Hustle and Bustle

I have now arrived back in the busy city of Nairobi... On Saturday I took a matatu (small volkswagan van) from Kisumu to Nairobi arriving late in the evening... The bus takes approx 7 hours and it is on rocky roads that are sometimes not paved so it can get hot and dusty! The friday before I left Kisumu they threw me an african party and took me dancing to a Luo tribe place which they call ohangler where music is made with simple man made instruments like a few bottles... In Kenya guys just stand up individually and start dancing alone which I don't think I've ever seen happen in Canada... and they are good dancers... and everyone dances with their bottoms lol... It was a great time and they showed me how to dance the Kenyan way... The only complaint I have from the night is how aggressive guys are here I have a bruise around my wrist from a guy grabbing me and telling me to come dance with him and when I refused he would not let go of my wrist... A little too persistant! On Sunday I was able to visit the Westland suburb of Nairobi where my sisters friend Sonya lives. You should see the stark contrast between where I am living and the majority of the blacks live in Buru Buru and Westlands it is nuts. The roads are nice in Westlands, everything is painted, beautiful scenery it is like being back in Vancouver... large malls etc... No garbage littering the ground very few beggers... it is amazing the difference and sad as well as it is like two different countries in one city! Sonya and her friends showed me around their part of Nairobi and treated me to a wonderful bbq which was tasty after eating Ugali the majority of the time here! Tomorrow Sonya will be taking me around as a tourist and we will be visiting the animal orphanage and other areas that she says are must see tourist attractions. She said I have hardly seen the tourist attractions since I've been in the field volunteering so much - she says I need to see the beautiful parts of Kenya too before I leave! So I will post some more pictures when I return home which is on Friday :) I am very excited and look forward to a warm shower and comfy bed! I am starting to dislike showering with a cup and bowl of freezing cold water for obvious reasons :)

Wish me a safe journey home and I can't wait to see you all upon my return!

Love from Kenya,
Kristy

A step forward!

So a lot has happened since I have had a chance to sit down and write...

I headed to Nakuru last weekend and saw Lake Nakuru and visited some other NGO's. Some of the pictures of the trip have been posted below or above. The trip was amazing I was able to visit the Gabriel Learning Centre and see the programs in action they teach the very very needy that live in the slums adult english education, the children from ages 4-6 primary class, and also teach 48 individuals how to tailor so they can start their own business. The school is amazing and the individuals who run it are inspirational. During the Friday Chris, one of the organizers, took me into the slums to meet a family. To get there we had to duck through a small passage and were greeted with lines of hanging clothing. Children were seated on the bare ground playing. We entered a two room home where a family of 8 were living. Prior to the election violence here in Nakuru this family owned several properities and businesses but during the violence all were burned down leaving them with nothing. To make matters worse the father who is in his seventies had just retired and invested all of the families savings into the businesses! So not only did they watch their home go up in flames but they also watched their years of savings. In Kenya the Luo tribe can marry more than one wife and this family had two wives. During the violence one of the wives was killed leaving three children for the second wife to take care. The second wife who greeted me was young, early 30's at most. She now has the responsibility of not only taking care of her four kids but the kids of the wife that died. Now the father is not working because no one will hire him due to his age and she is left to cleaning clothes to feed all 7 children, her husband, and herself. The two room house was small in size approx 6x6 feet, the first room had three make shift chairs and the second room had two children sleeping on a tarp next to a make shift kitchen that consisted of two large serving bowls. It was a sad sight to see and my heart just broke. I wanted to scoop the family up and give them a hug and tell them it was all okay and that I was shipping them back to Canada with me but I know that I couldn't do that nor could I tell them it would be okay because I just don't know if it will be for them. Chris gave the family some money and food and then we were off to another house. The second house was also a two room home. The children were the only ones present, a picture of them is posted above. The children had 8 siblings and two parents living out of a two room home similar to the last. The father is also not working but this time due to alcohol and the wife is washing clothes to make a living. These kids grow up so fast - they were all rushing around doing errands as Chris and I sat talking to the girl in the white dress. The hardships here are vast and I saw a large root of the problem when visiting - an old man followed us around the entire time I was in the slum muttering every so often or getting into violent rages and shouting at us - Chris explained that this is common of men living in the slums it costs them 10 KYS to get drunk (approx 15cents CAD) since the alcohol is self made and very potent and then they leave their families suffering while they run around the slum drunk. It was hard to ignore. I left there knowing that at least Chris knows about these families and are working towards helping them.

Lake Nakuru was beautiful - I was lucky enough to see a lion while I was there which is not often found at Lake Nakuru as they are very timid and only a few remain! I have posted a picture of him above. It was a great trip seeing all the animals roaming in their natural habitat. That evening Rose, my homestay here in Nakuru, took me out because I hadnt been out at night since I had come to Kenya so she took me to a close night club called Taitey's where an Arsenal and Manchester game was airing it was so crowded we couldn't even find a seat and boy do the Kenyans like their football! You could almost feel the place shake when someone scored.

When I arrived back in Kisumu I was greeted by Omondi, who is the organizer of my entire trip, who had come from Nairobi to facilitate a business planning seminar for the week. Time was running out as I now leave in a week and I needed to sit down with Omondi privately to let him know about the raised funds and to explain what I have learned while being here noting the area I think the money was needed most - keeping in mind that this money was raised to help the very very needy individuals to start up businesses so they can provide for themselves. After a long discussion Omondi and I decided that I had identified a gap in community banking when I was visiting. I saw people in the slums being helped by small loans but only really those that have a business existing or a source of income to be able to start saving to then start borrowing which helps existing businesses but not the really really needy that want to start a business to provide for themselves. I explained to him that the really really needy - single moms, orphanes, and the disabled often don't have an income source or haven't been taught a skill to run their own business. Due to the discussion we are establishing a new program! It is program for those aged 18-40 that are very needy and are often single moms, orphanes, or disabled. We will be taking in 12 individuals at a time to teach them a trade (ex tailoring, jam making, etc) and then we will provide them with a 10,000 KYS loan which is approx $170 CAD for business capital start up once they have completed training. They will then have a grace period of 3mths to set up their businesses and start a profit and then within 9mths the loan needs to be repaid in full with interest and then we will start the entire program over with 12 new individuals. During their training they will also be provided with not only technical training but also business training with the help of the organization I am volunteering with Omondi Okoyo Consultants (OOC) where Omondi or one of his associates will come and teach them the basics of starting a business. The teacher will be volunteering so we will pay for their stay and meals while teaching. With the apprenticing, business training seminars, and a small loan these individuals will be able to work themselves out of poverty and provide for their families. We will be identifying these individuals from existing groups that have joined Kolwa Community bank because those groups know the very needy in the community because they are often the ones that cannot even afford to join a support group to pay the small few shilling membership fees. We will be implementing the pilot of the program in Kisumu at the Kolwa Community bank where I have been voluntering and then will expand to all other community banks in different regions as it grows. I am super excited about this venture and I feel this is one step forward in the right direction! I am so happy that we could identify a new need when I was here and that we are doing something to address it - even if it is as small as 12 people it will grow from there! This will take time to establish as this is Africa lol and slow in process - so Omondi will be giving me quarterly updates by email with pictures and stories of successful individuals as we go. We are hoping to have it started by the fall this year. I will keep you all updated everytime I receive an update. I'd like to thank each and every one of you who contributed to this new venture this will truly change peoples lives for the better :) Now the only problem I have is establishing a name for the new program! If you have any ideas let me know :)

One more week till I am home!

xoxo Kristy

They may not be able to afford lunch... but they can afford a smile :)

Hi Everyone, I want to thank-you all that left messages or wrote emails to me in response to the past blogs. It was really touching knowing that others care and are behind me when things feel insurmountable!

I have a lot of good news stories since my last blogs and I can't wait to share them. Today I don't have much time plus I have caught the flu here and I am not feeling well so I will write a longer blog in the next few days. I was hoping to post some pictures for you to view but for some reason it isn't working. Next time!

A week and a half left - trying to soak it all in!

A small update:
During my stay here I have realized that there is a disconnect between micro-credit community banking and skill development. To be part of a community bank you usually need a source of income even as small as 1 CAD dollar a day but many people living in the slums and rural areas may not have any source of income and was not privileged enough to be educated or skilled in any area. Therefore people need to be first taught a skill to earn money and then they need to be able to sell their skill to those who are in need of it, for example tailoring. As a result of being able to sell their skill they can then earn enough money to start saving and borrowing from a community micro-credit organization which in turn will allow them to grow their business and provide a better life for themselves and their family. So I am trying to connect the two better while I am here. The community banking micro-credit organizations like the one I am working with are trying to help those that are really really in need in the slums but sometimes miss them because they need people who are able to save so that the micro-credit organization can function properly. Plus the organization I am working with wants people to learn the skills of saving before they just give money (loans) away to people - this shows discipline from their members - earning them the ability to borrow. I see a lot of need for skill development NGO's here like the one that Chris, Rose, and Susan have created in Nakuru which teaches 48 students how to tailor for 6 months and then provides them with a sewing machine at the end of the term so that they can start a small business. From there those individuals can form a support group and join a community micro-credit bank to save and borrow to expand their business and support their families. The two uniting together can change a lot of third world countries! The only problem is that it takes aid for this to happen and therefore is not self-sustainable!

Since my last blog I have linked Chris from the Gabriel Learning Centre in Nakuru who teaches those living in the slums how to create a business in tailoring to the community non-profit slum dwellers bank called Muuguano in Nakuru so that they can work together to improve the community. I am hoping it is a long sustainable relationship :)

Due to this founded need of skill development I have used a portion of the donations raised to buy a new sewing machine for the Gabriel Learning Centre so they can add another individual to their training group - helping touch more lives! (Total cost $170.00 CAD for the machine and desk)

Sending best wishes from Kenya,
Kristy