News from Jubilee Children Center

Our Kenya Kids - Chapter Six

Jubilee Children’s Center

Humanity Unites Brilliance

The I Am Foundation 

Our Kenya Kids

Chapter Six

Good morning, everyone,

As my work here is winding down, I am finally in a place to relax and in a peaceful environment free of traffic, fumes, and chaos to compose this chapter.  I have traveled to the coast of Kenya and have found a small apartment on the beach to chill and reflect.  My Canadian friend, Nick, has joined me and we are checking out the local community, Watamu, which is south of Malindi, on the Indian Ocean.

My friends, Marilyn Powers and Steve Viglione, whom I met at the HUB Conference last week, are the founders of the I Am Foundation.  They have given me great guidance and wisdom in continuing my work here with serenity and commitment.  The universe sent me a message by opening the path for me to come here, and now it is sending me other messages to guide me in the direction to honor my true purpose.

On the plane over here, I met the Kenya Director of the International Justice Mission.  The IJM is a non-profit out of Washington DC; it has offices worldwide that work with local authorities to investigate and prosecute child sexual abuse. He has asked me for a resume so we will see where that goes.

Meanwhile, I have brought books here with me, the I Am Affirmation Book for children, which is printed in both English and Kiswahili.  I will be locating a small school here today and doing a book distribution Friday.  The gifting of the book includes reading part of the book to the kids and acting out the affirmations quoted.  I also have a curriculum for the teachers to provide them with the opportunity to use the book in their English and Kiswahili classes.  Check out the website…

I am looking forward to serving as the coordinator of the I Am Foundation – Kenya Affiliate Program, which will involve raising funds to print books and coordinating a distribution plan.  There are two young Kenyans, Rachael and Peter, who have participated in gifting at schools here and will be assisting with this program.  The Foundation will be printing books and gifting them worldwide, and I have committed to supporting it wherever I go.

The HUB conference was a great success.  There were 17 people here including Charlie Gay, Spryte Loriano, and Elizabeth Jarosz, to experience what Purposing Our Brilliance is all about here.  We were able to see and contribute to several groups here, including the Abandoned Baby Center, fair trade groups, the Korogocho and Ruai women’s groups, and of course, Jubilee.

I am so happy to tell you we have connected with Equity Bank here for micro loan program support.  It is within walking distance for the Self Empowered Women of Korogocho, the group I have been facilitating for the last 3 months in the slum.  We have provided beading and tie-dye training and now they are producing products to market to move towards self sustainability. When the HUB members went to visit them, we gifted each woman with a box of food which will feed their families for a week.  We are now planning with Equity Bank to start a 6 week business and financial planning training program, which is an awesome program!  They assign a field agent to teach the women how to run their own businesses, handle money, save, and market products.  The agent then meets with the group once a week thereafter for 6 months to assure they have the support to be successful.  The initial investments from HUB and the newly formed Bank of Hope will be deposited to serve as security for this group and another group in the community of Ruai, where Jubilee is located. 

The Ruai group was formed and is being supported by Rachael Njeri, a pastor recently hired by Jubilee.  She will be involved in the training and will continue to be there to support both of these groups.  These women are almost entirely single mothers with multiple children, some are HIV+, and all are committed to seizing this opportunity to become independent and move out of poverty.  HUB members Shauna Kane, Sarah Kane, and Patricia from Santa Barbara have started the Bank of Hope to raise funds to deposit and secure micro loan financing for the groups.  The piece that was missing was the program training component and the banking administration to assure proper finance management.  So, thanks to the combined brilliance of Shauna, Sarah, Patricia, Spryte, Charlie, Elizabeth, and the rest of HUB, these micro loan groups have a bright future.

I am also happy to tell you that Nick raised funds from his family in Canada and I had an opportunity to assist him with his Jubilee contribution: namely, renovating the library.  There were about 7000 books in the library sitting unused because there was no system set up for checking books out.  Nick and I painted the whole place, and Nick worked with other HUB members to set up book categories for easy shelving and organization. We bought library cards and envelopes and the kids helped with gluing them into the books.  As of yesterday, Nick has almost all the books on shelves and he acquired a nice rug for the floor for the kids to sit on and colorful plastic bins for the little kids’ books.  Once we have the door and windows sealed with rubber, the library will be a clean, quiet place to read and explore.  The kids there are HUNGRY for reading; in fact, we had quite a time keeping them out of the library while we were organizing things as they wanted to go in and just READ.  When they saw the rug, they immediately sprawled on it, stretched out, and rolled around.  There are no soft surfaces at Jubilee other than their beds, so the kids loved it.

Speaking of Jubilee: my new commitment to the children here is my intent to establish a trust fund which will provide the top academic performers with an opportunity to attend University, either here or in the U.S., once they graduate from High School.  The first class has 9 girls and 3 boys and will graduate in 3 years.  So, people, can we do that????

On Saturday, the 25^th, I went to a celebration at a small community near Ruai hosted by the Chanuka Women’s Group.  There were multiple reasons to celebrate: the 25^th was International Day to End Violence Against Women.  The Chanuka group is a newly formed group that is learning how to grow, harvest, and market oyster mushrooms.

I was able to visit the growing room and hear every detail of the process, and meet Mary, the woman teaching the others.  It was quite amazing and I have some great photos of the operation (Gourmet Magazine article?).  We had a wonderful celebration afterwards, with about 200 people from the area, the area chief, one or two other guests, and of course the Chanuka women sang and danced for us. 

There was also a Children’s Talent Group there who performed dances, sang, and recited poetry, and a group of teenaged boys did acrobatics.  I was invited to speak as the only muzungu there, and it was a great opportunity to speak out against violence.  I also gifted the I Am Affirmation Book to about 100 children there.  I am hopeful I will bring home a DVD of this event from the local media who was there filming so you all will get to see it….. 

SO:  as much as I would like to stay longer, I have not been able to organize financially to support both me here and my house in Truckee, so I’m afraid I must head home.  I will be arriving on Election Day in San Francisco.  I have been having a great time here running around telling everyone, “ten more days….nine more days…..eight more days….” til we have a new world leader, and everyone here is happy when I tell them it will be Barack Obama.   I hope Wendy and Deb are ready for a late night of good wine, food and watching the election returns together!

I know I have already said this, but I cannot say it enough:

To my family, friends, colleagues, associates, mountain biking buddies, fellow roadies, powder hounds, and gym rats:

Thank you thank you for supporting me here, taking care of my house, car, and cats, sending me emails from home, donating to Jubilee, listening to me through the challenges, and loving me.

I can’t tell you in words what you have all meant to me so I will just say that I love you all very much.

I will try to have my cell number reconnected by Tuesday when I return so if you remember that number, you can reach me there, or keep those emails coming to ourkenyakids@gmail.com to hook up with me when I am back…..

Wait’ll you see the photos!!

With love,

Leslie

(Winding down in Kenya, and planning my return…..)

Voluntour 2008

Aloha Everyone . . .

I just got through posting these u-tube movies.  I have published Voluntour 2008 (Pioneering the trail) in three volumes of approximately 3 minutes each.  I’m working on getting them on DVD and hope to have some to you for you to show at different events.  There are some very compelling photos here.

I’d like you all to keep in mind one thing when you play these - the photos are in the order they were taken.  While I didn’t use all the photos, I had them arranged before I dropped in the music.  I was stunned at how the music (especially in the Child of Destiny and Abandoned Baby Center) magically fell precisely where it needed to go. I am not licensed for the music but I figure if God put it in my lap to use that I’ll take the chance.  It’s all good . . .

Love to everyone and best of luck at the October event!

Voluntour 2008 – Volume 1 - Safari
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C8_Cg9eVkI

Voluntour 2008 – Volume II – Tarangire to Nairobi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZOQCTT9scI

Voluntour 2008 – Volume III – Final Volume – Nairobi Orphanages
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRqNp1Xk5Ms

And this one’s just for fun . . .

Backyard Safari
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MJx1vBwtfc

Bonnie Nelson

Our Kenya Kids - Chapter 5

 

Jubilee Children’s Center

PO Box 13923-00100

Nairobi, Kenya

Our Kenya Kids

Chapter Five:  Wishing You All Were Here ….

Since my last report, I have had some opportunities to join the Jubilee children on a few field trips. On Thursday last week, I took 31 children on a completely sponsored field trip to four different animal parks.  The trip was sponsored by the Giraffe Park, which collects donations from visitors to sponsor trips for school kids.  Talk about a challenge: how do you decide which kids get to go first?  The school principal, Benjamin, and I decided to take the Form One kids (freshmen in high school), the five 8^th graders, and the fourteen 7^th graders first.  We had to explain at assembly that everyone will have a chance to go, but today we are taking the big kids….it was hard. 

We went to the Park, where orphaned baby elephants are rehabilitated and released back into the wild.  There were about 6 park ranger/guides who herded ten baby elephants out into an open area around a small pond.  Each guide addressed the children in his assigned section of the area, and they presented a comprehensive education program about elephants, poachers, and the orphans we saw there.  They are so beautiful.  It was quite hot, so within a short time they were rolling in the mud and spraying each other with muddy water from the pond. 

From there we went to another beautiful park where we were served lunch, then headed to the Giraffe Park.  There is free food provided for people to feed the giraffes so I have some great shots of the kids with the giraffes.  We then headed to the National Park Animal Orphanage and our guide, Joseph, provided a private tour of the caged animals there, mostly young ones, including lions, cheetahs, a leopard, a baby giraffe, and numerous antelope, monkeys, and birds. It was a long day but the kids loved it.

On Friday, I accompanied the four primary teachers (young men) and the Jubilee footballers, boys ages 11 and up, to another school here in Ruai called Boystown.    It was a long, hot walk at 2 in the afternoon, about 7 kilometers of dusty streets and trails.  Once there, I saw the boys of Boystown: about 100+ boys ages 12 to 20, some quite muscular and tall, all excited at the challenge of the game and the appearance of a mizungu.  The Deputy Principal, Obed, told us their bigger players would be serving as coaches to some of the smaller boys who would be playing against our students (or else we would have been trampled!).

When the game started, I started taking photos, and the boys went crazy trying to get in front of the camera.  After awhile, I sat down with the principal, Obed, to talk while the game continued.  He told me the boys there are street boys from around Nairobi.  They are picked up and taken to a rehabilitation center, where their issues of drug abuse, glue sniffing, and violence are addressed.  After a long time, if they respond to the rehabilitation and don’t run away, they are sent to Boystown to be educated.   

He was very interested in hearing about my work in the family violence field.  He has since invited me to come and talk to the boys about violence and particularly family violence.  Like most other countries, there is a high incidence of family violence here, as well as more general societal and crime-related violence on the street. 

We lost the match with a score of 1 to 0, a very good showing for us against a bigger, stronger team.  They insisted we stay for some volleyball, which included the teachers.  It was a great  opportunity for me to talk with the boys.  Since they rarely have an opportunity to leave Jubilee, they were feeling pretty happy, and chattered away on the long walk home.

The Jubilee founders have returned from the US.  Joe and Alyce returned Thursday last and threw themselves into the ongoing projects at Jubilee.  The construction of the guesthouse is moving forward and the kitchen is being completed.  Rachael has started another women’s group with local women from the community we are in, Ruai.  She is working with seven women, most single mothers, with skills training and coordination.  They are working on a marketing plan for the products made by the group, and will be working to secure micro loans in the future to  become self supporting.   

I am having a great time coordinating projects with HUB, Feed the Children, and now the I AM Foundation.  Founders Steve Viglione and Marilyn Powers are coming to Nairobi October 6^th to  distribute the book, “I AM”, to school kids here.  They have written this book for children to develop their self esteem and confidence. 17,000 copies of the book are being printed here in English with Swahili translation included.  The Foundation was established to distribute the book to children worldwide.  We plan to give each child two books so they have a book to give to another child, thus supporting the act of giving to others.  If you are interested, you can check it out at their Website.   

I was in Nairobi today trying to find a presentable suit to wear - of course nothing fit or it was too hot - - - anyway, went to the Maasai Market downtown, a huge open marketplace of crafts, beadwork, wood carvings, batik, jewelry, African printed shirts, beaded sandals, and a host of other beautifully handcrafted items.  I will have a full suitcase when I return, and it will be an African Christmas this year!  ***Susan, I really missed you today; it was shopping heaven and I think I spent about $25.

There are still many challenges here.  Constant traffic jam-ups, as they are called, prevent everyone from being anywhere they need to be at the arranged time. As a result, commerce and trade is severely delayed, at best.  It is still difficult and expensive to go anywhere. I have spent the last three days in City Center resting and working where there is dependable internet.  Even here, the traffic jam-ups turn a 3 mile drive into a two hour nightmare sitting in traffic. 

The cost of food continues to be quite high, causing most people here to seek out the least expensive and marginally nutritious foods they can barely survive on.  There are groceries just like in America, with people buying food, but they are mostly upper class and government employees, rather than the average middle class family.

There are also continuing challenges at Jubilee. The children are in need of mattresses covered in plastic, a source of protein and vitamins in their diet, and love and attention.  Alyce and Joe are their parent figures; however, they are in America most of the time, and the on-site staff are too busy to give attention to 110 kids.  What I see in the faces of these children is indescribable: loneliness, hope, sadness, joy, need, desperation, and love?  Words aren’t enough.  If each of you imagine yourself as a child, or look into the eyes of your own child, and think about another child, far away, better off at an orphanage and school, but still starving in many ways….it will give you a sense of what I am thinking and feeling every day here.  I am doing everything I can so they know I love them.

When I returned today from Nairobi City Center, I got mobbed by the kids, who missed me.  We had to make some arrangements to move Rachael from one building to another to accommodate a visitor.  The young Canadian arrived today and is a 23 year old named Nick who is staying for two weeks.  He is broke and green but eager to learn, so I will have someone along willing to help out where needed.  He even says he can build bunks so I hope he will be working with us Saturday the 19^th when the HUB members come to Jubilee to contribute their brilliance.

Visitors should bring a rain poncho or jacket just in case it is raining during October 12-20^th when you are here.

I am looking forward to HUB arriving October 12^th for the conference at the Safari Park Hotel and will be facilitating logistics during that week.  After the 20^th, I am working on a trip to the coast for some diving….maybe.

Meanwhile, I really miss all of you, hope you are all happy and healthy, I’ll be home soon, I think, although not sure for how long!  Hugs and love to all, chat with you soon,

Leslie
 
Leslie K. Brown
Program Coordinator
Child of Destiny
PO Box 86
Truckee, CA 96160
ourkenyakids@gmail.com

Our Kenya Kids - Chapter 4

Hello to you, everyone,

It is Sunday and I am happy to report this chapter is being composed on my very own Acer laptop computer, complete with the Safaricom Internet device providing remote internet access; woohoo! You can all expect regular chapters now as I am able to compose and send without traveling.

• I have learned that when I say hello to someone here, they reply with, “I’m fine,” or they say, “Hello to you.”  I am meeting many people quite regularly in the course of my duties and they have been welcoming, warm, interested in me, and eager to have me visit their homes.  The builder/foreman working on the guesthouse, Stanley, invited me to his home to meet his family.  He has grown sons and a daughter, with two grandsons, a grandbaby girl, and a beautiful wife, all of whom treated me like a long lost relative.  I have become close to the pastor hired to minister here, Rachael, and she generally goes everywhere with me to assist and translate as needed.   Although Kiswahili is the national language here, everyone speaks English and it is taught from the earliest level in school, what they call baby class. 

• For dinner we were served fresh spinach, chapatis, beef stew, and fresh oranges. Everything was delicious and once dinner was over, we talked another hour or so.  I learned that Stanley was actually the very first manager and coordinator of the Jubilee Center in 2003, and brought in the first 25 children, ran the farm, and built the dormitories for them.  It is readily apparent many of the children miss him, as they come around daily to say hello.  I was happy to learn his son is a bicycle mechanic, and he is coming Saturday next to work on the bikes with the kids.  We are in desperate need of a durable floor pump, tubes and tires, and chain lube.

• There is an American man coming October  4^th to stay for two weeks. He met the Symmons on the Internet and he wants to come and put on some cooking classes here!  Already the high school kids are looking forward to learning how to cook, and I am hoping the newly finished kitchen will have an oven installed by then.  Since he is bringing a tent, I’m assuming he’s still young enough to sleep on the ground, which is probably too young for me!

• School is in full swing now.  There is “parade” i.e., assembly, every Monday and Friday, and prayers, songs, and announcements are made. I generally go out to join the teachers and it’s quite funny to watch the kids fuss and squirm just like kids everywhere. 

We appointed our last teacher last Wednesday, her name is “Teacher Liz” and she is fresh out of her two-year teacher certification for Primary School (our K-8.)  She is beautiful, 20 years old, and already fits right in.  I am proud to say we have a complete teaching staff now. 

I am, however, astounded by how much is attempted here with so little. I have just learned there are very few school supplies.  The new headmaster/principal has made list after list of what is needed, and I have learned the school budget is about 2000Ksh a month, or $30.60 US.  The school has been operating on a shoestring, and the students are already behind because of it.  For example, the high school students are in the third term of their first year, and have nothing for the teacher to use to teach Chemistry and Physics, compulsory subjects.  That will be one of several issues I will be working on in the coming week.

• The kids are becoming individuals to me and I have a new coloring club.  There are about ten to twelve small boys, ages 6 to 10, who come after school to the guesthouse; I am usually there to sit with them and color, play Uno, or do puzzles.  I give them a little snack, like a half of a banana or piece of toast, and they hang around as long as I will let them.  They have now started writing me love letters;  I have gotten three this week, all with coloring and artwork.  One of the letters was in a handmade envelope, from a very tiny boy named Alfred Mbithi, aged 6.  He is one of the quiet boys who never smiles.  He walked up to me with a grim look on his face, handed me the envelope, and walked away.  Here’s what he wrote:

“My father I pray for you so much and I pray for my parents.  Please come on Sunday and God bless you all.  I miss my mum.  Please I beg you come on Sunday.  Pleas pleas don’t forget to come on Sunday. Write your phone numbers down, Please write down.  God bless you so much”….”Lesley please I beg you don’t forget me when you go to America xxxx when you go to America write me a letter to me god bless you so much.”

I suspect he is too young to understand his mother is dead.  He is one of the boys here who has no brothers or sisters with him, and I know he is not getting enough attention, affection, and love.  He is only one I want to bring home with me.  I want to bring them all home with me and ask you all to help me raise them!  While these kids bring me so much joy and happiness, it is breaking my heart to see the loneliness and grief many of them carry inside.

• The latest coup I have made here is I visited the Giraffe Park in Karen, a suburb of Nairobi City Center.  I learned they sponsor trips for disadvantaged school children. The trip includes a bus trip and visit to three animal parks, lunch, and an educational program.  I am excited to say we are going this Thursday!  We can only take half the children initially and have another day pending in October.

But in light of the fact that these children never leave the compound unless a visitor sponsors a trip, it is a very big deal to be going, especially free!  I can hardly wait! And yes, Mbithi is going with me.

• The Self Empowered Women of Korogocho (SEW) women’s group is moving along well towards their first microloan. I am happy to report they took the initial training materials we gave them to learn to bead, and produced 90 beautiful beaded bracelets.  The bracelets will be on sale for the HUB members coming in October for Purposing Your Brilliance.  The visiting HUBbies  will also be treated to a training session whereby the women will be teaching them how to make a beaded bracelet.

One of my new HUBbie friends is Shauna, our Fair Trade coordinator experienced in countries throughout Africa, and she is bringing the group a sewing machine so they can sew holes in the leather needed to bead the bracelets.  Tomorrow we will be meeting to outline the microloan process and identify 2-4 women who are ready to learn beading of sandals for EcoSandals, a fair trade group making sandals out of recycled tires.  The women will be making purple and yellow beaded bracelets, purple and yellow beaded sandals with Ecosandals, and purple and yellow tie-dyed women’s tops and scarves of high quality cotton, which will symbolize African women everywhere who are overcoming HIV/AIDS to become self-sufficient through training and education.   Our brand name is going to be KOCH.  We hope to have all of these items ready for sale by October 12 when HUB comes for the conference.  As soon as there are items ready for sale, they will be available on the HUB Fair Trade website, as well as available for purchase through me, since I can bring them back for you.

[Meanwhile, check out the website for Ecosandals.  If you find a pair you want, send me the name and size on an e-mail, they are about $13-$17 US and I can bring them back to you, so no shipping cost.]

I want to update you on one of the women, Angela, whom we met in August when we visited Korogocho with Charlie, Spryte, Shauna, and Francis, the HUB team.  We visited her in her home which is an 8X12 corrugated metal and wood shack in the slum, and talked with her about her life in Korogocho.  Last week, Angela came very late to the meeting and was obviously ill.  She told us after the meeting that she has been taking her ARV medication but the clinic told her she would not survive because the medication will not work without nutrients, and she has nothing to eat.  Her mother, who also is very sick with AIDS, has been trying to kick her out because she says she has sold the plot to a cousin.  Her 16 year old son has been staying with a “pastor” who she thinks is molesting him, as he waits to come to school at Jubilee in January.  She is feeling so desperate she is thinking of taking poison.  It is such a challenge to know how best to help.  We will be working hard to find some resources and alternative accommodations for Angela and her son in the coming week.

• Last Friday a school headmaster from a nearby Primary School came to Jubilee with 8-year-old Susan.  He told us her mother was crazy, had not been sending Susan to school, and he wanted us to allow her to stay at Jubilee.  We generally only take orphans and paying student boarders or day scholars.

Every day this week, Susan’s mother, Flora, came to Jubilee with her daughter, wanting us to board her.  It wasn’t hard for me to see the signs of schizophrenia in this woman.  But because their need didn’t fall within the scope of Jubilee’s mission, Margaret was reluctant to accept her.

In talking about options, Flora told us she has a house, so we went to see it to learn more.  It was a single room in a four room shack about the size of a closet, with a soiled single mattress on the floor and nothing else in the room, except for a puddle of urine on the floor - obviously not a place suited for human occupation, much less for a child. 

My first home visit as a community social worker in Ruai, Nairobi, Kenya:  I felt like I was back on patrol in South Sacramento.  We talked with neighbors who had taken Susan in but they said she ran away so they didn’t want the responsibility.  Of course, they also said when they found her after she ran away, they laid her on the ground and beat her, but she ran away again anyway. 

We told Flora we would look for another option for accommodation of Susan.  We then met with a city council social worker;   she and Margaret went to another children’s center nearby, but they were overfilled with children and could not house her.  It has now been 8 days and Susan continues to stay in that room with her mother, not knowing when she will have her next meal, or when her mother will have her next mental breakdown.  I am forwarding a report to Pastor AlyceJo in the hopes that she will allow us to take Susan into Jubilee.

• I am looking forward to the HUB conference, October 12-20. I will be assisting with arrangements so expect to spend the week at the Safari Park Hotel, or at least part of it.  On October 18-19, they are coming to Jubilee to build bunks, paint, garden, and attend Sunday services. Once HUB’s conference is over, I may try to go to the coast and have a few days of rest and a little diving before my return on November 4^th. 

If any of you wish to donate to the children here, please call Wendy Phoenix at 916-996-4855 for further information. I want you all to know that your compassion and support of my mission here means a tremendous amount to me, and I look forward to seeing you when I return to show you the photos, tell you more about life in Kenya, and hear how much I’ve missed in your lives since I’ve been gone (like, the stock market crash……!)  I hope you will all grab the nearest friend or family member and tell them how much you love and appreciate them, as we have so much to be thankful for – mostly, each other.

Love to all,

Leslie

Leslie K. Brown
Program Coordinator
Child of Destiny
PO Box 86
Truckee, CA 96160
ourkenyakids@gmail.com

Update from Jubilee - Sept. 6, 2008

 

September 6, 2008

Update from the Jubilee Children's Center, Nairobi

Jambo, hello, greetings and love to all,

I am happy to be at a computer which seems to be working so am sending you the latest chapter in the news…..

As I mentioned before, Joe and Alyce Symmon have returned to the U.S. for more fundraising.  Prior to their departure, they placed me in charge of the school and asked me to recruit some new teachers.  I had to quickly learn about the education system here in Kenya and learned that each year is divided into three terms of three months, with a month off in between.  Since my last report, I have hired a terrific new head teacher with 20 years of experience, Benjamin Kagumba, he has been helping to recruit and interview teachers.  I have interviewed about 50+ teacher applicants and discovered that despite their desire to serve at Jubilee, almost all of them are not able to accept the positions because of salary issues.  School starts Sept. 8 and I am 3 teachers short.

Benjamin and I are now working to develop an aggressive marketing plan to bring in children from the surrounding community of Ruai to attend school at Jubilee. We went out on foot last week and found out the community thinks only orphans can attend school there, so we are now advertising our school is open to any child.  These children will be paying students, attending as either day scholars, or boarders.  Once we have more paying students, we can then raise teacher salaries to a competitive level.  I am optimistic that will be the case when the next term starts, in Janyary 2009.  So, we are doing a lot of persuading to inspire teachers to join us now on faith in the coming year their salaries will be commensurate with their dedication and skill in teaching these children.

We have found a new builder/foreman, a former employee, who has taken over completion of the new kitchen building and will start working on the guesthouse in the next few weeks.  We are hopeful it will be done soon and ready to accept resident visitors who want to come and stay. 

I continue to have experiences daily that touch me to the core.  Here are a few examples:

I discovered about 18 bicycles locked up at Jubilee. The staff thought they were broken, but almost all of them only had flat tires.  I was able to find a marginally working bike pump, so we got the bikes out, pumped up the tires, and gave them to the children to ride.  They love love love riding bikes.  They divided up into teams according to size, and they take turns riding the bikes around the compound and soccer field.  It is wonderful to see tiny boys pushing other tiny boys to help them learn how to ride.

So I took my camera out a few days ago at 5:30 pm while they were riding.  Pretty soon, I was standing in the middle of the soccer field and the kids were riding at me so they could get their picture taken.  I took about 50-60 photos and of course, the kids wanted to see them on the back of the camera, they laugh every time they see their own face!

I have many photos to print for them and some are quite good …. ok, they are all great photos….I am still working on getting to a computer with photoshop to collapse the data on these so I can start sending them to you so, be patient!

( I have been sent to Kenya to learn patience…….)

Yesterday I was walking on the path down to the school when I saw a small boy wearing a red sweater, I learned he is a boarder and new student, David, about 6 years old.  I took his hand and walked to the kitchen.  I asked the kids if David had gotten to eat lunch.  Another small boy, Dennis, about 7 years old, walked over and said, “I will take him to eat.”  Dennis put his arm around David like he was his best friend, and as they walked to the lunchroom, I saw Dennis chattering away with David.   It was so wonderful to see this tiny boy expressing an act of love and welcome with a simple gesture of friendship.

I have learned there are about 20 people coming on October 12 for the HUB conference, Purposing Your Brilliance, which will occur at the Safari Park Hotel  They will have many wonderful opportunities to see the work being done here, visiting the Abandoned Baby Center, Fair Trade organizations, and visiting Jubilee for two days of service.  We will be working together to paint, garden, and build some new bunks for the kids.   I have met the most awesome humanitarian champion here, June Koinyage.  She is the International AIDS/HIV Program Coordinator for Feed The Children.  I have learned so much from her and we are fast friends now, and I am happy to say she will be speaking at the conference, adding an enormous amount of experience, insight, and brilliance to our development as humanitarian givers.

I will tell you that coming to stay for a period of time like I have is a significant advantage to being accepted and getting a complete experience of the country and people like here in Kenya.  The children are now over their shyness and are now talking to me, holding my hand, hugging me, and playing with me daily.  I am meeting wonderful people here and learning about the realities of their lives, hopes, dreams, and challenges.  I  realize how much I have to learn not just about Kenya, but about people throughout the world, and what immense value there is in the education and growth experienced through being present with them.

I am getting the distinct impression that the time has come for us as Americans to break out of our consumerism and ethnocentricity and embrace the value in what we can learn and share with other people in other countries.  Our children can enjoy immeasurable  benefit seeing the differences and the commonalities we share with others, no matter what culture, religion, or ethnicity.  It does not take a lot to fund an opportunity to connect; even in high school, we all had exchange students and I have waited until I am 53 to be one myself, despite my lifelong desire to live in another country. 

I think about my nieces and nephews, and wonder if they will ever know the wonder and excitement and challenge that are present in every other country, and whether they will have the insight and courage to overcome their fears and doubts and choose this pathway to learning. 

I would so much like to bring my nieces to Jubilee and watch the faces of the children as they meet each other, knowing that they will quickly discover they are just like each other in so many ways.   

So I am appealing to all of you:  think about the kids we know (of all ages) who seem lost and aimless, unhappy, uninspired, surrounded by the comfort and conveniences of life in America: let’s present them with the notion of traveling to another country to engage in service, humanitarian work, education, business enterprises, art, theatre, music, or any other interest they may have.  There are the Peace Corps, Feed the Children, and hundreds of other organizations, schools, and opportunities to facilitate and sometimes fund these experiences. 

I believe it will be essential to develop the solutions we are going to need to survive and thrive in the coming years, economically, ecologically, spiritually, and as a species.

More coming soon……..and love to all,

Leslie

H2Oz - Bonnie Nelson

H2Oz

There is an overwhelming feeling of peace as my feet hit the tarmac and I know I am finally home. Our week in Tanzania was only a prelude of what awaits me here in this land of our birth. Kenya. From her coffee to her wildlife, from her children to her landscapes, she is AAA fancy. She has called me to her in whispers, weaving her ebony spell halfway around the planet, slipping her magic carpet beneath me and I have had no choice but to obey her summons. 

I thought I had it all figured out when I returned to Maui in February of 2006. They asked if I would go again and I told them all no. I had had my fill. There was no reason to go back and yet for two and a half years I have been clawing and scratching my way back to this place of dichotomy. 

I find mom on her birthday in the Nairobi Animal Orphanage where I had left her in the eyes of a cheetah that February morning squatting on that red earth as her spirit swirled around me in a farewell caress. I wouldn't know for another month that she was gone from me and it would be another six months before I would snap out of my confused funk and realize I had to do something; that my trip had meant something, and that mom could no longer guide me. And it would be two and a half years before I realize she has never left me and find her again in the nursery with the animals in the eyes of a baby lion cub. 

I look for myself in the eyes of the children of the Child of Destiny. One tiny girl in a frilly pink dress covered with soil and grime, her arms no bigger around than a dollar and skin of purple black, clings to Lisa and cries crocodile tears. Her sadness pulls sobs from us all and I can't bear it for my heart will surely break so I wander away from the children and seek solitude. I am found by an angel in white who blesses me of all things and thanks God for me. I thank God for her and for the work AlyceJo and Joseph and the staff of people who pull these children from the slums of Nairobi and give them a home where they can learn and be proud of who they are.

I look for myself in the babies of the Abandoned Baby Center in the middle of Nairobi's slums. Larry Jones feeds tens of thousands of children each month through his Feed the Children organization and orphans are brought here to be cared for in the hopes of being adopted by someone who will show them love. But the center is full and there are so many babies still without care and without love. 

I look for myself in the eyes of the little ones who scamper along the road looking for candy or click pens from strangers with white skin. I look for myself in the hillsides crawling up the flanks of Mount Kenya who is shy to my prying eyes and covers herself with skirts of white frilly clouds. I look for myself in the pink tinge of sun as it sets around the Samburu landscape at dusk and in the bats who flutter and dip and swoop for their bug meal. I look for myself in the eyes of a jennet who cruises the camp hoping to steal a sausage or the eyes of a Klip Springer as it dances on tip toe through the camp looking for a handout. I look for myself in the eyes of an elephant, and the eyes of an eagle high in a tree and even the eyes of a cobra as it slithers across the road in front of our car. Where am I?

I find myself on a game drive in the hills of Samburu in the shadow of the pyramid in the eyes of a little girl with red hair behind thick glasses with braces on her teeth. She is quiet and all knowing but she has the power of the cats in her breath and I can feel it from two car lengths away. Her name is Marie in the French pronunciation . . . .Marie Antoinette. She is there with the three cheetah cubs on the hillside and she is there when their mother calls to them and they join her under a tree in a gully for their feast of impala. She is there with the mother and cub and she is there with the leopard we were never to catch up with. And she is on the craggy hillside high in the hills at the Saruni Lodge when the three infant cheetahs are spotted tucked away in the rocks waiting for their mother to return for them. I have never spoken with her, but my eyes connect with her and our souls join in that instant and are reluctant to break apart. She knows, just as I know. And I will find her again. She is part of the reason why I am here.

We are on the edge of ourselves. Our future lives here and in the rainforests of Equator and the melting ice floes of the arctic. Our balance is out of balance and we will soon spin out of control unless we snap out of this funk right now. We can come to the assistance of those in need but the problem has to be addressed and not simply covered over by good will. We can give all that we have, every cent that we've earned in our business of living, but if we are unaware of what is happening around us, we are powerless to stop what is rapidly falling away beneath our feet.

Politics, power, greed and money rule our planet. It is what the press wants us to see that we see on the screen with its ticker tape negative headlines. We don't see what lies beneath that negativity. We don't see the struggle of our wildlife as man moves closer toward extinction not only of these species, but also of ourselves. We think somehow we are superior, that we are the master race because our skin is a different color. We think we are a superpower and that it is our economy that rules the planet. And what good will this false opinion do for us when the web comes undone strand by strand and it hangs in tatters full of holes that cannot be mended? How then with fistfuls of money and pockets of coin will we eat when there is no more rain?

--  Bonnie Nelson

Update from Jubilee - August 25, 2008

August 25^th, 2008

Hello, everyone,

It has been over 2 weeks since my last posting as I have been learning how to get around here.  As I mentioned before, Internet access isn’t available where I am, so I must travel to cyber cafes to use a computer. In addition, the network is inconsistent so sometimes they work well, and sometimes each keystroke has a 30 second delay! I think I have been sent to Kenya to learn patience!

The Jubilee Children’s Center has many ongoing projects in progress right now. Joe Symmon, the director/founder, has been overseeing the construction of a kitchen and dining building. The construction process is quite amazing: the workers basically take stones, some squared off and some rough, and cement them together layer by layer. They then put wood trusses and framing above and put corrugated metal roofs on.  The high school building is also being constructed, with two classrooms almost completed and we hope they will be ready to use for the next term of high school, due to start September 1^st. 

Joe and Alyce left for the U.S. last week, leaving me and Margaret (the CFO and administrator) in charge of the Center.   We are seeking a new builder/foreman to continue these projects.  I am looking at getting people from the Peace Corps, Habitat for Humanity, or possibly the US Embassy or military. (OR any of you who want to come to Kenya and apply your talents for the greater good!) 

Since there has been no kitchen, the children assist with the food preparation, which is cooked in large pots over an open wood-fueled fire.  They eat porridge for breakfast and beans, rice, corn and spinach for lunch and dinner. They also get ugali, which is ground corn cooked into a bread-like substance.  They usually get milk 4-5 days a week and meat 2 times a week, mostly beef.   Some of the kids are so thin that I know they are not getting enough to eat.  We have connected with Feed the Children, and we completed an application for every child so Jubilee can be approved to receive high-vitamin food deliveries from FTC. 

There is also a guesthouse project underway, with future plans to accommodate 20 people, so when you want to come and do service, you will have a place to stay onsite here!  This is a critical project, as right now visitors have to stay in Nairobi at a hotel, and commute here every day, which is very expensive.

The school calendar here is 3 months on, one month off.  The children are thus out of school the month of August.  They are such great kids. They have chores in the morning, working on the farm tilling soil, planting, watering, cleaning dorms, preparing food, etc.  In the afternoons, they LOVE to watch movies.  Their favorite is High School Musical, One and Two.  The kids have watched these two movies over and over again. (But they have never seen “Madagascar” so I am looking for a copy for them.)

On occasion, the electricity fails, and the power goes off.  The kids get so forlorn and unhappy, until it comes back on; then, there is loud cheering and happy voices yelling, “YAYYYYYYYYYY!”  …..and they finish watching their movies.  I sit with them sometimes, and have a child in my lap when I do.  The ones behind me start playing with my hair, and the one on my lap either falls asleep or starts playing with my watch.

They all covet watches, and a few have the little digital SpongeBob or Disney watches. Everyone wants them and I had to tell them, I have no watches!!

I wish you all could be here on a Sunday morning, for the church services.  It is 90% singing, dancing, and reciting bible verses in unison.  The children are divided into groups, the tiny ones, the small ones, the junior choir, and the senior choir.  Each group has practiced a song or two and their singing is so beautiful!  They also have devotion every night before they go to bed, and when they wake up.  It consists of one of the children beating a drum to create the beat, and all the kids singing the various songs they have learned.   I have gone to join them but I don’t know the words so they think I am pretty funny trying to sing and dance with them!  Despite their difficult beginnings, they are generally happy kids.

What has really touched my heart is the way the children are so loving and gentle.  They have been raised to understand that when there are visitors here (like me), we come out of love for them.  Most of the children are starved for love and attention, so I always greet every one of them, by name (when I can remember), give them a touch, back rub, high five, or a hug.  The big girls especially always hug me when I see them.  The boys are shy-er so I am working on making friends with them. 

Some of the newer kids are quiet and aloof.  This is likely due to the life they knew before Jubilee.  Most of the children here come from slums where there is little to eat, no education, poor sanitation, garbage everywhere, no clean clothes, and people around who are sick from AIDS, or who abuse or rape them.  The slum I have been visiting is called Korogocho.  (Check it out on Google Earth.)  The conditions here are difficult to describe, but the word “squalor” comes to mind.  I will let the photos speak for themselves.  As you view them, imagine the life of a child in such a place.

I am learning the stories of some of the children, and have discovered there are kids who have been here awhile who are showing signs of PTSD.  I am working together with Pastor Rachael, who is a member of the staff, and we are going to try to locate some professionals and see if we can get some therapy going here. 

There are two young women who stay in the dorms with the children and take care of them.  They are responsible for making sure the little ones are bathed and clothed, and problems addressed.  When a new child comes in, Sharon or Gertrude will assign an older child to be with the new one, take them to school and dinner, and be a friend to them until they are assimilated.  When they start to attend school, the structure gives them a feeling they are included in the group, and they start to feel better and come out of their shell.

I have a few stories to share:

At 9:00 p.m. Saturday night, ten of the girls brought a tiny child, Philomena, 3 years old, to the guest house because she was running a high fever and was coughing badly.  Margaret and one of the night watchmen took her to a nearby clinic, about a mile walk from Jubilee.  After they left, I told the girls to go back to the dormitory, but they wanted to stay and wait for Auntie Margaret and Philomena to return.  So I broke out the UNO cards, and taught them how to play.  Talk about personalities!  It soon became apparent who the leaders of the group are!  We played till 11:30 until Philomena was back.  The “chemist” at the clinic gave her a shot (antibiotics?) and some syrup with antimalarial drugs in it.  In Africa, if anyone has a fever, it is treated like malaria until it is otherwise diagnosed.  Margaret tells me the children do not often get fevers but when they do, they get antimalaria drugs which are fairly effective. 

About 2 weeks ago, Charlie Gay and Spryte Loriano, the founders of HUB, arrived here. I am assisting them with arrangements for the upcoming Purposing Your Brilliance conference in October here in Nairobi.  We visited the Abandoned Baby Center, operated by Feed the Children (FTC) at the direction of founders Larry and Francis Jones.  Charlie and Spryte had a cameraman with them, Francis, who filmed the programs we visited.  We met Larry Jones, who showed us around this beautiful, state-of-the-art children’s center. They care for abandoned babies found around the Nairobi region, many of whom are HIV+.  They also care for disabled babies and children who have been abandoned.  We then went to Kibera slum, where a million people live.  As we drove in, I saw a huge garbage dump next to the road, with about ten children on it, scrounging for food.  I cannot describe the feelings I had when I saw that.  I wanted to jump out of the car and go get them to bring to Jubilee, but of course, it was impossible.  We went to the Olympic School, which is inside Kibera, surrounded by chainlink fence and barbed wire.  The school is one of HUB’s Impact Partners and beneficiaries, where 2000 children are educated and fed every day with food from FTC.  Most of them eat half the food they are given (beans, rice, and corn mixed together with a little oil for fat) and take the other half home to share with siblings or other family members.  We helped with the food distribution for that day which was really great, and the children did some singing for us while we were there.

OK, last story:

HUB is sponsoring a project I am working on with a small group of women in Korogocho.  They are also considering a project in partnership with Joe and Alyce Symmon to construct a building in Korogocho to train, feed, and minister to the community there.

I have been working with these women, who are AIDS survivors, to get them some skills training.  There is a local Korogocho woman, Mary, who serves as the community mobilizer. She has been setting up the meetings for us and is also doing medication assurance, visiting the women's homes to make sure they are taking their ARV medications, which, by the way, are free here.

Yesterday, we had a trainer from Ecosandals, Rose, come and teach the women how to do beadwork.  It was amazing:  they took right to the beading process and were totally into it!  We bring food with us when we come, and yesterday they wouldn’t even pause to have something to eat.  They are so appreciative that someone is interested in supporting them to become self sufficient.  When they are more skilled, Rose is going to take them 2 at a time to the Ecosandals workshop and teach them how to bead sandals, which will give them income for the first time in their lives.  There are at least 8 children they have that are also HIV+, and one has an 8 year old son who is totally disabled from meningitis contracted when he was an infant.  I have Margaret, Rachael, and AlyceJo, when she is here, working with me on this, and we are hopeful the building project will go forward to provide long term intervention and support. (Photos forthcoming…)

So, it is time to say kwaheri, for now!  I miss everyone so much but already the end of my first month is approaching and I cannot believe how busy I am! Please be assured that that I am safe and sound here, healthy, and very, very happy!

Love to all,

Leslie

Your on-the-ground correspondent in Nairobi, Kenya

Greetings and Love to Everyone

GREETINGS AND LOVE TO EVERYONE,

It is Wednesday, August 13th, and I am finally at a somewhat functioning internet cafe in downtown Nairobi!

I have been here one week and am comfortably staying at the Jubilee Children's Center, in Ruai, a neighborhood outside Nairobi about 14 miles.  It has been such an amazing week I hardly know where to start!

First, I am safe here at the school/orphanage. Drs. Joe Symmon and AlyceJo Mwangi have provided me a room in the unfinished guest house behind heavy metal steel doors kept locked at night.  I have working plumbing and a shower, and wonderful food from the very large farm on the property, fresh beets, tomatoes, spinach, kale, cilantro, carrots, etc etc etc grown by John and his crew and cooked by AlyceJo and Lucy. Visitors say the food we serve is better than the expensive hotels in town.  We have one main meal a day, lunchtime, about 1:30 p.m.  I share my room with Margaret, the accountant, logistics manager, and wizard extraordinare at Jubilee.  I soon learned that Margaret has so many roles that she is buried most of the time with work. I also learned she has been doing all purchasing for the Center since its beginning, traveling around the region in a matatu (Toyota Van - public transportation) finding the best prices for building materials, food, supplies of all kind, then paying a truck or driver to bring it to Jubilee.  A large amount of her energy and their resources are thus wasted because, are you ready? Gas costs $10.00 US per gallon.  It takes Margaret 2 hours by matatu to get to Nairobi City.  She paid a truck $50 US ($1 = 65-70 Ksh - Kenya shillings) just to bring some sheet metal for roofing yesterday.   Oh yes: the cost of electricity just doubled, food prices have tripled in the last year, and the inflation rate here right now is 30%. (**Identified need: acquisition of a small pick-up, current identified cash required: $7700 US.)

I must tell you all about the children.  There are 105 children here right now, orphans from the slums of Nairobi.  They range in age from 4 years old to 16 years old; the older children have been here since 2004 and there are 10 girls and one boy in high school.  They live in two dormitories and attend school at an adjacent classroom building with about ten classrooms.  All the buildings are made with stone and concrete, and have metal doors which are kept locked.  There is a beautiful garden near the dormitories, but otherwise there is mostly bare dirt and weeds everywhere, so there is much dirt and dust. (**Identified need: grass seed that will grow here -- UC DAVIS?)

The children amaze me and bring me much joy every day.  Yesterday I went to the soccer field to referee, and sat on a cement bench there; I was soon joined by 20 of the small boys and girls who wanted to sit with me. Some are so shy they will not look at me but will snuggle up against me as I am sitting.  Pretty soon they wanted to know how old I am, where I live, how long I am staying, and a million other questions.  One little girl 5 years old fell asleep in another's lap. We sat for over an hour:  they seem to love just sitting with me. Yesterday six of the boys ages 5 to 10 walked me back to my house, taking turns holding my hands.

Please give me some memory so I can remember every name and face! There are too many to remember, but I ask them to help me remember and I am starting to know some of them.  Their faces are so beautiful but I can also see the pain and suffering in their eyes, especially the little ones.  They are rescued from the slums when they are 4 to 8 years old, some have siblings with them, and so the little ones are still assimilating into their new home so different from where they came. 

Yesterday three visitors came, Lisa from San Diego, Barbara from Florida, and Bonnie from Maui (check out her website www.cheetahalliance.org)

They are the first HUB members (Humanity Unites Brilliance) coming to Kenya for a Voluntour.  We spent the morning painting, coloring, and making bead necklaces with the children.  I was coloring with a tiny girl, 4 years old, and she drew everything I drew.  A short time later, Lisa picked her up and began to rock her and hug her; within a minute, big crocodile tears began to flow down her face.  It was hard for us to keep our own tears back as we saw and felt what seemed like all of the pain and suffering of children all over the world reflected in the eyes of this beautiful child.  I later found out she has been at Jubilee 4 months, and has two older sisters there with her, all rescued from the slums after their mother died of AIDS.

And so, let me tell you about Sunday.  At 10:00, we went to the chapel for services (Jubilee is a Christian School.)  The chapel is a stone and concrete building with a corrugated metal roof full of holes, and two unfinished wood framed windows.  As I walked in, I saw at the front about 15 of the oldest girls, their two dormitory mothers, and Lucy the cook/housekeeper, singing a beautiful traditional Kenyan song, with two drums and coordinated harmonization.  They were dressed in their best clothes, skirts and blouses and dresses, and they danced and sang for 20 minutes.  It was awe inspiring.  I am hopeful I will have photos and perhaps video and audio when I return.  I asked them to teach me the song and look forward to a day when I can sing it with them.  The service in fact was filled with wonderful song and music, and was quite beautiful. 

After church, Dr. Joe called a meeting of the school's teachers. As part of my commitment at Jubilee, I am developing a teacher training program for them with an emphasis on leadership.  I am calling upon my Master Instructor knowledge and experience as I strive to create a program which will support their skills and build their confidence and self esteem (***Someone forward this to Jim Frasier and Mike Gray!!) There is a head teacher but she apparently has not been serving well in this role so I am looking forward to working with her and all of them. I learned at this meeting that school is out, effective August 5th for 4 weeks, and resumes September 8th. They are on a two months on - one month off schedule. So, the week of September 1, I am presenting teacher training 2 hours evey afternoon, and will provide a one a week session until I return in November.

I have also been tasked with working with the high school, 8th, and 7th graders to take a vacant land area and grow their own garden and food crops.  We have turned it into a challenge, with the boys having one area and the girls having another area.  We have spent one hour so far and have a small plot tilled, and it is always interesting to see who likes to work and who likes to watch!  I taught them paper-rock-scissors to see who got to choose their plot of land first, and they got a big kick out of that.  We are in Nairobi today for many reasons, one of which is to acquire more tools for the farm; they have a few machetes, a few slashers (for hacking weeds) two broken rakes, and not much else.  There is, however, several planted acres of food, and at least two have a drip irrigation system.  It is remarkable what has been accomplished here, but there are so many needs: (***Like, funds for tools***.)

The children received school shoes a few months ago, but most are wearing torn, broken flipflops or plastic shower shoes torn and too small. *** Almost all of them need new play/sports shoes so I am going to start with Fleet Feet and see if they want to lead a donation/collection effort.

The Raincatcher water purification system is being installed Thursday, which will assure clean water for the orphanage and the surrounding Ruai community, as water shortages are predicted in the coming months, This project is being funded by HUB.  Charlie Gay will arrive on Thursday, and we are going to visit the slums on Friday this week.  Saturday I am going with Larry Jones (www.feedthechildren.org) to his Abandoned Baby Center for a visit. 

So you will all be receiving weekly reports from me and although mobility and Internet access is very limited, I hope to start generating photos along with my journal reports.  I am hoping you will be able to subscribe to my blog via Richard Hassman prior to my next report, so if you do not want to receive one, please email Richard. (editor's note - subscribe to this blog's feed by clicking on the link in the right-hand column)

As I close this report, I want to thank you again (Swahili translation: Asante sana) for your donations and ongoing support of the children here and my efforts to improve their school and their lives. They truly are all of our Kenya kids. I am continuing my fund-raising efforts here and in the US through vacation rentals of my home in beautiful Truckee, California, grant applications, and collaborations with other groups, churches, Rotary, friends, and family.  If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation for these kids, you can write a check to Child of Destiny, (a 501c3 non-profit organization based in Southern California) and send it to :

Child of Destiny
PO Box 390
Etiwanda, CA 91739

Until the next report, I wish you all great joy and happiness, and take good care of yourselves and each other...

...and my car and my houses, and my kitty cats, and.....love to all,

Leslie K. Brown
Program Coordinator
Child of Destiny
PO Box 86
Truckee, CA 96160
530-214-8008
ourkenyakids@gmail.com