Saturday October 17th, 2009: Toto Love shoe shopping

The kids with their new shoes!

8 am came quickly.  Very tired.

  

Off for breakfast then back to Toto Love, quick stop at the ATM for more $$$$.  Finding out I can only take 20,000 ksh out at a time, not 40,000 ksh for some reason.  May have to start using my Visa too.

Went straight into painting but the news crew came to interview us.  We were going to be on Kenyan TV!!!!  Denise did the talking, we just stayed in the background (which was ok with me).  Trying to get some awareness about the orphanage because it is a smaller one.  But so deserving since the kids have HIV.  He interviewed Ruth and one of the kids as well.

Able to finish all 3 bedrooms, bathroom, hall and shower room and start the kitchen and sitting area!!!!!  Very tired.

Denise took the kids shoe shopping while we painted.  We were able to buy shoes for all the kids and some groceries too.  They were so excited.  She had to take them in two lots, the younger ones first and the older ones later.

Left Toto around 7pm.  I was completely exhausted.  I could barely move from all the painting in the last few days.  Denise and I fell asleep while Hillie got ready.  Too tired to go out so Hillie and the teenagers, Rhoda and Edna, left to go get dinner with Paul.

Finally showered.  But went right back to bed.

Weather was good today.  Not as much rain, just a sprinkle.

Smells are very different here.  Alot of BO!  because of lack of showering.  Even the soap smells different.  I thought the garbage would smell worse but it doesn't seem to smell for some reason.  They litter every where.  I remember the first time I saw the kids eating some packaged cookies and they just threw the wrapper on the ground...yikes!

Also every night on road from Embu to the hotel the police have a spike belt so cars have to slow down and weave through it so you don't pop your tires.  This is to stop criminals from fleeing town after committing a crime.

Alot of people are also staring at us because we are white.  Not so much in a bad way, but a curious way.  Many think we are rich tourists.

Lots of spiders here and a funny bug with long wings, tons fly to the lights after the rain.  some of the spiders were down right scary.  Big and I had to get one of the guys to kill one for me when I was painting.

I also noticed people look much younger than they are.  Hard to guess their ages.  The orphans are very small and look really young too.

The children of Toto Love all have many stories that we hope Ruth will share with us.  We plan to go for lunch on Monday after shopping so perhaps she can let us know then.

Bansy for instance couldn't walk until she was 9. She would have to crawl outside to beg for food.  Then she would cook for her mom and feed her because her mom was so sick from AIDs.  Her mother died in front of her while Bansy was feeding her.  She ended up living with her aunts for a while but they were making the local brew illegally.  They somehow got her a wheel chair and they would literally park her in front of the door to slow down the police in case they raided the house.   But sometime they would kick her out of the wheelchair to rent it out to people that might need it, leaving Bansy to crawl around.   She was finally rescued and had an operation and can walk now.  She doesn't read or write but goes to school now.   She is just learning English and doing well.

Some typical groceries

10 L H2O 180 ksh ( $2.50 cdn)

5 L pineapple juice 319 ksh ($4.25 cdn)

25 kg rice  2,875 ksh ($30 cdn)

24 sodas 600 ksh ($8.32 cdn)

10 pairs of shoes 15,203 ksh ($211 cdn, or $21 a pair)

Ext paint and primer for the whole outside of the house 9570 ksh ($133)

Paint for the whole inside 27,890 ksh ($386 cdn)

Friday October 16th, 2009: Toto Love painting

The hardware store where we bought all the paint!  About 12 gallons of paint were bought here to do the inside and the outside of the home.  We spent around $700 including some other supplies.

Streets of Embu, muddy and rainy.

Crazy day but productive.  Didn't sleep great but enough....

Went down for breakfast around 7 am, nice crepes, fruit, coffee and omelets for Hillie and Denise.  Paul was ready to pick us up on time at 7:20 am!  Finally at 7:45 am we were ready LOL.

1st to the orphanage to drop off Hillie so she could start moving the stuff out of the rooms and clean the walls with the house moms.  Denise, Paul, Peter, Ruth & I went to town for paint and supplies (we brought brushes and rollers from Canada).  Took 2 hours to do that!  Kenyan time I guess.

Came back and straight into the painting.  Scrapped the walls, lots of paint coming off.  Primed walls and had lots of helpers, almost too many!!!  And they are wearing their "good" clothes.  Yikes.

Paul went to fetch us samosas for lunch, we purchased 40 of them for all the workers, I think I had 1!!!! Too busy to eat!

Finally at 6pm we were done what we could as the power went out a few times, so harder to see.

Got 5 rooms primed and the hallway.  Ceilings done for those rooms too. 1 coat of paint on 2 rooms and hallway.

Van key broke so unable to leave right away.  The pastor came and got us.  Drove us plus Edna and Rhoda to hotel.  We had to displace all the kids for the night as the rooms were in a total uproar.  Edna is 13 and Rhoda 16.  We had booked the room next to us (thru Paul of course) so that they could stay with the Canadian girls.  Big treat for them.  They have never been to a hotel.

Showered and ordered dinner and power went out quickly here and there.  Had our torches (flashlights) luckily.

Went downstairs to have dinner, chicken and chips with kale and tusker beer.  Edna and Rhoda went to bed and we remained behind.  I think the hot shower, the idea of tv and no little kids around was a highlight for them!

Ndwiga and Clement joined us for beers at the hotel.  Had many!  Finally bar closed after many long talks.  But the 3 of us girls decided we needed to talk more in the hotel room!  Till about 3am!  Girls will be girls.

Thursday, October 15th, 2009: Embu bound

The outside of the Orphanage, Toto Love. Dirty and needs some TLC.

The sitting room, water stains and cracks in the walls!

One of the bedrooms, this one is to become the girls room after we paint 

and put bunkbeds in there!

Finally we landed in Nairobi.  7 am ish!  $25 usd visa fee, thank God Denise told me to bring US cash.  Pretty easy to get into the country, just a bit of a line up.

Virgin lost one of my bags too, must have been that manual check in thing.  Hopefully it will come soon.  I have no idea what was in each bag.  Luckily I divided up my clothes so I know I have some things to wear, just hope it's the painting stuff!

Ndwiga(part owner of carivan safari) and Paul(Driver) were at the airport to pick us up and off to their office, then breakfast at the mall.  Denise and Hillie got their Kenyan phones working.  Called Doug and he seemed relieved to hear my voice.  It is hot now, no airconditioning in restaurant, feet sore too, still wearing my boots.  Can't wait to get changed.

Picked up a few groceries at the superstore, things like water, cookies, towels for the girls then back to their office to pay  for driver, van and safari.

We left Nairobi, traffic is awful and scary.  But Paul is a good driver-just traffic is crazy.  Everyone is passing even on solid yellow lines.

Hit the Delmonte fruit stand.  Funny smell in air-find out it is burning wood to make charcoal.  People pile up everything on road side to sell, soil, rocks, charcoal, goods.  They use the charcoal to cook their food with.  I guess better than a flame, more even heat I guess.

Picked up rice for the kids. Big bag.  Made Paul go and negotiate the price because when they see foreigners they ask for more because they think we are all rich. We make it to Embu finally, so tired.  Stop at the hotel, not our original choice but it is clean and breakfast is included.  $20/each per night.  Not bad for 1 room.  All the staff were helpful in taking all our heavy bags to the room.  We decided on 1 room with 2 double beds, Denise and I will double up.

Settle in and have a quick shower, cold water only right now as there is no electricity until 7pm.

Off to the Orphanage, a 10-15 min drive.

We drive up, it is so small and dirty on the outside with a small yard.  Kids start to swarm as we get out of the van.  We try to catch all their names but hard with their accents in English.  But they are not offended if we ask again.

We tour the backyard, chickens for meat and eggs, and 2 dogs both named Scooby.  I girl has clung to me by now and won't let go, her name is Bansy.  I remember it from the list of names Ruth had sent us.

We sent the men to go get Fanta (pop) as a treat for the kids.  We tour the inside of the orphanage.  It almost reduced me to tears.  So small with paint peeling, the ceilings are a mess.  Not sure how we will paint it, water stains too.

We are shoved or pulled by the kids from room to room.  They all want you to see their beds.  We all don't fit in the rooms, so we take turns poking our heads in and smile as they tell us which one they sleep in.  One room smells very much like urine.

Finally we make our way to the sitting room, where we do the introductions, stories and prayers plus drink our pop.  I have caught about 1/2 the names...but I am sure they will come as we get closer and start working together.  Kenyans love to shake hands.  Even the kids shake hands and not just a meek shake, a real shake!

We decide to leave at 5:30pm to catch the stores for paint supplies, but unfortunately the stores are closed when we get there.  So we checked out the Bata shoe store for the kids, definately do-able when we are ready to purchase their shoes.  We figure it will cost about $20 cdn a child to put them in new shoes for school.

For dinner we made our way over to the Isaak Walton for beef curry and beers.  Very good and cheap.  Spent about $42 for 4 meals and 6 beers.  They have a hand washing ritual here in Kenya.  They come around with a large bowl, some soap and you wash your hands right at the table while the waiter pours warm water over your hands with the bowl to catch the running water.  I really like this idea, but can't believe the waiters have time to do this step.

Then it starts to rain...there has been such a drought here.  The rain is needed but not for us.  Paint won't dry as fast in the damp weather.  We have such a tight schedule and tight quarters we are really pushing it.

Very tired when we got back to hotel, could barely keep my eyes open and only 9:30pm.  Washed up and crawled into bed.

It was good to see and meet everyone, like a welcoming night!  I am glad we got this done, as tomorrow we can start painting!

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009:Nairobi bound

After landing in London we really wanted to check in, however we were told that Virgin Atlantic was doing a manual check in and had to return around 2:15pm. It was only 12:30! Ugh!  So off for lunch we went, wondering around airport with all our luggage (10 bags and 3 purses to be exact).  We really want to go for a swim somewhere but we didn't want to lug all this luggage with us on the bus or tube.

Finally at 2pm we went back to see, 1/2 hour more till check in.  So off to an internet work station to fire off a quick email to Doug and check facebook. 10 mins for 1 pound sterling.

Manual checkin took a bit of time, but luckily Virgin gave Denise a baggage exemption as she had 3 not 2 and all overweight.  They also didn't weigh our carry on, thank goodness!

More time to kill, 5 hours.  But no where to go.  We tried a few ideas, hotel swimming pool, windsor, even an Airline lounge, but nothing.  So sit here, sit there, off to gate area, sit here, sit there.  Next time I would get a day room at the Sheraton!

Finally our flight was ready to board.  7:15 pm (departure time) comes and goes.  Seems like the manual checkin screwed everything up, so they had to recount the bags.  Crew later laughed that they are supposed to do this manual checkin every year or so, and they hadn't done it in something like 12 years.... guess they need to practice more often.

1 hour and 15 mins later we finally pushed back.  Really cute cartoon safety demo by Virgin too.  I even watched it.

Flight was very nice, amenity kit, headphones, dinner (veggie curry) and a beer.  The video system isn't as good as ours.  You can pick a movie but they all play at the same time, and you can't rewind, fast forward or pause.  Air Canada has a much better system, even if it some seats need resetting.  Also our seat room is a bit better.  I was thankful I had a whole role to myself.  They are really nice crew, meal was good and pretty good pace (funny how I notice these things being a flight attendant myself).  They are really sticky about the seatbelt sign.  And they close off the washrooms for takeoff, locking them all.  Something I wish we did.  Young crew too.

Had another 4 hour nap since I had a row to myself.  Then had a cup of tea with the crew.  Talked about Tim Hortons! Vicky and Henry.  The A340 aircraft is quite different than ours.  Galley is different, and they have a fridge.  Something we don't have.  They have the same crew rest area at door 3 in the belly of the aircraft.

Landed an hour late.  See we aren't the only airline to be late LOL

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009: London bound

Left Calgary, cold and snowy, on Air Canada Flight 850.  Excited and nervous-but ready!  Nice flight over, had a row to myself which comes in handy when you know you will be up for 2 days.  I knew the crew too.

Denise and Hillie had lots of stories to tell me about Kenya, as we sipped business class wine in economy.  They warned me about how the people ask all the time to help them.  How the vendors on the beach in Mombassa are pushy, and how the power is likely to go out when we are visiting, and that the flashlights will come in handy.  I have no idea what to expect.  I have never been to Africa.  I have been to China, Japan, Australia, Europe, and Carribean and perhaps it is a mix of all them?  I do imagine it warm, and I hear there are droughts right now.  The farm area is supposedly colder and that is why I brought my fleece jacket and sweater.  What a mix of clothing I have packed.  Everything from shorts and tanktops, to jeans and sweater.  I know that in Embu and the farm area I need to wear more conservative clothing.  Higher Christian population.  So I have packed a lot of capris since I am not really a skirt girl.

My suitcase is also full of items/donations from many flight attendants.  From school supplies to soccer jerseys.  I have about 75 lbs between the 2 suitcases.  I plan to leave one of the suitcases behind at the orphanage (since I bought them both at a thrift store) and they can use it for storage.  Denise has even more suitcase and even heavier. 

I also know that I need to just go with the flow.  Basically I told the girls to point me in the right direction and I will do what ever they need done.  Flunky!!!  But I like that idea for my first time over.  I am really relying on them to lead the way.  I am a good painter...so atleast I know that won't be a problem.

I have no idea what to expect with the children either.  I have never dealt with an HIV person even before.  I have a feeling the girls may tug at my heartstrings the most, and maybe the younger ones.  I haven't seen many pictures of them, just a few from Ruth.  I have seen all their names and ages but out of the 21 on the list I have no idea which ones live at Toto Love and which ones are fostered out.

It was hard to leave my family too, I cried when they said goodbye.  2 weeks is the longest time I will have been away from the family. It will be even harder because I won't have as much contact with them.  Denise has a Kenyan phone, and I hope to get to an internet cafe at some point.

Decided to take a short nap, which was about 4 hrs long.  Before you knew it, we were landing in London.