Oh man! I can’t believe how much is happening for Nuru right now. Things are really moving. It makes me feel good. It’s really easy for a new and budding organization like ours to stagnate for lack of funding, dedication, etc, so I’m really excited that that’s not happening to us. In fact, people keep commenting on how well we’re doing. Here are some of the things we have managed in the last few days:
The Sufuria
On Monday, we went and bought a huge sufuria (a stainless steel pot) for Marycliff Primary to cook their food from the World Food Program. Prince, Bobo, Pudus and I spent a good chunk of the day going to different places to find a good one for a good price. I had to force them to take me along actually cause they thought I would get too tired. I was annoyed that they thought I couldn’t handle it, so I told them I didn’t come here so I could sit around and let them do everything. But of course I did get tired. And sunburnt. So now I can add that to my list of discomforts. Still, I was much happier doing something useful, and it was nice to spend the day with them.
On Tuesday we went to a meeting of the board at Marycliff and formally presented them with the sufuria. They couldn’t believe it. Here in Africa, you can be promised something for ten years and never get it, so they couldn’t believe that in less than a week, we had obliged their request. Lots of “thank you”s and “our pleasure”s were exchanged, and we took a picture of all ten or so of us who had shown up to represent Nuru passing the pot over to the headmistress and the senior board members. The kids were also really excited and they all wanted to help carry the pot for us. I have some cute pictures. The kids here really make me smile. They get so excited about things like shaking hands with me, carrying a pot, going to school. Things kids don’t really get excited about at home.
The Computer
Meanwhile, Bobo’s friends Payne sold us his computer for about $200. It’s almost new, about a year old. It’s decently fast and has all the programs and everything we need. We got a portable modem that runs off a sim card from a phone, so we have internet now as well. This is going to be a big asset for Nuru, cause we will no longer have to pay for internet cafes for keeping our record and files and sharing pictures, updating the facebook group and, hopefully soon, the website. When we have an office, we will put it there.
Speaking of offices we haven’t managed to get a meeting with the mayor yet. I don’t think we’ll have a big problem getting an office, but the mayor has been busy. The municipal council started charging taxes from hawkers. It makes sense to me, cause the shops can’t compete when the hawkers don’t have to pay rent, tax, labour etc. The hawkers were not amused and they rioted Mombasa. Don’t worry, I stayed away ;). In any case, that turn of events has occupied the mayor, understandably, so we’re still waiting for that meeting.
The Drainage System
This is a pretty awesome piece of news. Obviously, sanitation is a problem in the slums here. That’s why I was originally hoping to start a project to build some proper washroom facilities. The Municipal Council of Mombasa, it turns out, has some funding that they have allotted for cleaning up the area, including two drainage projects, one sewage disposal project and one for public bathrooms. But they haven’t done any of them. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has recently begun an initiative for job creation in Kenya. This initiative requires that projects like the aforementioned ones be delegated to youth groups who can take on the planning, engineering and labour using government funding. You can see where this story is going I think.
This morning (Wednesday), the Municipal Council of Mombasa invited community-based organizations from around Chuda and Kachongo to discuss this. Only two organizations turned up for the meeting, ours obviously included. This is a really great opportunity for us. We have to write a proposal for the drainage project by Friday to present it to the council. Because there is only two of us, there is an excellent chance that we will get the funding (600 000 shillings, or like $8000). We will also have a chance to work with the Mombasa Municipal Council, and hopefully form a good relationship with them.
Prince was especially excited about this project, cause he loves working the bureaucracy and organizational stuff – going to meetings and asking questions and making proposals. One of the great things tis project has going for it is the variety of skills and interests. We have people like Prince and the Chairman Jay who are all about meetings and letters and amending the constitution and stuff like that, and then we have people like Bobo who hate that stuff but love the hands-on doing of things. None of us has a lot of experience though, so of course we need lots of advice, but we are getting a ton of support from people in the community who work with NGOs and international organizations. This evening, we had a meeting with a local man named Jimmy who works for the Kenya branch of the International Center for Reproductive Health, and a colleague of his that is an expert in finding funding. They both gave us some excellent advice about running the organization, where to go for funding and how to approach our proposal for this drainage project. We’ll be struggling to get this proposal done by Friday, I think, but it will be an interesting learning experience. And there is much more to be dome once that is finished!
Ok that’s enough I think.
That blog was probably kind of boring for some of you. Those who aren’t really interested in the inner workings of an organization, that is. But a lot of cool things are starting to happen so I hope you will continue to tune in anyway. And I’m going to try to upload some pictures so that should make things more interesting as well. Right now, I have to go watch the finals of British soccer between Manchester United and Barcelona. But I will write again soon!
Georgia
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Week one of seven is already over
Hello again!
I guess you'll all be happy to know that I made it through the last few days with very little money. Thanks to my mom's midnight efforts to send me money, I have managed not to starve. Thanks mom.
Things are still awesome. Still strangely comfortable. I mean that in the sense that I don't have the same sense of fear and unknown that I remember from last time I was here. It feels familiar, as if I just went to visit some friends on the other side of town and not of the world. Maybe it's because I'm missing the getting-mugged intro to Chuda that I had on my last visit. maybe it's because everyone knows me and I know them and so I don't feel quite so out of place. All I'm sure of is that I don't feel like sitting inside and watching movies as much as I did last time.
My comfort, however, does not extend to the physical. I hadn't realized that I would get so soft being away from here. I guess I got tough during my six months last time, but now... I cut up my feet using African sandals Bobo's mom lent me. Then I tries to do laundry and made my knuckles raw after like three pieces of clothing. I couldn't even finish it. I also have like 800 mosquito bites. I'm taking malaria medication, but they're still aweful even if they don't make me sick! On Thursday morning, I went running with Bobo and joined some other guys at Chuda beach for their morning excersises. They go from 5 to 6 every morning while it isn't too hot. I kept up. Sort of. But I'm only just able to walk properly again today. You know how Kenyan people are always winning races and stuff? They told me they'll make me fit like that before I go home. We'll see how that goes. Meanwhile people keep commenting that I got too skinny while I was at home and are attempting to make me fat. That makes me laugh, especially when I think about how much people fight against getting fat at home. I explain that to them and they think we're crazy. In a way, I agree. I guess there's a happy medium. In any case, it will be interesting to see whether I come home fit or huge, cause I doubt it will be both.
As for Nuru, things are moving. A little slowly, but as they say, "this is Africa." No hurry. Hakuna matata. We should be meeting with the mayor this Monday or Tuesday with the help of the Tudor (Chuda) area councilor. I had a long conversation with the councilor yesterday. He is very interesting. He was telling me the story of how he became coucilor - against the odds. He was a conductor on a matatu (minibus), and a kid from the slums. Several years ago a small girl, five years old, was raped here in Chuda by a matatu driver, and found miles away across the city in a ditch. Mr Unziru (mostly they just call him the councilor) heard about it and went to the matatu park, where he found the man, arrested him by himself and took him into the police station. When the rapist talked himself out of prison, the councilor rallied the angry women of Chuda and demonstrated at the police station until they jailed the man. He has since been released and drives matatus in a different part of town. In any case, the councilor decided he wanted to become a leader. So every night after he finished conducting, he would poster his small black-and-white posters around Chuda with the help of a few friends. He told the chidren of teh neighbourhood, who liked him a lot because he was plentiful with the sweets, to tell their parents to vote for him. To everyone's surprise, he beat out the former councilor who was rich and affluent in his campaign. The story was all over the news, and he is still famous. The Mombasa council couldn't believe a slum kid could become councilor. he still comes to sit and smoke and chew miraa with the guys at ruff howz and he refuses to buy a car and always takes the matatu to work. He has done a lot for Chuda though and his voters love him. He has offered to help us as much as possible with Nuru including getting us some land in Chuda to build a children's home, securing us some government funding for working with youth, etc. This is all in the future of course.
Well, that was a digression. But an interesting one I think.
I'll just finish up with a few more updates. They are indeed lacking kitchen equipment at the school, so we will be our first use of the money so generously donated by my friends and well-wishers in Canada. I had a lovely tour of Marycliff Primary school on Wednesday. The headmistress is great. I really liked her. I'm looking forward to help them out. All they really need is a couple of really big pots so they don't have to waste tonsa of fuel cooking over and over in order to feed everyone. And someone to do the cooking of course. It's looking like about $300 for everything there, and it will get a lot of parents from the slums off the hook.
Other than that, we're waiting on the mayor and a couple meetings with other organizations. And we had to revise the constitution and are working on a couple of other organizational things. Further news on that to come as soon as something interesting happens.
Today we're going to a group counseling session led by a friend of mine from WOFAK, the organization I worked for last time. One of the things i would like to do is get some of the mombers, and us, educated in peer counseling. there are organizations that do this for free so we are looking into that. Again, I will say more about it when something interesting happens.
Thanks for tuning in. See you next time, same time, same channel!
Georgia
I guess you'll all be happy to know that I made it through the last few days with very little money. Thanks to my mom's midnight efforts to send me money, I have managed not to starve. Thanks mom.
Things are still awesome. Still strangely comfortable. I mean that in the sense that I don't have the same sense of fear and unknown that I remember from last time I was here. It feels familiar, as if I just went to visit some friends on the other side of town and not of the world. Maybe it's because I'm missing the getting-mugged intro to Chuda that I had on my last visit. maybe it's because everyone knows me and I know them and so I don't feel quite so out of place. All I'm sure of is that I don't feel like sitting inside and watching movies as much as I did last time.
My comfort, however, does not extend to the physical. I hadn't realized that I would get so soft being away from here. I guess I got tough during my six months last time, but now... I cut up my feet using African sandals Bobo's mom lent me. Then I tries to do laundry and made my knuckles raw after like three pieces of clothing. I couldn't even finish it. I also have like 800 mosquito bites. I'm taking malaria medication, but they're still aweful even if they don't make me sick! On Thursday morning, I went running with Bobo and joined some other guys at Chuda beach for their morning excersises. They go from 5 to 6 every morning while it isn't too hot. I kept up. Sort of. But I'm only just able to walk properly again today. You know how Kenyan people are always winning races and stuff? They told me they'll make me fit like that before I go home. We'll see how that goes. Meanwhile people keep commenting that I got too skinny while I was at home and are attempting to make me fat. That makes me laugh, especially when I think about how much people fight against getting fat at home. I explain that to them and they think we're crazy. In a way, I agree. I guess there's a happy medium. In any case, it will be interesting to see whether I come home fit or huge, cause I doubt it will be both.
As for Nuru, things are moving. A little slowly, but as they say, "this is Africa." No hurry. Hakuna matata. We should be meeting with the mayor this Monday or Tuesday with the help of the Tudor (Chuda) area councilor. I had a long conversation with the councilor yesterday. He is very interesting. He was telling me the story of how he became coucilor - against the odds. He was a conductor on a matatu (minibus), and a kid from the slums. Several years ago a small girl, five years old, was raped here in Chuda by a matatu driver, and found miles away across the city in a ditch. Mr Unziru (mostly they just call him the councilor) heard about it and went to the matatu park, where he found the man, arrested him by himself and took him into the police station. When the rapist talked himself out of prison, the councilor rallied the angry women of Chuda and demonstrated at the police station until they jailed the man. He has since been released and drives matatus in a different part of town. In any case, the councilor decided he wanted to become a leader. So every night after he finished conducting, he would poster his small black-and-white posters around Chuda with the help of a few friends. He told the chidren of teh neighbourhood, who liked him a lot because he was plentiful with the sweets, to tell their parents to vote for him. To everyone's surprise, he beat out the former councilor who was rich and affluent in his campaign. The story was all over the news, and he is still famous. The Mombasa council couldn't believe a slum kid could become councilor. he still comes to sit and smoke and chew miraa with the guys at ruff howz and he refuses to buy a car and always takes the matatu to work. He has done a lot for Chuda though and his voters love him. He has offered to help us as much as possible with Nuru including getting us some land in Chuda to build a children's home, securing us some government funding for working with youth, etc. This is all in the future of course.
Well, that was a digression. But an interesting one I think.
I'll just finish up with a few more updates. They are indeed lacking kitchen equipment at the school, so we will be our first use of the money so generously donated by my friends and well-wishers in Canada. I had a lovely tour of Marycliff Primary school on Wednesday. The headmistress is great. I really liked her. I'm looking forward to help them out. All they really need is a couple of really big pots so they don't have to waste tonsa of fuel cooking over and over in order to feed everyone. And someone to do the cooking of course. It's looking like about $300 for everything there, and it will get a lot of parents from the slums off the hook.
Other than that, we're waiting on the mayor and a couple meetings with other organizations. And we had to revise the constitution and are working on a couple of other organizational things. Further news on that to come as soon as something interesting happens.
Today we're going to a group counseling session led by a friend of mine from WOFAK, the organization I worked for last time. One of the things i would like to do is get some of the mombers, and us, educated in peer counseling. there are organizations that do this for free so we are looking into that. Again, I will say more about it when something interesting happens.
Thanks for tuning in. See you next time, same time, same channel!
Georgia
Monday, May 18, 2009
Back in Africa
Wow! This is weird. It's been nine months and here I am again at the cyber cafe in Chuda writing in my blog. The weirdest part actually is that it feels surprisingly normal to be back here, like I'm coming back after a weekend away. It's nice. I feel a lot more comfortable than I expected.
The trip was good. Long, but I slept for a lot of it. Probably couldn't stay awake without the mass amounts of coffee I've been drinking since exam period. When I arrived in Nairobi, I stepped off the airplane and the heavy air and the vaguely incense-like smell hit me with such a barrage of memories that I couldn't stop grinning te whole shuttle ride to the airport. Two of my friends, Moses (Bobo) and Mwangi were there to pick me up. It was really exciting to see them.
I spent the next few days in Nairobi, visiting various people. My photgrapher friend Jose recently had a baby, so we had to visit him and bring some gifts. I spent an afternoon with his wife, Tracy, arguing pleasantly about whether white or African babies are cuter and cooking mboga and ugali. We met a few other people on Friday and went for drinks. We ended up staying there for hours as the rain started and we couldn't even manage a step outside the bar without getting drenched.
It was really awesome to be back in Kenya, walking the dirt side streets of Nairobi, with the colourful concrete apartment buildings and endless clothelines, the crazy traffic and bustling atosphere of downtown. I'm sure that doesn't sound like paradise to most people, but I've missed it.
Moses and I took the bus back to Mombasa on Friday night. I was grinning again as the Tuktuk pulled into Chuda, even though there was no one there and it was still dark. Since then, my time has been a whirlwind of meeting everyone again and being welcomed back. On Saturday several of us went out with Bobo's friend Junior who runs his fathers shipping company and was more than happy to buy us all drinks. I culdn't buy them because I'm a little tight on money. I forgot my wallet. Those of you who know me are rolling your eyes right now. Actually it's turing out to be an interesting experience. The guys here know how to live on almost nothing and they are teaching me quite well.
Junior is very interested in Nuru and has given us some excellent advice. He invited us to his place for a meeting yesterday which was incredibly productive, and we now have a course of action for the next week which includes securing the office promised to us by the head of the Mombasa council, and making a few amendments to the consitution. I don't have the time or money to go into detail right now, but I will definitely keep you updated as our plans play out.
Today, we are going to visit the school. This morning, seveal uniformed students were hanging around outside our place. It turns out they had bee sent away when they were unable to provide an extra fee of 60 shillings that the school was suddenly requiring of every student. That's a dollar by the way. Bobo and Jay speculated that government food has come for the school, but they don't have the resources to cook it. Aparently the headmaster was worried about this several weeks ago. So we're going today to see if we can help. if we can get some stoves or whatever for the school, we can save all the families of the kids in the school the trouble of coming up with a dollar, and the school won't have to send home the students who can't pay. I will let you know how that does in the next couple of days.
Thanks for reading!! Lots more to come!
Georgia
The trip was good. Long, but I slept for a lot of it. Probably couldn't stay awake without the mass amounts of coffee I've been drinking since exam period. When I arrived in Nairobi, I stepped off the airplane and the heavy air and the vaguely incense-like smell hit me with such a barrage of memories that I couldn't stop grinning te whole shuttle ride to the airport. Two of my friends, Moses (Bobo) and Mwangi were there to pick me up. It was really exciting to see them.
I spent the next few days in Nairobi, visiting various people. My photgrapher friend Jose recently had a baby, so we had to visit him and bring some gifts. I spent an afternoon with his wife, Tracy, arguing pleasantly about whether white or African babies are cuter and cooking mboga and ugali. We met a few other people on Friday and went for drinks. We ended up staying there for hours as the rain started and we couldn't even manage a step outside the bar without getting drenched.
It was really awesome to be back in Kenya, walking the dirt side streets of Nairobi, with the colourful concrete apartment buildings and endless clothelines, the crazy traffic and bustling atosphere of downtown. I'm sure that doesn't sound like paradise to most people, but I've missed it.
Moses and I took the bus back to Mombasa on Friday night. I was grinning again as the Tuktuk pulled into Chuda, even though there was no one there and it was still dark. Since then, my time has been a whirlwind of meeting everyone again and being welcomed back. On Saturday several of us went out with Bobo's friend Junior who runs his fathers shipping company and was more than happy to buy us all drinks. I culdn't buy them because I'm a little tight on money. I forgot my wallet. Those of you who know me are rolling your eyes right now. Actually it's turing out to be an interesting experience. The guys here know how to live on almost nothing and they are teaching me quite well.
Junior is very interested in Nuru and has given us some excellent advice. He invited us to his place for a meeting yesterday which was incredibly productive, and we now have a course of action for the next week which includes securing the office promised to us by the head of the Mombasa council, and making a few amendments to the consitution. I don't have the time or money to go into detail right now, but I will definitely keep you updated as our plans play out.
Today, we are going to visit the school. This morning, seveal uniformed students were hanging around outside our place. It turns out they had bee sent away when they were unable to provide an extra fee of 60 shillings that the school was suddenly requiring of every student. That's a dollar by the way. Bobo and Jay speculated that government food has come for the school, but they don't have the resources to cook it. Aparently the headmaster was worried about this several weeks ago. So we're going today to see if we can help. if we can get some stoves or whatever for the school, we can save all the families of the kids in the school the trouble of coming up with a dollar, and the school won't have to send home the students who can't pay. I will let you know how that does in the next couple of days.
Thanks for reading!! Lots more to come!
Georgia
Sunday, August 24, 2008
holland etc
Hey guys!
This will be a short one I think. I'm in the airport again with a little extra time. It turns out the airport is a really good place to use the internet. Better than some of the other places I've been anyway.
So, I have a new uncle. That is, my aunt got married last weekend. The weather was beautiful and the place where they held the ceremony was really something. It was a 17th century mansion that belonged to some baron or other and had been converted into a hotel and conference centre. My aunt looked beautiful in her long white (very expensive) dress. We ate dinner outside at an enormous long table. Everyone conversed in Dutch, which I can undertand some of but not enough to really join in the conversation. Then after dinner they had a DJ and we all danced, which was pretty fun. Even my parents.
It was a fun day. Quite extravagant, which was a little different for me, but I got used to it. Too fast in a sense.
It feels really weird that my trip is over. I'm not back yet, but I'm not in Africa anymore, so its over for most intents and purposes. I don't really know what to make of it. It was an adventure I was in the middle of for so long that now it feels strange that its something that happened in the past. Luckily, the reverse culture shock I was anticipating comeing back to the western world has not been as bad as I expected. I think it helps that I am not just returning to the life I was living before I left, but moving forward in other ways - like going to a new school, starting a new job, etc. Plus I have this trip to Holland as a buffer. I'm getting used to all the white faces the same as I did going the other way, and as for overconsumption/unfair distibution of resouces, opportunities, etc, I don't feel any worse about that here than I did in Africa, so at least its not a big shock. The biggest thing has been missing the culture and lifestyle there, and my friends, and not knowing when or if I will see them again. But that's always an element of traveling.
Its been really nice to see my family too. I only get a chance to connect with my dutch relatives once every couple of years. They were very patient and happy to listen to my long stories about Africa. I played soccer with my younger cousins (who are growing up really fast) and had some good talks with my aunts and uncles and my grandparents. This time, I will keep in touch with them when I get home!
Anyway, I'm on my way back to Canada and I should be there in about 12 hours. I'm looking forward to reconnecting with everyone, Starting school etc. And I'm sure in a few months I'll be looking forward to my next trip.
Oh, as for pictures, I should have a few up on facebook soon. I have so many and they're all disorganized so I'll need a little time to sort through them at home. In case you're not on facebook, I'll post the links here.
When I get home, I'll have to call Africa and see what is going on with Nuru. It was very expensive to call from Holland so I'm not sure exactly what's going on right now. If all is well, they should be registered properly now and starting to get things going. Exciting!
If you guys are interested, I will post a little update now and then.
See you all soon!
Georgia
This will be a short one I think. I'm in the airport again with a little extra time. It turns out the airport is a really good place to use the internet. Better than some of the other places I've been anyway.
So, I have a new uncle. That is, my aunt got married last weekend. The weather was beautiful and the place where they held the ceremony was really something. It was a 17th century mansion that belonged to some baron or other and had been converted into a hotel and conference centre. My aunt looked beautiful in her long white (very expensive) dress. We ate dinner outside at an enormous long table. Everyone conversed in Dutch, which I can undertand some of but not enough to really join in the conversation. Then after dinner they had a DJ and we all danced, which was pretty fun. Even my parents.
It was a fun day. Quite extravagant, which was a little different for me, but I got used to it. Too fast in a sense.
It feels really weird that my trip is over. I'm not back yet, but I'm not in Africa anymore, so its over for most intents and purposes. I don't really know what to make of it. It was an adventure I was in the middle of for so long that now it feels strange that its something that happened in the past. Luckily, the reverse culture shock I was anticipating comeing back to the western world has not been as bad as I expected. I think it helps that I am not just returning to the life I was living before I left, but moving forward in other ways - like going to a new school, starting a new job, etc. Plus I have this trip to Holland as a buffer. I'm getting used to all the white faces the same as I did going the other way, and as for overconsumption/unfair distibution of resouces, opportunities, etc, I don't feel any worse about that here than I did in Africa, so at least its not a big shock. The biggest thing has been missing the culture and lifestyle there, and my friends, and not knowing when or if I will see them again. But that's always an element of traveling.
Its been really nice to see my family too. I only get a chance to connect with my dutch relatives once every couple of years. They were very patient and happy to listen to my long stories about Africa. I played soccer with my younger cousins (who are growing up really fast) and had some good talks with my aunts and uncles and my grandparents. This time, I will keep in touch with them when I get home!
Anyway, I'm on my way back to Canada and I should be there in about 12 hours. I'm looking forward to reconnecting with everyone, Starting school etc. And I'm sure in a few months I'll be looking forward to my next trip.
Oh, as for pictures, I should have a few up on facebook soon. I have so many and they're all disorganized so I'll need a little time to sort through them at home. In case you're not on facebook, I'll post the links here.
When I get home, I'll have to call Africa and see what is going on with Nuru. It was very expensive to call from Holland so I'm not sure exactly what's going on right now. If all is well, they should be registered properly now and starting to get things going. Exciting!
If you guys are interested, I will post a little update now and then.
See you all soon!
Georgia
Nuru
So, I guess I can't call it my African Blog anymore cause I'm not in Africa anymore. But since this is probably my second last blog (I'll write one more after my aunt's wedding and before I go home on the 1st) I'm not going to change it. After all, most of it is still about Africa.
Right now, I want to tell you all a bit about the organization we are starting (me and my Kenyan friends). I'm really excited about it. Its called Nuru, which s Swahili for light, and its aim is to help the families living in the slums - in abject povery - in the area of Mombasa where I was staying. This can include everything from sending children to school, feeding programs, proper latrines, clean water, even microfinance in the longer term. If things work out, we can expand into other areas and tackle other issues like family planning, medical treatment, etc. The great thing about this organization is that we can do as little or as much as the money we have allows. at the beginning when we have a little, we can do a little and things can always grow if we get more sponsorship.
The idea came, as I mentioned, when we were in Moshi and Bobo decided he wanted to get his group of friends to help the people in the slums in Chuda (particularly the children) the same way that the organization "Training for Life" was helping students in Tanzania. During my last weeks in Uganda, after rafting the Nile, I spent some time in Kampala during which I visited some street children's organizations in teh city with Kay, an English woman also working with Edirisa who is planing to start a project for the street children in Kabale, and Emma, one of our translators for workshops at the primary schools, who used to work with street kids in Kampala, and indeed was once one himself. I leanred a great deal from the tours we took. Emma even brought us into the "field" to meet some street kids and taught us how best to approach them and speak with them. We got an audience with the director of a project called the Tigers Club, where we got some quality advice, and samples of materials like brochures and newletters to copy ideas from. I will be staying in contact with all those people and getting advice from them whenever we need it.
When I got to Kenya, we had a meeting with me, Bobo and two Jays (big Jay and small Jay). Big Jay has some experience working with organizations, so he has taken over a lot of the directing of the organization. We decided that we would start small, with a feeding program and helping with uniforms and books so that the children of several families can be sent to school. The next day, we went into the slums and interviewed several mothers, as well as the elder and a community childcare worker, asking what are the biggest problem facing people living in the slums, and what they would like to see from an organization. School was the common denominator, cause everyone wants to see their children into a brighter future. Clothes, financial stability and prevention of diseases like cholera, tb and aids were others. We decided to start by sponsoring the school-aged children of three families, each of which is living with no income, little or no support and existing with a mother and up to six kids in one room.
I took the guys to visit Kodonde, the director of WOFAK, the organization I worked with while I was there. He explained the best way to register the organization and offered to hook them up with some other local organizations once they were registered. That way, if they don't have the resources to help someone, we can send them somewhere that does. Like HIV positive people can be sent to WOFAK, who can give them the help they need much better than we can at this point. I am very grateful for Kodonde's support.
I think the best thing at this point is to get the input and advice of as many people as possible and to put together a good constitution and proposal, get registered and get everything going. If you guys have any ideas from personal experience of starting up an organization, I would love to hear them. Fundraising ideas would be greatly appreciated. ;)
Can't wait to see you all in a week!!!
Right now, I want to tell you all a bit about the organization we are starting (me and my Kenyan friends). I'm really excited about it. Its called Nuru, which s Swahili for light, and its aim is to help the families living in the slums - in abject povery - in the area of Mombasa where I was staying. This can include everything from sending children to school, feeding programs, proper latrines, clean water, even microfinance in the longer term. If things work out, we can expand into other areas and tackle other issues like family planning, medical treatment, etc. The great thing about this organization is that we can do as little or as much as the money we have allows. at the beginning when we have a little, we can do a little and things can always grow if we get more sponsorship.
The idea came, as I mentioned, when we were in Moshi and Bobo decided he wanted to get his group of friends to help the people in the slums in Chuda (particularly the children) the same way that the organization "Training for Life" was helping students in Tanzania. During my last weeks in Uganda, after rafting the Nile, I spent some time in Kampala during which I visited some street children's organizations in teh city with Kay, an English woman also working with Edirisa who is planing to start a project for the street children in Kabale, and Emma, one of our translators for workshops at the primary schools, who used to work with street kids in Kampala, and indeed was once one himself. I leanred a great deal from the tours we took. Emma even brought us into the "field" to meet some street kids and taught us how best to approach them and speak with them. We got an audience with the director of a project called the Tigers Club, where we got some quality advice, and samples of materials like brochures and newletters to copy ideas from. I will be staying in contact with all those people and getting advice from them whenever we need it.
When I got to Kenya, we had a meeting with me, Bobo and two Jays (big Jay and small Jay). Big Jay has some experience working with organizations, so he has taken over a lot of the directing of the organization. We decided that we would start small, with a feeding program and helping with uniforms and books so that the children of several families can be sent to school. The next day, we went into the slums and interviewed several mothers, as well as the elder and a community childcare worker, asking what are the biggest problem facing people living in the slums, and what they would like to see from an organization. School was the common denominator, cause everyone wants to see their children into a brighter future. Clothes, financial stability and prevention of diseases like cholera, tb and aids were others. We decided to start by sponsoring the school-aged children of three families, each of which is living with no income, little or no support and existing with a mother and up to six kids in one room.
I took the guys to visit Kodonde, the director of WOFAK, the organization I worked with while I was there. He explained the best way to register the organization and offered to hook them up with some other local organizations once they were registered. That way, if they don't have the resources to help someone, we can send them somewhere that does. Like HIV positive people can be sent to WOFAK, who can give them the help they need much better than we can at this point. I am very grateful for Kodonde's support.
I think the best thing at this point is to get the input and advice of as many people as possible and to put together a good constitution and proposal, get registered and get everything going. If you guys have any ideas from personal experience of starting up an organization, I would love to hear them. Fundraising ideas would be greatly appreciated. ;)
Can't wait to see you all in a week!!!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Good Bye Africa
it is 7:24 in the morning and I am sitting in Jomo Kinyatta International Airport, waiting for my flight to Amsterdam which is scheduled to leave in an hour and a half. Having been here for a short stop over on my way to Dar es Salaam six months ago, I have started to realize just how much my perceptions have changed since I came here. For example, last February in Amsterdam when I transferred onto my flight to Kenya, I remember thinking how odd it was to see so many African people in one place. Over half the flight was filled with Africans. Now, coming into Jomo Kenyatta, I'm struggling to deal with how many white people there are here. I can only imagine how things will be when I get to Europe.
I also remember getting to Kenya and feeling so hot I could hardly stand it and wondering how I was going to spend six months in this sweltering heat. Right now, I'm wearing a sweater.
I have mixed feelings about leaving Africa. I mean, I can't wait to see my family, Ian, my friends. On the other hand, I nearly started crying just now when I wrote that title. My friends here were sad to see me go as well. They told me if it was up to them, I wouldn't be leaving at all, let alone coming back. I'm going to miss them a lot. I also didn't get the chance to do a lot of the things that were on my to-do list for Africa. But once you cross everything off that list, you have no reason to come back. One thing I know for sure is that this is not my last time in East Africa.
Some last observations about Africa:
The amazing experiences and opportunities I've had here have made me grow a lot. Not just in weight either. I've learned so much about adapting to different cultures, been thrown into situations and learned to deal with them, and been given opportunities to try things that I would never have tried if I'd stayed at home. It's made me feel more capable and more powerful than I ever have at home; I feel like I'm somebody here. I hope that feeling lasts when I get home.
Another observation, the people here are amazing. I'm not just saying that. They are so open and friendly. The are very emotionally open and honest, which can make them very vulnerable. A child who has no family and no home will come up to you and hold your hand, ask you to teach them something. They don't close themselves off to the world the way people tend to do at home. And they understand the incredible value of opporunity that we take for granted. They may be terrible at saving money as a rule, but that is a by-product of lack of greed. A person that has no job, no family to support them and is struggling to survive will still invite you into their home and offer you a meal. And they are not unhappy. It sounds strange, but even though poverty and disease don't bring people great joy, they still manage to find it. Obviously they have stress, but they have fun, too. They find it where they can. I think everyone in the Western world could do with taking a lesson from these people.
This is obvious, but there are a lot of issues here that need working on. Some are getting better slowly, but most are only starting to be addressed. Things like gender equality. I have a friend in Mombasa whose husband wont let her leave the house on her own. She told me once about a time that she triend to go meet a friend who was visiting from abroad and he locked her in the house until the friend left. At the clinic I worked at, some women were forbidden to come in for examination during their pregnancy because their husband disapproved of a doctor touching them. Those are some of the nice examples.
Then of course there's disease, poverty, conflict. I passed an internally displaced persons camp yesterday. Imagine being a refugee in your own country.
Corruption, I think, is one of the worst issues. Money comes in to deal with issues from so many sources and it ends up in the wrong hands all the time. I mean, everywhere you go it is happening. The principal of one of the elementary schools in Kabale embezzled a ton of money we had gotten from a donor in England and were trying to use to build a nursery school. The building is still unfinished, and we had more than enough money to build two.
I haven't decided yet what is the best way to tackle these problems - from teh government or via NGOs and ouside aid. There are good arguments for both. At this point, though, I only have experience with the latter, so I'll stick with that until I learn better. My friends in Mombasa and I have started an organization for the slums in Chuda where I was living, helping with feeding anf clothing children, sending them to school, supporting mothers in business and all that sort of thing. Trying to do something about the incredible poverty there. We had some meetings and there are a lot of great ideas. I am very excited about it. When I come back, I will be looking for funds (my favorite) so if anyone has any ideas for fundraising or knows anyone with money to give away to a good cause, please please please let me know, cause I'm out of them after the whole Pole to Pole debacle.
I have to go cause I need to check in with my flight, but I have a whole novel to write about Nuru (the organization), so I'll have to do that in another note when I get to Holland. Can't wait to see you all in a couple of weeks!
Georgia
I also remember getting to Kenya and feeling so hot I could hardly stand it and wondering how I was going to spend six months in this sweltering heat. Right now, I'm wearing a sweater.
I have mixed feelings about leaving Africa. I mean, I can't wait to see my family, Ian, my friends. On the other hand, I nearly started crying just now when I wrote that title. My friends here were sad to see me go as well. They told me if it was up to them, I wouldn't be leaving at all, let alone coming back. I'm going to miss them a lot. I also didn't get the chance to do a lot of the things that were on my to-do list for Africa. But once you cross everything off that list, you have no reason to come back. One thing I know for sure is that this is not my last time in East Africa.
Some last observations about Africa:
The amazing experiences and opportunities I've had here have made me grow a lot. Not just in weight either. I've learned so much about adapting to different cultures, been thrown into situations and learned to deal with them, and been given opportunities to try things that I would never have tried if I'd stayed at home. It's made me feel more capable and more powerful than I ever have at home; I feel like I'm somebody here. I hope that feeling lasts when I get home.
Another observation, the people here are amazing. I'm not just saying that. They are so open and friendly. The are very emotionally open and honest, which can make them very vulnerable. A child who has no family and no home will come up to you and hold your hand, ask you to teach them something. They don't close themselves off to the world the way people tend to do at home. And they understand the incredible value of opporunity that we take for granted. They may be terrible at saving money as a rule, but that is a by-product of lack of greed. A person that has no job, no family to support them and is struggling to survive will still invite you into their home and offer you a meal. And they are not unhappy. It sounds strange, but even though poverty and disease don't bring people great joy, they still manage to find it. Obviously they have stress, but they have fun, too. They find it where they can. I think everyone in the Western world could do with taking a lesson from these people.
This is obvious, but there are a lot of issues here that need working on. Some are getting better slowly, but most are only starting to be addressed. Things like gender equality. I have a friend in Mombasa whose husband wont let her leave the house on her own. She told me once about a time that she triend to go meet a friend who was visiting from abroad and he locked her in the house until the friend left. At the clinic I worked at, some women were forbidden to come in for examination during their pregnancy because their husband disapproved of a doctor touching them. Those are some of the nice examples.
Then of course there's disease, poverty, conflict. I passed an internally displaced persons camp yesterday. Imagine being a refugee in your own country.
Corruption, I think, is one of the worst issues. Money comes in to deal with issues from so many sources and it ends up in the wrong hands all the time. I mean, everywhere you go it is happening. The principal of one of the elementary schools in Kabale embezzled a ton of money we had gotten from a donor in England and were trying to use to build a nursery school. The building is still unfinished, and we had more than enough money to build two.
I haven't decided yet what is the best way to tackle these problems - from teh government or via NGOs and ouside aid. There are good arguments for both. At this point, though, I only have experience with the latter, so I'll stick with that until I learn better. My friends in Mombasa and I have started an organization for the slums in Chuda where I was living, helping with feeding anf clothing children, sending them to school, supporting mothers in business and all that sort of thing. Trying to do something about the incredible poverty there. We had some meetings and there are a lot of great ideas. I am very excited about it. When I come back, I will be looking for funds (my favorite) so if anyone has any ideas for fundraising or knows anyone with money to give away to a good cause, please please please let me know, cause I'm out of them after the whole Pole to Pole debacle.
I have to go cause I need to check in with my flight, but I have a whole novel to write about Nuru (the organization), so I'll have to do that in another note when I get to Holland. Can't wait to see you all in a couple of weeks!
Georgia
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Post Birthday
Hey everyone!
I want to say a big thank you to everyone that commented on my last post in the various ways they did. Its good to hear that people identify with how I am feeling and good to read the insights people have shared from their own travels and experiences. I have to say I feel more motivated than ever to use my opportunities and privileges (be it education, money, mobility, support network, etc) to the best possible ends.
And thanks for all the birthday wishes! I feel special.
I think more interactive blogs are in order, cause it was really quite something to hear from people like that. :) I'll have to put my thinking cap on...
In the meantime, I'll brief you on my last week, which has been a very interesting one. Last weekend, I went with a few friends to Jinja near the coast of Lake Victoria where we went white water rafting on the source of the Nile. It was crazy! And by crazy I mean really fun. We went through four different grade 5 rapids, flipped over twice, fell over on numerous occasions... We even paddled through a thunderstorm. At one point, someone on one of the other boats got stuck in a waterfall and the kayaker who went to help him got stuck as well. The rafter got out okay, but the kayaker was struggling for ages and no one really new what to do. Eventually he got out of his kayak and it floated away down river and he got pulled out by the safety raft.
Our guide Juma was a great guy, who told awesome stories (lies) about himself, which we later found out that he is well known for doing. He told us that he had moved to Jinja from up north cause he was a drug dealer and the rafting guides were some of his biggest clients. Then they decided to teach him to guide rafting and he gave it up to earn an honest living. I will note here that he was quite serious and believable (and it wasn't just me that believed him). It was one of those things where you assume that if it was the truth, he wouldn't have told us, unless he assumed that on one would believe it was the truth even if he told it to them. Anyway, he also told us he had been guiding for four months and hadn't quite gotten the route figured out yet. Turns out he's been doing it for ten years. And he's a musician, which he failed to mention. He said he was a pimp too, which I am happy to say we didn't believe. But he very seriously said it was an ok job, but he did it cause the money was good.
When we asked Juma about parasites in the water (there were crocodiles. too), he told us we just had to drink ten beers when we got back, then we would pee out all the parasites, and if we were hung over the next day, we should go jump in the Nile.
On the last rapid, Juma flipped us over on purpose, cause we had only flipped once and apparently that wasn't enough. When we went over the waterfall and he told us to get down and hold on, he also told us to enjoy this flip. We flipped back over front and everyone got pushed really deep by the waterfall pressure. I was down long enough that I ran out of breath and almost inhaled a lung-ful of water. When I came up I was gasping and coughing and out of it for a while as I tried to navigate through the waves and rapids. It was pretty scary. The others in the boat had similar experiences and we all got out shaken but soon were laughing and wishing we could do it again. When we reached the buses, we couldn't find one of our friends. She came up almost ten minutes later. It turned out she had been under the water for about 200 metres and couldn't reach the surface. She said she had actually thought she would drown and had started thinking she wouldn't make it to South Africa and would never see her boyfriend again. She didn't know how the kayakers found her, but when they pulled her up, she had her shorts and bikini bottoms around her ankles. Oh man.
Even though I didn't get a chance to do a bunch of the things I wanted to do while I was here, I'm really glad I got to do that. They are planning to dam the Nile
That Monday, I spent the day with my friend in Kampala and in the evening Emma, a friend and Edirisa employee, came to show us around a couple of the projects for street children in the city. More about that soon, but I have to go for dinner. Rolex....mmmm.
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