Editor’s note: SHARE Board members, Usha Wright and Jerry Warshaw, visited Kenya in Fall 2008. This is Jerry’s account of that visit.
We passed a field, and I spotted a soccer game in progress. The players were kicking a plastic soda bottle. I wondered if that is an improvement over other makeshift balls I have seen, mostly made from leaves, grass and mud, and bound with twine. I wish that I had more soccer balls to give out.
At the SHARE office in Mbita, Kenya
Our first stop was the SHARE office, where Cyprina and Lucy, SHARE’s two social workers, work tirelessly in tracking the orphans in the program as well as those hoping to get into the program. Sadly, the waiting list continues to grow, and vastly exceeds the active number of students. Usually, the children who do not get sponsored into the program simply do not make it. They wander off somewhere, and vanish.
See also how SHARE social workers, Cyprina and Lucy, were recently recognized for their tireless work with orphans in Kenya: District Commissioner praises SHARE as one of the best and most effective NGOs
SHARE could not have hoped for two more competent and committed people overseeing the orphan program on the ground in Kenya. Cyprina, who manages the office, and Lucy, her assistant, each know the history of every child to the smallest detail, including the child’s case number, sponsor’s name, and personal history. They are the heart and soul of the programs in Mbita. They visit each child at school, encourage and monitor their studies, make sure they do their homework and stay involved with their social progress.
Lucy had recently returned from a trip to a nearby village. She told us that a relative of one of our orphans requires that the child collect cow dung when visiting her mud hut. The girl must roll out the moisture, shape it into balls and then sell it. Lucy says, “This is what the child has to look forward to during school break.” Lucy is trying to find a way to keep the child in school during the break in the future. I had always thought that Cinderella had it rough.
Meeting new and past SHARE orphans
A teacher arrived in the SHARE office with a 6-year-old child recently orphaned and sponsored into the SHARE program. Usha had requested this meeting because the child had received a gift from her sponsor but she did not know how to use it. It was an art kit with wonderful coloring books, an array of color pencils, crayons, finger paints, and pens. Usha showed the girl how to use crayons, and how to carefully fill in the colors in various outlines. The child’s eyes filled with wonder and awe. She tried it herself and simply glowed in the outcome of her careful work. She could not believe the gift will be hers to keep. She has very few possessions, and was overwhelmed with the kindness and love in the room. Cyprina said that this would be one of the most memorable days of her life.
Later, a beautiful young woman, age 22, stopped by the office because she heard we were visiting and wanted to meet us. She is an AIDS orphan who was sponsored by SHARE since the first grade and will be graduating the university in December. She has accepted a job to teach math and chemistry in a local high school attended by SHARE orphans. She had many job offers, but chose the school in Nyanza Province that had the most orphans.
Barack, AIDS prevention, school conditions
The following day, we set out to visit the schools and meet the children being sponsored. We were determined to talk with them about their aspirations and, most of all, AIDS prevention. I typically would get a group of 8 or 10 students together and say something like, “Has anybody here ever heard of Barack Obama?” The children would roar with approval. Barack’s grandmother still lives in a village near Kisumu, an area familiar to those in Mbita. Everyone we met was overwhelmed that a person with recent Kenyan roots can grow up in America and be able to run for the Presidency. Throughout our travels we heard comments like, “Our admiration for Americans has skyrocketed for allowing this to be possible.” I therefore learned that referencing Barack was a good way to begin a conversation about AIDS. “You have much in common with Barack,” I would say. “Your primary and secondary schooling is being paid for, as was his. But afterward, he didn’t have the money for college. He went there by taking loans. If you stay focused on fulfilling your dreams, you will probably do the same. Maybe some of you will also get scholarships, but you must stay focused on what you hope to accomplish, as he did. However, there is a danger ahead for you because there will be many distractions along the way.”
From there, I proceeded to discuss the difficult notions of abstinence and condom use. Then Lucy would add, “Girls, you must work on your defenses before you meet the boys. You must know what to expect and be wise in stopping it before it starts.” The children were riveted by this talk, as they are surrounded by daily examples of the consequences of weak defenses. Hopefully, it will help at least some of them.
The schools we visited are in relatively good shape. Some of them are self-sufficient, with about 200 students. Given that they are boarding schools, there are dormitories for students, housing for some of the teachers, and the ever-present soccer field laced with stones of many sizes. Mbita High School has many desks set up under trees, because the classrooms can be stiflingly hot. Some of the schools have gardens with areas assigned to the students to grow vegetables. Some of the schools have partial electricity and some have none. Several schools are introducing solar energy and one has cleverly introduced gas lamps and gas cooking from the methane channeled from the fertilizer in their vegetable garden.
School principals
The principals face many challenges, such as establishing an atmosphere conducive to study and protecting the girls during school break. One high school principal noted that 100% of the pregnant 16-year-olds in her school had expected delivery dates in late August. Therefore, conception in all cases took place in December while the students were away from school during break. For the orphans, this means going back to villages where they may or may not receive proper care from distant relatives. This principal would like to change that. She hopes to model her school after the concept of the old-age home, meaning that relatives and friends would visit at the residence, rather then the resident visiting away. Students would live in the protected environment of the school and be given community projects during the break such as caring for animals, farming, and remedial work if indicated. The students could therefore socialize in a secure environment. Several high school principals had the same concerns about keeping the students at school during holidays, and they hope to get some funding from the government to institute this protection.
The SHARE Solar oven project
We were eager to visit Oyugis Village to see if the solar oven we donated was improving the lives of the villagers. Historically, women would spend the major part of the day foraging for twigs and wood, and carrying them home to use as cooking fuel. However, cooking within the small confines of their mud huts often led to respiratory illness and occasional burns. We hoped that the solar oven would eliminate those problems.
Upon entering the village, we were directed to a young man who was the manager of the oven. He is a well-spoken and enthusiastic gentleman who is also a veterinarian. He allots half his time to managing the oven, and the other half to treating animals. He showed us logs detailing the ovens’ use; we also saw the production reports, which list the costs of material such as maize, and the output of the oven. The village recently bought a donkey and cart so they could sell and deliver breads to nearby villages. This venture has led to still another business: renting out their donkey and cart when not in use.
Meeting an orphan’s grandmother
We visited the elderly grandmother of an orphan Usha sponsors, and she invited us into her hut. Although the room was fairly dark, it was mid-day and some light was seeping into the room. As the woman spoke of her gratitude to SHARE, we noticed that the gourds she used as bowls and eating utensils had artistic designs on them. She made the designs by holding the gourds to a fire and burning the exterior. It was very beautiful in its simplicity. As we said our goodbyes, she picked up two of the gourds and gave them to us as a symbol of life and to demonstrate her appreciation for helping her granddaughter.
Seeing more SHARE orphans
We visited approximately 130 orphans and carried home a similar amount of letters written by them to their sponsors. We found the children to be very engaging and personable, often jousting, joking, laughing and carrying on as regular healthy school children do. They asked many questions. Among them were, “Why is America involved with Georgia more then other former Soviet satellites?” Another was, “Given Al Gore’s victory in the popular vote, but his loss of the election, why doesn’t America change that law?” Still another question was, “Do Americans have tribes?”
While reflecting on our experiences in the Suba District of Kenya, I feel very proud of what the SHARE organization and its sponsors are doing back home. We are all saving lives, we are educating children and we are giving hope to a very difficult area of this world. If only we could find more sponsors.
October 12, 2008
Learn more about SOS: the SHARE Orphan Sponsorship program