Wednesday Jan 15
I walked with Everlyne to the store and were greeted by an American and Australian woman with a Christian volunteer group coming to learn and help out a little with the group. We soon left for a tour of a residential part of Kibera. We walked to one of the women's home to see how she lives and learn a little bit about her life. Her daughter, age 13, was laying in bed, she has cerebral palsy, and HIV. No special school will take her because no one wants a special needs girl that can't talk to say when she wet herself, or feed herself. There is one school that would take her but it's too expensive for the mother, Teresa. In the small room that she owns, about 3/4 of the size of my bedroom at home, lives her and 5 children, 2 not her own. When it's time to sleep, three people sleep on the bed and three on a mattress on the floor that gets put away during the day. The room also holds a kitchen and living room with couches. Everlyne ways jokes that you can always tell when you're neighbor is listening to you when she has stopped cooking so you can no longer hear the splashing of water.
Teresa was telling us how grateful she is to have Everlyne because, out of her own pocket, Everlyne buys Teresa pampers for Teresa's daughter.
1 million people live in the Kibera slum.
We slowly headed back to the power women group store and made a bracelet or two. After lunch, the women made a circle with the chairs and said it was time for prayer. Standing, the women began singing and clapping, it was beautiful. They sang a few songs and danced a bit. I loved it!! When the singing was done, Everlyne gave a long prayer and it was time for the bible study.
We read a section from the book of Ruth (very glad it wasn't something about Jesus). We talked about women having strength and power. It then got on the subject of how Ruth married Boaz and how customs are different now. The Kenyans shared how they get married and we discussed how we get married. It was a shock for us to hear their stories. Here are some:
- none of them married for love
- a man can just take a woman if she is not married and marry her, she cannot say no
- it's easier to say no if the man cannot financially support them
- There is no contract or ceremony so if one of them decides to leave then they just leave
- they say times are changing, which is very good
- they want all their daughters to marry for love and no amount of money will change that
We all stood again for the final prayer and that was that. We got back to work. I finished collecting extra items to bring home to sell. It was certainly a day of learning.
I went to junction again in the afternoon to talk with Heather, a Bostonian volunteer that worked at the power women group before I got here to Kenya. She gave me good information about the group and Everlyne. I wish I had gotten in contact with her earlier so we could get more work done with someone in America and someone on the ground here in Kibera, especially because there are no new volunteers coming (there was an orientation on the 15th so we know what new people we have here). It's also hard because I only have two more days of work here and can't get much done in that period of time.
I got back from the junction to eat dinner and there was serious tension in the house. The house "mothers" and some volunteers are having serious issues and it's created a very uncomfortable setting. We drank that night because one volunteer is leaving but more drama came when people had some alcohol in them. Unnecessary drama in my opinion.
I walked with Everlyne to the store and were greeted by an American and Australian woman with a Christian volunteer group coming to learn and help out a little with the group. We soon left for a tour of a residential part of Kibera. We walked to one of the women's home to see how she lives and learn a little bit about her life. Her daughter, age 13, was laying in bed, she has cerebral palsy, and HIV. No special school will take her because no one wants a special needs girl that can't talk to say when she wet herself, or feed herself. There is one school that would take her but it's too expensive for the mother, Teresa. In the small room that she owns, about 3/4 of the size of my bedroom at home, lives her and 5 children, 2 not her own. When it's time to sleep, three people sleep on the bed and three on a mattress on the floor that gets put away during the day. The room also holds a kitchen and living room with couches. Everlyne ways jokes that you can always tell when you're neighbor is listening to you when she has stopped cooking so you can no longer hear the splashing of water.
Teresa was telling us how grateful she is to have Everlyne because, out of her own pocket, Everlyne buys Teresa pampers for Teresa's daughter.
1 million people live in the Kibera slum.
We slowly headed back to the power women group store and made a bracelet or two. After lunch, the women made a circle with the chairs and said it was time for prayer. Standing, the women began singing and clapping, it was beautiful. They sang a few songs and danced a bit. I loved it!! When the singing was done, Everlyne gave a long prayer and it was time for the bible study.
We read a section from the book of Ruth (very glad it wasn't something about Jesus). We talked about women having strength and power. It then got on the subject of how Ruth married Boaz and how customs are different now. The Kenyans shared how they get married and we discussed how we get married. It was a shock for us to hear their stories. Here are some:
- none of them married for love
- a man can just take a woman if she is not married and marry her, she cannot say no
- it's easier to say no if the man cannot financially support them
- There is no contract or ceremony so if one of them decides to leave then they just leave
- they say times are changing, which is very good
- they want all their daughters to marry for love and no amount of money will change that
We all stood again for the final prayer and that was that. We got back to work. I finished collecting extra items to bring home to sell. It was certainly a day of learning.
I went to junction again in the afternoon to talk with Heather, a Bostonian volunteer that worked at the power women group before I got here to Kenya. She gave me good information about the group and Everlyne. I wish I had gotten in contact with her earlier so we could get more work done with someone in America and someone on the ground here in Kibera, especially because there are no new volunteers coming (there was an orientation on the 15th so we know what new people we have here). It's also hard because I only have two more days of work here and can't get much done in that period of time.
I got back from the junction to eat dinner and there was serious tension in the house. The house "mothers" and some volunteers are having serious issues and it's created a very uncomfortable setting. We drank that night because one volunteer is leaving but more drama came when people had some alcohol in them. Unnecessary drama in my opinion.
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