Trips Outside of the Orphanage (part II): The Special School, St. Ann’s, and The Slums

Parachute play at St. Ann's

Allison embracing time with the kids at Nakuru Hills

Taking bags of food to families in the slums.

Nakuru Hills Special School

     Joshua, one of the seniors who no longer lives at Fiwagoh, is very purposeful about giving back to the community.  He has connected with many wonderful young adults through his church in Nakuru and together they formed a volunteer group that helps out various organizations in Nakuru. They named their group Equip One, the same name of the nonprofit our team used to be a part of when we traveled to Kenya.  So our field trip with Equip One was to visit Nakuru Hills.  It is a boarding school for people, age 6-25, who have either a physical and/or metal disability. When we arrived at the school we met some of his friends that are a part of Equip One.  They are a wonderful group of students and young professionals with a heart for God and the least of these.  The principal, Lucy Kihato, another amazing Kenyan, soon joined us and explained how the school is run and what we would see on our tour.  

A classroom where students who have been taught a skill,
use their talents to create items to sell.

     The children with exceptionalities were so friendly.  They had just finished their lunch and were on a break outside. We hung out with the kids for a while and then moved on to various classrooms.               

The Motto of the school is: DISABILITY IS NOT INABILITY, TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE IT.

Principal Lucy Kihato and one of the beautiful girls at Nakuru Hills.

Happy campers. These lovely girls showed us how teachers can communicate
with children who can not speak.  There are several sheets with pictures on them.
The child points to the picture(s) to communicate her needs.

The students and staff all met us in the assembly room to receive items we
gifted them and then they sang to us. Smiles were everywhere.

Saint Ann’s Baby and Children’s Home

     St Ann’s Baby Home was founded in 2007 by Irene Wainaina and her husband.   The home is located right down the highway from Fiwagoh.  This was not my first time visiting St. Ann’s. I traveled there in 2015 with our team and met a young girl who captured my heart.  Her name is Salome.  On this visit I was anxious to see how she had changed.  You see all of the children at St. Ann’s have been their since they were infants; this is their home.  There is a school on site and Irene has hired staff to help with cleaning, cooking, laundry, childcare, schooling, etc…

Salome 2015

Salome 2015 before the braids came out.

Salome 2018

       

In 2015 I kept an art journal of my trip
and this is a painting I did of
Salome.

Irene is beautiful inside and out and to hear her tell the
 stories of how the children came to be at St. Ann’s is heartbreaking

Boys will be boys.

They want to be held.  

Our team found some shade and are just hanging out with
the children coloring and reading.

This old van is a playground for some.

Painted on the wall in the living room at St. Ann's.

The Slums

This is the slums.  It is a city of tiny shacks people call their homes.
Look at the view from one of the houses up on the little mountain as 
I will refer to later.

So proud to stand tall above all of this.

     This is the final field-trip our team took outside of Fiwagoh. As with St. Ann’s, I had been to the slums once before.  There are many slums in Kenya and the one we travel to is where some of the children at Fiwagoh are from.  Generally, someone from the slums will report of a child that is being abused or without a home, then Pastor Benson and Mama Grace follow up on the situation.  If it is not good  he takes the child or children to Fiwagoh.  When we travel to the slums we bring children from Fiwagoh who still have a relative living there so they can visit with them.  

     Once we arrived we waited while people gathered.  Some team members walked over to the elementary school, chatted, and danced with the kids who were on a break.  It is always fascinating  for them to see mzungus (white people).  Soon a group of mothers and grandmothers came over and sang to us. We reciprocated by singing a couple of songs to them.  After the hellos and songs, our team lined up to help hand out 100 large bags filled with rice, beans, soap, and other items.  Each bag went to one family who was selected ahead of time by one of the leaders in the slum. So as a family member received his/her bag of supplies the team members paired up and carried it to the person’s home.  They were so, so grateful for this small gift.

Children on break at school in their required uniforms.
Some kids can not go to school because they can not afford
a uniform.

Ashley dancing with the kids.

A small piece of the slum.

Doneva and I are talking with the man whose home we about to walk to.
Lillian is the girl holding tight to my hand.  I will be telling you more
about Lillian in my ACT's posts.

The man's home.  He is unlocking the door.

Doneva and Lillian patiently waiting.

The young girl is the granddaughter of the lady in green.  Together we were walking 
to her home.  She had pointed up towards the sky when we were about to leave, 
but it wasn't until we came close to the base that we realized she lived on top of 
the little mountain. Fortunately, we met up with Jameson and he
 helped carry the bag..

Once we got to the top, there was a mother and father there as well.  I was taking pictures a little distance away so I didn't notice the look on the little girl's face.  Later we found out she was her step-mother, not her mother, and she had abused the little girl, made her sleep outside, and wouldn't feed her.  That is why she is now at Fiwagoh.  I felt terrible that she had been brought back to see her, however I think she was happy to see her grandmother and father. 

I believe this is John and Zachariah and this reunion was a happy one.
As the team was heading back to the van from the little mountain hike, the boys showed us their
grandmother's house and gladly posed for a picture with her.

     In closing I am sorry this is a longer post but I wanted to put the field trips together in a couple of posts.  I didn't want to drag them out as there are more great things to post.  Blessings to all that continue to read and learn of these beautiful children.

Peace and Joy, 
Krees (kris)