[Kwg-list] update from Kenya

[Julie Hard]

Hello Friends,

Mike and I are now in the internet cafe in Kisii town which we will
try and make our habit every Wednesday.  Please feel free to send us a
note and we will try to briefly respond.  It is always so good to hear
what is happening at home and we thank those of you who have sent us
messages.  Because the internet is unpredictable here (you would
understand if you saw the jumble of cables hanging on the outside of
the cafe) we have not been having much luck updating our website with
photos so please accept our apologies for those of you who have been
trying to see the updates.

Mike and I have now settled in quite nicely to our temporary home in
Rongo, Kenya for the next 4 months.  Just as quickly we have begun
work in the community disability programme and in some cases have
picked up where Sarah and Blythe (the two students from McMaster) have
left off.  We have been keeping quite busy as there are many, many
children with disabilities in the area.  Generally, I do the physical
assessments and treatment programmes, Mike takes photos and amuses the
children while they wait their turn.  At times he is required to
assist holding the odd child down during stretching exercises.  In
addition he has been helping the school at Kitere out by fixing their
computers.

We laughed yesterday when the headmaster approached Mike and asked him
to look at the school's printer which was having trouble with the
mouse.  Mike looked at him puzzled for obvious reasons, shrugged and
said he would take a look.  He then discovered that the problem with
the printer was indeed its mouse! One had managed to climb inside and
had eaten all the wiring!!  Needless to say, the problem was not
repairable because of all the damage done to the inside.

Missing home and the Halloween season we decided to also celebrate
Halloween here despite all of the strange looks that we received from
the Okidis and their neighbours.  We did not want to go over board and
decided to forego the costumes!  Instead, we bought a pumpkin from the
market (it was primarily green and white but was the only one with any
hint of orange) and made a happy Jack O' Lantern so as not to scare
the kids.  Then the watchman's children, the neighbour's kids and Mr.
Okidi's cousin's little ones were invited.  They were so cute because
they came all at once and sat on the lawn as a group waiting for "the
party" to start.  When we brought out the pumpkin with candle inside
they were totally in amazement.

I explained what happens in Canada if you see a pumpkin such as this
lit on someone's doorstep.  They all sat and listened intently.  I
then asked who would like to be the first to come to the door and say
"trick or treat".  They all looked at each other then one of the older
boys came up and said "trix oh treeks" and was shocked when I handed
him a gift bag filled with candy (and a toothbrush with paste).  After
he received his reward the rest caught on and in an orderly fashion
came up one by one with their garbled version of "trick or treat" each
successive child changing it ever so slightly until the last child (13
in total) ... it was awesome!  They then sat in the middle of the lawn
eating the candy in the dark until we explained they did not have to
stay there until it was done and sent them home.

Realizing that we had made the children crazy on sugar, Mrs. Okidi has
decided for next year that if the children come again she will tell
them to go to Canada for their treats!

Not wanting to be wasteful of the prized pumpkin and being sensitive
to the fact that many people in the community survive on less than two
meals a day, I then proceeded to attempt to make Pumpkin Soup.  It
turned out well despite accidentally dumping a large quantity of sugar
in the pot.  Mrs. Okidi decided to dump an equal portion of salt into
the pot to counter balance the sweetness and it STILL tasted really
good.  Now the challenge is that there is still sooo much pumpkin left
that I'm afraid we will be eating it for the next two weeks.  Mike
quickly pointed out that people here do not seem to be bothered by
eating the same foods for extended periods of time as ugali is eaten
at almost every meal!

Now that Halloween is finished we've started thinking about how
Christmas will be different this year.  This morning we asked what the
Okidis do for Christmas and it mainly focuses on going to mass,
"taking sodas" and sitting in the house with friends and family for
lunch and dinner.  It will be strange to not see snow outside and to
not pig out on all of the nibbley foods and dips I love so much.

Some people have asked us if we need anything or if they could send us
something for Christmas.  The answer is that we really don't need a
whole lot and are trying to make a concerted effort to be frugal as it
may make our hosts uncomfortable if we open packages sent from home.

Instead, the only needs that we have are to help out the children we
are trying to work with as funding is the major obstacle for improving
most of the children's function.  If people wanted to send a gift, we
ask that you make donations to the Kenya Working Group's "Make a Dream
Come True" Campaign as that will allow us to purchase basic materials
for adaptive equipment. It will also make our coming to Kenya more
meaningful to know that we were able to make a positive impact on the
lives of these kids. www.kenyaworkinggroup.org

Well, that is the update for now.  Tomorrow we are travelling some
distance to a community clinic that Mr. Okidi arranged on the outer
border of the province.  Hopefully the roads will be passable given
that it has been raining heavily the past few nights and it looks like
it will rain really hard today as well.  If we get there tomorrow he
expects the clinic to be large with between 50-100 new assessments for
the two of us to see.  We will likely need to find accomodation in the
community before we drive back to Rongo on Friday.

We are also getting ready to take a number of children for surgeries
November 24th when the Fly-In Doctors come to Nyabondo.  Most of the
children instead of being frightened or worried as I would expect them
anticipating surgery, are excited about having an operation that they
have been waiting so long for.  Some of the children have been waiting
for November 24th for 6-10 years and look forward to it.

I hope all is well with you and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

God Bless,

Julie