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Walking With the Poor - Notes From the Field |
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MISSION AWARENESS TRIP TO KENYA September 17-29, 2005 Preparations
Kansas City to Detroit … Amsterdam … Nairobi … we find ourselves in full but pleasant flights. On the last leg, we meet sponsors Ken and Claudia, who sponsor Mary from the Nairobi project. It is great to be making this journey with Janet Tinsley, Project Director-Africa, Paul Pearce (director, International Programs, CFCA-Kansas) our co-worker Regina from Tanzania, our Kenyan co-workers and a fine group of sponsors. Our home while in Nairobi We are staying at Emmaus Eucharistic Center, a religious retreat house lovingly and cheerfully conducted by Italian, Brazilian and African Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. The sisters and Michael, the cook, are taking very good care of us. After long days in the subprojects and on the rural roads of Kenya, we all appreciate a welcoming and restful place. CFCA-Kenya is registered with the Ministry of Home Affairs and National Heritage. We serve nearly 14,000 children, youth and aging in five project areas. A NOTE ABOUT KENYA: (Information from Sister Joanne, coordinator of CFCA-Timau) Kenya has become poorer over the past decades. A United Nations report says that life expectancy has dropped to below 40 years to 35.8. This means that 10 million Kenyans will not see their 40th birthday. First stop on the trip: Shangilia CFCA’s subproject in urban Narobi finds its name from “Shangilia motto wa Africa,” or “Rejoice, child of Africa.” Shangilia is a home, school and training center for 220 children and teens, 178 of whom have CFCA sponsors. Shangilia cares for the former street children and empowers them through performing arts and education. And perform they do; these children and youth take their impressive dances and acrobatics all over Kenya. They have also toured internationally through Zimbabwe and Germany. The Shangilia program is designed to sensitize Kenyan society to the experiences of those who roam the streets sniffing glue and practicing the art of survival. Their performances not only provide financial assistance for the home; they also help the children gain self-confidence and a sense of self-worth, community and family. Some of the children here are still quite small and young. One hundred children receive elementary education at Shangilia. Seventy children attend formal primary schools outside the home. Forty girls and boys attend secondary schools. Compelled to do more After supper on our first full day in Kenya, we had a good community sharing. Sponsor Caroline of Davenport, Iowa, spoke emotionally that she feels compelled to do more after meeting her sponsored boy, Patrick (age 16). Country music in Africa When there is the right atmosphere, Paul and I try to inject a few country songs into our group gatherings and expound on the message of my own CFCA-inspired songs. Just as we were wishing everyone a pleasant night, sponsors Fred and Leona arrived from Illinois. Tuesday, September 20, 2005 We are 23 now in our little bus, making trips pretty cozy with luggage. We are on our way to Nanyuki project—about four hours, depending on road conditions. After a long trip with these road conditions in our rattling St. Martin’s school bus, participants really feel like they’ve been somewhere. Timau subproject We move through Nanyuki and on to Timau. Sister Joanne and staff really had the day well planned. One hundred or so mothers and aging, who are enrolled in literacy classes, gave us a warm and vociferous welcome with traditional dances and African whistles. Sister Joanne’s Prayer - Timau Sister Joanne – coordinator/empowerer
Sister Joanne speaks to the MAT group: “You are all most welcome, not only as friends, but as family. CFCA is truly a family, a very special family which is still evolving. CFCA has been active in the area since 1996. Geographically, we serve four major tribes—the Meru from the eastern side of the mountain, the Kikuyu from the western slopes of the mountain, the Masai north of Timau and extending down into the scrublands toward the desert, and the Samburu from the desert. The road over which you traveled to Nanyuki (rough as it is) is known as the Great North Road. It is the main connection between Nairobi and the mountainous areas of Northern Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia.” Mercy is one of our scholarship students. She is the lucky one this year to get to meet her sponsor personally. So to Mary and to all the sponsors, thank you for coming to visit your sponsored children, youth and aging. Regarding our students on CFCA scholarships, we give employment to our technical students while they are trying to get established. They have done all the doors, roofing, windows and walkways of the new buildings.” A motivated and empowered staff Sister Joanne was quick to introduce the CFCA-Timau staff: Charles, Rosemary, Patrick, Daniel, Susan. Charles spoke about the health realities of this area: “Around 40 percent of our monthly allocations go to medical care. High costs of medication in this country make drugs inaccessible to the majority of the poor. Most common health challenges of our people are heart problems, epilepsy, diabetes, typhoid, tuberculosis, malaria, AIDS. “AIDS has swept ruthlessly through this area causing untold misery and suffering to many families. Because of AIDS deaths, we currently help about 100 desperate orphans with nobody to take care of them. We wish to express our great thanks and appreciation to CFCA-Kansas for giving us a special grant to respond to the AIDS challenge. Through this grant, we have been able to give special food, which is vital to match with the intake of anti-retroviral medicine. We have also met their transport cost to the hospitals and paid their house rent among other needs. When death comes, we help with mortuary fees in addition to providing coffins to the bereaved families. The local vendors compete to supply coffins for us.” Each staff member spoke about a specific aspect of CFCA-Timau. Rosemary discussed education: “We help pay school fees for children in pre-school, primary school, secondary school, schools for disabled children, colleges, polytechnics and children’s homes and orphanages. For the orphans and very poor students who are beginning high school, we provide boxes, blankets, shoes, bed sheets, overalls and all school requirements. We have introduced literacy classes for our aging and parents of our sponsored children. The class now has about 100 people who are learning to read and write for the first time in their life. We provide them with books, pencils, pens, a classroom, a scarf so they can look uniform and some tea during break time. Our library provides a conducive environment to focus on their studies. Other benefits: For birthdays, we offer a huge variety of nice items for the sponsored child, youth and aging to choose from including water tanks, mattresses, cooking pots, plates, spoons, cups, stoves, padlocks, shopping bags, school bags, bowls, umbrellas, thermoses and many other items. We also offer building materials to those families who have somewhere to build but do not have the resources. Patrick spoke about correspondence with sponsors: “I want to express my gratitude to all those sponsors who take the time to write to their sponsored child or aging. It really makes me proud to be part of this wonderful program and to be associated with the relationship. On our part, sometimes there are obstacles to good communication such as when the sponsored friend lives far away or he/she is in a faraway boarding school. We are doing our level best to ensure each child writes his or her letter personally. Let me once again thank you for your wonderful letters and thanks especially for visiting us.” Present here also is Sister Elvine and the 15 member team from Matiri. Happily, there was room on the bus for a contingent of Matiri dancers. We gratefully remember our CFCA co-worker and former sponsored child, Silas, who died in a motorcycle accident while out visiting sponsored families in the bush. The members of Matiri and Timau teams introduced themselves and commented on their particular role. A fine show followed, with participation of children, staff and aging. Mount Kenya Paul and I enjoyed a good singing session after supper with the Timau staff and about half the group. After the long and rough bus trip, the others opted to turn in. For Paul, sponsor Anna and I, a pre-dawn run under the full moon with Mount Kenya as a backdrop started this full and rewarding day. All of us were mighty happy to have the chance to move after so many hours on the bus. Thursday, September 22, 2005 This morning of September 22 has been spent in the subprojects of Nanyuki. We celebrated a major gathering of sponsored teens at St. Jude Secondary School, a very special place. Let me explain the setting of this outdoor celebration. A few years ago, CFCA-Nanyuki was able to purchase a vacant field with the help of a special grant from a sponsor. We saw a well-done dramatization of the AIDS crisis in Africa. The sponsored children and teens also did a fine presentation on the role of CFCA in saving young girls from forced and arranged marriages. A vacant field in the countryside After the land for the field was granted, the local community took over from there. Parents and students built and furnished the simple buildings—classrooms and dormitories for quite a creative secondary school of 100 borders. One senses a pride of ownership among the 100 students, parents, teachers and staff. They come from very poor families in these rural areas. Each person in our group was personally escorted around the humble facilities by one of the students who seemed hand-picked for their amiability and sweetness.“This is my classroom. … This is where I study. … This is my dormitory. … I sleep on the top bunk. … From my sponsor I received this metal box to keep my things.” Their blankets (blue for boys, pink for girls) bear the CFCA logo. There in the rocky field, under the majestic presence of Mount Kenya, 500 or so rural teens sang, danced and expressed their enthusiasm and love for their sponsors. There were colorful numbers by several ethnic groups (Kikuyu, Masai, Kimeru, Samburu), performed, sometimes barefoot, in the rocky, red dirt of our outdoor highland theatre. These tall, young Masai youth are only teens, but witnessing their dexterity with spears and their leaping strength, I found myself thinking, “I’m glad these Masai warriors are on our side.” So many groups had prepared acts that we asked them to continue performing as we took our lunch of local foods, prepared by the mothers and staff of a nice CFCA community, St. Jude’s Secondary School. A lifetime of toil We have just gotten word from Sister Luise and her ever-buzzin’ cellphone that there is some political rioting going on back in Nairobi. As we enter Nairobi later this evening, we will make it a point to avoid that section of town and to try to get home to our convent base before dark. Before beginning the long trek back to Nairobi, we wanted the sponsors to experience the CFCA center in Nanyuki. Fifty or so sponsored elderly were on hand to welcome us with traditional songs and dances. Strong hands and arms, calloused and strengthened by a lifetime of toil, literally picked us up and took us into their song—God knows how old. Afterwards, we chatted. The sponsored elderly spun a few yarns about what life was like when they were young. In all of this, I feel we communicated way beyond language. Juja It’s about an hour from Nairobi to Juja, on a washboard road that used to be asphalted. Juja is definitely Sister Luise’s home base and the hub of her many operations. The mothers, orphans and majority of the 600 sponsored children and aging were waiting for us in the open courtyard in front of the new orphanage. Sister Luise explained that the land for the orphanage was purchased with a grant from CFCA and then constructed by the community with the help of a German TV station. It is built to last. Jambalaya The cultural gathering was characterized by max participation, including local Juja dignitaries like the headmaster of the school and the manager a coffee plantation. Paul and I teamed up with a sponsored girl, Florence, on the drum and one of the mothers on the tambourine for a rousing rendition of “Jambalaya.” Many of the sponsors, staff, children and aging were up dancing. CFCA Juja Coordinator Charity explained various aspects of the program. Again I also tried to help the children and parents understand that they belong to a worldwide CFCA community. We toured the new orphanage building and were treated to a nice lunch. Juja Farm This is a rural community about 40 minutes on a dusty road from Juja. Here on the open, windy plains, Sister Luise has 238 children sponsored—most of them preschool or first grade. Her vision for this area includes construction of a primary school. She also wishes to increase cow and goat milk production, grow the maize (corn) and beans necessary for the children and aging of Juja project and beyond. She aims to provide a rural setting where urban slum children can come and learn as well as provide living space for abandoned aging. This has been a very full day for the trip participants. They have been taking a lot of notes and a lot of photos. This evening there is an optional trip to a wild game restaurant. About half have signed up to go. The rest will be with me back at our convent refuge. Friday, September 23, 2005: Break day at the Nairobi National Game Park Today our trip participants were able to see rhino, giraffes, zebras, elands, gazelles, wildebeests and monkeys in the wild … a really nice outing. In a rest spot along a river we had to protect our sack lunches from the curious and mischievous monkeys. One safari participant lost her entire bag of potato chips. It proves to be a long bumpy ride on washboard roads to Kisumu on the shore of Lake Victoria . We just came upon an accident in which a big yellow truck loaded with lumber which had previously passed us lost control and tumbled into a ravine. We are now going through the beautiful, high-tea country. After eight hours on the challenging roads, our shake-rattle-and-roll bus reached Kisumu shortly after dark. Sweaty, dusty and hungry, we were treated to flowers and the speeches of a formal welcome. We are housed at the MV Hotel, quite removed from five stars. In this malaria-ridden area, it’s comforting to learn that they do have mosquito netting. Saturday, September 24, 2005 We started this day with Holy Mass celebrated by Father Joe in full Dominican and Kenyan garb. Paul and Bob led the music with “Make me a channel of your peace.” Bob was invited to speak about the kind of commitment and consecration it takes to participate fully in the CFCA mission. I asked the sponsors to think creatively about ways we can shorten the distance between them and their sponsored children, youth, aging in the projects. I shared breakfast with sponsor Beatrice or “Bee” and her sponsored teen Emma (age 15). Apondi, as she prefers to be called, is a member of our project in Bondo. That’s where we are headed this morning, about one hour out of Kisumu. Double Joy Farm We have had a full day at the Bondo project and the Double Joy Farm for orphaned children. Double Joy welcomes sibling groups of orphans. Mary, founder and director explains, “We welcome families of orphan children from all over Bondo district, so that the brothers and sisters in these families can stay together.” We then enjoyed an afternoon of talent demonstrations and a celebration of the efforts towards betterment among the children, parents and aging. The day ended up with a meeting and update with Mary and then the evening trip back to Kisumu. Monday, September 26, 2005 – Neema, Kisumu This day began with a brief visit for the sponsors to the shore of Lake Victoria. We split into groups and visited five schools attended by sponsored children, three primary schools (Bukna, Migosi, Madgadi), and two secondary (Xavierian, Otieno Oyoo). Each school taught us something about the education of our sponsored children. The students in each school had been told of our coming. They were very excited about seeing this group of sponsors. We arrived at the CFCA center in Neema for a late lunch and met with 15 HIV-positive children and listened to their impressive stories. An outdoor celebration of dancing and singing followed and sharing sessions took place with HIV-positive mothers. We celebrated the concept of resurrection, the beauty of life and the presence of the sponsors here. Other acts in our outdoor theatre included the peacock dance—beautifully done by twenty eight-year-old children. We also were treated to Luo Dance done by teen girls, a performance called ‘Choose Life’ and an impressive teen choral recitation of two poems (one in Kiswahili, one in English). Personal testimonies were shared by sponsored friends and I relay as closely as possible here what we learned: “We are orphans. When our parents are no longer here, sponsors offer us the love that we need.” Emily: “My parents died when I was in primary school.” Dennis who wants to study pharmacy: “I have hope in life—as well as clothes, shoes and school fees.” Aging Mrs. Brigida: “Thank you. Now I sleep well and I’m frying my food with oil and sleeping with a blanket. Before, I was sleeping outside, when I lost my son. God will unite you and me.” Mrs. Magdalene also a sponsored aging: “My children have died and now I am caring for my grandchildren.” The Neema project staff had testimonies of their own: Kibagare Good News Center During our half-hour flight back to Nairobi, Mt. Kilimanjaro majestically oversees the trip. Faithful driver and friend Lawrence had driven the bus back from Kisumu and was at the domestic airport to receive us. We are grateful to Kibagare Good News Center for letting us use the small school bus for the transportation of the MAT group. We spend this afternoon visiting the sponsored children and teens at the Kibagare Good News Center. Sponsors were impressed with the quality of education and care offered, in spite of large numbers. Sponsors expressed that they experienced good teamwork by staff and felt well cared for. Thank you for traveling with us. Paul Pearce and I will have one day at CFCA-Kansas before heading down to Cuernavaca, Mexico to begin the MAT on Oct. 1.
Bob Hentzen
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