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Revision of: Thu, December 6, 2007 |
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Five Rings of Success Two weeks after the Olympic games ended this year, the 2006 SCAW team completed the second distribution of bedkits in Kenya. What do these two events have in common? The Olympic symbol is five intertwining rings. The SCAW distribution in Kenya in 2006 could also be represented by five rings. The first ring represents the SCAW executive committee, who decided to return to Kenya this year - a faith commitment of $90,000 which SCAW would have to receive from our generous and faithful donors. The second ring represents the team of six volunteers who would be responsible for travelling to Kenya before the rainy season: first-timers Janet Turnbull and Taryn Tolnai (a student teacher), Don and Roberta Harris (who were fellow team-mates in Kolkata in 2003), Dave Dryden (who had already been on distributions to Uganda and Tanzania), and myself.
The third ring is our Overseas Volunteer Organization (OVO): The Rotary Club of Nairobi. Ken Graham, a veteran travelling volunteer and team leader, led our first Kenya distribution in 2005 in cooperation with this club. Ken and his team faced numerous challenges during that distribution and - to the credit of The Rotary Club of Nairobi - their leadership came to our wrap-up review meeting after the distribution and said they had learned from their first experience and wanted to be a part of a successful distribution in 2006. Ken brought their message back to the SCAW decision makers who decided to work with The Rotary Club of Nairobi again in 2006 and conveyed this decision to our Rotarian partners in August, 2005. Soon thereafter, our OVO began the process of purchasing the bedkit items in Kenya, choosing the distribution sites, and selecting the children who would receive this wonderful gift following SCAW guidelines: 50% male, 50% female; 6 to 12 years of age; representing the diversity of the areas in which the bedkits will be distributed.
The fourth ring represents our generous and faithful donor community. You, our donors make the whole process a possibility and we are so thankful for your ongoing support. Our fifth and final ring represents the beautiful Kenyan children. The songs, smiles, and joy of the children as they met us and interacted with us provide the colour for our five rings -- just like the Olympic symbol! Can you imagine what it would be like to be a child who receives his or her first real gift - in a lot of cases nearly as big as the child - from a person whom you have never met? Our Kenya distribution was unlike the Olympics in one very important aspect: we were all winners. The Rotary Club of Nairobi met the challenge in spades. Our distribution team worked well together. SCAW added another 3,000 bedkits to bring the total distributed to-date to over 814,000 as we inch closer to Murray Dryden's dream* of 1,000,000. And, 3,000 Kenyan children are experiencing a good night's rest through the generous gift from a person or group who wants to make a difference in the life of a child. What a wonderful Win-Win situation! Five intertwining rings of various colours coming together to form one wonderful picture! Standing at the Edge I am standing at the edge: behind me is where I have travelled from - first Canada and then a part of Nairobi where the "haves" live. Before me is Kibera, where the poorest of the poor live with no running water, roads, sidewalks, or safety. One million people - the "have nots" -live in Kibera, the largest slum in Africa.
As far as I can see are rusty tin roofs on mud hovels, a labyrinth of alleyways and the constant movement of humanity. A train rumbles by on an unfenced track and little children try to chase it far too closely. A loud motor grinding maize in a hovel sends black smoke swirling around the adjoining shacks. It is the area of our first distribution and I quietly contemplate the difference these bedkits will make to 582 children. As I look around at the sweet children in their colourful new outfits and think about their sad, hard lives, I am uplifted. Even though they live in abject poverty and have been cruelly affected by disappointments, AIDS, and hopelessness - they return my smiles. They have never known a soft bed or a quiet sleep. They live surrounded by garbage that grows continually. There is no waste removal so they use a plastic bag as a toilet, twirl the open end, and fling it as far as they can - flying toilets. And so the piles grow. But now, so does the excitement as the children eagerly await their turn to receive a bedkit. It is so rewarding as a travelling volunteer to be able to greet each child. We each take turns: lining them up, helping them get seated for their photo, checking them off, or handing out the bedkit. We have no doubts, dear donors: every child is needy and deserves a bedkit.
One afternoon as I was lining up the excited children, I looked to a far fence where their parents stood patiently waiting in the hot sun. I hurried over to warmly shake each hand and explain what was in the large bags their children would be bringing home. Suddenly, a self-appointed spokesman in very humble clothes and manner appeared. With tears in his eyes he reached for my hand and said, "Please, please thank all the people across the ocean who have sent these gifts to our children. We are so grateful to all of you." So, dear donors, I send their thanks to you along with my own: Ahsante sana. (Thank you, very much.) Ahsante sana also to all my friends in Kenya: you wonderful Rotarians, you many wonderful volunteers, you grateful parents, and you deserving children. All of you have impacted my life very deeply - much more than you will ever know. Kenya - An Amazing Country No knowledge I had of Kenya before going could have prepared me for the actual experience of being there.
Even though Africans have outwardly drifted away from tribal traditions, the tribe is still the most important aspect of a Kenyan's identity. Most Kenyan people know three languages: Swahili, English, and their traditional tribal language. Swahili and English are both taught in school and used commonly throughout the city. Older teenagers use a slang that's a combination of Swahili and English when talking to friends so their elders won't understand. Religion varies because of the many ethnic origins of the people. The majority of the people are Christian. Islam is the religion of about 30% of the population. Many people still believe in their traditional tribal beliefs linked closely to the coming of rain. God is commonly manifested in nature such as the sun, moon, stars, thunder, lightning, and trees. Witch doctors and soothsayers are used as intermediaries with the spiritual world. 
Driving in Kenya is a task that not many Canadians would be able to accomplish. Traffic lights are sparse - roundabouts are used instead. There is bumper to bumper traffic. To get anywhere, drivers have to be extremely pushy. The phrase "give an inch, take a mile" really plays a role here. However, horns are seldom heard in traffic except to warn pedestrians and bicycles out of the way.
In order to shop in Kenya, patience is necessary. Markets and souvenir shops use a form of bargaining. For tourists, prices usually double in price, and therefore tourists rely on bargaining to get a better deal. Though education is not mandatory in Kenya, everyone tries to get the best education possible. Schooling is expensive for Kenyans and most families can't afford it. Only 65% of eligible children are in primary school. From there, 26% of boys and 22% of girls move on to secondary school. A major decrease occurs in the university enrolment which is only 8%. However, even with the price of schooling, the literacy rate is 79%. and between the ages of 15-24 it increases to 95%. The people of Kenya are extremely friendly. While driving through the many different slums, people would wave and welcome you to the area. The children were amazing. They were very excited to see us and were full of life and energy. Every single child wanted to shake our hands and thank us for the gift because many of these children have never had something new of their own. Even though they live in the slums and can barely afford food or water, they still have smiles on their faces. Being a part of the 2006 SCAW Kenya team was absolutely amazing. IALAC = I am lovable and capable Many children and adults wear an invisible sign stating, "I am lovable and capable." The children of Kenya are no different. Each wants as a unique person. This approval is sought despite poverty, inadequate educational supplies, an abusive family life, and the devastating presence of the HIV/AIDS virus which has robbed them of brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, and parents. The gift of the bedkit helps them feel loved and the deep restoring sleep makes them capable of learning in a more energetic, enthusiastic manner. But the challenge is great.
Three schools we visited were built with an enclosed courtyard for both security and to maximize shade from the sun. The teachers - mostly women - willingly cooperated with the Rotary Club of Nairobi and the SCAW team to store and protect the bedkits and to prepare the children by conducting rehearsals of the distribution process. The schools are part of the distribution plan from the beginning. They help identify the hungry, shoeless, tattered children who are briefly disguised in a school uniform each day. The teachers are very sympathetic to the plight of the poor children and the enormous family destruction caused by AIDS and they do their best to be a mother, father, and friend to the children. With hardly any school supplies beyond a chalkboard, they strive to teach mathematics, geography, history, English, and health where an emphasis on chastity is taught as the sure method to avoid AIDS.
The children love to sing and dance and we were greeted at every school with welcome songs of friendship and gratitude and shy smiles. The Rotary Club of Nairobi, had assisted these schools with the installation of large water tanks for drinking and cleaning. Previously, the children were each asked to carry ten litres of water to school daily in pails in order to supply the waterless school. Water has been in short supply this season and even prisoners in the Kenyan penal system offered to give up one meal a day to make more available to the children.
For the children of several schools, whose parents worked for the Kenyan Railway Company, no wages had been paid for the last four years and therefore the bedkits were the first "new" thing the children have owned for a long time. Until the bedkit was actually in their arms, the parents and children were fearful that our unexplainable kindness would dissolve into a deceitful, cruel trick. When the true reality set in, all the parents were smiling, thanking us, shaking our hands, and all the children were jumping with happiness. Your bedkit gift affirms to these children that they are worthy of love and the gift of a better sleep helps them feel capable of coping with another day. Thank you, donors. Your gift is the point where making a difference begins. So Much Joy I've travelled extensively around the world: for business and pleasure. In either case, I knew exactly who I was. I was there to do a deal, or to have fun.
Being with Sleeping Children Around the World [SCAW] in Kenya was unique for me because I wasn't there for either reason. At first, I felt like an automaton delivering a product - a bedkit. But very shortly I learned that there was a tremendous payback for me. I learned how to have fun with the children, something I hadn't done since my teens when I was a summer camp counsellor. Kids are all the same: they want to feel safe with you, and they want to be carefree. Once I figured that out, I was profoundly happy about my mission. I wish each of these little ones the very best because they deserve it. So much joyfulness in them - in the midst of so many challenges. Smiling with the children Duncan, our team leader and photographer, smiles and calls out an enthusiastic "Cheka" ("Smile" in Swahili). Other volunteers close at hand also smile and call out "Cheka" to encourage the children. The children getting their pictures taken typically check the other two children sitting beside them to see if they are smiling. Once once child smiles, the others usually follow. If you see one of the children in your picture turned and looking to the side, this is the reason.
The wonderful thing is that now everyone around the picture-taking site is smiling. This happens about 160 times a day. You might think that this would become so repetitive as to be monotonous, but it doesn't - the "happiness" becomes contagious. Children bring out the child in us. Whether they be from Kenya, India, or Tanzania, they can take us back to our own childhood and the joy of play. The adults involved in the distribution - both the SCAW team and the Nairobi Rotary volunteers - are typically well-organized and task-oriented. These attributes are absolutely necessary. A SCAW distribution is complex - without structure there would be chaos.
However, when children are added to the mix, other dimensions are added. Children at a distribution site are curious, sometimes frightened, peer conscious, reserved, fun-loving, and excited. Often they may be lined up for an hour while waiting for their pictures to be taken. Our SCAW team tries to make this time more interesting and enjoyable by doing things such as blowing bubbles (as pictured at right), giving out stickers, playing the kazoo, doing magic tricks, playing with hand puppets, or singing. It can sometimes be difficult to communicate your love to the children. Language alone just doesn't do it. The children understand more English then we do Swahili. This language gap is large. But thankfully you don't need language to play, you just need to act like a kid.
Personally, I feel most connected to the children when I hear them singing. For some reason, it stirs me deeply. They usually sing and dance a "welcome" to us at an official presentation that precedes each day's distribution. As the distributions continued, our "song of response" to the children's song became the camp song, "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands." All the adults involved in the distribution joined in just like kids. It always added energy to the day. These playful times also drew our overseas volunteers into the fun aspect of the distribution. They had put their hearts and many, many hours of effort into ensuring that 3,000 needy children would get a great bedkit. Now they got a chance to show another aspect of their caring and love. The SCAW team went to Kenya to make connections - with the children and the Kenyan volunteers. Play helped to deepen those connections. We learned more about each other. We also went there to take pictures and tell you about the experience in this newsletter - the better to connect you with the children you helped. We hope we've made you smile. "Cheka."
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