Giraffes and money

aye.....
I dont even know where to start with this one- so lets start posi:
Its crazy how its only been like 3 days since Ive posted, but so much has happened. We went to Nairobi, which was very cool. We had "american pizza" (which, incidentally, was the first thing to make me sick here). While we were there, myself and another volunteer, Kathy, bought pencils and pens and erasers and sharpeners (as they use straight razors for the pencils they have now) for all 400+ kids at our school in Saikari! It was great! We are also in the process of getting them all composition notebooks, but we have to do it in stages as we cannot carry them all. So, yes, thank you sooo much to those of you who donated money for that! The headmaster wanted us to give him the money and then he would get all them from his supplier- but we'll get to that in a minute.
I finally met my host mother, Maggie, who is a dream. She was in Nairobi for a few days at a nursing course, and got home on Saturday. She is beginning a community health program where we live that is largely funded by the government, who actually keeps her quite stocked! Again, we'll come back to this in a minute.
While coming into town one day, we slowed down and I looked up to see why, it was because 3 giraffes were crossing the road in front of us. Then a man jumped out of the matatu and he was chasing baboons away from the road. The baboons are big! And kinda scary, and make noises kinda like dogs.
Sunday, I went to church..... whoa church! Its a small group, only about 30, but they make more noise than almost any church Ive even been to. The singing was so beautiful and the drums... oh the drums. Its so wonderful. Im going to try to video a bit of church next week if they will let me. Julius, one of the teachers at my school, sat next to me and translated for me. It was great, and guess what the sermon was about?- Time. Ha! Go figure. How we must use our time wisely because it is a gift from God.
Ok, now onto some not-so-light notes:
So, as most of you probably know by now, the teachers in Kenya are on strike. This also means that they have closed all the schools. We have no idea how long it will last, but the last one was 3 months long, but that was also 10 years ago. Maggie says it'll be over by tomorrow, so we'll see. But, there is a positive to this. Where we live is the only health clinic until Ngong, which is about a 90 minute matatu ride- about a days walk. So, all of the people in the villages come there to get help. I talked to Maggie and until the strike is over Ill be working with her in the clinic. Yesterday we got to see patients, and we organized the medicine storage area. I could not believe how well stocked they were. And almost all from the government! We also gave out mosquito nets and I dispensed meds in the pharmacy. Maggie taught me to take blood pressure too, since 'everything is america is auto, but you have to do it with your ear here.' It was so great! Im excited to be doing that too.
Ok, I wasnt sure if I would write about this while I was here, but its just everywhere, so I have to talk about it. Corruption. Its everywhere. I thought maybe only on the government level, but no. I also believe that here corruption doesnt have to be learned, its simply ingrained. Now, Im not saying this to be bitter or angry, its simply how it is! The reason that I decided to talk about it is because while reading the local papers- they are covered with stories about it!! So here goes, a few of these stories-
Right now there is an extreme shortage of food in Kenya. This stems from a drought, but also the political turmoil of the last 2 years here. The WFP is sending in food all the time. But local Kenyans (KENYANS!) are taking fake WFP bags, filling them with maize meal (like corn meal, but gritty) and selling them over the boarder (taking more food out of the country) at 6 times what they're worth!
There's a girl at one of the placements who is working really hard doing community enhancement projects, like water tanks and latrines, and is going to put in some window pains at one of the schools. Shes working with a member of the community to set this up. But, we were told that another volunteer came through before her, and gave him money for the pains, and the windows never came. The same girl, when doing a latrine for one of the schools, had the headmaster of the school offer to help her transport materials to do the toilet. So nice, right? No.... on their last trip back, he asked for 2,000 shillings (about $30) or else he wouldnt deliver the materials to the project. For his own school!!! So this is why we got the pencils/pens/materials for the school ourselves. It can be so frustrating, but we know that good can be done (and not all Kenyans are like this, at all!!) we just have to do it ourselves. Maggie says "Money is not so important. If I can help people, and have relationships, this is the most important. You can say 'money is not important' and then demand that everyone pays you everything they owe, but that shows them that money owns you. And then you are as bad as them. It costs me nothing to be transparent, but I can gain all trust by being like this." (I hope this still makes sense, slightly out of context.) She super smart!
I really appreciate all the notes Ive been getting, and if you have questions, please ask! A lot of people have been asking how they can help, right now there's not so much. I still have money to spend from donations from before I left. But, there are kids who will be going into secondary school (which is not free) and need sponsors. The best thing to do is let me know if you would like to do something like this, and Ill hook you up with a family in need directly. Going through some of the agencies may cause some of your money to "get lost". So just shoot me an email about this: brit2afc@hotmail.com
And I did have the cookies, and yes, Ill bring some Jason. Yes, Ill speak at the prayer event- I'd love to!
Thank you again for everyone who's been praying, I can totally feel it! I really love being here, as though its normal for me. Its great, and I know that the prayers are part of why I feel so comfortable.

Love
B