Today I started work in the Kibera slum. As the second biggest slum in Africa, it has roughly 3 million people in 2.5 square kilometers. So yes, to sat it is crowded is an understatement. To give you an idea of living costs, it is about 300 shillings to rent a house per month. When I say house, picture your room at home, cut it in half and you have a luxurious size home for residents in the slum. Oh and 1000 shillings is about $12, so do the math and, like mine did, your jaw will drop. It is insane how little people live with and overwhelming when I think that the cost of my shoes could pay for multiple families' rents. Huge culture shock today. Huge.
After the initial shock, we (Jen and I) settled in to school with Gertrude and Martin. The school is about the size of a shack but it is nice and clean inside and there is a small area to sit on the side in the sun. There is also a back room with school supplies and a small cooking area. Technically we don't really teach we just sit with them and color and we took a break to dance :). My favorite! Good thing Martin enjoyed playing Beyonce!
Only the firat day and my heart belongs to a 23 year old autistic boy named Martin. He is very intelligent and worked on math problems for most of the day and then told me about differnt countries. He took some time to warm upto mr but eventually he started playing games with me. He has a history of getting violent so when he grabbed my arm I was a little apprehensive until he started rubbing it saying "soft skin soft skin". He played hand games with me and held my hand sometimes...so sweet! I already cannot wait to go back to this boy.
Overall it has been a great day full of new experiences and love and now I'm sitting enjoying a mocha shake after being bombarded (and ripped off) by marketplace tellers. Good end to a good day! Hope all is well back in the states...everyone here who learns I am from Kenya says I am a sister because of Obama...cracks me up everytime!
