Juja Farm

Hi guys, sorry I have not blogged in a while but I have been crazy busy since I got back. I still have several blogs from my trip so stay tuned and I will post them as soon as possible. Here is one now:

Last week I went to visit Happy Life's 2nd campus, Juja Farm. Three years ago HLCH bought 5 acres of land outside of Nairobi in the countryside. The purpose of this campus is to provide a home like setting for the school aged children from Happy Life whom are not yet adopted and do not have school sponsors. Kenya school is "free" but parents are responsible for books, school supplies and uniforms which amounts to $30 a month or $360 a year. The 6 older kids I talk about have sponsors from various countries like Kenya, USA, Canada, Switzerland and Sweden. But most of Happy Life kids do not have sponsors. This campus servers as a home and provides a home school environment for these children.

Juja is located 30-40 minutes outside the city in a small rural community. The campus is beautiful. There is one finished home housing 17 kids and one remarkable mum, Grace. The second home is halfway complete. Across from the homes is an all-purpose building which holds church services for the kids and community members and various gathering events. At this time the children are schooled in the large building but this is a temporary solution. Plans for three classrooms are drawn but are on hold until funds are secure. The goal for Juja Farm is to be an asset to the community as well as the children that live there. A place to provide jobs, a place to worship, a school and eventually a health clinic.

I have a great passion in educating children in developing countries, especially girls. Globally Free is not just a blog but I am currently forming a 501c(3) non-profit with the same name. My first goal is to raise the needed money to build three classrooms at Juja Farm. It was inspiring to see these beautiful, charming, eager to learn children showing me empty land with goats roaming and describing a building that will one day be built to educate and inspire them. The total cost of this project is $25,000. This will give our 17 plus community children a school and will provide about four jobs for community women. My goal is to raise money for the school so when I start my junior year in August, these students can also start classes in their new school.

Birthday in Kenya

It was quite a full day of birthday celebrations. We started off at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage. They currently have 22 baby African elephants, most of whom are orphaned by poachers. The orphanage is only open from 11am-noon. The staff are world experts on hand-rearing baby elephants with 24 hour care, including sleeping in their stables. I hope Ava does not read this part because she would be very jealous of the keepers. We then had lunch at Carnivore, a Brazilian-style restaurant. Yes, I did eat meat but did not try the ox balls. They sang me not one but three birthday songs and gave me free dessert.

We arrived back at the human orphanage and decorated for the party. We had cake for everyone and a special party for the older 6. Instead of presents for me, my mom and I had presents for them, mostly school supplies, books and candy. We watched Brave with the 6. It was a very busy but memorable 16th birthday.

The birthday cakes were quite interesting. No wonder there are no fat people here, no one really knows how to bake. Not to be cruel, but the cake decorating looked as if a small child had done it. Someone needs to teach these people about cake. And cards. There are no generic "Happy Birthday!" cards. There are cards for happy 1st - 12th birthday, and then "Happy Birthday from Specific Relative" (aunt, uncle, sister, brother, etc). It was very strange. The other volunteer here, Rachel, made this work by drawing in a 1 before the six on "Happy 6th Birthday" card.

The card from the older kids was the best though. Leah felt the need to write any word she could possibly spell on the outside of the card. She showed us her excellent rhyming skills. She started with luck, tuck, buck.... and so on until she reached the letter F. My mom caught her before she wrote it completely and convinced her that the 'c' should be an 'i'. Swear word avoided.

Food

            Some of you might be wondering what exactly we’re eating over here. This is the usual food for each meal:

Breakfast:

                        Chai Tea/Coffee

                        Mango/Banana/ Pineapple

                        Toast (always)

                        Everyone has tea in the morning, even the kids.

Lunch:

                        CHIPATI*

                        Rice/Veggies (maybe)

                        *CHIPATI is the best thing ever. Its like a fat crepe. It’s made with                                     flour, sugar, brown sugar, milk, and oil and fried in a pan. It’s amazing.

                        Lunch is always a very light meal.

Dinner:

                        Rice

                        Pasta (never any sauce)           

                        Noodles

                        Green Grahams*

                        Potatoes

                        Goat/Lamb/Beef (we rarely have meat)

                        Chicken (very popular with locals, we rarely have it)

                        Lentils

                        Mixed Vegetables

                        Kale

                        Cabbage (almost always)

                         Bread

                        *Green Grahams are like weird very starchy peas, not very delicious

Chapati!!!

                        

Safari

After the 8:30 am feeding on Friday, I left the orphanage for safari with my mom and four other GVN volunteers. We went to Maasai Mara National Reserve. We saw EVERYTHING!! Lions, elephants, buffalo, hyenas, giraffe, hippos, warthogs, zebras, gazelle, topi, antelope, all sorts of birds, hartebeests, leopard, cheetah, wildebeests, black rhino, and crocodiles. The drive was extremely bumpy getting there but it was worth it. We spent the night in permanent tents which was a new experience in itself.

Our campground was near the Sekenani Gate entrance on the east side of the reserve. There is a Maasai Village near this entrance which we visited. This was quite an experience. Brian was our tour guide. There are 350 people living in dung huts in the village. They wear red to scare off animals. There is a cheif, medicine man and mid-wife to tend to the population. The village owns 300 cows, 200 goats, and 100 sheep. Up to 7 people sleep in one hut with the baby cows, goats and sheep. The babies have to sleep inside so wild animals don't eat them. The Maasai eat blood and milk from all three animals and meat. That is it! The men looked healthy and youthful but the women looked older than their age. They preformed dances for us, and we shopped in their market. Overall, the people seemed very happy and content with their lifestyle. They claim to be Christian since 1997 when American missionaries arrived but one man is allowed 10 wives (because that's SO Christian) They go to different villages to get a wife because they are all related. When you get a wife you give her family 10 cows. Usually men are 24-25 before they marry. Brian was well educated and they all knew how to take pictures and use my moms iphone. Only one member has left the village. He is attending a university in Oregon. Brian says they keep up with him on facebook. The only computers they use are at school.

It seemed like I was transported back in time for 3 of the 55 hours that we were gone. Definitely a great side trip but I was happy to make the 4:30 pm feeding today.

Kenyatta wins. Safari begins!

Since Tuesday, all Kenyans have been glued to the tv watching the results of the election come in. As the days progressed it was clear to see this was going to be a slow process. The IEBC has 7 days to count and report the votes. Uhuru Kenyatta won the presidency.

We are starting to become part of the kid's routine. After the second feeding, we meet some friends out for lunch. Our new friends are also volunteering. They were from Australia and Iceland.

Mom and I are so excited to go on Safari for the next few days. We will not have internet access but will be sure to blog when we get back!

Funny Kids

The last two days we have not left Happy Life and have spent our days with the kids. They are hilarious! Here are my favorite :

Fred:      What is this (as he rubs Rachel's leg)?

Rachel:   Hair

Fred:      Do not tell me lies, those are thorns!

Madi:    What is this ones name?

Ann:     Steve

Madi:    Really?

Ann:     Yes! Well, actually his name is Nathan, but he does not listen to that name. He like Steve better, so we call him Steve.

David:  Why do you have hair here? (As,he rubs the back of Rachel's neck.)         

            You are like a sheep!

It gets very dark at night, so my mom carries a flashlight. She came down through the courtyard looking for us. The kids yelled laughing, "It's the police! It's the police! They are here to get us!" Now Elise is called Police.

Doing Laundry

Movie Night