Today was a good day, despite the sad cancellation of the bouncy castle that was due to come to Mahali for the children - we had no power! In fact that was about the third day without it, but at the end of the day it returned. The bouncy castle, and an exciting trip we're taking the children on next week, are thanks to the friends and family of a lovely little boy who turned 1 recently. Instead of gifts his parents asked for contributions so we could take the children on a trip - and there was enough for a bouncy castle too! So we look forward to it next week...
I had a really good Montessori session with the top class too. I haven't got photos but I do have some video - there's so much video now that it's going to take me ages to edit it, I'll try to get round to it in the Easter holidays. The top class are pretty lively and can be difficult to work with on my own, and they also struggle to cope with too much freedom, which is why I don't usually give them completely free choice. However, today I decided we would try. I explained about getting out one thing, playing with it and then putting it away, and on the whole they were excellent about it! They were noticeably better at concentrating on one activity rather than doing each thing for 30 seconds, and I was able to go round and work with one or two individually on some fairly tricky activities. There was also a marked enthusiasm for puzzles, and I could see real progress with some of them, which is so encouraging.
Today I also unexpectedly met a couple of ladies who I first got to know through walking and travelling on the matatus, and it was so nice to catch up with them. One of them greeted me, "Hello, Sarah rafiki" (which means 'friend') :-)
But the most exciting thing today is that Jon is on his way to see me! He is staying for almost two weeks, the first of which is a school week as he wants to see Mahali and the children again, and the second of which is holiday so we're going away to the Masai Mara for a couple of days! I'm heading to the airport to pick him up in a little over an hour - I can't wait!!
Friday, 22 March 2013
Sunday, 17 March 2013
Visiting the hospital
Back in January I heard that some people from my church here were hoping to start up a ministry in Kenyatta National Hospital. One of the ladies is a doctor and another is the chaplain there, so they had a way in, and they wanted to gather a team together who could go and spend time with the children there, particularly those who were in the hospital on a long-term basis. The idea was to do little 'Sunday school'-type sessions with singing, a Bible story and prayers, to spend time with individuals doing colouring, reading, or similar activities, and to pray with them if they wanted that too.
I agreed to go along to the first of these, being on a Saturday when I'm free, feeling somewhat apprehensive. The hospital is huge and grey and not very appealing at all:
Inside it is an absolute maze of corridors and staircases, very grey and not terribly clean-looking. Corridors stretch off in all directions, and without our guides we'd certainly get lost!
The ward we go to is not so bad, it's actually decorated in a fairly child-friendly way with fun cartoon characters on the curtains and so on. It is for children with cancer, and I think it has been improved by charitable groups who have gone to help out. All the children are there long-term, which is sad but also good in terms of getting to know them and build relationships. Some of them are visited by family but others rarely have visitors so they love us coming. I've been three times now, and this time the children recognised us quickly and came for handshakes and hugs as soon as we arrived!
As I said, I was quite nervous the first time, and even though I know what to expect now, I still don't find it at all easy. You are aware that the children are seriously ill and many will not recover, and sometimes there are several who are clearly in a lot of pain. When the families are there it is so hard to know what to say, and I feel the language barrier more than I ever do normally. Having said that, many of the children are so positive and smiley despite all they are going through, and it really boosts them to have people spend time with them. Singing is great, they usually have favourites that they request such as 'My Bible and I' or 'Father Abraham' (they love it when we try to do all the actions to that one!). After we've done a story there is time for prayers, and it is amazing when these children pray out loud for each other. Here we are during a prayer time:
An important part of the time we spend there is just being with the children, playing, chatting and so on:
The second time I visited, a girl who didn't speak and only had one leg seemed to home in on me rather, and I spent a lot of time with her. She liked my scarf and she swapped it for her leso which you can see her putting on me in this picture:
She was quite demanding and I found it hard to handle her at times, especially as it was unclear to me how much or little she understood - actually I think it was more than she let on! But she very definitely wanted to be held like a baby, cuddled, even rocked - it made me wonder what she had missed out on in her early childhood. Here you can see me playing with her, tipping her back which made her laugh:
Although I do find these visits quite physically and emotionally draining, I am glad to be able to do a small thing for these lovely children. I am also gaining from watching those who are more experienced or perhaps just more gifted in this ministry and learning from them. Please pray for the children in Kenyatta National Hospital, for their families and for all those who care for them.
Most photos taken by my friend Florence - thank you!
I agreed to go along to the first of these, being on a Saturday when I'm free, feeling somewhat apprehensive. The hospital is huge and grey and not very appealing at all:
 |
| Photo credit |
 |
| Photo credit |
The ward we go to is not so bad, it's actually decorated in a fairly child-friendly way with fun cartoon characters on the curtains and so on. It is for children with cancer, and I think it has been improved by charitable groups who have gone to help out. All the children are there long-term, which is sad but also good in terms of getting to know them and build relationships. Some of them are visited by family but others rarely have visitors so they love us coming. I've been three times now, and this time the children recognised us quickly and came for handshakes and hugs as soon as we arrived!
As I said, I was quite nervous the first time, and even though I know what to expect now, I still don't find it at all easy. You are aware that the children are seriously ill and many will not recover, and sometimes there are several who are clearly in a lot of pain. When the families are there it is so hard to know what to say, and I feel the language barrier more than I ever do normally. Having said that, many of the children are so positive and smiley despite all they are going through, and it really boosts them to have people spend time with them. Singing is great, they usually have favourites that they request such as 'My Bible and I' or 'Father Abraham' (they love it when we try to do all the actions to that one!). After we've done a story there is time for prayers, and it is amazing when these children pray out loud for each other. Here we are during a prayer time:
An important part of the time we spend there is just being with the children, playing, chatting and so on:
The second time I visited, a girl who didn't speak and only had one leg seemed to home in on me rather, and I spent a lot of time with her. She liked my scarf and she swapped it for her leso which you can see her putting on me in this picture:
She was quite demanding and I found it hard to handle her at times, especially as it was unclear to me how much or little she understood - actually I think it was more than she let on! But she very definitely wanted to be held like a baby, cuddled, even rocked - it made me wonder what she had missed out on in her early childhood. Here you can see me playing with her, tipping her back which made her laugh:
Although I do find these visits quite physically and emotionally draining, I am glad to be able to do a small thing for these lovely children. I am also gaining from watching those who are more experienced or perhaps just more gifted in this ministry and learning from them. Please pray for the children in Kenyatta National Hospital, for their families and for all those who care for them.
Most photos taken by my friend Florence - thank you!
Friday, 15 March 2013
Ugali for dinner
Ok so this isn't from today, but every Monday this is the dinner we have at school. I thought I should take a photo as I'm sure I've mentioned ugali a few times - it's a very Kenyan dish - but I'm not sure I've ever posted a photo! It is made from maize meal and water, and tastes of very little, but it certainly fills you up! Here it is in all its glory, accompanied by cabbage, carrots etc:
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
I think my mum liked her Mothers' Day present!
It's a Kenyan mummy doll with a baby on her back. I found her when I went to the Masai market on my one and only trip into town so far! Here's the baby:
Monday, 11 March 2013
A good day
I am trying to post more often on here, as I'm sad I only managed one post in February, but I'm finding it harder to find new things to say. I've settled into a routine at Mahali so I suppose there are fewer new things happening. So I'll try and do some little posts with snippets from the day which I might otherwise forget.
Today's snippet is that I had a really nice session with middle class over two lessons; their teacher and I agreed we'd divide and conquer! During the first lesson I took six of the less able children to work on sounds - we used the wooden letters and did the 'Jolly Phonics' actions for each sound which some of them loved and caught onto well. Then we used a puzzle that I'd bought where they had to match sound and picture. The children did really well and had fun! After that I took some of the more able to do some Montessori activities on the senses - we did a listening activity and one with thermic tablets (made from different materials, some that feel warm and some cold) where they had to use a blindfold and match up the different tablets just by touch. When they'd finished I let them choose, and as I was looking at what they were doing I spotted this boy who'd found the wooden numbers and the zebras, totally unprompted, and had begun to count out the correct number of zebras for each wooden number. I was so excited!
Today's snippet is that I had a really nice session with middle class over two lessons; their teacher and I agreed we'd divide and conquer! During the first lesson I took six of the less able children to work on sounds - we used the wooden letters and did the 'Jolly Phonics' actions for each sound which some of them loved and caught onto well. Then we used a puzzle that I'd bought where they had to match sound and picture. The children did really well and had fun! After that I took some of the more able to do some Montessori activities on the senses - we did a listening activity and one with thermic tablets (made from different materials, some that feel warm and some cold) where they had to use a blindfold and match up the different tablets just by touch. When they'd finished I let them choose, and as I was looking at what they were doing I spotted this boy who'd found the wooden numbers and the zebras, totally unprompted, and had begun to count out the correct number of zebras for each wooden number. I was so excited!
Thursday, 7 March 2013
A medical experience
So there I was, preparing myself for a week of leisure (well, I had quite a few jobs saved up!) when on Tuesday morning I awoke with stomach pains and shortly found myself rushing to the loo... I'll spare you the details, except that I'm pretty amazed I didn't faint as I felt so awful, was sweating like mad and could hear the blood rushing in my ears!
Anyway, after a while I managed to phone Peter (Dee is away at the moment) and got him to send Cecilia, their house-girl, over to me. Even though she wasn't working that day, she sat with me for a while and just having someone there really helped. She got me some water to drink and I started to feel slightly less awful, but we decided I ought to go to a doctor to get checked out. Peter very kindly made an appointment and drove me to Karen Surgery:
I saw a lovely lady doctor, who turned out to be the niece of a lady I met at my home church before I first came to Kenya!!! She suspected a bacterial infection, probably food poisoning, and sent me for a test to confirm this, giving me a prescription for antibiotics to get if this was the case. So I spent the afternoon at the local branch of Nairobi hospital, which happens to be in a nearby shopping centre (you can see the signs on the top floor in the first photo):
The hospital is beautifully clean and I didn't have to queue, I just went straight to register at one desk and pay at another, then took my sample to the pathology lab where they told me the results would be ready in an hour. Conveniently I was then able to go downstairs and into the Nakumatt branch to stock up on a few things like crackers and white bread, which experience has taught me I need in such circumstances! It would have been perfect if I hadn't been feeling so awful, but I managed to get the things and withdraw some more cash before returning to sit in the path lab waiting area. In the event it was a bit more than an hour, and I was almost falling asleep by the time the results were ready. From there I phoned Karen Surgery and was able to speak with the doctor who said I should start on antibiotics as the results indicated she'd been right about the bacterial infection. I should know more tomorrow when I get further results. The hospital has its own pharmacy, so I was able to get the medicine there and then, together with some more oral rehydration stuff, and then I returned home.
All in all my first experience of doctors and hospitals here was extremely positive; however, there's another side to it that you may have already guessed... the cost! Now, I have fairly good medical cover on my insurance and tomorrow's job is to find out how to claim back - I've never had to do this before but I've got all the documents and receipts and I'm hopeful it will be ok. But it made me think - what do most ordinary Kenyans do? Surely most people just can't afford good healthcare and that's the end of that. I estimate that I paid around £60 with the consultation fee, medicines, payment for the pathology report and so on. We are so fortunate at home to have the NHS - Cecilia couldn't believe it when I told her that going to a doctor in England was free! I know our hospitals have their problems, and the speed of things here in Kenya was much better than at home, but it seems so unfair that these wonderful facilities are only available to the select few, while most people have to visit sub-standard doctors if they go anywhere at all. Just another stark example of the gap between rich and poor...
Anyway, after a while I managed to phone Peter (Dee is away at the moment) and got him to send Cecilia, their house-girl, over to me. Even though she wasn't working that day, she sat with me for a while and just having someone there really helped. She got me some water to drink and I started to feel slightly less awful, but we decided I ought to go to a doctor to get checked out. Peter very kindly made an appointment and drove me to Karen Surgery:
 |
| Photo credit |
I saw a lovely lady doctor, who turned out to be the niece of a lady I met at my home church before I first came to Kenya!!! She suspected a bacterial infection, probably food poisoning, and sent me for a test to confirm this, giving me a prescription for antibiotics to get if this was the case. So I spent the afternoon at the local branch of Nairobi hospital, which happens to be in a nearby shopping centre (you can see the signs on the top floor in the first photo):
 |
| Photo credit |
 |
| Photo credit |
The hospital is beautifully clean and I didn't have to queue, I just went straight to register at one desk and pay at another, then took my sample to the pathology lab where they told me the results would be ready in an hour. Conveniently I was then able to go downstairs and into the Nakumatt branch to stock up on a few things like crackers and white bread, which experience has taught me I need in such circumstances! It would have been perfect if I hadn't been feeling so awful, but I managed to get the things and withdraw some more cash before returning to sit in the path lab waiting area. In the event it was a bit more than an hour, and I was almost falling asleep by the time the results were ready. From there I phoned Karen Surgery and was able to speak with the doctor who said I should start on antibiotics as the results indicated she'd been right about the bacterial infection. I should know more tomorrow when I get further results. The hospital has its own pharmacy, so I was able to get the medicine there and then, together with some more oral rehydration stuff, and then I returned home.
All in all my first experience of doctors and hospitals here was extremely positive; however, there's another side to it that you may have already guessed... the cost! Now, I have fairly good medical cover on my insurance and tomorrow's job is to find out how to claim back - I've never had to do this before but I've got all the documents and receipts and I'm hopeful it will be ok. But it made me think - what do most ordinary Kenyans do? Surely most people just can't afford good healthcare and that's the end of that. I estimate that I paid around £60 with the consultation fee, medicines, payment for the pathology report and so on. We are so fortunate at home to have the NHS - Cecilia couldn't believe it when I told her that going to a doctor in England was free! I know our hospitals have their problems, and the speed of things here in Kenya was much better than at home, but it seems so unfair that these wonderful facilities are only available to the select few, while most people have to visit sub-standard doctors if they go anywhere at all. Just another stark example of the gap between rich and poor...
Monday, 4 March 2013
Praying for Kenya
(Note: I don't claim to know much at all about Kenyan politics or history and I hope I haven't been inaccurate in anything I've written; my main aim is to give an impression of things as I have experienced them.)
Today (Kenya time; tomorrow UK time) is the day of the Kenyan elections. If you think back to five years ago, you might remember the results of the last presidential election were disputed and there were weeks of terrible violence in some areas of the country. Over 1000 people were killed and around 600 000 were displaced from their homes. People here are understandably nervous that history might repeat itself this time around. In fact some embassies and NGOs have even moved their staff out of the country until it's over.
It's been interesting being here and watching the build-up to these elections. Back in January the primaries were held where the parties chose their candidates; there were a couple of incidents of trouble and reports that the process was slightly chaotic in some places. But the general tone of the time of campaigning since then seems to have been quite positive and optimistic. As I've travelled to and from school each day I've seen lorries plastered in party colours and posters, with huge loudspeakers on playing lively music. On the back of the lorries are people wearing their party's t-shirts and hats dancing to the music. There are posters absolutely everywhere - stuck on fences, trees, roundabouts, bollards, hanging from cables overhead, even plastered on the road surface! Rallies are held on street corners and one day I saw a stream of people in yellow baseball caps clearly dispersing after one of these - the caps presumably a gift from the party involved, trying to persuade people to vote for them. Of course, there is this side to the campaigning - money is even sometimes given out to attract voters, and the sheer cost of the campaigns, including helicopters to fly the candidates around the country, is quite horrifying. As well as party campaigning, however, there has been a significant campaign for peaceful elections. There have been peace concerts, the matatus have adverts for peace, the radio DJs have been calling for peace, as have the presidential candidates themselves. In fact last week most of the candidates attended a huge prayer meeting where the focus was prayer for peace.
As a church we have been praying for Kenya in the weeks leading up to the elections. Last night we had a special prayer meeting for that purpose, our homegroup has organised a prayer rota over the last week or so and this morning's service was mainly focused around prayer for the nation. But the atmosphere was not at all one of fear or nervousness, rather we were focused on praising God and recognising that his power is far greater than any human power. He truly is the King of kings, and all people, including leaders, must bow before him. We prayed for his protection over Kenya, that any evil plans will be destroyed and that his will would be done through whoever is elected. It's hard to explain but somehow everything we did this morning seemed to mean more, or maybe the meaning was in clearer focus because of the uncertainty of the coming days. There was a real, tangible sense of God's presence with us. We even sang 'Shine Jesus, shine', which to my ear can be a bit dated and I don't think I always notice the words properly, but today they really seemed so relevant. Here's the first verse and chorus:
Today (Kenya time; tomorrow UK time) is the day of the Kenyan elections. If you think back to five years ago, you might remember the results of the last presidential election were disputed and there were weeks of terrible violence in some areas of the country. Over 1000 people were killed and around 600 000 were displaced from their homes. People here are understandably nervous that history might repeat itself this time around. In fact some embassies and NGOs have even moved their staff out of the country until it's over.
It's been interesting being here and watching the build-up to these elections. Back in January the primaries were held where the parties chose their candidates; there were a couple of incidents of trouble and reports that the process was slightly chaotic in some places. But the general tone of the time of campaigning since then seems to have been quite positive and optimistic. As I've travelled to and from school each day I've seen lorries plastered in party colours and posters, with huge loudspeakers on playing lively music. On the back of the lorries are people wearing their party's t-shirts and hats dancing to the music. There are posters absolutely everywhere - stuck on fences, trees, roundabouts, bollards, hanging from cables overhead, even plastered on the road surface! Rallies are held on street corners and one day I saw a stream of people in yellow baseball caps clearly dispersing after one of these - the caps presumably a gift from the party involved, trying to persuade people to vote for them. Of course, there is this side to the campaigning - money is even sometimes given out to attract voters, and the sheer cost of the campaigns, including helicopters to fly the candidates around the country, is quite horrifying. As well as party campaigning, however, there has been a significant campaign for peaceful elections. There have been peace concerts, the matatus have adverts for peace, the radio DJs have been calling for peace, as have the presidential candidates themselves. In fact last week most of the candidates attended a huge prayer meeting where the focus was prayer for peace.
As a church we have been praying for Kenya in the weeks leading up to the elections. Last night we had a special prayer meeting for that purpose, our homegroup has organised a prayer rota over the last week or so and this morning's service was mainly focused around prayer for the nation. But the atmosphere was not at all one of fear or nervousness, rather we were focused on praising God and recognising that his power is far greater than any human power. He truly is the King of kings, and all people, including leaders, must bow before him. We prayed for his protection over Kenya, that any evil plans will be destroyed and that his will would be done through whoever is elected. It's hard to explain but somehow everything we did this morning seemed to mean more, or maybe the meaning was in clearer focus because of the uncertainty of the coming days. There was a real, tangible sense of God's presence with us. We even sang 'Shine Jesus, shine', which to my ear can be a bit dated and I don't think I always notice the words properly, but today they really seemed so relevant. Here's the first verse and chorus:
Lord the Light of Your Love is shining,
In the midst of the darkness shining,
Jesus light of the world shine upon us,
Set us free by the truth You now bring us,
Shine on me. Shine on me.
Shine Jesus shine
Fill this land with the Father's glory
Blaze, Spirit blaze,
Set our hearts on fire
Flow, river flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth Your word
Lord and let there be light.
In the midst of the darkness shining,
Jesus light of the world shine upon us,
Set us free by the truth You now bring us,
Shine on me. Shine on me.
Shine Jesus shine
Fill this land with the Father's glory
Blaze, Spirit blaze,
Set our hearts on fire
Flow, river flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth Your word
Lord and let there be light.
The other thing that we did both last night and this morning was to sing the national anthem, which I found incredibly moving. The tune is beautiful, and the words are amazing, a prayer for Kenya. Here is the English translation:
O God
of all creation
Bless this our land and nation
Justice be our shield and defender
May we dwell in unity
Peace and liberty
Plenty be found within our borders.
Bless this our land and nation
Justice be our shield and defender
May we dwell in unity
Peace and liberty
Plenty be found within our borders.
Let
one and all arise
With hearts both strong and true
Service be our earnest endeavour
And our homeland of Kenya
Heritage of splendour
Firm may we stand to defend.
With hearts both strong and true
Service be our earnest endeavour
And our homeland of Kenya
Heritage of splendour
Firm may we stand to defend.
Let
all with one accord
In common bond united
Build this our nation together
And the glory of Kenya
The fruit of our labour
Fill every heart with thanksgiving.
In common bond united
Build this our nation together
And the glory of Kenya
The fruit of our labour
Fill every heart with thanksgiving.
We could do worse than pray the words of the anthem for the beautiful country of Kenya! Please, if you are a praying person, remember Kenya in your prayers this week.
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