Mombasa and North Coast with Juliet

Before I even met Juliet, I heard a lot about her and the story about her difficult childhood. I am not going to go into details as I want to respect Juliet's right to privacy. All I can say at this point that every time I think about what she has been through, it gives me shivers. When I heard the bits and pieces of what happened to her, I already decided that I wanted to look after her myself and do all I can to ensure that from now on she is happy and gets the opportunities she deserves, i.e. secondary education.



Juliet with her sister, a cousin and a friend

I am working closely with the person that rescued Juliet and whose organisation has the custody over her. She is not an orphan - she has both parents but she is what we call in Kenya a "vulnerable child". And because she has a family, even if we are trying to protect her, we need to ensure that she doesn't loose contact with her relatives. This is why I offered to take her to Mombasa at Xmas to visit her mother and the rest of the family.

Juliet was very excited about the trip and we were both really looking forward to spending few weeks together and getting to know each other better (although by the time of the trip we were already good friends :)


Mombasa - Juliet with Fahima

 As I am not a Kenyan, and I am white, I cannot just take a child on a trip. We travelled accompanied by a letter from the organisation that has the custody for Juliet and the morning after we arrived in Mombasa we went straight to the Children's Office to let them know that we were travelling together and what the purpose of the trip was. The DCO (District Children Officer) was very helpful and even agreed to our trip to the north coast - he gave us another letter to confirm that we were allowed to travel together and that I was Juliet's guardian for the duration of the trip. This came very handy the following day when we went to visit Juliet's mother for the second time and the pastor from her church was trying to threaten me with the court, police, etc... All that just because I was white and they thought they would be able to get some money out of me - but it did not work. The time I spent in Kenya made me even tougher than before and now I am more aware of those just trying to use you or guilt-trip you into helping.



Juliet with her cousin and the great-grandfather

We also went to visit Juliet's great-grandfather and the rest of her mother's family. They were all happy to see her and I was happy that they did not try to get money out of me ;) Again - there has been many issues with that family before but I don't want to write too much about it - again as I don't feel it would be fair on Juliet.


Juliet with a double catch on her first try :)

However, when she was rescued, Juliet agreed to produce a documentary about what happened to her - so this will be ready in a couple of months and then I will be able to share more about what happened. Until then I don't feel it would be right for me to write about it.

Juliet made some new friends in Mombasa and it was really great for me to watch how much more relaxed she became.



After Mombasa we travelled to Lamu (I wanted her to enjoy her holiday as much as possible before starting the secondary school at the end of Jan) and although she was sad at first to leave the friends she got in Mombasa, she had great time and actually didn't want to go back to Mombasa until it was time to head back for Nairobi.



We had great time together, spend many hours talking - a lot about what happened to her (and it is a very complicated story) so now I know the whole situation - and just having fun - walking on the beach, visiting friends, going fishing... We even sailed to Kiwayu (another island 7 hrs away by boat from Lamu), this was Juliet's first ever holiday and I wanted her to really enjoy it.



Juliet relaxing in Kiwayu

 Of course, when we arrived in Lamu we also had to report at the Children's Office and present the letter we got in Mombasa. All went well here as well and we were just asked to come in again at the end of our trip so they could give us a letter confirming that we did report to the office so we could show it again in the office in Mombasa.


You can never have enough cake!



Juliet made many friends in Lamu and she soon became known as the "daughter of the muzungu" (daughter of the white person). And we really did become as close as if she were my real daughter. I feel really connected to her and I am convinced that there was a reason why we got to know one another. And this is why I am determined to protect her and to ensure she gets all that she needs.



We were both very sad when it was time to go back to Nairobi. We had to have a stop over in Mombasa again - firstly so Juliet could see her mother again and also so we could visit the Children's Office yet again. Once more all went well and we set off for Nairobi.



Sunset in Kiwayu

While we were at the coast the KCPE exams results (exams at the end of primary school, the results determine which secondary school the child can attend) were announced. It took us quite few days before we finally got Juliet's. It was less than she expected, but given all she had to go through while she was preparing for and sitting those exams I think it is still very good. The headteacher agrees with me. However, the marks she got were not enough to get her into a good secondary school. So 2 days after returning from the coast I was on the road again looking for a good school for Juliet.



Juliet reaching for the sky :D



Catch Up

I have really neglected my blog recently so it is time for a catch up.

December was quite a busy month for me - had to fly to London all of a sudden for 10 days but this enabled me to bring majority of the stuff donated by the Bearwood Primary School pupils (from Wokingham). The children collected lots of school uniforms, stationery and toiletries for MCCH kids - I carried 3 massive suitcases with me back to Nairobi and the kids were thrilled to receive the gifts.


Our primary school kids (up to class 5) in their new uniforms

 

Kids receiving the gifts from UK

Dring December there are many well-wishers coming to visit our children, bringing Xmas gifts. The kids also get to go to few places, i.e. an event organised by the Asian community in Nairobi for 10 children homes - they send buses to pick everyone from wherever they are located and bring them to the event location. The kids have an opportunity to sing and dance in front of the others, are given breakfast and lunch. There are also fun activities for the kids, i.e. horse or camel riding, face painting, bouncy castle, etc... Each child also receives a xmas gift and the orphanage is also given flour, oil, rice etc. Our kids had a lot of fun that day and so did I. The only downside was that my face got terribly burnt that day - I was so busy with the children that I forgot about the sunscreen and didnt realise how strong the sun actually was until it was too late... The following morning I couldn't even open my eyes properly as my face was quite swallen. I had to stay indoors for a few days as even little bit of direct sun was causing a lot of pain for me.

Everyone had their face painted

Some of our kids riding a camel :)



Mercy & Mary (too afraid to ride a horse or a camel ;)



Mary & I with the event organisers receiving gifts for MCCH (including a Xmas tree :)

We also had a visitor from UK - Fleur, who decided to spend her Xmas with our children. The kids were thrilled to have her here. I was also very happy about Fleur's visit as I had to travel to Mombasa over Xmas period - I knew Fleur would do a great job with the kids and from all the stories I heard she did keep them entertained all the time she was there and the kids are really missing her now. THANKS SO MUCH Fleur, you are a star :)

It is easy to see how much kids love Fleur

End of the school year

The Form 4 students finished their exams (the A level equivalent) a couple of weeks ago and now will have to wait until February to find out their results and discover whether their are able to continue their education at a university. In the meantime they have left Motherly Care to stay with their relatives.

I am not sure if I mentioned this before but Motherly Care is not just an orphanage - we help poor families to educate their children - the secondary schools are not free in Kenya and therefore many families cannot afford it.

This week also remaining classes finished the end of year exams and on Thursday was the last day of school. Most of the children with relatives have left and wil return in January when the new school year begins.

This was a very busy week for me - first I had to go to the immigration office and extend my visa... I did not go to plan and as a result I am flying back to London this morning just for a few days so I can return on a new visa... On Tuesday I went with Juliet (the latest arrival at Motherly Care) to St. Teresa's School where one of my friends (and a former streetboy) was holding an event for children showing documentaries about children's rights. Juliet was rescued a couple of months ago and she has been through a lot, there is a documentary being produced based on her story. She now wants to help other children to avoid what happened to her... On Wednesday we went back to St. Teresa's but this time with a group of 19 MCCH children as they were performing during the event - singing, dancing, etc... It was a really good day, the kids really enjoyed themselves but I was exhausted at the end of it... And then on Thursday I had to be back in town with Juliet again as we were going to work on the documentary with the Alessandra, who is putting it all together. It took us over 4 hrs to return back to Ruai and we arrived after it was already dark - sthg that I really try to avoid but this time we had no choice... I did arrange for 2 boys to come and meet us as soon as we got off the matatu though as it would be dangerous for us to walk alone in the dark - it is about 30 min walk, there is no lights on the way and we had no torch... Luckily we arrived home safely.

On Friday I finally managed to meet with Maria - it has been a very long time since I saw as she is always working... We spent quite a few hours talking and catching up on everything. She is going to Switzerland in feb next year to volunteer there (working with old and disabled people) so she was in town sorting out her visa etc...

And now I am at the airport waiting for my flight to London...

The trip

The trip to the coast was really good although it did have some challenges, first one being the severe rains that delayed our arrival in Mombasa by more than 8 hrs... I like travelling on the train but being stuck on it for almost 24hrs and in very hot and humid conditions is not fun even for such train lover as I am...

While at the coast, I visited 2 projects - a children's home in Bamburi and a school in Kilifi. The projects are really well run and I was very impressed by the way they work with and support the communities. It gave me even more ideas of what can be done when there is enough money coming in and good management in place with people devoted to what they are doing, I hope one day Motherly Care can become a great project like this also...

Mombasa was very very hot and so busy and polluted that only thing to differentiate it from Nairobi was the heat and the ocean near by. And the ocean was great - the beach and the water fantastic.

I made new friends and was very happy staying there. However, the trips to town were an experience of its own - the matatu drivers are even more crazy than those in Nairobi, the conductors try to squeeze 20 people in the vehicle designed for only 14... travelling was not a nice experience.

I went to see Fort Jesus and was surprised to find a tribute to Polish soldiers there...

I was originally planning to fly back to Nairobi but to save money I went back on the bus instead... And it was not bad at all - I paid for the luxury coach (which was only £5 more than the normal coach - £15 for the trip) and it had air conditioning, a loo and some snacks during the journey. We arrived back in Nairobi on time which was also great as I wanted to be back before it gets dark...

What like the most about returning back home is the welcome I get from the children.

Sonja & Justin

Last week we hosted Sonja & Justin at Motherly Care - a couple from UK. It was very nice to have visitors here for a week - especially that they are a great couple and they did some great work here. Justin, with a help of local person (whom he named Charlie - as a much easier name to remember than what he was actually called LOL), built a new chicken coop for our chicken project - currently we have 1500 chickens here (they start the slaughtering tonight so the first batch can be sold in the morning...) - this is the initiative to help us get money for the staff salaries as we are still struggling with that). Sonja is a huge animal lover so apart from spending her time with the children she was also helping with the goats and feeding the chickens :)
It was also nice for me to have them here - it was great to have someone to talk to from the same background and culture. Dont get me wrong - I am at least half Kenyan now but it is always nice to have someone who understands your way of thinking :)

I was playing a tour guide on 2 trips to town. Thanks to that I got a chance to finally go and see the elephants :) On the way back to Ruai after the 1st trip, while we waited for the taxi to pick us up, I started talking to two street boys - one was 8 and the other 12 years old. I shared some food with them and they really wanted me to take them to Motherly Care with me (they told me that they live on the streets and sleep under a car...). I really wanted to take them with me but unfortunately it is not just as easy as that. You cannot bring a child from the street and mix in with the children from the orphanage. Luckily, I have recently met someone who is rescuing children from the streets and he promised to help me find them and take them to a rescue centre (they would need to stay there first and then we would find an orphange that could take them in). This makes me feel much better as I was really sad just leaving them there. And it was then when I decided I wanted to learn more about what can be done to help children, especially those ones forced to live on the streets. Hopefully I can succeed in my mission to help as many children as possible.

Tomorrow we are travelling together to Mombasa :) It takes about 14-16 hrs on the train but it is much better than the coach and I actually really like that journey. The train goes through Tsavo National Park and if you wake up early enough you can see a really lovely sunrise - and if you are lucky, the elephants...
Whilst in Mombasa I am going to visit 2 more project and I am hoping to get some tips that we can use at Motherly Care. It will also be a nice mental break as lately I have been quite stressed out. I am really looking forward to it. Although I took the train to Mombasa last year, I didn't actually spend any time there as we travelled on to another place. It will be really nice to explore the city :)
However, before I get there I have to get through all the mud around here - it's been raining since last night and although it stopped for a short while (just enough time for me to dry my washing :), it is now raining again... I really dont like the mud, it is so difficult to walk anywhere... On teh other hand - when it does not rain it is unbelievably dusty! LOL

My kids are just so great

I was totally overwhelmed about my kids' reaction to my return to Motherly Care this afternoon. I was only away for 1 night and I definitely did not expect for them to miss me too much but the moment I arrived I was welcomed by so many smiling faces and hand shakes and "So nice you are back" comments... It was so lovely. Samuel - a boy with whom I spend quite a lot of time as he is always around the guest house (where I am staying) feeding chickens and attending to other chores - seemed the most happy with my return - he did not want to leave my side and was very keen on showing how much he missed me - by bringing me some sliced tomatoes with salt (which he prepared on his own), by emptying my bin, even by ensuring that the leftover water which I boiled to make some tea was covered in case I needed it later... And he is only 11... He loves to read so whenever he is free I give him a story book to read in my room.
All this made feel absolutely great and definitely helped me overcome yet another low spell lasting since beginning of last week.

Today, again, we were visited by John Bravo - a scout who is helping us to introduce some more activities at Motherly Care, i.e. working with beads, sports and scouting. He is the one who is currently teaching me and providing a lot of materials about the whole process of rescuing children from child labour and the streets... I am very excited about all of this as I want to be able to reach out to as many children as possible.

John wanted to show our children the "Stolen Childhoods" documentary (we have already seen 2 different videos in previous weeks) so we proceeded to Motherly Care. Again I was greeted by many children running from all sides just to hug me - an absolutely amazing feeling. I spent the entire afternoon with children in my arms and on my lap, by my feet... it was a great end to quite a challenging week. I cannot describe the feeling but I did not want to let go of any of them and was quite sad when they eventually had to go to have their supper...

I brought some banana cake with me today and since there were many children around me this afternoon, it was finished in seconds but my children were so happy with such a small gift... I am now very excited about organising my delayed b'day party for next month - I am definitely bringing a huge cake, there must be hotdogs as children absolutely love it and I am thinking that I should also arrange some ice cream for them... I want this celebration to stay in their memories for a very very long time... :) yes, it is making me feel really good when I can treat my children to sthg they might have not tried before or sthg that they get very rarely and that might be perceived as a selfish reason to be doing that but I love the feeling I get when I see so many happy faces around me. I have been very strict with them lately and since we are so severely underfunded I cannot be doing things like this very often but on this one occasion I am going to spoil them as much as I can :) After that I will have to concentrate all my energy on fundraising and learning all about helping children living on the streets...

Rescuing Emmanuel (Len Morris, 2008): USA

Rescuing Emmanuel (Len Morris, 2008): USA