New Pictures!!!

First and foremost, please click here to see new pictures (all of the most recent pictures will be on the SECOND page). I have uploaded some pictures of the kids, with descriptions of them, because I feel like I have not introduced them properly (I always say I love the kids but they are each individuals with their own personalities and I want to share them with anyone who is reading).

Second, this is a long post because I have been writing it for a few days. I will start with today and then go backwards, ending with some information for people who donated money to me.

Today I went with Burnadette and Hannah, as well as Zach (the orphanage manager) to the old World Vision headquarters, which I described last week. The new NGO is called the Makuyu Community Economic Empowerment Organization. We had a great meeting. Not only do I feel that this new organization has great potential, I think the meeting alleviated some of my concerns about funding at the orphanage and the way that money is spent. I got to hear Zach speak frankly about funding and it was great. I still think WWB needs to work on transparency but I am no longer suspicious that Geoffrey is making some huge profit off of the organization. I am also very convinced that he and Zach are very committed to helping children.

I am extremely glad I orchestrated this meeting; everyone seemed very excited at the prospect of a partnership between WWB and MCEEO. We have some ideas of how to help both organizations. I want to coordinate the policy of sending volunteers to do work for MCEEO from WWB, so as to provide technical support and help in capacity building. Also, I want to brainstorm some ideas to help MCEEO get a sustainable income. WWB relies on volunteers. Eventually MCEEO might be able to do that, but I think they will have a harder time attracting volunteers than, for example, a children's home. Personally I would love to work for them, but I would need a salary to do it.

Another idea is to create a really good website that volunteers who come to WWB and work for MCEEO can share with family and friends at home, for awareness and for fundraising. I do not know how an NGO can be registered as a 501(c) but I would like to look into it...if it is possible, it would encourage more donations.

We learned more about the incredible impact World Vision has had on Makuyu and this whole district. They were active for 18 years and completely transformed the area. Previously, Pundamilia (which means ZEBRA) was actually home to zebras....the area was semi-arid. World Vision was able to introduce new techniques of irrigation and completely change the area to become habitable and sustainable for farming. They have done INCREDIBLE work in this area! I am looking forward to speaking with Zach and Geoffrey to determine what other ideas we can think of to help collaboration between these organizations. 

This organization, to me, has a message of hope. They have made a great impact. Poverty is not solved but suffering is less. I am excited to continue working with them and hope to post more soon.
-----

As I write this, it is Sunday afternoon, which means rice and beans for lunch. Bored with the orphanage staples, Morgan and I walked to Margaret’s hoteli (Margaret is the women from which we purchase mandazi and chai in the mornings; hotel or hoteli is what they call the little roadside restaurants where you can get traditional Kenyan food). We got cabbage and chapati and chai – it was really good.

The best part about walking through Punda/Makuyu on Sundays is that everywhere you go you hear the singing and drumming and clapping from the many churches along the road. The people here absolutely adore going to church, and its always fun to hear the way they worship. The churches are very small and therefore quite numerous. You cannot walk twenty feet on a Sunday without hearing a different song from a church.

We get to Margaret’s, and since today is Morgan’s last day in Kenya, we talked to her for a while. Margaret is a really interesting and dedicated woman. She has worked extensively with CBOs (community based organizations) devoted to helping those people who are HIV positive. I wrote last week about my visit to World Vision and how the new NGO there funds four CBOs. Margaret works with the health-related CBO to promote HIV awareness and help plant kitchen gardens for people living with HIV. She has also worked to reduce the spread of malaria. Morgan and Eric have visited with Margaret and tried to coordinate a relationship between WWB and the CBO to get financial support for these kitchen gardens (they cost around 2000ksh - $25), but according to management, there is not enough money.

I asked Margaret if there was a way we could help her, by planting or anything along those lines, and she explained that the only way to help is by giving money. The same way that the people at the new NGO told us that the best way to help is by spreading the word to give money, Margaret does not need us, she needs our money.

This is by far the most frustrating part of being in Africa. Everywhere I look, I see the desperate need for money. It all comes down to money. As I have written before, I believe that people here know better than western aid agencies and NGOs what they need. Development needs to come from within Africa. Margaret knows what she needs to help these people, and its not my advice or help – it is my money. On the other hand, giving money freely creates a culture of dependency and undermines transparency and accountability (as I see very clearly at the orphanage). Furthermore, freely funding bottom-up, grassroots level projects in some way can undermine poverty reduction as a whole, as they do not answer the underlying question: why can’t these organizations fund themselves, where did the poverty originate, and are there more basic, structural issues that perpetuate poverty?

I have no answer for this. This trip has been a learning experience for me. I came with the attitude that I would help and change and impact people, but they have changed and impacted me. They have taught me more in 9 weeks than I have learned in my entire first year of graduate school. As I read through my journal and old blog posts, I find that I have gained so much from coming to Kenya and working in this area. I am sure that I have gotten more out of this experience than the children or the orphanage.

However, I am happy to say that I think I have made somewhat of an impact on the kids lives. Our interactions are no longer impersonal; they no longer address me as “volunteer.” They know my name now, and do not hesitate to ask me to play or to help them. As strange as it sounds, they have gotten to know me, and I have gotten to know them, despite the cultural, linguistic and age barriers. In Kenya and much of Africa, people are given a tribal name and an English name. Mwangi is called Stephen, and his Kikuyu name is Mwangi. When he is in school, he will be Stephen Mwangi. It is kind of like a surname (they also have a third name, their fathers name, but mostly the kids go by their English and African names). Anyway, they have given me a Kikuyu name, Wanjiku. So now they call me Emily Wanjiku, which means someone who is cheerful, talkative and smiling. Its such a silly thing, but I feel so loved by the kids and I am so in love with all of them.

I would like to say a huge thank you to those people who donated money to me while I was here…your donations have been a great help to the children and to the community and to the staff. I would like to thank the following people:

Monica Tanner
Matthew Tanner
Bill & Ruth Koptis
Molly Scheetz
Sarah Hacker
Richard & Gail Tanner

With your donations, I have purchased the following (see pictures page for photos of what I have purchased!)

24 new school sweaters for the kids in the orphanage as well as sponsored children
Pots & pans
Apron for Grace
Scrub brushes, buckets and basins for kitchen
New spoons, knives, forks, plates, bowls and cups
Salt shaker, wooden spoons
Two cases of sanitary pads
Three cases of soap
Four tubes of toothpaste
Thread and yarn
8 pairs of new socks for school
Pens, pencils, and file folders for office
New backpacks for nursery children
Two new soccer balls
Balloons (kind of silly yes, but the kids absolutely adore playing with balloons)

In addition, I will be using my brother’s donation to help fund three of the kitchen gardens for the people living with HIV. People who are HIV+ can actually live quite long and healthy lives, but they need to get a proper balanced diet to do this. They need to get fruits and vegetables, in addition to grains, meat and dairy. Creating a kitchen garden allows them to both nourish themselves (and thus spend their money on grains, dairy and meat products), as well as potentially make a small income by selling their produce. These gardens will be planted by Margaret and myself, and Margaret, through the work of her CBO, will ensure their maintenance. This is a gift that “keeps on giving” so to speak; it will benefit these people for a long time. I will post more information and pictures as I move forward with this project. I am extremely excited to get to help these people and I could not have done it without Matt’s support!