxi to pick me up.

I also agreed with John, who wanted to move the 3 children he rescued from Motherly Care to another place, that I would help him transport the children and their luggage since I was already paying for the car.