The last week has been quite busy and eventful. On Wednesday, I visited the street children drop-in center again. There was another German woman visiting Pandipieri this week so she cam along with us. At the center the boys were having their focus group discussion so I sat with them. They are all amazed that I can speak Swahili so they all want to introduce themselves and shake my hand. After this went on for a while, we all walked into town to the sports grounds where they played a soccer game. I think the game was probably 20 v. 20 instead of 11 aside. But it was still so fun to watch. None of them have shoes. Most of them barely have clothes that cover themselves. As soon as we left the center to walk to the field, the kids are free to sniff glue or do whatever drugs they do. Only in the center do they have to be clean. So at the field a lot of them were sniffing glue while playing or would take a break to get their glue form the sideline. Basically what happens is they buy these bottle of glue for really really cheap and this is not Elmers glue, it’s like a very toxic horrible smelling industrial type. So they actually aren’t sniffing it, they’re inhaling it. So they just walk around with this little bottle hanging from their mouths. The effects are crazy and the kids who were totally smart and normal at the center become kind of crazy and delusional as soon as we left because they are high from the glue. They will say and do anything… it is so sad because some of them are only 8 or 9 and then some are 18 or so. Street children in general are so overlooked especially in Kisumu so I really feel like I will be able to help a lot just because they are a population that is given so little attention. I try to explain to people how we don’t have street children in the US. I mean obviously we have homeless people, but when was the lats time you saw an 8 year old child living alone on the streets in America? Yea, doesn’t really happen. Yet, here it is so much more common than homeless adults. The good thing is that these kids are OBESESSED with soccer which is really cool because it is a good way for me to bond with them. It is just so sad to hear their stories and they all ask me to help them go home or to help them go back to school or to buy shoes or a shirt or stuff like that. The center provides a lot of good services, but the truth is they just don’t have the funding to help every single child.

Later that afternoon, I went back to the Pandipieri Center and played soccer with the boys for a little while. They were blown away that I could play. And let’s be honest, I haven’t played for like 8 months or so… not quite the same as I used to be haha. But after I would touch the ball they would all be laughing and yelling like crazy. Of course, I couldn’t understand what they were saying because they were speaking their mother tongue, but I would hear the word “mzungu” meaning white person in Swahili or “odiero” meaning white person in their mother tongue. So I asked the teachers to translate and apparently the kids were saying “Wow, the white girl knows how to play” and “the white girl can actually run,” hahahah. I guess I impressed them a little…

Thursday night I slept at Pandipieri. They have two center pretty close to each other. One is where the 40 or so boys stay and they other has the school on the compound and is where the 6 girls stay. So I slept at the girl’s dorm. They have a house mother who helps take care of them and lives with them. We had dinner and then I got to hang out with the girls. I brought some nail polish so we did manicures and pedicures… yes I even touched some of their feet despite my extremely disgust and hatred of feet, but this seemed like an appropriate time to suck it up. The girls were totally in heaven. They don’t really speak English so well so most of them were speaking Swahili and their mother tongue so the house mother was there with us and translating. They were all so excited and kept saying how they felt so pretty with their fingernails and toenails painted!! One girl even told her house mother that she thought I was the nicest white person in the world and she couldn’t believe I wanted to be friends with them and help them…. After we painted nails and took a bunch of pictures the house mother wanted each of the girls to tell me their story about how they wound up there. I wasn’t too excited about this because I wanted it to be a fun night and not a night where they had to talk about their horrible past. Of course, I lost that battle and they all told their stories with the house mother translating for me. There are 6 girls age 10, 11, 11, 13, 13, 15 ( I think). Some of their backgrounds include being total orphans, daily beatings, born out of wedlock and abandoned by parents, week long treks to Kisumu to find food, living on the streets for weeks, abusive step-parents, sexual abuse, drunken family members, child labor and starvation. Their stories were absolutely heartbreaking and overwhelming. All of the girls are so smart such hard-workers. All they want is to be able to go to formal school, but the center can’t afford it. Also if they want to go to formal school they need a place to be able to stay and most of them don’t have any living family members or anyone in their family who wants them. So sad…. But overall the whole night was a blast and I hope I will be able to spend more time with them.

Yesterday, I met up with an American family from Portland who has come to Kenya for 6 months to do volunteer community work in a small place a few hours from here. So I hung out with them most of the day and we went out to dinner with us and another American family from here. It was so funny to be at a table with 7 other white people talking about the election and crazy/awkward Kenyan stories. It was really really fun. I would have to say that is the thing I miss the most about home... being around other people from my culture who share my background and understand my mindset. Don’t get me wrong, I love living in another culture and learning how other people view the world, but it’s nice to discuss this with other people who can understand where I’m coming from. That’s why this week has been great because I spent time with the German woman and two American families so I’ve had my fill of white people interaction for a while haha.

I’m excited to relax this weekend. This morning I slept in (until 8:30, very late for me) and had some coffee and was able to relax. I watched a little Fresh Prince and some BBC News… not a bad morning. Yesterday evening I watched American Idol reruns and Oprah. So I also get my fill of American TV….

This upcoming week will be very busy. I’m working on quite a few projects with both Pandipieri and KYFA. For Pandipieri, I’m helping write a proposal for an increased sports and recreation program for the kids. I’m also doing some teaching and home visits. Also, I’m working with HOVIC (the street kids drop in center) to help write a proposal for a soccer program for them. I would like to be able to help them find some funding so the kids could practice on a regular basis because they are joining the KYFA league this year, yayy! With KYFA, I am helping to develop their procedural handbook, a contract for their referees, and a code of conduct for all positions within the organization. They are trying to build a resource center related to sport management, so hopefully I’ll be able to help considering that’s what my degree is in haha. I’m also working with one of the KYFA staff members to help him pioneer an economic development program in his home area which is just outside of town here. So I basically have a lot of stuff going on and a lot of people asking for my help. They obviously want my input, but I’m sure they are also looking for me to be a financial resource so I’m hoping to be able to assist with fundraising and be able to use my resources and connections from home.

Bottom line, I have lots going on and lots to do. All anyone talks about here is the election and most people here in Kisumu legitimately believe they are related to Obama and that if he wins, the will benefit tremendously. Some people actually think that all Kenyans will be relocated to America for free and be able to form their own state becoming the 51st state in the US… I try to tell them this is not going to happen but a lot of people are convinced it is. Oh well….

I miss everyone. Keep the life updates coming!!!