Intro: Becca

Hey Blog Readers!

  I hope you are avoiding work while reading this, as I'm sure that is something I would be doing. Thank you for supporting and encouraging our journey to Kenya! I'm leaving for the airport in less than an hour, and in my true procrastinating form, leaving my first blog note now. To introduce myself, I'm Becca. I grew up near Chicago, but I spent the last 8 years living in a handful of different places. I've been in Colorado for about 2 years, and last month I graduated from the University of Denver with a Masters in Social Work. My VLM flame was first ignited a few years ago when I did a volunteer year with the Vincentian Service Corps West in L.A., and learned about the program from friends who have gone before. I believe I am on this trip for a reason, as events of the last year led me towards a path that was different than I originally planned. I am excited to see what awaits me in Kenya.

 While I joke that travelling to Africa with the VLM is a great way to avoid "real life" for a  month, in all honesty I know this will be a great experience to further my personal and professional growth and awareness.  I am excited for the opportunity to learn and live in a new culture, as well as be a witness to how others live. We talked at orientation about what we will be taking with us, such as feelings of anxiety, nervousness for the unknown, and excitement. While I carry those things with me, I also hope to leave a few things back in the US, like my fear for the future, thoughts of difficult things awaiting me when I get home, and my usual habit of not being fully mindful in the present moment. I want to bring only my full self, my excitement, and positivity.

  I am grateful for the many people that helped me get to today, and my dad for driving me to the airport in a few minutes. The future is bright.

VLM Kitale Introduction 2014

Friends, family, loved ones, or if you simply stumbled upon this blog in the middle of the night, hello! My name is Melisa Martinez and I will be going to Kitale, Kenya as part of the VLM in less than 24 hours. Yes, less than 24 hours. I am currently a graduate student at St. John's University in New York City. When I return to the States, I will be finishing my Masters degree in General Experimental Psychology. It sounds a lot more challenging that what it really is, trust me. Also, I work part time at St. John's as a graduate assistant for the best office in the entire world, Office of University Mission, and as a swim instructor in Downtown Manhattan. 

This will be my first summer with the VLM. Honestly, I am so honored and excited to have this wonderful opportunity. My hope is to learn and grow with the people who I'll be serving with and those who I will be serving. I am also very excited to learn from the Daughters of Charity who give themselves completely to their work and the people of Kitale. Most importantly, I hope to come up with a sustainable and thought-provoking way to support the work in Kitale after I return home. 

I invite you to follow our journey during and after our time in Kitale. I want to thank all of those who have supported me up to this point. Whether it was financially, emotionally, or both, your willingness to give is something I'll never forget. And now, to start packing...

VLM 2013 Video

Dominic Buchmiller made a short video from our 2013 trip to Kitale.

VLM Kitale 2014 Introductions

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Emily Edwards and I am the coordinator for the VLM Kitale group this summer.  I am a DePaul graduate and I have been living in Chicago for the past year working as a nanny.  When I return to the states I will be moving to St. Louis, MO to participate in Vincentian Mission Corps as a full-time volunteer.

I am happy to return to Kitale, Kenya for the 3rd time this summer with the Vincentian Lay Missionaries.  We are excited to have a new group of volunteers this year.  They will be introducing themselves on the blog over the next week while I am in Nairobi.    

My hope is to share my love for the people of Kitale with the new volunteers.  I am excited to be reunited with the Daughters of Charity in Kenya.  These inspiring women have given so much of themselves to the wonderful work that they are doing in Kenya.  I look forward to seeing many of the same smiling faces of the children and friends that I have made in Kenya.  

Adela The third Lettter

Dear Friends,

 It is about midnight in Nairobi, in a few hours I will be making my way back home to New York. Looking back on the day I left to Kenya with a suitcase full of hopes, art supplies and clothes so much has happened. I didn't know I would be making over 400 picture frames with the Popsicle sticks, having six dance parties a day, that Girl on Fire would bring me smile so much. I had no idea that the people I met in Chicago would become my home, that we would laugh, cry, sing, cook and dream together. That in prayer we would face some of the darkness in our life and at camp create lasting light. All I knew was that I had to make that flight, that my path, my camino was pointing me here. Almost a month later my suitcase is almost empty of material things, but it's harder to carry for some reason. I think because memories weigh more than expectations. I also think its because lessons take up more space than worries. These past two weeks of blog silence have been busy with more beautiful children, meeting the families of friends, and saying goodbyes to people we just started knowing and those who we felt we've known forever. In writing this I thought about the theme or the story only to realize I have none right now. We spent the day on Safari and in the afternoon made it to Thigio for supper where I briefly said goodbye to my teammates, my home. It has been one of the most difficult parts of my trip. I wish I could tell you all in detail about these weeks, but where can I even begin? I could say that Breila has one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen, that Abantu has the best laugh, that the kids of Matisi have incredible talent, our helpers gorgeous homes. I could tell you the story of Anthony, how our friendship was meant to be, that I saw George a few times later and how happy he was. I could tell you how Innocent and Joseph's friendship inspires me everyday, Francis' unmatched compassion , the joy of singing at mass, the infinite beauty of Chepanyal, how much we learned from the daughters and how much we laughed too. I could show you our dance moves, maracas, journals and teacups, sing ya ya ya, or nyama nyama. I could quote lion king, wesley snipes, spirit and john legend. All of these things begin many of the great stories of our trip. While in this short night I can't tell them all, I hope sometime you can hear them, the cause of my heavy suitcase. Though everything is packed now, I can pull out one lesson from the top zipper, the one I have been visiting a lot today, friendship is one of the greatest gifts we can receive, a gift that is highly valued here. Marafiki means friends and I am so grateful to have made some here. Thank you everyone in Kenya who has made our time here unforgettable, and leaving so hard and asante sana Emily, Matthew and Dom for making this month awesome, I miss you already and cannot wait to see you in October and call you up this weekend, hug an elephant for me! And everyone reading wherever you are, I hope that these random thoughts scattered throughout the month have made you smile and inspired you in some way. Kwaheri!

Adela August 14th: The Second Letter

08/13/13

Dear Friends,

As Matt and Emily wrote about things have been going great.  I’m learning many new things on a daily basis about Kitale, the people and myself.  The first week of camp was definitely interesting.  After spending most of Sunday preparing T-shirts with numbers the big day arrived.  As we stood by the gate of the compound little eyes peeked through the gate excitedly. Once every child received a T-shirt, their name was written on it along with their group number (from 1 to 3) and they were asked to meet us outside.  The first day set the tone to our usual morning routine. 

We all stand in a big circle and do stretches; Dom does the funniest ones involving fun dances and numbers.  Then we play some circle games like ‘’nyama nyama nyama’’ which is a call and response game about what animals people eat or not.  Then we play Emily’s and my favorite game: ‘’Ya Ya Ya’’ which is a dance game about body itches and soccer so I’ve been told... Once we finish and everyone has arrived Aaron or another one of our amazing helpers introduces us and themselves. We have 6 helpers as mentioned, Sara, Bernadette( Berna), Mora, Aaron, Solomon(Solo) and Lawrence (Lawy). Then we split up into our number groups and each group does 1 of three possible activities: Arts and Crafts with dancing, Enrichment and Outdoor games. 

I lead the Arts and Crafts and dancing room, something that became norm after my first day.  I really love being there.  Not only because it reminds me of my time at the museum and my nostalgic Kid’s Day memories but because I have the chance to make a quiet activity exciting and fun for the kids.  Usually we start with stretching and some yoga and explain the logistics of the project.  After the project is complete, we go over some key words and all or some kids stand up in front of the class and introduce themselves, their project and their favorite part of it. Usually when a name is given everyone excitedly says ‘’Hi (Persons Name)!!!’’ with great joy and clap after the presentation.  I really enjoy watching each kid get a moment in the spotlight and be recognized. 

My helpers are Mora and Lawy who are fantastic.  Every day I feel very blessed to work with Lawy because I know how hard translation is.  In the words of my beloved Dr. Mitre ‘’Translations are just approximations’’ but he conveys my same enthusiasm and love for the project which I really value.  He also makes every child feel special and loved especially the shy ones which I see helps them come out of their shell, which inspires me to be at my best. Even when we have introduced the 70^th child on the fourth hour, he still smiles as if it was the first which is very special.  We also make a great team as we have begun to incorporate dance into our curriculum with Shakira, Alicia Keys and Mackelmore being favorites just to name a few.  That's Lawy.

With my wonderful team and VLM we were able to complete lots of fun projects like paper monsters, maracas, family portraits and frames, math books, journals, a soccer tournament and more. Another special part of camp has been being able to have tea time with the kids, something I think Americans should consider doing. Right in the middle of each session everyone stops to share Chai and Mendahzi. We serve the kids first, spend time with them and then share with each other.  The first day was hilarious as the kids were so amused at our skin color. Some of them played with the hair on Matthew’s legs, and carefully analyzed my finger nails, compared our complexion and were fascinated by my bangles as if I was under a microscope.  After carefully observing most of them shared laughs and hugs with us and their love which has been the most special part of camp.  The love the kids have for us and the helpers is enormous, as well as their gratitude.  I have never worked with such polite children, so well behaved and loving always open to share their sunshine. While there are many undeniable challenges within this community like hunger and brewing in certain areas, there is also immense light I experience every day at camp and through the Daughters and friendships we are building with Beatrice, our helpers, Alfred, The Nyota staff and each other.

 

Of the many friendships made one of the most special so far for me has been with George, one of the kids at camp from the afternoon session.  I first spoke to George on the first day when I noticed his drawing of all 6 farm animals perfectly on his shirt.  I immediately complimented him in my broken Swahili expressions Lawy wrote out and he got very shy but then shook my hand. Later that day he showed me the Kenyan handshake which is a pound, your fist onto your heart and then outward again. Every day at camp this became our tradition: greeting each other with our handshake, him showing me his beautiful artwork and laughing together about the silly dance moves Lawy, Mora and I did.  George and I are to the left :)

On the fourth day, George told me in English (which he probably practiced) that he drew me or kudro? in Swahili.  The very next day he handed me a beautiful picture of Emily, him and I and smiled waiting for my expression.  The paper was worn out and I could tell how hard he had worked on it. This moment meant so much to me because though I couldn’t always communicate perfectly, I knew that our friendship had been as important to him as it was to me. On the very last day, I knew we had to say goodbye which was tough. Even though we are only with the kids one week, we share so much with them, learn and care a lot.
 

As the gates opened and the kids waved goodbye joyfully George stood by the gate shyly. 
I ran up to him and from my pocket took out a picture I drew for him. He seemed a bit shocked but opened it and read: ‘’Adela, Emily, George…’’ looked down a while and looked up and smiled, then held the picture to his heart to express gratitude. I like to think that certain things like friendship and gratitude surpass the boundaries of language. I will never forget the look on his face of joy of that moment as it has been one of the most special on my journey here. All I could say in that moment was ‘’Rafiki’’ or friend and give him a handshake, our handshake. As I waved goodbye I was overwhelmed with joy for that moment and gratitude for a great first week.

                                                                        Love,

                                                                                  Adela  xx

(George's Drawing to the left, Adela's to the right)

Matthew August 14th

Hello,

My trip started rough as I threw up before passing through security at the airport. A security officer said he could transfer me to a later flight if I wasn’t feeling well. Luckily, I felt better and was able to get on the flight where I spent time reading Harry Potter 7 and watching Life of Pi and Argo. While waiting in line at Customs at the Nairobi Airport, a conversation began with a man from Kenya who lived in Rwanda. He just jumped in on a comment he heard from us about a rosary necklace. The friendly aura of Kenya had made its first appearance. As we left the airport, we watched in horror as it was quickly swallowed up in flames, the heat of the fire beating against my face.

Just kidding. No one freak out. We found out about the fire four days after we arrived in Kitale. We did, however, meet Alfred, who is a different kind of madness in himself. He drove us from Nairobi to Kitale and I regret that I did not appreciate his presence while driving. I, myself, was too wrapped up in the world of Hogwarts as I attempted to finish the book. After meeting him around our compound a couple times, he is super friendly and understands English very well, allowing him to make clever jokes and poke fun at us.

In the first couple days of our tenure, we went for a walk with Aaron and Manu, two gentlemen who help with our camp. I spent most of the time talking with Aaron, asking questions about the area and the struggles and the schools. We saw a lot of homes, some made of mud, some made of tin sheets, and some nicer ones made of Brick. Most of the roads consist of a red clay. We saw one of the schools along the road. It had a soccer field in front of it where I was told the kids participate in soccer tournaments to keep them busy when they are not in school. I love tournaments so that made me happy.

At the beginning of the walk, I was addressed by an older man who told me he was hungry and that he had two daughters and that he had come from another area. After I had been listening for a bit, Aaron came over, heard the story, and instructed the man to go to the compound of the Daughters of Charity for assistance. Aaron told me about how the man expected that I could fix all his problems because I am white. Aaron then proceeded to tell me how that the man’s food struggles were common in Kitale. Not just the hunger of himself and his children, but the cause of his hunger. The man had been drunk and Aaron said that many families struggle because one or both parents spend money on alcohol when they need to feed their families. It seems alcohol universally has the potential to destroy homes. Aaron told me that many adults get into brewing alcohol to make quick money. Another surprising thing I learned from him is that most adults in Kitale have cell phones. I had no idea that phenomenon was worldwide. I guess we all feel the desire to be connected. They use their phones to get on Facebook as well.

Another interesting aspect of the walk was how many eyes consistently follow us. This is what being a celebrity feels like. Except we didn’t do anything to earn it. Kids constantly yell out, “How are you?” and we respond, “Fine”. We are the only white people that I have seen, besides Sister Karen, in the area so we stick out, heavily.

At the camp with the kids, I began at the outdoor rotation with the kids where we played blob tag, ran relays, and shot on “basketball hoops” that consisted of an eight foot post leading up to a rim. I’m really glad they have a form of basketball for my sanity’s sake. I realized I did not like being the outdoor station as much as I thought I would. Aaron was my partner and he was really awesome but I thought it would be better for me inside and Dom said he wanted to try outside so we switched. Greatest decision. Dom says he communicates much better with the kids out there and I love trying to learn the language and teach with what I have. I read them a book in English and we picked out key words that they had to repeat to practice English. The next day we taught math which was awesome and we used plastic straws to practice simple addition and subtraction. It was really great. The last day of the week we just watched the Lion King which still has a strong impact on me. Beautiful film.

This past weekend, on Saturday, we walked with several of the camp helpers through the town market area of Kitale where people were selling various clothes, food, and timber. We ended up at a museum where we saw snakes, crocodiles, and traditional Kenyan huts. It was getting late in the day and starting to rain so we quickly picked up some food (spicy fries) and caught a cab back to the compound. While walking toward the cabs in the city, some boys came up to us saying they were hungry and put their hands out. They followed us toward the cabs and were persistent. We eventually fit seven of us in a cab and were promptly told, “f*** you”, by one of the boys. Aaron told us about a policy that was put in place that forced the children off the streets and into homes for a while but many of the kids ran away and returned to the streets. They were addicted to the freedom of that life. It feels safe to say, though, that a majority of the kids like school and learning and take advantage of it.

Finally, last Sunday, we went to the home of one of the cooks for the Daughters. Her name is Beatrice. She always has a huge smile and is very kind to us when we thank her for the food she made for us. She’s an unbelievable cook. At her house, we met her husband Benjamin and her son William. The beginning of the event involved obsessing over William but the end of the event involved us asking questions to Benjamin. Benjamin had an idea for helping his community which involved helping people with two major problems: alcohol and pornography. He discussed how both were very detrimental to the families and community in general. I asked him to send me a seven page paper he wrote about his thoughts and a program he is starting. I look forward to reading about it.

These people are amazing and overall fantastically kind. They have taught me many simple phrases and counting in Swahili and they make me feel very welcome in their community. I hope I can show this kind of welcoming to everyone I meet in my life and accept into my home.