Kenya trip over

I thought I should probably write this little trip report and update on things in Kenya since I know there have been people concerned about us. Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement especially considering the difficulties due to the political situation in Kenya.

We did end up leaving Kenya just two days earlier than we planned due to the political rallies for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Some of you who think I’m too stubborn to change plans now have proof that I can change things when the need really exists. We decided over the weekend that if we were unable to have the volunteer day we had been planning due to the political climate we would leave Kenya as well. On Tuesday morning the Kenya Kupenda committee decided that we could not have the volunteer day because of the ban on large demonstrations. They were afraid that the large gathering for volunteer day could be viewed as a political rally and/or turn into one. With a standing order for police to “shoot to kill” regarding rallies that morning, we decided having the volunteer day could put the children and other attendees at risk.

I’m very concerned about how this political situation is impacting Kenya. Many hotels have already shut down due to low numbers of tourists. Since tourism is Kenya’s major income, even if the political situation was resolved tomorrow, the impact will be felt for some time on the economy. We had two children scheduled to travel to Nairobi via Mombassa for corrective surgery but I don’t know if they will be able to do so now that I hear roads are shut down in to major cities due to the rallies.

At no time were we in unsafe situations. The Malindi area is one of the safest areas in Kenya at this time. The problems we encountered were due to precautionary measures taken such as schools opening a week later, closing roads so that supplies could not get to the coast, etc. However, we were able to get quite a bit accomplished in spite of the difficulties.

My uncle and aunt braved coming to Kenya in spite of the warnings and I am so appreciative of that. They met two brothers (one with cerebral palsy and the other who is deaf) just brought to the school who they want to help sponsor. Unfortunately the boy with cerebral palsy, Mohamed, died today according to an email I just received from Leonard. He died due to complications of malaria. This is the hardest part of this kind of work. The photo below of the two brothers and my aunt and uncle was taken just yesterday before we left Kenya.

Unfortunately my Aunt Barbara was unable to really spend much time observing the schools as originally planned due to the delayed start to school. Instead Leonard, Aunt Barbara and I visited the homes of many of Kupenda’s sponsored children to deliver gifts from their sponsors. It was a good opportunity for Aunt Barbara to get an idea of the lives of some of Kupenda’s children and even play a bit.

Aunt Barbara was also able to meet with some of the teachers at both Gede and Sir Ali schools. She introduced some craft ideas to the teacher’s at Gede that will also help in developing fine motor skills in some of the children with cerebral palsy. Sir ali is a school for children with mental disabilities and has a vocational program which includes beading and sewing. They introduced Aunt Barbara to the program and asked that she some back one day to help out with the program when the children are back in school considering her ability to sew well.

My Uncle Randy spent most of his time with Rev. Mangi. They conducted a pastor’s workshop in which the pastor’s asked to have access to sign language training so that they can communicate with those who are deaf in their congregations. There is a very high rate of hearing impairment in the region. It is roughly estimated that 80% of deafness in Kenya is preventable if children had access to proper immunizations or antibiotics. Uncle Randy also preached at St. James church, met with some of the mother’s that deal with children with disabilities in the church, and participated as a representative of the Kupenda board in important meeting with the Kupenda Kenya committee. 

Leonard and I worked on many administrative issues throughout the week including the child sponsorship program, disabilities guidebook revisions, budget requirements, etc. We also decided that even though the two workshops we had planned were supposed to involve Melissa that we should go ahead with them anyway.

The first workshop was for parents of children that are deaf. The parent’s workshop was led by the head master of the Gede special school (Madam Karo), Pastor Brown (excellent sign language interpreter with a deaf ministry in Kenya), Chengo (teacher for the deaf), and Gabriel (special needs teacher and Kupenda Kenya treasurer). We discovered none of the parents knew and sign language or what the causes of deafness were. Some stated that they believed their neighbors had used withcraft. After educating them on the causes of deafness and the rights of children with disabilities they were taught some basic sign language. The workshop went 3 hours beyond the scheduled end time because the parents were so excited about learning. They promised to continue learning from their children at home.

The second workshop was for teachers of children that are deaf. It was discovered that many of the teachers need more training in sign language itself. The teachers discussed their issues and resolved that they needed to have more workshops like this in the future. Preferably, they would like to have workshops every other Saturday. They have requested funds from Kupenda for this. This would cost roughly $300 a month for Kupenda to fund. If anyone is interested in contributing to this please let me know. Pastor Brown will be writing an article in the next Kupenda newsletter about the need for these workshops in detail. All in all it was very much a success.

I think that is probably enough in terms of highlights of the trip. I won’t burden you with the details of our all day budget meeting and other very important yet boring activities.

Although I left Kenya a bit early I won’t be back in the US until late Monday night. I’m currently in London and taking a short vacation to the English countryside before going home. Vacation starts tomorrow morning. Those of you have told me to take a vacation should now be satisfied.

Thanks again for all your encouraging words and prayers. They help so much.

With lots and lots of love,

Cindy