Team Kenya had the great good fortune to spend the weekend in rural Kenya.
Our first stop was St. Mary’s Primary School in Machakos where we had our best distribution yet and distributed 500 bedkits. The school yard had cattle roaming on it, so we placed our setup right in front of the children who enthusiastically watched our every move. That also provided the added bonus of the children being able to see what was taking place and consequently being better prepared when their turn came.
After the distribution, a local Rotarian arranged a tour of a house where one of the students lived. It was a 10' x 10' mud hut with no running water, an outhouse for latrine facilities, and a mud floor. Inside were two small beds and a cooking facility. The girl lived there with a mother, father, and one sibling — the other two lived elsewhere.
The area has been stricken with drought so we saw many totally dry riverbeds. The countryside was vast, dotted with many trees. Cattle and other livestock seemed to be roaming free or were attended by herders, often children.
By the time we arrived at the Makindu Sikh Temple for our overnight stay we were halfway to Mombasa from Nairobi. This 80-year-old Sikh Temple is free to any travellers who are provided with food and lodging. After settling into our rooms, we were provided with a tour of the local town guided by a parent of one of the children. Among other activities, some of us joined a group of the children from a school who would be receiving bedkits in a game of volleyball. Sixty of the students lived there, some using the classrooms as dorms at night. After the tour, and with all of us in head scarves, we had the opportunity to sample Indian cuisine in the large dining facility at the Temple.
On Sunday morning, we set up at the Makindu Sikh Temple for a distribution of 500 bedkits to ten schools from the surrounding area within a 5-kilometer radius. Many students had walked and we noticed many had no shoes on. It was a very hot morning so we were happy the children were able to wait for their turn to be photographed on the grass in the cool shade of the Temple garden — a far cry from the dirt playgrounds of most of the schools.
Upon interviewing some of the parents, we discovered that they would like a bed to put the mattress on, a warmer blanket, and more exercise books and pens. They were very appreciative of the mosquito net! They felt it would help prevent diseases so the child would be healthier and wouldn’t miss so much school.
Since it was Sunday, we noticed this day was our most musical by far, with the children often singing and dancing while waiting and once even dancing into the photography setup.
It was a tired, but happy team who headed back to Nairobi for our final distribution tomorrow.
Veri Presswood
Team Kenya 2007
