Day 10: Saturday, January 21, 2006
Today was another busy day. We went to work this morning hoping to finish work on:
Painting the green trim around all of the windows
Installing the remainder of the upper window panes of glass
The mural.
Painting the classroom (which we had not even started yet).
Work progressed well; we were supposed to leave and be at the church to see the works of the Compassion program – but we were on Kenyan time and did not get there until noon.
Once at the church, one of the Compassion workers (Nancy) provided us with an introduction of the program:
Very poor children, from ages 6-22 come and spend the day with them on Saturday.
The day is begun with some Bible study and then the children are offered health classes, social development classes, and skills training. The schedule has Bible study from 8:30 – 10; then porridge from 10 – 10:30; class from 10:30 – lunch; lunch; afternoon sports classes; allowance of children to leave at 3:30 so they can walk home.
Lunch is typically rice, stew, and fruit. (Today’s was rice, stew, and mango or banana. There was also a little of the cracked maize with water for those who wanted it.)
Children walk from a distance of 5 kilometers (3 miles) or less one way.
The program also offers some medical screening, home visits, and counseling during the week when they are needed.
The workers are paid for being there on Saturday; they hold regular jobs Monday thru Friday. Children know their sponsors (via letter) and write to them 3 times a year. There are 10 criteria for children who are eligible. The children can begin the program between the ages of 4 – 7 (most here start at 6). They are the neediest in the community (orphaned, abandoned, single parents, poor but with both parents, or refugee).
The current mix of 403 children works 60 six and seven year olds, 55 eight year olds, 65 nine and ten year olds, 62 eleven thru thirteen year olds, 90 fourteen thru sixteen year olds, and 71 seventeen thru twenty two year olds.
Today, we observed a variety of classes being taught: music, hair dressing (washing, rinsing, blow drying / styling), making “donuts”, embroidery via machines, tailoring (they were making slips / petticoats), and just general classes with the two youngest aged groups.
The local program has raised 500,000 Kenyan Schillings for the new classroom building. Compassion does not provide the building(s) themselves; however, they do pay the staff once they are working.
After lunch, there was a small program in which several people spoke brief words and a group of children did some singing and dancing for us. We were given a hand-made bookmark to remember our visit; we left candy canes and small gift bags for the children that were present there today.
We then went back to the worksite to finish our task; thankfully, the local workers had remained busy after their lunch and we were able to do so as we arrived. Basically all that we had to do was start and finish paint the wall of blackboard and clean up.
It rained literally all day today. The rain woke us up this morning as it was quite hard; it softened during the day but continued.
At the school, one of the things that “got” everyone was watching the children eat termites (large ones the size of small moths) that apparently came out with the rain. They were catching them and eating them; they discarded the wings. They were able to convince Cliff to help catch some and try a couple. The rest of us were not so brave. We confirmed later that this is not uncommon; some adults eat them too!
We left the job site at 4:45 in order to be ready to be picked up by 5:30 (for some, it was closer to 6); and tonight we ate in the homes of some of the church members. We were split into small groups so that we could be easily accommodated. We were able to enjoy some quality time one-on-one in the homes of the local people and have a home-cooked meal.
Submitted by Kellye J
Painting the green trim around all of the windows
Installing the remainder of the upper window panes of glass
The mural.
Painting the classroom (which we had not even started yet).
Work progressed well; we were supposed to leave and be at the church to see the works of the Compassion program – but we were on Kenyan time and did not get there until noon.
Once at the church, one of the Compassion workers (Nancy) provided us with an introduction of the program:
Very poor children, from ages 6-22 come and spend the day with them on Saturday.
The day is begun with some Bible study and then the children are offered health classes, social development classes, and skills training. The schedule has Bible study from 8:30 – 10; then porridge from 10 – 10:30; class from 10:30 – lunch; lunch; afternoon sports classes; allowance of children to leave at 3:30 so they can walk home.
Lunch is typically rice, stew, and fruit. (Today’s was rice, stew, and mango or banana. There was also a little of the cracked maize with water for those who wanted it.)
Children walk from a distance of 5 kilometers (3 miles) or less one way.
The program also offers some medical screening, home visits, and counseling during the week when they are needed.
The workers are paid for being there on Saturday; they hold regular jobs Monday thru Friday. Children know their sponsors (via letter) and write to them 3 times a year. There are 10 criteria for children who are eligible. The children can begin the program between the ages of 4 – 7 (most here start at 6). They are the neediest in the community (orphaned, abandoned, single parents, poor but with both parents, or refugee).
The current mix of 403 children works 60 six and seven year olds, 55 eight year olds, 65 nine and ten year olds, 62 eleven thru thirteen year olds, 90 fourteen thru sixteen year olds, and 71 seventeen thru twenty two year olds.
Today, we observed a variety of classes being taught: music, hair dressing (washing, rinsing, blow drying / styling), making “donuts”, embroidery via machines, tailoring (they were making slips / petticoats), and just general classes with the two youngest aged groups.
The local program has raised 500,000 Kenyan Schillings for the new classroom building. Compassion does not provide the building(s) themselves; however, they do pay the staff once they are working.
After lunch, there was a small program in which several people spoke brief words and a group of children did some singing and dancing for us. We were given a hand-made bookmark to remember our visit; we left candy canes and small gift bags for the children that were present there today.
We then went back to the worksite to finish our task; thankfully, the local workers had remained busy after their lunch and we were able to do so as we arrived. Basically all that we had to do was start and finish paint the wall of blackboard and clean up.
It rained literally all day today. The rain woke us up this morning as it was quite hard; it softened during the day but continued.
At the school, one of the things that “got” everyone was watching the children eat termites (large ones the size of small moths) that apparently came out with the rain. They were catching them and eating them; they discarded the wings. They were able to convince Cliff to help catch some and try a couple. The rest of us were not so brave. We confirmed later that this is not uncommon; some adults eat them too!
We left the job site at 4:45 in order to be ready to be picked up by 5:30 (for some, it was closer to 6); and tonight we ate in the homes of some of the church members. We were split into small groups so that we could be easily accommodated. We were able to enjoy some quality time one-on-one in the homes of the local people and have a home-cooked meal.
Submitted by Kellye J
posted by Jean Warner at 11:38 PM
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