Ripples

Rebecca here- Friday we took a tour of a facility called Ripples International. They have an orphan babies & children rescue center and a rescue center for children who are victims of rape and other abuse. The latter struck pretty near my core, since most of my work has been in Residential Treatment Centers working with girls coming from similar abusive situations. 

They have about 30 girls with 3 of their babies (2 or more of the other girls are currently pregnant). Most of the abuse is incest and in some of the tribal communities, when an unwed girl is found pregnant, she is banished (despite what the situation is surrounding her pregnancy). One of the girls there had been rescued from a forced marriage to an almost 40 year old white man (she was 13). The youngest was 3. Some rape is due to a belief (among some) that sex with a virgin will cure aids. Many of the perpetrators are never arrested and sometimes the girls cannot return home due to the abusive environment.*

We were welcomed into a common room where all the girls sat down and gave us some chairs. Most wore shy smiles. They each introduced themselves and told us their age. Then these beautiful girls sang us some African songs, the first about being saved by Christ. One song required someone to stand up and dance when their name was called, so Krystin and I obliged when called on. This was answered with much clapping. Auntie Agnes (the social worker) told us the history/story of the center then asked if we had anything to share. 

As I looked at all those beautiful young women, I told them how I work with girls in similar situations back home. I told them to always remember they are loved, to be strong, and to keep going. I surprisingly shed some tears as I realized the pain some of these girls have experienced already in their young lives. I saw in their faces, the faces of the hundreds of girls I've worked with since 2006. I felt a deep love for them. 

If/when I get to come back to Kenya, I will plan on spending more time with those girls at Ripples. To all my friends/colleagues working with similar clients, keep at it! You do make a difference! These children need us fighting for them in a world so full of dark and horrible things. They all deserve to feel safe and loved. 

*I have no proven sources, this is just what we have been told by those working with these children. 

Recreation Therapy

Rebecca here- Since my profession is a recreation therapist, I am always interested in people's leisure participation. 

Kenyans have a much different perspective towards recreation than Americans- which is to be expected. 

I'm not so sure my job would exist here, well it would definitely be different. 

At the children's home, for example, there were always "duties" to perform: sweeping, mopping floors and sidewalks, cleaning dishes, taking care of the animals, taking care of younger kids, painting a new building, etc...  I was so impressed with the work ethic. I never once heard a kid complain about their responsibilities! It was simply what they did. 

But they are still kids, and they always enjoyed playing! We took a group of 20 kids to the beach one day and played in the waves, we had a spontaneous night soccer game on the slanted rock driveway, the two teenage boys taught us a hand slap game (hilarious), and I was happy to see them playing futball at the school! They also love dancing! 

So I have learned that our choice of recreation may differ, but all people seek and find ways to play, to laugh, and to connect with others.

And yes, this kid is hard at work:)

And today we helped with a retired group at the Thiiri Cultural Center in Meru. This is what my Great Aunt has been creating, so cool: www.thiiricultiralcentre.org

Kenya...wow!

Kenya is amazing. I love it here. I love how our tripped has worked out and the order of our adventure. We left malindi and the children (tore my heart out) almost a week ago and went on an amazing safari (separate post later) and then headed up to meru to visit Rebecca's aunt. 

The countryside alone on each part of the trip has been so different. Malindi is very coastal with lots of coconuts and banana's and flat land. The drive to the Maasai Mara through the great Rift Valley was breathtaking and very much how I imagined Africa and finally the drive to meru we came back to mountains and hills and forest like area. 

It all just changes so fast in a short distance. I feel so lucky to be experiencing this place and know I can't do it justice in writing or pictures but I love it!

All along any drive you pass through so many small towns with markets selling fresh produce and other miscellaneous items. People hanging around all day, there is so much poverty here but so much beauty and kindness as well it has been inspiring! 

Rebecca's aunt has been a fountain of information and it has been great to get to talk to her after being in kenya for 6 weeks. I am learning so much about this place. 

Malindi

Maasi mara (near border of Tanzania)

Meru area (terrible photo out the car but the only one I have)

Children are adorable

While we are here in Meru I have more downtown to write and get caught up on blogging. :) I want to write random stories from the children's home because I miss them daily! 

All the kids go to school but there are 4 different ones they attend. One school is within walking distance of the home. The kids were always trying to convince us to come and visit them, during the day (I was concerned that we would be interrupting but they always tell me it is "no problem") 

Finally we figure out they have a break from 11-11:30 and we could go then. Well we show up at 11:00 and no one is outside so a little nervous we enter the school grounds (people start shouting hello from classroom and now it is a little embarrassing obviously we are interrupting the school day) finally I ask a random student where the headmaster office is so we can check in with him. Mr. John is such a nice man and we have a nice long chat about the school and America and his life and we ge a tour. Anyway by then it is lunch so we go home with the kids and promise to come back for sports at 3:00pm. So we don't interrupt learning.

We come back and children are everywhere. Quickly our Imani kids find us and take us by the hand and lead us on a grand tour. Now, just for reference these kids are probably 7-8 and we have a bit (major) of a language barrier. They speak to us only in Swahili and we respond in English saying we don't understand, very productive ;). After saying hello to everyone we could find two little boys motion they are going with us!! Now usually the kids have to wait for the older ones and don't come home until 5:00 and it was only 3:30 but the children were insistent. After another lap around the school we find one of the older children who speaks English and he says it's okay! So off we go!

We have to walk about 1/2 a mile to the main road and then another 3/4 of a mile from there to the home. While we are walking the kids keep talking in Swahili and Rebecca and I do not understand, but we kind of pretend too a bit. Before I can stop it little M flags down a Tuk-Tuk looking so proud of himself. And starts to get in. I about die of laughter, I can't explain that we should probably walk, te driver is looking at us expectantly for a ride! So we just climbed in!! Both boys were so proud of themselves and smiled at us the whole way. I just love these little rascals.

The proud little culprit!

Farewell Imani Malindi

We are still in shock that today actually arrived- when we had to say goodbye to the kids we have come to love the past 6 weeks! 

Since we know you are sad that you all couldn't be with us at Imani, we want to give you a glimpse of our lives here:

We brought a lot of stickers with us, one of our best purchases- huge hit! Every time we hand them out, we are swarmed by children saying "auntie, sticker?" Once they get a sticker thy hide it and come back for seconds. We even found stickers in one of the girls arm pits! 

Today as we were packing, Krystin found the rest of our stickers and gave them to a girl named Nicole to be in charge of distribution. She's 9 years old and so responsible. She sat all the kids down and one at a time had them stand up and come to her, she would then take a sticker and slap it on their forehead, and then send them on their way. Due to dirt and sweat, the stickers only stick for approximately 2 mins, so they fall to the ground. Other children hijack the stickers at this point. This leads to mug chaos and sad pouty faced children saying "auntie...?? Sticker??" While other kids proudly walk around tattooed with 10 stickers all over their forehead, hands, chest, legs, etc...

We can't wait to come back!!

On our flight to Nairobi this afternoon we saw Mt. Kilimanjaro out the window!

These children are beautiful!

No time to write- we're busy loving kids! But here are some pictures!

Giant spiders!!

Jambo from Becca! This last week has been busy! And time is running out! We leave Imani Malindi in less than 2 weeks- and we are getting so sad already. Today we went to church in Mtwepa again and loved it. But being gone from the kids all day made us so excited to go "home" to them. We are currently driving back in the most comfortable matatu we've been on so far! 

Krystin had to save me again this week from the BIGGEST spider I have seen yet- it scurried into the kitchen one night and I literally climbed on the counter (as I visualized my leg falling off from a spider bite)! Seeing as how Krystin and I made a pact to not take each other to an African hospital, I felt as though the spider needed to die. Her and Njogu found and killed it successfully. 

Krystin got attacked by safari ants this week too! But she survived and fougt them off heroically.

We did randomly find ourselves front and center in an African funeral on Saturday! I'm still getting used to everyone ushering us around and introducing us to people. 

Amazing kids

Hi, it's Krystin! Let's go back a few weeks when I was a bit in culture shock and Becca and I didn't know what exactly was going on. :) it was our first Saturday here which means all the kids were home all day...obviously it's the weekend. 

Well auntie Dama pointed to me and said "auntie" then pointed to an upstairs room in the building! I obediently followed the point and went upstairs. There were two girls cleaning away and I got to join! I quickly figured out 'N' could speak pretty good English because she is in school full time. She proceeded to scrub down the entire giant room floor with an old T-shirt as a mop! I tried to follow her example but was not the best at it. She was so quick! We proceeded to wash the entire bathroom and shower area. This girl is 9 and could clean a bathroom so well! She is polite, diligent, and so hardworking! 

As time has gone on i just love her more and more. Each night we put the babies to bed at 7 then 'N' works on homework for another 1 hr 1/2. She is so studious, and is willingly to answer any question I have! She says she wants to be a doctor when she grows up so she can help people! 

It has been one of my favorite parts to help the kids with homework in the evenings. Becca and I sit with them and answers science, math and English questions. No matter who's homework it actually is a group of like 4 kids gather around to learn and work together.

These kids are rock stars and I am so happy to get to know there little spirits! Now if only we could improve our Swahili a bit, the kids are always laughing at our pronunciation of words, but we are slowing expanding our vocabulary a bit!

Braids

Question: How many women does it take to braid Becca's hair??? 

Answer: 4. And it took 7 hours!! Krystin wins the patient friend award! Oh and there are 317 braids, we counted. 

Imani

Hello from Becca over here in Africa. Things have been going splendidly and our Swahili vocabulary is growing immensely- although I still answer many people with blank stares and "sielewi" (I don't understand). We also learned this phrase that came in handy "tafadhali, uta nafuenza kupika chipatis?" (please, will you teach me how to make chipatis?). We made our second batch today! (They're similar to tortillas). 

Making chipatis 

We want to introduce you to a few of the children here at Imani. But first, my idea of an orphanage has been forever changed since coming here. Maybe Imani is different than other places, but there is such a special feeling of one big family here. All the older kids helping to take care of the younger ones.

'M' for instance- he's 17 and very looked up to by the younger boys. He wakes up at 5am every day and does his daily chores (helping keep this place clean) and helps the younger kids get ready and then off to school by 6am (walking). Then home for lunch (walking again) and back to school for thre rest of the afternoon. He's back at Imani around 5:30, and it's right back to work- helping clean, watch younger kids, maybe paint some, and eat dinner. Then pull out the homework at 7:30 and study till bed at 9pm or so. Then repeat! Every day! On the weekends- more work- keeping things running. And he is always so positive and happy! He loves math and is studying hard for upcoming exams. He told me be wants to be an astronaut one day. 

'S' is another boy- he's about 8 years old- and has this adorable grin. Since the first few days here, every time I pass him, he says "Rebecca" and I repeat back his name. He loves to dance and swim and wants to be a pilot when he grows up. Also such a hard worker! 

One more for today- 'A'- he is adorable! He's 3 years old and so sweet! He finally has learned to call me Aunty Receca and Krystin, Aunty Tritin. He is missing his 2 front teeth and loves to smile- and has huge brown eyes! He runs up to us and hugs our legs. 'A' has also learned where our room is and comes to find us when he wants to play. I take him on walks to the fish pond and to the swing. 

Seriously- this one has stolen my heart. 

These kids are all so happy! They work so hard and they appreciate the few things they have- and find simple joy in playing with sticks and dirt-like most kids I suppose. 

They're definitely teaching me a thing or two...

Oh and we saw a camel on our way to church today! 

Transportation

Krystin here! So we have been in malindi for 10 days and are settling in and figuring out our new life for the next few months! The children are so full of life and kind and I love getting to be around them everyday! We will be posting lots about the kids later but I wanted to write a quick post about our transportation to and from town! Imani children's home is outside of town about 15 or 20 minutes. 

Malindi is a town of about 50,000 with lots of surrounding farm area (like cows and goats on the side of the road!) we are outside of town by all the farms.

Our schedule allows us about 3 hours of free time in the morning so about twice or three times a week Becca and I venture to town. Options are 1. Driver at Imani (this is a rare) 2. Matatu 3. Tuk tuk. The cheapest quickest way is matatu. 

A matatu is basically a 12 passenger van they have gutted and built for like 16 people. There is the driver and then the money man who flags down passengers and collects the money! Our first time we flag down a matatu and I laughed out loud it looked completely full!! But they kept motioning for us to get in. This was not a graceful experience for myself. Becca and I had to crawl across 3 people and squeeze onto a seat that maybe one of us could of fit on. So I eneded up on her lap! There doesn't appear to be many traffic laws and I hold on tight! Lots of honking and passing of slower vehicles! Honking is definitely a norm around here and I think I am getting used to it!

Tuk-tuk are so fun. They are 3 wheeled motorized scooter thing that has a seat in the back for 3 people. They are everywhere, and everyone wants you to take their tuk tuk. All have some personal decorative touches such as famous singers including beyonce, Rihanna. We love tuk tuk they are slow about 20 mph and your can see town and they are more open! Getting around is really cheap about 50 shillings a ride which is about 60 cents! We are figuring it out, but we still love to be at Imani home the most! It is our little safe oasis. :)

The babies

Becca here- So one of our "jobs" is to help get the babies ready in the morning. There are 7 little boys- about 18 months to 2 years old. Auntie Dama is in charge of them- we show up around 7 am to help- meaning we lock up our room and walk upstairs. 

The babies are usually sitting on their potty chairs while auntie Dama is washing their clothes and sheets. As soon as we walk in they start jabbering "againy" (I'm sure that's not how it's spelled, but that's what it sounds like)- it means visitors we finally found out. 

We sometimes help mop the floor (it's all rock), then Auntie Dama washes the babies and sends them to us to dry off, rub coconut oil on them, and put on some underwear and a shirt. 

They are seriously so adorable!! I try not to have favorites, but I already love one named Abdul- he is so cute and every time he sees me he runs up smiling and hugs my legs. There's another baby named kfatime- we thought he was a little girl at first, because he has little bracelets on and likes purple, he likes to bite us so we have learned to be vigilant around him. 

This morning Krystin helped Auntie Dama make beds while I was watching the babies in the other room. They fight a lot and try to go outside- so I try to tell them no and to separate them. When finished with the beds- auntie Dama comes out and says time for church- so we help get the kids' shoes on (some shoes were missing this morning) -and walk out to the front of the driveway where everyone gathers and sing some songs and say some prayers and read from the bible. All in Swahili (minus the bible reading). Then we are dismissed for our breakfast. 

We aren't yet allowed to take pictures of the children- cause we're so new, so just imagine adorable little kids with happy smiles!

This is a tuk tuk- one of our modes of transportation. 

Imani

We live in an oasis. You enter Imani through a green metal door to a cobbelstone path as wide as a road. There are palm trees and banana trees and Italian style villas. We live down a path called Mombasa Road. Our room is large and open with a queen poster bed which we choose to share (using the twin bed as our luggage rack).  Krystin here...love our room! Pleasantly surprised at how large and clean it is! We have a lots of shelves and a table and our own bathroom and shower curtain! So fancy! The bed already had a mosquito net but we added ours on top because it had holes and the little guys were sneaking in! (Yes I have had like 15 mosquito bites already, I am terrified daily of malaria but so far so good!) 

The house we are in is two stories and the babies stay above us and the little girls are on the first floor. I LOVE hearing the babies at night and in the morning. We also have a outdoor hut where we take all of our meals that looks over the kids playground and a fish pond they are building. 

If you carry on down the road there is kitchen, dining hall, library and boys dorm. All in similar buildings. Then at the end of the road is the laundry spot! Mass laundry like more laundry than I have ever seen! Wish I could describe that better but probably like 6 or 7 rows of laundry rope that hangs to dry for days! It rains here often and people just leave their laundry out and hope it dries later I guess? 

After school the kids rush to this spot to change out of their school clothes and then wash and hang them to dry. :) behind the laundry spot are the animals, there are cows, chickens, hens (yes these are different in my mind because one is for meat the other is for eggs. Hen sounds more motherly so I think that is the one for eggs?) also, goats and ducks! Kids have to keep these animals fed and collect eggs. 

The one last spot at Imani is the shamba or farm. We don't know exactly what goes on here but children are sent there all day and I think more food is grown here?? I have seen some plants but that is it so far! 

We love our little home! Hopefully we can attach some pictures to this! We started teaching the kids yesterday and gave out stickers which were a HUGE hit. So hopefully that keeps going well! 

So far we feel more like we're being catered to, but the kids like us and we're hoping to teach them some English and to love them!

Police Friend

Here is a story about our first day in Malindi. Faith is the director of Imani. She has been introducing us to some locals so that we have some safe fiends. She brought us into town and wanted us to a police officer. Most terrifying experience ever! We stopped at the police station to look for this man because he wouldn't answer his phone. 

Lot's of men were sitting out front just watching us- not sure who they were. The police station consisted of cement walls and like a courtyard- no doors, some rooms around the outside of the courtyard with signs over them such as: tourist crimes, children services, etc... Basically the different departments which were just one room. No records are kept here, at all. We stayed there about 10 minutes and we were very glad to leave. We are not planning on breaking any Kenyan laws. Needless to say- no friend there yet, we carry on. 

We finally met William the policeman at Nakumatt (a market). We got his phone number - and thought that would be all. But Faith extended a dinner invitation so we could get to know him better. 

Fast forward to that evening back at Imani. 6:30 arrives (and its dark by down) there's a honk at the gate and in drives a truck with 5 men, not just William. We were a little taken back- but had dinner with all these men from the police force, one being a corporal. They knew more about New Mexico State history than we did, slightly embarrassing... Guess we should study more. 

We haven't seen him since, but maybe if we ever get a phone we will see our good friend William again. We so sleep a little better at night knowing William has our back.  

we made it!!

We are here in Malindi, with all of our luggage! It was an adventure to get here and we are so happy. The children's home is beautiful and the kids are adorable. We stayed one night in Nairobi in a hotel, then took a flight the following day to Malindi. We have already met so many nice and helpful people!

We went with Alice (Grandma) to pick up the children from school yesterday afternoon. As they all were getting onto the bus, adorably shaking our hands, Grandma handed them each a packet of throat lozenges. They were obviously meant to be a treat and all the children downed them gratefully! They thought they were candy- no one was sick. This was not for sore throats, it was for treats! We had a bit of a difficult time eating ours as eagerly.

Oh- and Krystin killed the biggest spider we have ever seen (in our room)! Becca freaked out a bit.

Oh and Grandma is going to teach us swahili.

Asante= thank you.

Frequently Asked Questions...

We've compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions (and the not so frequent) when we tell people we're going to Africa:

Q: Why do you want to die? (My dad)

A: I don't want to die, but I do want to go to Africa! Hopefully those aren't mutually exclusive...

Q: But what about the pirates?

A: There are pirates?!?!?

Q: What are you going to do there?

A: Most frequent answers: "Lift the Children", Volunteer in a Children's Home, Snorkel, Safari, visit family.... a better question is "What aren't we going to do there?!"

Q: What are your living conditions going to be?
A: We'll let you know when we get there!

Q: Are you moving there? (we're not so sure how this became so popular, but many people think we're moving to Africa).

A: No, but maybe one day.

Q: How many embassies have been shut down around Kenya? (My dad)

A: ?

Q: Did you buy a return ticket? (My mom)

A: Yes Mom, don't worry, I'll be home for Christmas

Here we go....

We are so excited to document our adventure to Kenya here, and happy to have you read about it.

So I thought I should first write a little back story on how this whole crazy adventure came to be. (Becca can add her thoughts in another color if I get a few facts wrong).

Lets journey back to possibly October 2012...Becca had gone to an informational meeting on joining the Peace Corps and was excited about it, but the 2 year commitment seemed a little intense...but the wheels were spinning.

I have had amazing sisters who have been so adventurous and see and gone to amazing places...AND I got to go to Europe last year so the travel bug had bitten me.

We were also having a "quarter-life crisis" wondering, is all we're going to do for the rest of our lives is work work work?? We weren't too fond of that idea.

Over the course of living in Alaska we had heard our area seventy speak about his work and experiences going to Africa and working with orphanages...cue light bulb in Becca's head. She is smart cookie...long story short...after a beautiful fireside we went up to him and just spouted, "we want to go to Africa", he said "okay, its easy buy a plane ticket" :) We then explained ourselves a little better and he gave us some contact information and off we went.

A few more months went by and we got serious. We found the home we are going too through an organization called Lift the Children, if you have a few minutes you should take a look at their website and the great work they do.

Next thing you know...June has come and gone and we had been non stop thinking about Africa, had discussed it at length with family and friends...and BAM tickets purchased. It was really happening...more specifically MALINDI, KENYA.

So exciting. The last few weeks and the coming days will and has been a rush of getting shots (mainly Krystin luckily Becca has most of her's from the mission) moving getting rid of our personal belongings and getting ready to start a journey we are sure to not forget!

We are hoping to be able to document the highs, low, funny and sad of the next few months!

Krystin (the auditor turned adventurer) Becca (the rec therapist already the adventurer)