Michael and Denise?s experience in Kenya June 2004

We went to Kenya to see if there were any building repairs we could help with and also to get first hand knowledge of the work that Out Of Africa do, as we have a sponsored child with them. His name is Francis Njuguna Waweru aged 16. We had an overnight flight from London and we were met by Desmond and taken to the flat in Ruiru. Nothing had prepared us for the sights we were to encounter during our stay. The photographs will go some way to help comprehend the abject poverty everywhere.

After dropping our bags at the flat we set off with Desmond to deliver computers to outlying schools. The road conditions are appalling. The few main tarmac roads are riddled with potholes and off these roads there are only dirt tracks, with deep ruts which makes travelling very slow and uncomfortable. When it is dry everything gets covered in red dust. The dust creates problems for the eyes and lungs especially for the poor pedestrians. When it rains these roads turn into rivers of mud which makes travel virtually impossible. By the time we got back to the flat we were well ready for bed.

The following day we went to see our sponsored child at his school and met his headmaster. The conditions at the schools are very primitive. They consist of corrugated roofed sheds with a few old wooden benches, tables and a blackboard. There is no water and the toilets are deep pits. Francis was allowed to take us to his home which was just opposite. We were absolutely appalled at what we saw. There was a small plot of land behind a rusty old gate approximately 15m x 20m housing many different generations. Francis?s grandfather has three wives and these results in many descendants on the plot.

The homes were old wooden shacks with rusty tin walls and roofs, they had no floors and quite frankly we would not put a dog in them. Everything and everyone gets covered in dirt. The children fetch the water from the river and the staple diet of only one meal a day consists of boiled maize and beans cooked over a wood fire in one of the buildings. In the centre of the compound was a very small enclosure where a cow stood in its own excrement eating banana leaves. There were many dirty, shoeless and shabbily dressed children who were very inquisitive.

Our gut reaction was to do something immediately about the food situation and promised to return the next day with lots of food as there were so many of them. We were later to discover that this was probably not the best way to go about it. Bright and early the next morning we went to the local market and bought 150kg. of maize, beans, rice and flour for all the families to share. It was lunchtime before we arrived at Francis?s home and our arrival caused quite a stir in the neighbourhood with many adults and children clamouring around the van. We offloaded the food into the compound and this time grandfather was there to greet us, a very stern domineering man. We had gifts for Francis, his brother and his sister.

Fortunately we had taken spare gifts and we were able to give some to the extended family. We managed to have a private conversation with Francis, who seems to be very sad. He would like to leave home after high school to go into the military so he can support his siblings as he has no father or mother. We feel that this is now our greatest priority to help him achieve this goal.

When we left there were even more people outside the plot. We had only travelled a few miles when Desmond realised he had a flat tyre. He suspected the tyre had been damaged with a knife as this had happened before in similar circumstances. This was confirmed later at the garage. In retrospect we consider that our donation of food should have been handled by the charity giving smaller quantities, more often and less conspicuously, because of the jealousy it created in the community. It is very difficult when you want to help your own sponsored child but there are thousands more who are also in the same predicament and this causes resentment.

Later that day we went to Kigaa school where there are numerous sponsored children with O.O.A. When we arrived at the school, we caused quite a stir and we were soon encircled by hundreds of smiling curious children, wanting to touch our arms and hair. They loved posing for photographs and were very excited when we showed them the digital image. We met the assistant headmaster who showed us round the school. We also met Desmond?s mum who is teaching there. She is a lovely caring lady who does a lot of work in the community. They explained to us that there is no government funding for making improvements to the school. In fact the school was nearly closed by public health last month due to inadequate toilet facilities.
These are pit toilets dug into the ground and they are just about full up.

They showed us projects which O.O.A. has sponsored in the past and quickly produced a list of requirements for the future. We agreed to help with these improvements through O.O.A The school is extremely grateful to the charity for it?s financial support and volunteer program. We left a football with them and we were given a very cheerful send off. There was a lovely feeling
of happiness in that school.

Next we went to visit Jacinta and Anna?s homes, they are children sponsored by Alan and Jude. First we went to the home of Anna. The conditions here were a slight improvement to those previously experienced, although still primitive by our standards. They already have one cow with a calf, chickens, their own well and fruit and vegetables growing on a good sized plot. They are soon to receive another cow from Anna?s sisters? sponsor. There is an elder brother aged 22 called Ernest who works to help support his sisters. There were social problems within the family as their parents are dead; in fact their mum is buried there on the land. Desmond?s mum sorted these problems out and now an Aunt lives together with them.

Next we went to Jacinta?s home and were very distressed to see a toddler aged about 2 and a disabled boy who could only drag himself around on the dusty floor there alone. Shortly after Jacinta?s elder sister Alice who is also sponsored came home from school and she fetched their mother. She took us inside their home. They have their own cow which is expecting a calf shortly. They are surrounded by quite a lot of fertile land with lots of produce. We think this belongs to family.

In between all these home visits Desmond also took us to the various projects that O.O.A. is involved with. We visited the rehabilitation centre many times and this was a very uplifting experience after the previous degradation we had encountered. The children here are very happy, well fed, well clothed, very well behaved and a joy to be around. They are very inquisitive and very grateful to O.O.A. for all their support. We took them crayons and pencils etc and a couple of footballs. They immediately set up a football game and everyone joined in. There are bright children there who are in their last year at Primary school who need a sponsor for High school at the end of the year. They are all lovely respectful children who deserve this chance otherwise their education will stop. As soon as you enter the centre they all come running over to shake your hand. They make you feel very welcome.

Another great project is Youth Action for Rural Development Y.A.R.D. run by Sebastian, a very articulate and caring man. They carry out projects in the community with the youth and women showing them how they can help themselves. e.g. soil regeneration, water conservation, tree planting, providing new seed and many more enterprising projects. O.O.A. works closely with Sebastian and the YARD project. There are sponsored children here, but they are also training young people who haven?t had a high school education to earn a living and help the community. We were very impressed with the whole organisation.

Another very sad occasion was our visit to the AIDS centre for pre school children whose parents have aids or have already died from aids. These children are discriminated against by many people because they fear they are infected with the virus. This is a new project which O.O.A. is getting involved with and they require funding to improve the conditions. It is run by a very caring lady called Mary. After seeing the conditions and consulting Desmond we left a donation with Mary to help feed the children. Mary was very grateful and the children sang for us. Desmond promised to take some of the older children from the orphanage to go there and clean up the site. We agreed to help them through O.O.A. to fund a play park for these unfortunate children. Anyone seeing this situation would want to help improve the conditions here. By the next day Mary had prepared a budget on how our donation would be spent.

Sharing the flat with Desmond was Joe, a young volunteer who teaches at the refugee centre. This is a day centre for refugee children, mainly Sudanese who do not get taught in main stream schools.

During the week Desmond drove many miles to all these outlying places and we had a good insight into the difficulties he encounters on behalf of the charity. Desmond and Sylvester spend many hours working on the computers getting them ready for delivery to various schools and organisations.

In general the children seem to be very happy and have great expectations for the future.
Unfortunately in reality this is not always the case and in later years this tends to lead to apathy and laziness. The ones that do succeed in getting employment do work hard and are very industrious and resourceful. O.O.A. have obviously learnt that educating these children is the best way forward for them to succeed and thereby helping the rest of the family. For the less intelligent or for those who have missed out already on an education, O.O.A?s plan to establish a workshop to train these children in basic skills is a very commendable objective.

From Kenya we went to Uganda. The extreme poverty was exactly the same there. There were a lot of charities there, many which we recognised. One thing that is very apparent is the fact that a large proportion of the money is used on brand new Toyota Land cruisers and people involved with these charities are staying in the best hotels etc. With O.O.A. from what we experienced they are managing only with the basic needs. There are so many things in Kenya that we found hard to deal with. Nothing gets done in a hurry and it is a very frustrating place indeed. It is also very easy to be taken advantage of. It needs a very special person to deal with all of these things. Hopefully by reading our experiences it will help to generate some more sponsors to join O.O.A. We are grateful to Julie for accommodating us in the flat and we are extremely grateful to Desmond for spending so much time showing us the projects which O.O.A. are involved with.
Although distressing at times we feel we really got to the very heart of things.

We learnt so much, sometimes through- our mistakes. We know we caused Desmond quite a lot of extra work, but he was always very obliging. Overall we were very impressed with the work that O.O.A do. We feel to fully comprehend the whole situation you have to experience it personally. It is really beyond belief that families are living in such appalling conditions in the 21st.century.It was a very soul searching experience and we will endeavour to do more in the future and hope that others do too.


Regards,

Michael and Denise Venables