culture shock is an understatement

Words can't describe how different life is in Kenya compared to at home. To call it culture shock doesn't come close to the way I feel right now!

Kenya is everything I thought it would be and at the same time, totally different than I expected. I am sitting right now in Kenol, a small town around 20 minutes from Makuyu. The orphanage is located, not in Makuyu, but in the nearby village of Pundamilia, about 15-20 minutes walking distance. So we walk to Makuyu and take a matatu (a public taxi, fits 15 but they usually squeeze like 20+ in there) to Kenol, or if we choose, on Thika, which is more like 45 minutes away.

Why am I here? Well there is no internet at the orphanage. So blogging will occur whenever I find the time/desire to get here or to Thika.

So why the shock? Well I arrived in Nairobi on Wednesday night, stayed the night in a simple but nice hotel, and then went with Geoffrey and his wife Edith to the orphanage. It is really in the middle of nowhere. There are little shops and "hotels" and "restaurants" along the roads but they are seriously made of crumbling concrete and the roads are dirt. There are children and people running around every where and every which way...its exactly how they talk about it in books and how it looks in pictures, just chaos and messy.

The orphanage is calmer. We arrive, and they take me on a tour of the grounds. Its 2.5 acres and they show me around - the place is almost totally self-sustaining. They pump water from a well, and collect rainwater. They use the cow poop to create biogas to light fires, and they grow all the fruit and vegetables that they use. They have rabbits, chickens, pigs and cows - but they don't really eat any of these so I don't know what their purpose is. Maybe to sell for money later.

When I arrived, the kids were at school and the other volunteers were doing other work. The whole thing was totally overwhelming - I was absolutely terrified - I could not imagine doing this for 3 months. The toilet is a hole in the ground. There was no internet. There were bugs everywhere. The freaking cows would not shut up. The rooms were concrete walls with a corrugated steel roof, bugs and wasps flying in and out, and the stupid pigs were right outside.

Everything and everyone seemed so far away. Maybe it was the lack of sleep but I panicked. I went to my room and lay down around 11am, and slept until like 4:30pm, hoping maybe I could sleep through the whole summer. Around 4:30 or 5pm, I crept out of my room and started to walk around. By this time, the kids were home from school.

The second I step outside, one of the kids, Baby Joyce, comes up to me to say hello. They are all so polite, Hello, how are you? And they ask your name, and shake your hand. Joyce held my hand and walked me around to introduce me to the other kids. There are 32 orphans at WWB. They primarily speak Kikuyu, a local language, not Swahili. They also speak a little English. They are just precious. So friendly and so sweet. They just jump all over you and climb on your arms and its so cute. Impossible not to smile when you are with them.

After this, I met some more volunteers and they helped me calm down a lot. They all seemed to have the same misgivings and same issues that I did at first, and were dealing with it, and it was nice to have someone to commiserate with.

At dinner, we serve the kids and then sit down to eat - a sort of potato and pumpkin and bean soup. It was fine, just pretty boring. They use no salt or seasoning here! After dinner, the kids brush their teeth and listen to a Bible verse in English and Kikuyu. Then they hold hands and say the Lords Prayer and go to sleep. They also sing this really cute song - imagine to the tune of Frere Jacques:


Baby Jesus
Baby Jesus
I love you
I love you
You are my savior
You are my savior
Every day
Every day

Its interesting - it seems like Kenyans are extremely conservative and very religious. Everywhere you look there are signs that say God is Good, and the Lord Loves You and stuff like that. On the other hand, they seem to take a fatalist viewpoint of religion - if they are good, they will prosper, if they are sinful, God will punish them, etc. I mean, I've only been here two days but that is what I picked up.


Okay this post is getting long so I'll try to wrap it up. After dinner, everyone just goes to sleep because it gets dark pretty early and there really isn't much else to do. We get up at 7:30 and take the kids to school. Then on the walk home we stop to get chai (just black tea with lots of milk and sugar...I hate tea but this is very good) and andazi (like a fried dough thing?). When we return, the volunteers each go to their various tasks. For my first day, I chose to stick around the orphanage and do laundry. Imagine doing laundry for 32 kids....by hand. The lady who does the laundry must have the worst back ache ever...I helped her but I couldn't do that every day!

Laundry was done by 12:30, so I washed up and ate lunch - white rice and beans. Thank God for the hot sauce. Then I "showered" - basically, I washed my hair out of a bucket and tried to wipe off my feet and legs. I will never feel clean again. The red dirt touches everything and you can't get it off of your skin.

As much as I am trying to adjust here, it is comforting to see the children because they remind me of how blessed I am. Yet it is not sad to see them because these children are very lucky - they have beds with clean sheets and clean clothes, they have shoes, they get to go to school, they get 3 meals per day, they have basic health services, they have adults caring for them, they actually have a chance in the world. They are wealthy by the standards of Pundamilia and Makuyu. This is all because of Geoffrey and WWB.

I will hopefully be able to update again soon...within the next week perhaps? The internet at this place is 1ksh/minute which is like...really cheap (its like 70ksh/dollar). And its fast enough to upload pictures so I will try soon.

I'll end with this...I am overwhelmed and scared of spending 3 months in this place. It is like camping for 3 months, and I hate camping. But at the same time, it is exciting and I find myself happy when I am with the kids. They are just like any children anywhere, and I find that comforting.

Thanks for reading!

MAIL ME:
Attn: Emily Tanner
Watoto Wa Baraka International
P.O. Box 75306-00200

Nairobi, Kenya