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Revision of: Thu, December 6, 2007 |
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Was this, my 13th distribution, different from all the others? Yes! First of all our travelling team of Duncan Macgregor (3rd distribution), Judy Snobelen (2nd trip), Jeff McDougall (2nd trip), Gail Gowanlock (1st trip), and I had never worked together before. It is absolutely amazing how five people can come together, virtually as strangers, and work so well in such a short time. I believe it is because we all have the same desire to achieve the Sleeping Children objective of helping needy children have a chance to develop and grow. Getting good nights? sleep and by knowing that someone cares about their plight and is willing to help, gives them an incentive to aim towards a better way of life than is found in the slums of a city like Nairobi, Kenya. Secondly, this was difficult because it was the first time for a Sleeping Children distribution in Kenya, therefore we were working with a club which had no previous experience in organizing a distribution. This of course caused some confusion, delays and anxious moments ? When will the bedkits arrive? We have been at the site for over an hour and still no bedkits! However the end result was that all 3,000 children did receive their bedkits which were so generously donated by you. Thirdly, this trip was very different as it was my first trip to Africa, and their customs were not what I might have anticipated. The Kenyan children are very black-skinned being from that part of Africa known as?Black Africa?.
Fourthly, I personally had many emotions on this distribution which I can?t adequately describe. Approximately 250 children received bedkits in memory of my wife, Ann,who passed on to glory this past January19th. Ann had requested that donations be made to Sleeping Children in lieu of flowers. As I took pictures or handed the bedkits to badly handicapped, orphaned or just plain very needy children, I felt the love and compassion Ann had for children being delivered with each and every bedkit. What a privilege it was for me to give these children hope on behalf of a wonderful and caring woman! Travelling volunteers do more than just distribute bedkits on behalf of you, the donors. We also have the privilege of tellingthe story of Sleeping Children Around the World to groups here at home. Children to whom we speak learn about geography, other cultures, the joy of helping others and about situations in which others find themselves. We also get to meet many caring people here in churches, and service clubs, or ordinary individuals who want to do their part in creating a better world. And, we have a good time while we are in the participating countries
with our (Sleeping Children) partner groups. On this trip all our team members chose to
take a three day safari following the distribution, and we went to the huge
Masai Mara wild game reserve and saw many animals in their natural habitat. They included lions, elephants, leopards, zebras, hyenas, hippopotami, giraffes,
water buffalos, and many more. Of course, these opportunities take second place
to giving the bedkits to the children. Without love and caring by people like you, I don?t believe Sleeping Children Around the World could have the impact on children?s lives that it has. Perhaps some of the poems that were recited to us by children at distribution sites say more about their situation than I can. Here are three of them:
Thank you, donors, for caring about those less fortunate. I stooped down to pick up a small, dangerous-looking piece of metal as the camera was being set up, but stopped myself. As I looked around I realized that this part of the slums, and the area where we were taking pictures and distributing bedkits, stood on top of a garbage dump. To pick up all of the things dangerous to the children here would have been an impossible task. I shrugged my shoulders ? this was yet another aspect of Kenya I had discovered. Kenya straddles the equator, has diverse geography dominated by the volcanic action of the Great Rift Valley, and with a population of 31 million people, is a land of stark contrasts. Kenya is both the economic engine of central-eastern Africa and the home, in Nairobi the capital, of the largest slums in all Africa ? Kibera.
Nairobi is a very modern and cosmopolitan city, established scarcely more than 100 years ago. On the other hand, Kenya is home to several smaller nomadic tribes such as the Masai people, who try to live their traditional lives despite the modern activity constantly in view. Kenya is known world-wide for its fantastic wildlife, and the wide open spaces of the national parks are an amazing sight to see. These parks are only a few hours? drive from the crowded and dusty slums of Nairobi, which house about a million people. Looking around the streets of Nairobi, the people seem a perfect picture of robust health, but the HIV/AIDS crisis is overwhelming, and the topic came up in almost every conversation that we had with the teachers and workers we met at the various distribution sites. Finally, although Kenya is gaining a reputation for its soaring crime rate, the incredible compassion we saw time and again of Kenyans giving of their time and meager resources was heart-breaking. So I didn?t pick up the piece of metal, and I didn?t clean up the garbage dump, but I did play a part in delivering 3,000 bedkits to some of the world?s ?most needy? children that I had ever seen. No, this is not a solution to all of Kenya?s problems, but for 3,000 children, it was a great start. Our team have just finished Sleeping Children?s very first distribution to Kenya. 3,000 bedkits went to children in the slums of Nairobi. This distribution was both successful and challenging. Having travelled previously with Sleeping Children, it amazes me to see the ?Children of the World?. Regardless of whether they are in Canada or India or Africa, they all love to sing, dance, laugh and smile, whenever they are being greeted by friendly faces, and these children are no different. However, these Kenyan children are truly desperate. Many of them spend their nights sleeping on cardboard. Their homes are shanties made of tin, sticks, mud, and plastic. We gave out 351 bedkits at Stara Children?s Rescue and School. The children sang a song telling us that they have a choice to be happy or bitter about the difficult lives they are living. It was a privilege to embrace them on behalf of you, the donors, as I gave out their bedkits, knowing that they would be sleeping on a mattress for the first time ? I couldn?t help but think of my grandchildren, Brooke, Annie, Kate and Cole, who sleep in comfy beds every night. This school is grateful for a lady from the Netherlands who pays their teachers? salaries of $50 each month, and the World Food Program, which regularly donates beans and maize to feed them lunch and supper.
There are 1,000+ students at Toi Primary School in the Kibera slums of Nairobi. We gave out 535 bedkits to their younger students. I talked to a beautiful, bright 11-year-old girl, Sharon Aninyi Duma, (pictured at left) who was in grade five. She wore the green and white gingham school uniform and her hair was pulled back in tiny braids close to her head. Her dark eyes sparkled as she told me that her mother is a tailor who does beautiful sewing. She has two brothers, Anoild, 15 and Joch, 22 and a sister Lorrine, 17. There is no father in her family. She munched on her lunch of maize and beans and smiled shyly when I asked her about her future plans. She wants to attend secondary school and then become a doctor. It was a pleasure to talk to her, and hopefully, with some help, she will fulfill her dreams. She left for a minute and then came back to proudly introduce me to her brother Anoild. I took their picture, gave them a hug and shed some tears. What is their future? We saw a rusty sign that said ?Good Samaritan Home?, but there
was hardly a street for our van to turn into. Instead, it is a garbage trail ? ghetto
conditions. We walked in through narrow iron gates that were locked behind
us. We were greeted by 57 very excited, bright-eyed children who live and go
to school there. A teacher and I went to help dress the children in a crowded
classroom. I unpacked new clothes ? yellow, orange, green and blue. Everyone
was squealing and screaming with delight and grabbing for their clothes. Kids? hands
were everywhere, and we passed out the clothes as fast as we could. They dressed
quickly, and in their new outfits they became a rainbow, topped off with smiling
faces radiating pure joy. These kids are all abandoned, abused or AIDS orphans. I carried a tiny girl who is HIV positive and was receiving medication. I wondered
how long she would live. We had brought Christmas to these children, and we left them very, very happy. This has been another tremendous adventure, and it has been a privilege to work overseas on behalf of Sleeping Children. What a remarkable experience! First, to see the vision of Margaret and Murray Dryden in action, then, to participate with volunteers from Canada and Kenya in putting into practice that dream of giving hope to children. The need in Kenya is overwhelming, as the slums areas crowd in close to modern Nairobi. So many impressions pass through a person?s mind ? the devastating effect of AIDS on children who are often left parentless and homeless, or the abject poverty which leaves some children without food, shelter and education. You, the sponsor may wonder what a bedkit can do for these children. Well, it gives hope and comfort and shows that someone cares. You provide the bedkits but the children also give, as they present their photograph in return. It was amazing to see the teachers provide such love and dedication as they seek to educate these impoverished children. There is a great contrast between the type and quality of education experienced by these children, compared with that known to most of us. Though their lot in life is so difficult, they play together, listen to their teachers and make a life with what their parent or parents provide. But, with the prevalence of AIDS, their safety with family may disappear very quickly. My report at this time is a somewhat surface response for it will only be later, after thoroughly pondering this unbelievable experience, that deeper impressions will emerge. This first trip with Sleeping Children has enabled me to see the effect this program has on children, their parents and their teachers. This opportunity is especially significant because my mother was raised in the same Manitoban community as Murray Dryden. In fact, she taught him as a young boy at a country school house. My parents supported Sleeping Children in the early years and I know they would be most pleased with my involvement. Thank you to Ken, our esteemed leader, and the team of Duncan, Jeff and Judy for an unforgettable experience. Prior to being a Sleeping Children travelling volunteer, I never imagined that I would ever visit Africa. When the opportunity came to help distribute bedkits in Kenya on behalf of Sleeping Children donors, I jumped at it (after getting the OK from my wife, Susan, of course)! Having experienced two previous distributions in India (Mumbai and Kolkata), I wondered how the trip to Kenya would differ. 3,000 bedkits and a multitude of memories later, here is one person?s view of Kenya. Kenya is a country of contrasts: rich but poor; lush but dirty; churches everywhere but crime prevalent; men without jobs but women overworked; an educated workforce but a lack of jobs for the educated; everything can be purchased in Kenya but few have enough money to buy anything; children go to school in uniforms but most of the uniforms are tattered; the majority of the people in Nairobi live in the slums but come out of the slums daily to work; and Nairobi is a modern city with high rise buildings, but it also has a slums area that extends right through the centre of the city for seven kilometres. I could go on and on about the contrasts in this beautiful country, but one thing is for certain ? there is no doubt that the need for bedkits in Kenya is huge!
During our distributions in and around Nairobi, it became very evident to our team that we were rubbing shoulders with some very exceptional women who were devoting their lives to children. There was Mama Mercy who had set up the Good Samaritan Home, where she was taking in babies left abandoned on the streets (another Mother Theresa). She not only took them in, but slept with them every night in her slums orphanage. She even had some land connected to the orphanage (and right in the slums) where they raised pigs, goats, and cattle to help them be self-sufficient. Then there was a woman who gave birth to a mentally-challenged child and ended up setting up a centre for mentally and physically handicapped children in the Karabanghi Catholic Church located in the slums area. About 30 mothers danced the team into the centre where the children were waiting for us ? how could they display so much joy and happiness in their singing and dancing when they were burdened with so much? And, then there was the Stara Rescue Centre which was a project begun by three women with their own funds. The centre started as a school and refuge area for children who had lost one or both parents due to AIDS. The group of three expanded to eight, but AIDS took three out of the picture. Now they are again down to three who try to provide education and some nourishment for over 350 kids! These were only some of the women that we met who shared whatever they have to help raise and enrich the lives of some very unfortunate children in and around Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. We are thankful that we had the opportunity to meet these Saints ? they inspired our team to deal with the challenging issues that we faced during this first distribution to Kenya. Along with paying tribute to the women that we met and admired, we also would like to pay tribute to a group of young people who helped us immensely with the distribution of bedkits in Kenya. Our overseas volunteers group was the Rotary Club of Nairobi. Besides procuring and sorting the bedkit items, and readying them for our team to present to children on your behalf, they also supplied us with a group of up-and-coming Rotarians called ?Rotaractors?. These young men and women were mostly college students who gave up their time to live out the Rotary motto of ?Service Above Self?. These young people helped us with crowd control and, since they could communicate with the children in their own language (Swahili), they were instrumental in our team being able to successfully take pictures and hand over 3,000 bedkits to 3,000 needy Kenyan children. In one particular instance, our team was moving on to another distribution site within the slums area of Nairobi and, since they didn?t know the way, they, the Roaractors, were going to follow us. Unfortunately, they made a wrong turn and we lost them. Since there are very few road signs in the slums we felt certain that we would not see them again that day, however as we began to hand out the bedkits, who should appear at the gate ? you guessed it ? our Rotaractor friends! We still don?t know how they were able to track us down! They could have very easily given up and headed back to college for the balance of the day. We salute this fine group of Kenyan young people who got down and dirty with us. They were another inspiration to us. Since this was Sleeping Children?s first distribution in Kenya, our team (Ken, Judy, Jeff, Gail, and I) was happy to be a part of our history-in-the-making. We are thankful for the opportunity to distribute these bedkits to 3,000 needy children on behalf of you, our donors. We say ?THANKS? for your support. As a donor, you have created the opportunity for all of us to come together to make a difference in the lives of 3,000 Kenyan children. Like the children of Kenya, the Saints of Nairobi, and our Rotoractor friends, our donors continue to inspire us.
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