Those are the days in which we finish the painting of the orphanage and travel back to Nairobi to talk to corporates interested in sponsoring our initiative.
We feel very welcome and are glad to see Philip again. The walls have been plastered but they need some time to dry, so the painting can't start straight away. We decide to visit Obama's grandmother first. A matatu ride takes us to the junction, from where three motorcycles bring us to Kogelo, to the estate of Obama's grandmother. There is a gate and a guard who requests us to write down our names in the guestbook, but it's not a high security area. We are told that granny complains because they don't let her go to the market alone, afraid she might be kidnapped by dark forces. They also tell us she has malaria once again so she is not very strong. We have to wait a little because she is taking lunch.
Showing posts with label Kisumu. Show all posts.
January 13-15. To the village.
An Irish priest is not necessarily a Samaritan.
We wake up in Talek and get a ride to Narok. But it is too late to hitch further to Kisumu and we are stuck for the night. A friendly guy, county clerk by profession, brings us to the house of an Irish priest. He is not there and upon hearing that there are strangers in his house he is outraged. "Throw them back on the streets!" we hear him shout through the phone. Long live Jesus Christ, Mr. Prissy Priest.
We make it to the village and spend the night at yet another cheap guesthouse. In the local bar a guy puts his leg in his neck and annoys HD. We know it is time to leave and we finish our beers in front of our room.
The next day we hitchhike to Kisumu and we have a great time. There are so many friendly Kenyans and the experience in the Maasai Mara is quickly forgotten. Philip welcomes us back home and we feel good being back in the village. The walls have been plastered and prepared for painting.
I remember taking the bike to the Kisian market to get some eggs and vegetables. Dirtroad with potholes, no light, no brakes. I am proud I only fall twice. We have omelettes.
We wake up in Talek and get a ride to Narok. But it is too late to hitch further to Kisumu and we are stuck for the night. A friendly guy, county clerk by profession, brings us to the house of an Irish priest. He is not there and upon hearing that there are strangers in his house he is outraged. "Throw them back on the streets!" we hear him shout through the phone. Long live Jesus Christ, Mr. Prissy Priest.
The next day we hitchhike to Kisumu and we have a great time. There are so many friendly Kenyans and the experience in the Maasai Mara is quickly forgotten. Philip welcomes us back home and we feel good being back in the village. The walls have been plastered and prepared for painting.
I remember taking the bike to the Kisian market to get some eggs and vegetables. Dirtroad with potholes, no light, no brakes. I am proud I only fall twice. We have omelettes.
December 31. Happy.
Churchill is one of the community elders. We have our first press conference today. Unfortunately, the M.P. and the deputy mayor don't show up. We have put a tent in front of our orphanage and sit there on the couches we have taken from the house to answer questions.
A pastor has come to pray for us, and we gathered inside our building where he spoke and explained the meaning of the colors on the roof. Red of course is the blood of Jesus, and white depicts the Enlightenment we are about to reach. We like this. The colors on the roof can be interpreted in so many ways. Actually, "Rainbow" is also the name of a coalition in Kenya, an attempt to overcome the differences between the two major political parties. And for us, rainbow means openness to everyone and all good ideas.
At night there is not much of a party. We sit down and watch a movie. After that, lights go out and cellphones die. We don't know the time and hence start the new decade in ignorance about the exact moment. We might have opened our bottle of sparking wine at around eleven, or one.
A pastor has come to pray for us, and we gathered inside our building where he spoke and explained the meaning of the colors on the roof. Red of course is the blood of Jesus, and white depicts the Enlightenment we are about to reach. We like this. The colors on the roof can be interpreted in so many ways. Actually, "Rainbow" is also the name of a coalition in Kenya, an attempt to overcome the differences between the two major political parties. And for us, rainbow means openness to everyone and all good ideas.
At night there is not much of a party. We sit down and watch a movie. After that, lights go out and cellphones die. We don't know the time and hence start the new decade in ignorance about the exact moment. We might have opened our bottle of sparking wine at around eleven, or one.
December 27-30. Those days before newyear.
At 7:30 we start working with five people to complete the wallframes and prepare for the concrete foundation of the brick wall. We need more cement and metal rods. Perhaps the "big guy" in the village can chip in with a little donation. Until then, I have to play the big guy myself.
We get ten wheelbarrows of Maram for the third layer of the walls. Philip gets them on his own.
Yeon starts painting the ironsheets in the colors of the rainbow. They are laid on the grass to dry.
There is a taboo in the village: if a son moves out, his house cannot be used for another family. Someone can live there temporarily, but eventually the house should be destructed. The materials can't even be reused within the same family. Sometimes they are sold to a different community. The younger generation fights those taboos, and I see them disappearing in a few decades. Until then, initiatives like ours have to buy all the materials in warehouses.
The bricking is underway. We have changed the shape to a rectangular office with two round corners. There will be an extra space for the cabinet where donations like a computer can be stored safely.
On December 30th we rush to Kisumu to buy some sparkling wine and flour for Mandazi (doughnuts, oliebollen!) tomorrow. The Luo traditional doughnuts taste just like our Dutch version, the things we feast on on New Year's eve. We also fetch some sparkling wine to assure we got what we are used to tomorrow.
We expect some high people tomorrow.
We get ten wheelbarrows of Maram for the third layer of the walls. Philip gets them on his own.
Yeon starts painting the ironsheets in the colors of the rainbow. They are laid on the grass to dry.
The bricking is underway. We have changed the shape to a rectangular office with two round corners. There will be an extra space for the cabinet where donations like a computer can be stored safely.
On December 30th we rush to Kisumu to buy some sparkling wine and flour for Mandazi (doughnuts, oliebollen!) tomorrow. The Luo traditional doughnuts taste just like our Dutch version, the things we feast on on New Year's eve. We also fetch some sparkling wine to assure we got what we are used to tomorrow.
We expect some high people tomorrow.
December 25-26. Merry.
If you are a special a Luo host will serve you chicken. On our first night here this happened. A hen walked in and out in the afternoon. We didn't hear her at night as we tasted the rosy strong flesh of Kenyan chicken. But christmas is something else. We have a goatmeal today, and feel really honored.
Work goes on. Some volunteers insist on a 200 Shillings pay to keep up their drinking habits. What they drink is a very strong alcohol, the local brew made of sugar cane. We have seen the place where it is done, a spot near the narrow river where they are boiling molasses and pour the resulting "rum" in five liter jerrycans. Some local youth organize their lives around this, and we see the sad results: no education, teenage pregnancies, hiv/aids. It's one of the things Vision Alive will change.
On the second day of christmas there are few volunteers. But Andrew Ogol, Philip's father is working hard to complete the walls. With his sixtyfour years, he is putting all the young guys to shame. We really admire his spirit and are grateful for everything he has done for the Rainbow Center.
Now we can sit on top of one of the walls of our orphanage, enjoying the most beautiful sunset in the world (that's what Kisumu is famous for). You should try it if you get the chance. It's very romantic.
On the second day of christmas there are few volunteers. But Andrew Ogol, Philip's father is working hard to complete the walls. With his sixtyfour years, he is putting all the young guys to shame. We really admire his spirit and are grateful for everything he has done for the Rainbow Center.
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| Kenyan sunset |
Now we can sit on top of one of the walls of our orphanage, enjoying the most beautiful sunset in the world (that's what Kisumu is famous for). You should try it if you get the chance. It's very romantic.
December 23-24. Those days before Christmas...
If buildings are painted in Kenya, the chances are high that they show the logos of one of the four mobile phone companies: safaricom, zain, orange, and yu. They pay people if they let them paint their houses with their bright green, purple, orange logos. We are proud to erect the first building with non-commercial artwork on its walls. The paint-job will be done in January.
The trench for the foundation of the brick wall is dug by Ben, a volunteer who really worked hard that day, but didn't live up to his words later. Thanks anyway Ben. On our way to the lake we meet Steve with his initiative "Achievers". He promises to chip in and volunteer. He doesn't show up of course. Thanks anyway Steve.
We visit a media house and schedule an interview with The Standard, one of the leading newspapers. We hope the initial interest the journalist showed us will be materialized in our FIRST MEDIA ATTENTION, the first "proof" that we are "real" in this world.
I send a few postcards from Kisumu, I hope they have arrived safely since replies are scarce.
An issue that we have to deal with here is the "money in the white skin"-problem. People see me and they see money. I give a certain donation and the hands go up for more. And o how much I am blessed as long as the purse is not exhausted yet. It's one of the disadvantages of doing charity privately: they see me as a man who decides spontaneously on the contributions he wants to make, not on the basis of a professional assessment. Well, I just have to cope with that. But some emotions have to be aired. What we need is a literary ventilation shaft. So at times I do feel milked in Kenya by just about everyone. With warm dripping and bleeding nipples I have to crawl into the safe haven of the limit my bank imposes on cash withdrawal.
The trench for the foundation of the brick wall is dug by Ben, a volunteer who really worked hard that day, but didn't live up to his words later. Thanks anyway Ben. On our way to the lake we meet Steve with his initiative "Achievers". He promises to chip in and volunteer. He doesn't show up of course. Thanks anyway Steve.
We visit a media house and schedule an interview with The Standard, one of the leading newspapers. We hope the initial interest the journalist showed us will be materialized in our FIRST MEDIA ATTENTION, the first "proof" that we are "real" in this world.
I send a few postcards from Kisumu, I hope they have arrived safely since replies are scarce.
An issue that we have to deal with here is the "money in the white skin"-problem. People see me and they see money. I give a certain donation and the hands go up for more. And o how much I am blessed as long as the purse is not exhausted yet. It's one of the disadvantages of doing charity privately: they see me as a man who decides spontaneously on the contributions he wants to make, not on the basis of a professional assessment. Well, I just have to cope with that. But some emotions have to be aired. What we need is a literary ventilation shaft. So at times I do feel milked in Kenya by just about everyone. With warm dripping and bleeding nipples I have to crawl into the safe haven of the limit my bank imposes on cash withdrawal.
December 20. Lake Victoria!
We have a safe but exhausting Matatu journey to Kisumu, Kenya's third largest city, where we install ourselves for the first time in the cybercafé in the Megaplaza, which will become our main communication channel for the next weeks. We meet Philip, the future managing director of the orphanage, and like him at first sight.
It takes us a while to brief family and friends, so that we arrive in the village in total darkness, after a long bumpy tuktuk-ride. We are welcomed by Philip's parents and a group of children, some of them orphans, and we shake many small hands. Philip has prepared a room with a mosquito net (recall this is right next to Lake Victoria, with a real risk of malaria). To take away any worries: we are not infected, and our Kenyan friend Eric who does contract the germ will take a few days to recover to full strength. So we sleep right away, awaiting our first sunrise in the Kenyan countryside.
This photo is part of another project we do en passant. We collect portraits of people around the world with a grimace and local flowers in their ears. It would make an awesome poster. Humanity, unite. You can send your photo to kamielverwer at hotmail.com.
It takes us a while to brief family and friends, so that we arrive in the village in total darkness, after a long bumpy tuktuk-ride. We are welcomed by Philip's parents and a group of children, some of them orphans, and we shake many small hands. Philip has prepared a room with a mosquito net (recall this is right next to Lake Victoria, with a real risk of malaria). To take away any worries: we are not infected, and our Kenyan friend Eric who does contract the germ will take a few days to recover to full strength. So we sleep right away, awaiting our first sunrise in the Kenyan countryside.
This photo is part of another project we do en passant. We collect portraits of people around the world with a grimace and local flowers in their ears. It would make an awesome poster. Humanity, unite. You can send your photo to kamielverwer at hotmail.com.
December 13-19. Chameleon.
Picking up Yeon from the airport early in the morning. Her flight is delayed so we wait and introduce ourselves to a British lady who is on her way to Tanzania. There she is - she has made it, and we are happy. I brief her about what Charity Travel has been doing in Kenya so far and she becomes a part of it. Let's sketch that first week together, when Charity Travel becomes a teamplay. There are lazy days back home in Kayole, enjoying good conversations over lengthy breakfasts, taking cold and warm showers, sitting next to the hens on the roof overlooking this part of the capital, doing the groceries in the small shops, buying kerosine for the stove, getting home early enough to avoid nasty murderous thugs, making peace with the landlady whose patience declines with her methylated breath, traveling downtown in a crowded Matatu to catch up with our communications, indulging in Kenyan specialties like Tilapia, beef stew, and beans, all served with the inevitable pile of ugali, the Kenyan staple. We visit Duncan's orphanage to do a tv-interview with KBC, which is never aired, probably thanks to our relunctance to pay them a fat bribe. The interview is conducted in an utterly unprofessional manner. A few journalists with an amateurish camera and an even more amateurish set of suggestive questions.
"How much did you donate today?"
-"Well, we do assess the necessity first, and then we..."
"What do you see here today? Poor malnourished kids right? Without proper clothing?"
The kids were standing right next to us in their beautiful uniforms, and they just had a rather copious meal. This is an orphanage that has to play a proud role as an example to all the other orphanages Vision Alive is going to work with in Kenya. Our Vision - to establish Community Excellence Centers, I will keep repeating it, to create useful linkages between communities so that their expertise in terms of income generating activities, in terms of how to deal with the community and convince them to cooperate with the center, in terms of writing proposals to CSR departments, and dealing with the hierarchical structures of Kenyan politics.
The KBC guys get from me a disappointing 1,000 Shillings that probably triggered them to dispose of the tape with me and Willis introducing Charity Travel and Vision Alive. I hope to find an echo of our passion in the heart of a journalist, because the movement of Charity Travel is something that is - unfortunately - more unique than you realize.
So, after that visit we go home with mixed feelings, and a couple of days later we are in Nakuru, where we visit yet another orphanage, and gather a large group of children in an ironsheet church. I buy them a meal (bread, bananas, juice, candies) and we present them the movie we use to tell them about their rights. It is a success again, and long-term cooperation with that orphanage is in the air. We have a great meal at Pauline's place - Thank you! that gives us all the energy we need tomorrow when we travel to Kisumu to do the real thing - building our own orphanage from the ground.
-"Well, we do assess the necessity first, and then we..."
"What do you see here today? Poor malnourished kids right? Without proper clothing?"
The kids were standing right next to us in their beautiful uniforms, and they just had a rather copious meal. This is an orphanage that has to play a proud role as an example to all the other orphanages Vision Alive is going to work with in Kenya. Our Vision - to establish Community Excellence Centers, I will keep repeating it, to create useful linkages between communities so that their expertise in terms of income generating activities, in terms of how to deal with the community and convince them to cooperate with the center, in terms of writing proposals to CSR departments, and dealing with the hierarchical structures of Kenyan politics.
The KBC guys get from me a disappointing 1,000 Shillings that probably triggered them to dispose of the tape with me and Willis introducing Charity Travel and Vision Alive. I hope to find an echo of our passion in the heart of a journalist, because the movement of Charity Travel is something that is - unfortunately - more unique than you realize.
So, after that visit we go home with mixed feelings, and a couple of days later we are in Nakuru, where we visit yet another orphanage, and gather a large group of children in an ironsheet church. I buy them a meal (bread, bananas, juice, candies) and we present them the movie we use to tell them about their rights. It is a success again, and long-term cooperation with that orphanage is in the air. We have a great meal at Pauline's place - Thank you! that gives us all the energy we need tomorrow when we travel to Kisumu to do the real thing - building our own orphanage from the ground.
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