House moms unpacking the new groceries for Toto Love
Denise wading thru the water to get to the classroom!
Children crowd us to have their "snap" taken!
Very busy day. Had to do our shopping for the orphanage. Hillie has left for Hope Orphanage very early, Paul drove her up to Nairobi so she could catch a ride. They left around 4 am. Denise & I couldn't really sleep much, so got up and got ready. Had to order a taxi, well this was quite the car, couldn't see out back window (painted over). David was our driver. It was raining very hard. Toto Love road is not good either. Picked up Ruth and went to the school to deliver school supplies.
The school, St Michaels, is an open concept, with each classroom open to the courtyard. Brick with no glass just bars over the windows. It looks old, and judging from the yard and condition of the classrooms I doubt that there is a custodian or grounds keeper of any sort.
We met the Head Master, Francis to discuss our tour. They were the only school to accept the HIV children. First to the primary class for Joy, Talia etc. They were so happy to see us. The class was big, 2 classes, 2 teachers, must have been 50 kids. So well behaved. They sang us a song, then we sang them O Canada. Presented the teacher with school supplies. Took pictures. Francis made sure we didn't have to carry our suitcase from classroom to classroom, he found very willing students to do this for us!
We headed to the other classes, Edna's, Rhoda's, Derek's, & Mugambi's. Mugambi was so excited to see us, he stood up and clapping his hands over his head. He was so happy that we showed up. All the other children sat quietly in their chairs. Smiling that they had visitors.
All the classes sang songs for us, and asked us questions about Canada, our jobs and of course we sang O Canada for them. Each teacher visited was presented with school supplies.
The rains continued and the last class to see was Bansy's. The area around the classroom was so badly flooded, due to a blocked drain. So we took off our shoes, rolled up our pants and waded into the classroom carefully as the mud was extremely slippery. All the children were laughing as they watched thru the bars of the various classrooms.
Bansy's class didn't speak as much english so Ruth waded in too! There was no teacher in the classroom because they couldn't get thru the water. But the children were so good even with the teacher absent. We sang, had them sing, answered questions.
The bell had rung and children poured out onto the yard. Once we got thru the water again, children crowded around us to have their "snap" taken. They love having their picture taken and to see what it looks like on the digital camera.
We stopped off at the staff room to meet all the teachers briefly. All are female teachers except one, Mr Wilson.
We returned to the Head Master's office for a quick tea with biscuit and discuss the children and their progress until our taxi driver, David returned.
My impression of the school was that they were really trying. The kids were very well behaved. In any classroom that you entered they had a greeting . You would say "goodmorning" and they would repeat back something like "goodmorning visitor". A bit hard to understand with their accents, maybe even welcome to our school?
After school we picked up Scholastica, the retired teacher, and went to the hospital to see Sharon. We stopped off quickly to pick up some diapers, fruit and cookies for her and the other children. We met with the psychologist first who was assisting these children. He took us to the ward were we met the nurses.
In the tiny ward there were 5 cribs all filled with a baby. Well what looked like a baby. One was 6 years old but had some neurological problems. She was the size of a 3 year old. One girl, Grace, had Spina Bifida . Her back was very deformed and her legs were so small, almost like she had no legs at all under the blanket. One little boy dressed in pink was so frail. He had TB, I am not sure how old he was but he was the size of a 4 month old. His head shook back and forth on the crib bed. Too weak to hold his head up. I held his tiny hand, not knowing what to do to comfort him. John, the only one not HIV positive, was about 1 years old, small but very alert. He was very interested in our visit and would smile when we made eye contact. Unfortunately he can not be adopted out as the mother's whereabouts is somewhat known and she will not give up guardianship.
Sharon, who is 3 years old. Her mother had died and no one in the family would take her. She tested positive for HIV. Her mom probably knew that and couldn't care for her. She is destined for Toto Love once she is toilet trained. She is small in height but very cute and chunky. She looked more like a 2 year old. She couldn't walk very well, partly due to the fact that she spends most of the day in the crib. We also encouraged the staff to get her toilet trained so she could go to Toto Love and they could free up a bed for another child. Denise changed her diaper and some of the other children's diaper. Well actually she put diapers that we brought on most of the children, because they just lay in the crib with nothing on their bottoms and just pee the bed. The staff is then constantly changing clothes and sheets.
Sharon walked with me a bit, holding onto my hand. We tried to hold the other children too. I held John, and was quite taken with him. I wish I could adopt him. We told the staff it was ok to share the items that we had brought for Sharon with all the kids, they are worried that some will get jealous.
We took lots of pictures and Sharon, who never smiles, actually loved the flash and smiled every time it went off. Ruth was so shocked to see her smile!
After we left the hospital we took a matatu to the town center. This is a cramped van, bus or car that the Kenyan's take for about 20 ksh. It would be like public transit to us. You tell the guy working the stand where you are going and he finds you the appropriate vehicle as some are going to other places. Very crazy and some of the vans are pumping out reggae music. We squished in the van and I almost had to sit on top of Denise. Off to town we went, about a 5 -10 min drive.
A visit to the wholesalers for food and goods. One part is a regular store, not everything is wholesale there though, then the back is an order desk. You tell them what you want and they pick the order for you. Quick visit to the bank, then to the department store for sheets, netting, and femine products.
Paul had returned from Nairobi and joined us to pick up all our shopping. You could see it on Ruth's face how excited she was. We even picked up meat for dinner.
We returned to Toto Love, van completely loaded down, and the children willingly unloaded the van. The "moms" put the groceries away. It was chaos, and almost like Christmas. I am not sure if they have ever had that much stuff arrive at one time. Or that many new items. It was so cute in the store, Denise would say "what about...." or "what else do you need?" and Ruth would look at her, hesitant at first to say yes we need it, but then the smile would come on her face as she was able to pick out items with Denise that were desperately needed by the orphanage. Such basic items but yet they can't afford to buy them as all the money they get goes to rent, and groceries and sometimes school fees for the nursery children. Things like a toilet brush, or new towels are luxuries to them.
The house moms were busy making dinner. I was able to watch them in the cramped kitchen make chipatis, a flat bead made of flour and water, rolled out and fried. They even gave me an early sample. Delicious or Tamoo!
We mostly sat with the kids before dinner, hugging them as we knew we would be leaving the next day. My feet were still really dirty from the mud that morning and I pulled out some baby wipes to wash my feet. Catherine started to help me wipe my feet, the Joy joined in! I finally had 3 girls wiping my feet off for me!
Dinner was incredible. Beef and cabbage stew with the chipatis. Something I could eat again for sure. But what we ate is more like a Christmas meal. Beef for the orphanage is only eaten about 3 times a month and I would personally like that to be increased to maybe 2 times a week. The children need their protein to grow.
After dinner some of the members of the Toto Love society wished us well and a small gift of appreciation was presented to us. They wrapped us with the Kenyan cloths, one for a skirt and one for the top. Gave us a beaded african AIDs pin (handmade). A new hot mat to serve hot pots with and the traditional basket which has the long strap to go around the head to carry items from the fields in, or to take items home from the market. The basket had the words, With Love from Toto Love in Kiembu. The baskets were handmade. This is probably the best gift since it is something "really" Kenyan. Lots of pictures were taken of course.
We left finally for our hotel, must have been 11 pm. Very tired. Again the police are out, as every night, with the spike belts to catch criminals!
