Rhonda....

Wow.... This post has been a long time coming..... and now that I can finally post it,I'm nearly at a loss for words at where to begin.

Those who read abs-olutely with any regularity will be well aware at my acute sense of failure to distribute the donated Lifestraws satisfactorily, you may have also noticed my discontent in a few areas I've encountered during my stay here.  I can't stress enough, the discontent is mine, and I'm not going to point the finger at specific organisations or people, as this would be grossly unfair.  I'm taking full responsibility for my opinion and expectation of all that I've encountered here in Nakuru and will reflect on it more fully on my return home.

But imagine my joy when given the opportunity to view a variety of other charities and projects in and around Nakuru.  To blog the past week in its entirety would be not only very long, but I'm sure also incredibly boring, so I will endeavour to capture just a few of the moments that made this the experience of not only my time here, but one of the most moving experiences in my lifetime.  An experience I feel totally blessed to have been able to be part of, made possible by a woman who I believe is not only doing amazing things within her own small charity Start Small, but also in conjunction with a lot of other small NGO's around Nakuru.

Cindy knew of my disappointment to get the 113 donated Lifestraws out to the residents of Gioto (The Dumpsite) I must stress again, the only reason the distribution didn't happen was due to the internal politics of The Dumpsite, not because of any organisation that works there.

Cindy and I became friends via a group on Facebook called Nakuru Volunteers, I started to follow the work of her organisation Start Small, and saw this was exactly that, a small child  sponsorship programme that worked off the Rhonda slum also here in Nakuru.  Rhonda covers a massive area and I'm unsure of how many it houses but from what I have read it has in excess of 65,000 residents.  I will dedicate a future post to the uniqueness of Cindy's charity as it deserves wider exposure and its exposure I'm more than happy to give.

The poverty at R honda whilst different to The Dumpsite is still poverty to such an extent that it simply can not comprehended unless seen, smelt, felt, and experienced first hand.  This is a level of such poverty that we are blessed to have no point of reference to in New Zealand. Poverty that even within the low socioeconomic community I work in have never seen

Families are living in homes no bigger than the average garden shed.  At times as many as 8 people call a small mud brick room approximately 10ft x 6ft, home.  These homes have no toilet, no electricity, water, sealed walls or sealed floors and often the only furniture is a bed, one bed for all the occupants that reside there... A number we visited had a couch, obviously salvaged from a scrap heap, but not one couch I was invited to sit on had a cushion, just a sheet covering the wooden frame. Every home had a massive stack of the now familiar yellow jerry cans, these are 20ltr plastic containers that families collect water in.  Some families go to a communal watering hole that has been dug and covered, whilst others go to a water distribution post in the slum to buy water directly, others gather water in buckets, none of these solutions are ideal, and some are quite obviously totally unhygienic, as one picture in particular will demonstrate.

The families we visited ranged in size from just three children to seven or eight, patented either by mother, big sister or grandmother.

Men are conspicuous in their absence in these homes, (though I did see a note stuck to the wall of one home outlining the expectations of the children after school, and this was signed by Baba - dad).

According to statistics most of the men in these slum communities are unemployed, not surprising with an astronomical 70% unemployment across Kenya and with no government support or assistance this soon leads leads to discontent and frequently the abuse of the locally home brewed spirit changaa.  A lethal concoction that I'm told frequently causes multiple organ damage, liver failure, blindness and even death.

But don't be deceived by the picture I paint. These are not women who have given up and have no self respect, far from it. The vast majority of these women (and it was only women) both young and old were immaculate presented, their children were happy, polite and welcoming.  And they invited us into their homes with such warmth and pride it was humbling to say the least.

We were accompanied by the most amazing Kenyan man I've had the privilege of meeting during my time here, Holmes "Homie G" works tirelessly for Cindy and her charity Start Small whilst also maintaining a day job as a piki piki driver (motorbike taxi).. His respect for her is immediately apparent, the bond and trust they have in each other is one of friend, employee, siblings.  She repeatedly tells me she can't believe her luck at finding this gem the day she got on his piki piki, the rest is history.

Homie knew each and every one of the families we visited, as we arrived he was greeted like the big brother, a father figure, the eldest son he has become to these women and children.  These are children, that without a man like Holmie in their life might never experience such a positive male role model.  Homie is the kind of person that no matter where he lived, no matter what he does in his life he is going to rise to the top, he has the vision and forethought to be the kind of leader we need more of.  He's intelligent, articulate, funny, genuine, kind, sincere but most of all he's incredibly humble.... All this from a young man of just 24, I'm excited to have met him, and believe that he is a genuine asset to the families of not only Rhonda but also Nakuru.

As we moved through Rhonda on our two piki convoy we were constantly greeted by the ever present "hello mazungu howareyou?" cry by the children.  But it was the adults that came up to Cindy and the warmth of their embraces that truly reflect the depth of gratitude this vast community have for what she is doing.

We visited with a grandmother who was moved to tears when she was able to sign the consent form allowing Cindy to now put another of her grandchildren into school... A sponsor had come forth, and now this little boy would be going to school on Monday.  This same woman couldn't say thank you enough for the gift of six Lifestraws.  She is raising her grandchildren since there mother sadly passed away.

There was the young mother who only two days before Cindy had transported to hospital as her son Jack was gravely ill, it turned out he had a severe case of cerebral malaria.  This is a water borne disease that frequently has fatal consequences, a disease that would have killed this little boy in less than 48 hours, the medicine to fix this less than $10:00NZ..... but Karen didn't have this, it equated to more than half her months rent and her other child still had to be fed, Cindy stepped in and helped out. Here before us sat a very lethargic but very much alive little boy, this might not have been the case if Cindy hadn't stepped in.  Start Small sponsors Jack, but have yet to find a sponsor for his sibling.... Another two Lifestraws were given to this family...

The stories are endless, and to me are all of equal importance, but I can't blog each and everyone of them, but what I can tell you is that many many families have been given the chance of safer drinking water through the simple act of you donating a Lifestraw.  You will never know if you stopped a child contracting a killer disease like the one Jack experienced, but know in your heart your donation has most certainly been received and every recipient was incredibly grateful, and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Again I thank you for donating Lifestraws, I thank you for helping somebody who can never repay you. I thank the people supported me and my attempted to fulfil this dream, I can never repay you, but I sincerely thank you.

Asante sana
Jacq


(Due to the difficulties I'm experiencing posting photos to this blog whilst using my iPad I will post all photographs relating to this post on my Facebook page)