Hello everyone!
I haven't written in a few days so I have quite a bit to report. I spend Wednesday and Thursday in Nairobi. Asgar's Care for the Wild office is in his home so I met his assistant the first day. Her name is Lisa; she's 23 years old. It's really nice to have someone my age (well, close at least) around. We've had lots of fun sharing stories, figuring out differences and similarities between the US and Africa, and talking about the wildlife here (she is going for her degree in wildlife management). She has shown me around some places here in Nairobi which, again, has been fun since she's so close in age. Over the past few days I've been reading a lot of magazines/books on Kenya and Asgar has filled me in on some projects he's working on. Asgar works for Care for the Wild, volunteers with Friends of Conservation and Project Jambo, and volunteers/partners with even more places. It's incredible how much he does. Although Asgar's main work is with the wildlife, he shares my belief that you need to help the people and the environment also. It is impossible to expect results unless you work with all three areas simultaneously. He told me about a project being worked on with the Maasai that is very interesting. The Maasai have not accepted modern day living yet (which I think in some ways is great, technology can ruin life in some ways) but there are some aspects which they need to accept. The Maasai still believe the women should serve the men, and sadly, without education the women believe the same thing and treat the men as gods. The Maasai women cook, clean, gather firewood, get water, etc. As more Maasai are educated this will hopefully begin to change. The project that Asgar is helping with is trying to supply villages with biofuel so that they can cook and have some light with it. With the light, the kids will be able to do their homework at home (it's dark when they return home from school so they are often unable to do it or they must stay late at school to do it).
This morning we got up early and drove to Machakos. On our way to the town, and in the town we passed through many poor areas. Areas that aren't nearly as bad as some places, but still it was heartwrenching. The houses were spread out through the fields and quite small/run down. It's quite difficult to explain what I was feeling as I saw this. Because of films about Africa and such, these parts didn't shock me (again they are not the poorest areas) but I hated seeing how little these people have compared to most Americans. In Machakos we visited a school for the physically disabled. We went there to deliver a wheelchair to a girl named Eunice who has no legs and had the tiniest, more rickety wheelchair you could imagine.
Eunice is one of ten girls that Project Jambo supports. Project Jambo sponsors girls from extremely poor families- it helps them pay their school fees. Education is SO important, especially for girls since they are still overlooked here. Most girls do not make it to secondary school. Project Jambo wants to add more girls to their program and also wants to begin supporting boys who have worked hard so far in school.
Back to the school: The school currently has 170 children (both boys and girls) attending and is looking to add more. The area which they own is very small; it has I think 3 or 4 different classroom buildings, washrooms, two dorms, an office, a church building, and a physical therapy room. The dorms (one boys, one girls) are single rooms packed with small metal bunk beds. The school desperately needs more funding, larger facilities, a full time physical therapist, and more- but still, the school is doing amazing things. The kids there are taught money making trades such as bead working and leather crafting. The money from the items sold goes directly to the child who made the item. This way, when they leave the school they will hopefully have some money to start off with.
The physical therapy room was very shocking. First off, the physical therapist visits only twice a week. The kids there really need to have a full time physical therapist and doctor. The physical therapy room had such little equipment- a few weight sets, one exercise ball, two old exercise bikes and that was about it. I was in shock. But still, it was amazing to talk with the teachers, watch the more able children help the ones in wheel chairs, and watch/listen to them as they learned.
Both the school and Project Jambo need funding. If you are looking for an organization to donate to these both are amazing, and after meeting the children, both the school and Project Jambo are already dear to my heart. If you want more info about either please ask!
Side note: I saw an ostrich today along the side of the road to Machakos! It was awesome, they look so funny!
Well, it's time to go have my 4th... or 5th?... cup of coffee. They drink so much tea and coffee hear, I fit right in! Tonight I am going to a club with Lisa and a couple of her friends. I'm trying to experience every different part of Africa that I can! Tomorrow Asgar and I are off to Tsavo- first stop is the elephant orphanage :) I'll be back on Tuesday and I'll post some pictures and stories then!
Also, thank you to all of you who posted comments and are praying for me!