Janet's Diary from Kitui, Kenya

Habari

At long last an e-mail. Apologies. Just don’t know where the time goes. I seem to be busy doing things all the time and sometimes in the evening I get lazy and say I’ll e-mail tomorrow and of course tomorrow never comes, but this morning when I woke up I said “The mission for today is e-mail, e-mail, e-mail or people will think that I have forgotten about them and all their efforts and kindness. Not the case.

First of all I would like to extend my sympathies to Sandra Gallagher and Ann McLoughlin on their family bereavements. I just heard about the death of Annie Waldron and Tom McLoughlin, two wonderful characters and family friends, the end of an era. May they rest in peace. To Ann and Sandra, two wonderful volunteers at Claremorris Community Radio, you are in my thoughts.

Where will I start:

Well KT, the jeep, is just such a gift. It is so wonderful to have it and the amount of work that gets done because of it is tremendous. I got seats put into the back and I am waiting to get windows put in when I can spare a few days without it. And needless to say I’m known everywhere with it.

The consignment of goods arrived and I divided the clothes between my 2 orphan groups and there was so much delight. The curtains will be used in the school and the hospital. We are painting the school at the moment while the students are on holiday this month. The books I have put in the school to start a school library, the computer and table are in the school also. The toys will be used in our therapy room for the orphans.

After I arrived I bought student and school supplies, text books, grain and maize for storage ‘cause it’s cheap at the moment. The student diet is still being maintained with meat once a week and milk 3 times a week. The tables are being made for the multi-purpose room and school decoration is going on at the moment. I have given a lot of time to doing up profiles of the students in Tulia School so as to identify the very needy ones and see the best way that they can be supported. So far the contribution to Tulia School is €2,699. A further €700 is due for the salary of English and Maths teacher for 2011.

The Family Sustainable Programme is working very well. We meet every Wednesday with Kamini, 26, the eldest girl and she is just wonderful. It’s amazing what just a bit of support and care can do. I took some photographs of loading up the jeep with the household shopping for this family. I’ll try and send it to you and if not I’ll show them to you when I get home in Sept. Basically what we have done is to provide this family with furnishings for their home, we don’t give everything together, cause that would defeat the educational purpose and also there would be a possibility of things being stolen from the family, life can be a bit funny here like that.!!! We paid all school fees for this year and provided for next year also because education must be continued. School supplies like bags, copies etc. We also bought them shoes and socks, underwear, school uniforms and some clothes. Each week Kamini gets 20€ for the shopping which she does after we discuss what is needed and the balance of the money is put into savings. In fact she now has enough saved in order to buy her national health insurance. She also makes charcoal which she sell locally to support the family and the children in school. It really brought tears to my eyes when she was saying thanks , which she does every day she is with us, but she said it’s not like being without our parents since Janet started to help us. This is what the Claremorris contribution has done for this family. I’m actually crying now as I’m writing. I don’t know what they would have done, I think some of them would have died. I just thank God that I went on the visit with Cecilia that day and was able to support this family. You know we do not realise how lucky and well off we are. They are such a beautiful family and it’s a privilege to be able to facilitate them. As time goes on they will be able to sustain themselves with very little support apart from school fees. We ran over budget but so what. We have spent a total of €2,744 . This also included the construction of a toilet, the long drop.

There is another family that we really have to support but it’s not possible to do this to the same extent because we haven’t the funds but basic food will be supplied because they are very mal nourished. The 2 kids are orphans and being cared for by the 80 yr old grandmother. The little boy is HIV positive and the uncle who is nearby does nothing for them!!!! It’s a very touching situation. I have given €130 for food to be purchased and given to this family on a weekly basis. It should look after them for approx 10 weeks.

I have paid the salaries for the Muthale Home Care Staff until end of 2010. €960 was the total and this ensures that that programme continues. We now have 1,670 orphans in the programme and 57 of them are HIV positive.

With regard to the Kitui Rescue Centre for orphans, vulnerable children and distressed women, which we are trying to build I have sent my proposal to the Municipal Council requesting land and of course I’m hitting the politicians etc for support and I am hopeful of success. Progress is slow but that’s the nature of things here.

As part of the Kitui OVC programme I have paid school fees for a very needy child, Daniel Mwanzia, who is in Form 2 (2 yr in secondary school) and have pledged to pay his full fees till completion 2012 which amounts to approx €600.

I continue to go out on the field visiting various women’s sustainability groups as well as functions that I attend as a representative of KDC (Kitui Development Centre).

Of course it’s not all work and no play here in Kitui. I have very nice friends and we go for the odd Tusker to unwind. Seriously the work can be demanding and culture is different so it’s important to socialise and unwind. Kamba people are very sociable and friendly and one feels very welcome here. I had a friend and her daughter from Galway visit me a few weeks ago and they were so impressed with the projects, the way of life and the friendliness of the people. They really got a good taste of rural Kenyan life. After two weeks they went to the coast and did the tourist thing and then we reunited in Nairobi and headed for safari to Massi Mara. It was something else. The sightings on the first day were exceptional. I think I counted 25 lions in total, two individual sightings of cheetah and something I had never seen before a leopard. Wow!!! I’m still reeling about it. The Mara is just so beautiful, so vast, changes of flora and fauna, scenery, if ever you come to Kenya go to Mara.

The weather is cold at the moment, certainly evening , night and morning but then it’s nice and sunny during the day. This is their winter. Nightfall approx 6.45 and certainly not a time to be driving on the roads with lots of people walking, motor bikes and cars without lights in many cases and no street lighting or footpaths. So stay off road till all have gone home.

It’s now 7.05 pm and I’m being summoned for a Tusker. Till next time Take care and stay safe.