 Team Reports |
Good Out of BadDuncan Macgregor - Etobicoke, ON
Last November, the Sleeping Children Around the World [SCAW] travelling team to Kenya for 2008 had been selected and we had airline tickets in our possession for a distribution in early March. However, national election results on December 27th were disputed and rioting and violence disrupted this usually peaceful country for two months. This resulted in our overseas partners, the Rotary Club of Nairobi, recommending in late January that the distribution be postponed to a later date. By mid-March, the turmoil had subsided and a revised team was assembled for a distribution in June. Co-leader Alan Ingram and Janice Gillespie from the original Kenya team agreed to go in June and SCAW veterans Margaret Goodchild and George Foster joined the revised team along with first-timer Megan Johnson. While plans were being made to procure and distribute 5,000 bedkits in Kenya — up from 4,000 in 2007 — the distribution planned for Sri Lanka was cancelled due to unsafe conditions in that country. With the need in Kenya now greater than ever, SCAW made more bedkits available to Kenya, and the Rotary Club of Nairobi jumped at the chance to increase the distribution to a whopping 6,500 bedkits. The Rotary team in Nairobi had to purchase items for the bedkits, arrange distribution sites, and select children to receive the bedkits. This was no easy task since there was increased demand in Kenya for items like mattresses after the turmoil had eased. Rotary also had to find secure storage for the 6,500 bedkits and arrange for delivery to ten sites plus line up enough volunteers to help the Sleeping Children team distribute up to 800 bedkits per day. Remember, 4,000 had been the largest distribution in Kenya since SCAW started going there in 2005.
While we were making travel and accommodation plans, the Rotary team in Nairobi was purchasing items for the bedkits, arranging distribution sites, and selecting children to receive the bedkits. This was no easy task since there was increased demand in Kenya for some items like mattresses after the turmoil had eased. Rotary had to find secure storage for 6,500 bedkits and arrange for delivery to ten sites plus line up enough volunteers to help the Sleeping Children team distribute up to 800 bedkits per day. Remember that 4,000 had been the largest distribution in Kenya since the start of our visits there in 2005. One surprise the team received when they arrived in Kenya was that the country was on the edge of their winter season. So, if you receive pictures of children bundled up with clothes under the T-shirt and shorts, you will understand why.
One of the most touching moments for out team took place in a rural village called Kijabe. At the end of the distribution at the Kijabe Primary School, a young lady named Jennifer told her story of how her family had been forced to leave their home and eventually move to a Displaced Persons camp. As she told her story, the entire team was moved to tears. Jennifer received a SCAW bedkit and, as the children began to sing at the end of the distribution, Jennifer was the one leading them in song. The Kenya distribution results came out of chaos. To the members of the original team and the revised team, we say, "Thanks for your patience and perseverance." To our Overseas Volunteer Organization, The Rotary Club of Nairobi and the other Rotary Clubs which became involved, we say a big, "Thanks for taking on the challenge of organizing 6,500 children and bedkits." And, finally, to our SCAW donors, "Thanks for giving the gift of sleep to 6,500 Kenyan children." The smiles of the children in our pictures will hopefully tell the story of good coming out of bad. |
