Keeping the Faith

People, people, busy everywhere. Always something to talk about.

I watched the news this morning... in Kiswahili... I think they were talking about internally displaced people. And jobs.

Gladys talked to us about how there are a lot of people who are displaced in the country—many of them due to violence in recent years; others who have been displaced for quite some time for various other reasons. I recall reading that about 100,000 people were displaced just because of the violence surrounding the last Kenyan presidential election.

That violence got a lot of publicity—even in the US. Lindsey talked to a man at Hekima Education Centre (Hekima School is part of that) who said that, in his view, many of the tribal tensions—even those unrelated to the election—have been eased because people felt so much regret after what happened. About 1300 people died in the election violence, primarily Kikuyu (who had been the incumbent tribal group in power). It was as if people saw something in others that was also very alive in themselves—a hatred that dehumanized their neighbours and blinded them to what is right. I think we all tend to forget, sometimes, how even a hatred that starts out small can overwhelm us and turn us into someone we don’t even recognize and hardly would want to be. Again we see this idea of the “other” that Carl Wilkens (the only American to remain in Rwanda when the Rwandan genocide began: www.worldoutsidemyshoes.org) warns us to avoid. When we see someone as separate from us or as undesirable or as inferior (or even superior), we risk creating the very environment necessary for evil and hatred to prosper.

Anyway, I didn’t go to the school today. Lindsey and I stayed back to help work on a grant proposal for Hekima Place. They’re trying to buy property not too far away because right now they have to lease the land they’re on and rent the houses. Without ownership, everything they do to improve the property and houses—like building a borehole (well) to ensure a constant supply of safe drinking water—essentially just drains money from their pockets—and as an organization that makes investments in children’s education, health, and psychological and social well-being, the dividends don’t come back in dollar signs but in hope-filled hearts, hugs, and laughter. And really, what more could you want?

It’s fun work—maybe that gives me a strange sense of what’s “fun” in this world. But if we can help them get these grants, they’ll be able to establish a permanent home for these girls. Kate and Gladys are so busy running this place and making this a home, they hardly have time to sit down and focus on a grant proposal. This seems to happen a lot, that the people who are most qualified for some grant or award have the least amount of time to apply for it.

Right now, they have a large donor base, which puts them in the perfect position to buy new land. They’re going to have to spend $350,000 to do what they hope to do, which is to buy land and build 5 houses for 12 girls each, but they only need to find about $100,000 in grants and new donations because they have the rest saved. They’re doing things the right way, and I’m so happy to be able to help them try to gain some security in permanence.

Lindsey and I took a walk around the property to look at the shambas (gardens)—there are two and they sell tomatoes and spinach from them! We also came across the chickens and rabbits in their coops and hutches. I thought “aww, how cute!” when I saw the bunnies, and wondered aloud why they had them. Lindsey just made a face that said it all. Fortunately, we’ve been able to stay vegetarian here. Let’s just say, though, that I don’t look forward to the day they have rabbit and ugali for dinner. (I used to have pet rabbits—Middy and Lucky!) I guess ya do what ya gotta do and eat what ya gotta eat....the lentils we had for lunch though were delicious! Much better than rabbit, I’m sure ; )

After lunch, us wazungu (white people) went into Karen centre, where the Nakumatt grocery store and other shops are. We took a matatu, which is essentially a van that seats about 12 people—unless it’s rush hour and they want to fit 15 or 16, while letting the man who takes money hang half-way out of the vehicle as you zoom along the road at 40mph! I was ready to grab his arm at any time in case he started falling out, which I was convinced was going to happen!

At dinner, I learned that if a rhino starts to charge you, it will run in a straight line to wherever it saw you, so the best thing to do is move out of its line of charge and get behind the largest tree you can find. Then it might charge the tree but you’ll be fine. And if you see a hyena, lie down and play dead. Hyenas eat dead animals, but they won’t be the first to feast on you, so you should be safe—unless of course a vulture or something else decides to come take the first bite...

Mum Gladys talked to us later that night about the first girls at Hekima Place. For the first year it was basically just her and a woman who came during the day to cook. She’d wake up, get the girls ready for school, and walk all ten of them to school, with Marianne, who was in nursery, on her back. Then she’d teach a full day of school—English and Kiswahili—before walking them all back home, washing them up, sitting them down to eat the dinner the cook had made, helping them with homework, and putting them to bed. And one of the girls woke up about three times every night, so she got up three times every night, too. Meanwhile, Kate was busy trying to find the financial and structural support they would need to be able to sustain this, which I can imagine was a long and difficult process--she's still working hard to keep the generosity coming. And she's trying to make arrangements that will ensure Hekima Place's sustainability even in times of economic trouble.

Can you imagine putting all of that time and effort into caring for these girls? It would be so difficult because not only is it just simply a lot of work, even if they were your own children, but they are coming from very diverse and very difficult backgrounds. If a child acts out, you don’t know if it is because they’re acting out, just like any child does, or if they’re doing it for some other, difficult to understand, deep psychological reason. How do you find the balance between being sensitive to the child’s unique needs while also needing to have structure and the ability to parent them and teach right from wrong? These women—Gladys, Kate, and all of the mums here—are remarkable. And many of these women have children of their own, but they still are able to parent and love these girls, too. All 55 of them.

At times, Gladys and Kate have worries about this place, but they tell themselves that they’ve gotten this far and they must just have faith. Gladys said “We are just stewards”. She has faith in God that if they keep working hard, things will fall into place, because, so far, they have. : )

Well, tutuonana! (See you soon!)