Day 4

Well, day 4 is just a continuation of day 3 since there was really no sleep!

We are finally in Nairobi, Kenya! 

 

This is the time that we arrived to the East African School of Theology.  The place we will be staying at for the next six days. Yep - it is 3:30 am!!!!

We had a short meeting before we were allowed to head to our rooms.  We were told that we need to be at breakfast at 6:30.  So that is not a lot of time to get some rest.  Heather and I were assigned a room with four other ladies.  We got to our room around 4:00 and I wanted to shower so I only made it to bed around 4:30.  I knew it would be hard to get any sleep so I ended up listening to music until it was time to get up.  Heather said that she didn't sleep at all either. 
This room is like a dorm room: four sets of bunk beds (bless Heather's heart for taking the top bunk), 1 shower (which didn't have a light, but it had hot water), 2 sinks and 2 toilets.  It sort of felt like summer camp - we were very lucky to have such nice ladies to 'camp' with.  We became really close to this group of ladies over the course of our time together.

Day 4 began with breakfast and some very tired travelers.  We were told that we were all going out into the slums in the morning.  This was to invite the locals to our medical clinic that we were offering.  I have to admit that when we met the night before and Pastor John informed us that some of us would be going out into the slums I was definitely not going to go.  Once we were told that we were all going out into the slums, I didn't have a choice.  I guess I didn't know what to expect and I was a bit nervous about my safety.  After being told I didn't have a choice, I was ok with it. 

This is where our true mission work would begin and I definitely wasn't ready for what I was about to witness.  I have seen pictures on tv or in magazines, but this was unlike anything I had ever expected.  I saw poverty, sadness, hopelessness, sickness and fear.  I will forever be changed by what I saw.  We were split into groups of 4-5 people with 2 Kenyan locals that were members of the ICC, the church where the clinic was held.  One of the locals actually lived in the slums so they were able to guide us through the area. 



This is one of the first sights we came upon as we entered the slum area.  It is littered with trash as there is no way of disposing of trash unless they choose to burn their own, which some of them do. 

 It is so sad to see how people are forced to live in their own trash.  As you can see there are many plastic bags which they use to carry their vegetables that they buy each day.

There are no paved roads between the homes, but just dirt roads that are so compacted with trash and waste.  They live in houses made of tin or partial shipping crates or whatever they can find.  Many of them actually share walls as well.  There are three slum areas in Nairobi and the one we visited houses about 300,000 people.  To put that into perspective, that is half of the population of our entire state of North Dakota. 

People end up in the slums for a number of reasons.  Loss of work, born into them, etc.  Only 5% of the people in the slums ever get out of them.  That is what is so sad to me.  There is such a small chance that they will ever leave such poor living conditions.



School children

It surprised me that there were schools in the slums.  Not all children were fortunate to be able to attend school though.  It still costs the families money to send their children to school and there are many families that just don't have the money so their children do not get an education.  I was told by one of the locals that each class has anywhere from 60 - 80 students per class.  So I should never complain about my 20 or more students that I have in my classroom.  I'm not even teaching my students to speak a new language either. 
They begin teaching them English right away. 
The children seem so happy and excited to see us.  They scream, giggle and shout "how are you?"  The locals told us those are the first words they are taught in school because then they can greet any westerners that travel through their area. 


One of the schools in the slums

The people in the slums still have to pay rent every month to the landowner.  It can run anywhere from 6 - 10 dollars a month.  It seems crazy that they should have to pay anything for what they live in.  There is no running water or sewer.  Many of them have a hole that is dug in their homes where they use the bathroom - it drains out into the trenches outside their homes.  There are some bathrooms located throughout the slums, but it costs to use them so that is why most people just dig a hole in their own home.  

Bathroom use for a cost - I'm not sure how much it would cost to use them - not exactly the kind of bathroom facilities that we are used to in America.

 This was a lot to take in and process.  I had no idea that life could be so hard - even when I thought life was difficult - it has been nothing like what these people deal with day in and day out.  I am so truly blessed and I hope that I never forget that!

to be continued.........