The Children's Garden - Video Edition

My favorite part about being at 'The Children's Garden' school and home was the amaizing music performances that the children put on for us. Now I am able to share those with you! The top 2 videos are the most recently posted.

This was my favorite song, but I ran out of room to record any more.

Streets of Nairobi

It's quite a different scene from the U.S. around the city of Nairobi. I have attached some of the various images that are commonly seen.

Some local habitation.
Here we travel along a high end neighborhood on our way to a well kept but very modest community.

Manicured landscaping for the the diplomats. There is a part of town where all you see is luxurious large housing with high security.

These chickens are actually alive and calmly dangling from the bike during transport.

This ancient looking variety of bird is a common sight in the trees near downtown. For some strange reason the ground is often white underneath the trees.

Here is a residential part of town - somewhat nice by Kenyan standards, maybe middle class.

Here is an area that is quite upscale. What you can't see from the main road is that there is a large slum located down a road behind these buildings.

Everyday downtown.

This view from our office building shows one of the fanciest sky-scrapers in town.

On the bottom right of the screen notice the 2 towers with white caps. This is a Muslim masque where they make regular incantations over the loud speakers. There is also a masque near our dental clinic in South C; they blare their strange singing as early as 5:30am. It's quite annoying and I am looking forward to the peace and quite outside the city.

1st Love and Raila Education Centre

I visited a children's ministry that is coupled with a school recently. It borders the Kibera slum and provides meals and education for over 600 kids in the area. They have been growing very quickly as they are only a few years old. Many plans are in the works to expand the outreach.

Our host (middle) shows us around the school campus. She has been living nearby with her husband and children for the last 3 years.

Here is a portion of the Kibera slum that borders the school. This is very typical construction for the area. All of the students come from this area. Many of them have very scanty meals and are very appreciative of what they receive at school.

Ahhh. Here's a sympathy shot for you : )

Here are the cooks that prepare meals for the kids. The meals are very simple but nutritious. They were a very jovial group and dished out some hugs as well.

More campus.

Some artwork & name.

The students were very happy to have visitors which is typical of Kenyans. We stopped by several classrooms and said hello. They loved visiting and having their picture taken.

Now we're talking. This is where I'd be during recess. Hoop there it is...

In addition to the school is the 1st Love ministry. There is a new building that houses some young orphan girls who also attend the school.

Next we drove to the other property of 1st love. Here is my faithful 21st century moto-steed parked at their property. This is a new work for them and they have big plans here. It is very close to the school, but it was a long drive as we had to drive around the slum area to the other side. This is where the our directors live - our host, her husband and family.

This building being constructed will have a health clinic in it. Other buildings are on the drawing board as well. This ministry is well funded compared to most and is blessed to be able to grow so quickly and see its vision come to pass.

One problem with this property is that it is in a somewhat remote area without much security. Just the night before we visited they had a break-in. Their family was held at gunpoint and some things were stolen before the police arrived. No one was seriously injured but this young man who is on staff was hit in the head and tied up. They are almost sure that people from the construction crew were involved in the robbery. It turns out that the the neighbor was frequently robbed until they put in a high fence. This goes to show the importance of two things in Kenya - have a good tall fence & security and only hire trusted people that you know.

Kisumu With Francis Aiugi

Just recently I took a trip to Kisumu which is West of Nairobi near Lake Victoria. I went with the head of Calken tours who we share an office with. It was a good opportunity to get out of the run-of-the-mill activities, so I went. When I arrived in the city at 6am, I was surprised to see street children in nothing more than remnants of rags hanging off of their bodies. Some of them were sleeping in nylon mesh sacks used for collecting garbage. I later realized that I could have given out a couple warm garments. Too late though... next time I guess.

We spent most of our time in the county side. It was sprawling for many square miles and we were far off the highway. This picture shows well the common landscape. It was mostly farmland with people living a peasant life-style.

This woman lived nearby and was probably a relative of Francis, as there was a large spread of family owned land.

I rather liked this shot of a 'servants' house. The larger house is just a stone's throw away. Common construction consists of crude sticks covered with clay and manure. People in Kenya very often use sheet metal for roofing material.

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Here are some photos of the Aiugi's property.

This is a building that Francis built as he came of age. Traditionally in the "upcountry", the young men will build a small house near their parents' house when it's time for them to move out. Then the young man will often simply expand his house as his family grows. Many of the people in the city have these houses 'back home' that they often visit and sometimes return to when they retire.

Here are the servants quarters in traditional style. You can see the animal keep to the left.

Francis visits the main house early one beautiful sunny morning. The main house is considered very high dollar and fancy for the area. Compared to U.S. standards it was by no means modern or fancy, but very basic; similar to 70 yrs ago probably, though it did have a solar panel for minimal electricity.

Because they are 'well-off' they have their own well to get water from.

This was a farm setup and quite comfortable overall.

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It had just rained the night before, which was exactly what we didn't want to happen. The roads were hardly passable, especially for our small rear wheel drive car. The 4X4's did much better than we did. We had to get pushed out of the muddy ravines many times by locals that we anxious to help out for some change. In fact some even point you in the wrong direction so that you will get stuck and they can 'help you out' for some money.

The main reason of going was to participate in a dowry ceremony for which Francis was a relative. Basically a young man and woman want to get married, but first the young man has to get approval to do so. Part of this process includes a formal dowry ceremony where some men from the man's family come and pay some money to the woman's family. They have different things that they bring money for. Some for the mother for giving birth and child raising, some for the father for providing for the daughter and extra if she was given schooling, etc.

This was a road-side shot from a moving bus that turned out remarkably well. Shown is a major product of Kenya. Tea. Here is a beautiful field full of the locals' cherished hot drink.

Bread of Life Christian Ministry

Located in the Kwan-Jenga Slum is a Christian school headed by one of our Bible school partners who is also taking courses through the Beacon Program. There is a sharp contrast between the area that borders Kwan-Jenga and the interior.

This is a building just on the edge of Kwan-Jenga. It is where Pastor Keriuki has his main office and a ministry called I-Link. I-Link was put in place as a stepping stone for those who are wanting to come out of their impoverished condition in the slum.

This is the Christian school that Pastor Keriuki established, located in the interior of Kwan-Jenga which I called "The Tin City".

Here Dr. David McDonald had some fun with the kids in the school after they sang some songs for us.

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Below are some photos that show some common scenes in Kwan-Jenga slum. Life here is a struggle and it makes me want to do something large-scale to help out.

Above you can see two men pushing a container. This is a common way to transport sewage to a nearby ditch where they dump it. It is in no way sanitized and when it rains sewage flows through the streets.

Here is a portion of street after a rain.

Above is a ditch where much of the filth of the slum ends up. These two are relaxing near their 'stream' where children often play. It's no wonder why disease is common place.

A sign shows the way to a "chemist & clinic". After inquiring about it I found out that it is little more than a shop where they sell some over the counter drugs.

These little children were standing outside of the school where the students performed some songs for us. The boy in the middle had the cutest expressions.

South C Dental Clinic

I have been staying in our South C facility since the Hyodo's left for the states. It is close to work and I drive some new staff to work who are residents here.

There are some flowers and bushes to separate the yard from the road.

The style of our clinic is quite interesting. We had it painted just before the picture. This was one of the first buildings to be constructed in this part of town in the 70's.

This also shows just a little of the neighborhood. It is considered an upper-middle class part of town. Most people in the U.S. wouldn't consider it to be, but for the locals this area is somewhat upscale and few can afford to live here. Many Indians and Arabs are our neighbors. Just down the street is an odd mixture of religious establishments. There is an Islamic mosque and school, next to a Seventh Day Adventist church, next to a Baptist church.

This is the common area that connect the main building to the servants quarters.

Inside the main building we have 3 dental stations set up. We are still working on paperwork before everything is finalized and in use.

Here is my bedroom - two beds, but I'm they only one there for now. It's quite comfortable save for the mosquitoes. Those little buggers... I installed this mosquito net, but it's not very big - I have bites all over my hands and arms. They seem to like the hands and feet.

Yes, that's right, I know how to cook some of the finest meals. This one is called "arrowroot de charcoal". To get this dish to turn out just right the master chef must leave it unattended for several hours. I added a little extra presentational flair to my dish by leaving the property for work to allow the smoke to billow out of the windows. That was the signal to let the grounds keeper know that it was ready.

Up the wall, upside down on the ceiling, and hard to catch. These little guys are very fast. I always was fascinated with geckos as a kid - now I've finally got to see them. They come in the windows sometimes if they are left open.