Hey All,
Today is Guy Fawkes day and I have let you all down by not updating in over a week! Yesterday, I took the day off and hung low after a dodgy meal of goat meat. :-/ It's amazing how much a day of relaxation can be good for the mind and body.
Things at my placement in Kibera are going really well. Two weeks ago I taught one of the women at the center named Lois Namboso how to write her name. She is thirty-two and has 3 children. I will NEVER forget that. Since then I have been working with her and another woman, Night, on writing and learning the alphabet. I can't tell you how much I wish I could channel my great aunt Loie (also Lois). Loie has been teaching English as a second language for over 60 years and is fluent in something like 4-5 languages. This is her bag of chips, not mine. Though I love reading and writing, English is by FAR my worst subject, and here I am teaching it! I have also never raised a child and taught them how to read. It is hard to know where to start. Other than teaching the ABCs, I have been teaching Lillian (who you may recall me telling you her story in a previous blog) how to use the computer the center just got. Here again I am challenged to remember the basics. The use of a mouse does NOT come naturally, the difference between a click and double click, highlighting words, right click, saving files, etc. Let alone the challenges of a key board! Today I will be doing home visits around Kibera with Evelyn from the center. I am truly falling in love with the 10 women at the center. I am picking up bits of Swahili and giggle with the ladies when I attempt to repeat phrases to them. I pretty much say "sawa, sawa" after everything now (the equivalent of, "ok" or "got it"). About a week a go a school girl in Kibera was playing a game called "run up and hit the mzungu girl in the leg and run away." After the second hit, I had had it. When she came up to attack my calf for the third time I whirled around just before she reached me and yelled, "Habari!" Which certainly startled her and she stopped, but unfortunately for me I chose to scream the word 'news' instead of 'hapana' which means 'NO.'I felt smug at my quickness, but then realized my error about an hour or two later. Haha.
Saturday night I tried my hand at the Nairobi downtown dance seen. I went to a cub with a group of 4 lady friends and a new guy friend Anthony. Although it is intimidating to walking to a club full of only Kenyans dancing, (and they are GOOD dancers)I had no problem dancing from 1am -5:30am and enjoyed my self thoroughly. Traveling always introduces you to so many interesting people. For example, my new friend Anthony is a nurse and works for Doctors Without Borders (MSF-Médecins Sans Frontières). Today he heads back to Sudan for 3 months. He has worked in Sudan and in the Congo and I defiantly picked his brain about working for a company and in a job I have dreamt about!
So, how will you remember, remember THIS fifth of November, 2010? I am in Kenya and about to take a matatu into the largest slum in east Africa. While we all can't be in my shoes, how can you make today unique? Can you change someone's life in a small way? I bet you can.
Hugs and Kisses,
Kris
