It's been a while since our last post but we have been busy as ever! Our solar power is working well enough to give all the volunteers lights at night. We also can use some of the power to help charge our computer and camera. The boys dorm also has plenty of light now and we have added security lights so it's not so dark at night.
Kai and I were in desperate need of haircuts...if the pictures posted you can see my hair was "long"! We ventured in to pundamillia, the small village only ten minutes away. We found the one barber in town, and with broken attachments and shaky clippers we both got haircuts. Definitely not up to Bond Street Barber Shop standards, but we do have shaved heads and feel better! We did bring clippers, but they don't seem to work once plugged into the power inverter...again Kenya!
Ann and I received our first package, the winner for the first package is Nancy "nana"! Although receiving a package is very difficult in Kenya. First Geoffrey and Edith bring us the postal slip and tell us we have a package. They could have picked it up for us since it had Geoffrey's name, but they usually don't do that as the postal office will charge the person picking up the package a percentage of what they think the package is worth!?!? Well Ann and I ventured into Nairobi with the kids on Wednesday to pick up the package....After a long day of matotu rides and long walks in a gigantic city where no vehicles follow traffic laws or signs we made it to the post office only to be told we couldn't pick up our package because we didn't have our passports. Ann calls people "bus meat" due to the fact crossing the street is worse than playing the expert level on frogger! Cranky and upset we went all the way back to WWB without anything! Then on Friday Ann and I went back with just us, a lot easier to navaigate in a huge city with a lot of walking without the kids. We got to the post office...yes. Then we give a lady the slip, she retreives the package, opens it up, writes a list of everything in it, then gives me the slip to go to "room 113" while Ann is told to repackage everything. I get to room 113 and the customs guy tells me to pay a little for my package. He reads the list and says I should pay 200 KSH (shillings) I tell him I am volunteering at an orphanage and this stuff is for the kids. He again tries to get me to pay...I have vowed to not pay a bribe the whole time I am here so I tell him in a pissed off voice "fine you can keep it" and turn around and walk out of the office. HE calls me back in and says ok volunteer, and then stamps the slip and tells me to go back to the lobby. I bring my stamped slip to the lobby, where I find Ann. She no longer has the package as they have taken it back behind the counter. I go to another lady who gets me a duplicate of my slip, stamps it a third time, and then tells us to go retreive our package. Anyways, from now on we will have Geoffrey and Edith pick up our packages and just pay them for it.
We did take some pictures of Nairobi and tried to post one of this blog. While in Nairobi we did check out the "java house" a western style coffee house/restaurant that is always reccomended by long-term volunteers who know nairobi. It was great as we enjoyed milkshakes and a turkey, bacon, and cheese sandwiches....MMMMM Yum!
Then on Saturday all of the sponsor children came to WWB to receive their monthly supplies and write letters to their sponsors. There are about 50 of these children, and they live in the surrounding villages with other families. Ann and most of the volunteers worked on this day. It was a lot of work, but it was great to see how happy all of children were. We also tried to post a pictue on this blog of all the children sitting in the hall writing their letters. Ann put a lot of work into this day, and it was so nice the children enjoyed it. Naya and Kai had tons of fun playing with the "new kids" who showed up and were just as amazed to see two "mazungu" children living at the orphanage.
Naya and Kai are doing awesome. It's hard to believe we have already been here for a month. The time is flying by. Everyday Naya and Kai help feed the animals, play with the other kids, and learn new Kikuyu words. They can say the kikuyu greetings for children and adults, respond to the appropriate greeting, and say thank you and your welcome.
Our water situation is about to greatly improve as our second well is almost complete. Myself and some of the other volunteers dug a large ditch from the well to the kitchen for the electricity and piping. It should be done soon! Our communtiy water which comes twice a week, did not show up as expected yesterday because of a broken water pipe...the main water pipe! So the two elders, Simon and Samuel, who run the project came to WWB looking for help. They speak littl english, but explained we were not getting our water because of a broken pipe. Thye told me they had a worker trying to fix it but they needed help. Since everyone was doing the sponsorship day, I went to help by myself. After a 15 minute walk we found a large puddle of water. I noticed there was no worker. I began digging up the pipe myself, while Simon and Samuel went to get more help. After digging a 30 foot long, two foot deep trench we cut out the pipe and put in a new one. Luckily two other workers showed up and helped out! Water flows again!
Another African thing is the difference in medical views. In the West we like to vaccinate our kids and be proactive instead of reactive. When we talk about vaccinations here the locals say it costs too much money. We try to explain that it's cheaper in the long run than taking two or three kids a day to the clinic, but so far no luck. Then last night Julius, one of our sweet little boys had a very high fever of 104.1. The local staff want to bundle him up and give him hot liquids. We wanted to give hime children's ibuprofen, put his feet in a bucket of cold water, put a cold wash cloth on his head and give him ice cubes. Due to the differences in culture and "medical" expertise we had to sneak our medicine and cold water to Julius. Ann tried to get ice cubes but the social worker (lady who cares for the kids) and our cook kept ann out of the kitchen. Needless to say it was frustrating given their lack of medical knowledge and our experience with treating sick kids. By the end of the night though we gave Julius medicine, got a cold washcloth on his head, give him cold juice and kept his feet in cold water for about an hour. When he did fall asleep his temperature was all the way down to 101.1. Today he is doing much better. Ann and I hope we can show them Naya and Kai as healthy examples of what western medicines and vaccinations can do for developing children.
Still life here is great. We have more projects going, more volunteers coming, and plans to add more kids to the orphanage in the next few months! Thanks to everyone for your prayers, good thoughts, and support! Love, Devin, Ann, Naya and Kai
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