Sex, Drugs and Sausage Rolls.

Along with preparing for our project with Freewaters and spending part of our days at Mattaw, Phil and I are also doing work for our non profit organization back home called Until Then. We are a street kid organization that focuses on awareness and advocacy through partner programs and you can learn more at www.UntilThen.org. So yesterday we spent the afternoon meeting with street kids.

I'm going to tell you Rosemary's story because I want you to pray for her and the thousands of girls like her. Her name isn't really Rosemary, but that shouldn't matter.

Beautiful Rosemary. She is 19 years old, though she doesn't really know how old she is. We don't know if she's orphaned or where her parents are, but Phil has known her for about 6 years, always as a street girl. He and others around Kitale have tried multiple times to help her and her 3 children, the youngest of whom is 5 weeks old, but she always ends up back on the street, which should be an indicator to the years of abuse she's suffered. Rosemary is a fighter, the fact that she is still alive and still wants help is a miracle. Yesterday she proposed to us that we help her start a small shop where she can sell soap in the slum. You may remember our post about Peter and how Phil helped him a few years ago start a business that is still thriving today.

Having read the book "Half the Sky" by Nicholas Kristof earlier this year, we knew that we needed to know more to successfully help Rosemary. We learned that she hadn't had more than 3 years of formal education and cannot read or write at all, nor comprehend simple arithmetic. This was not surprising since she is a street girl, but my immediate thought was that supporting a shop is setting her up to fail. There was a representative of Youth Apart having lunch with us also, and she proposed that we help Rosemary learn a skill through trade school. Ever heard the saying "Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime"? Phil and I want to provide something lifetime-sustainable for street kids. Rosemary is going to learn how to sew, and she will be able to support herself for the rest of her life from that skill.

Rosemary is a statistic of so many things. The irony of "Sex, Drugs and Sausage Rolls" is that Rosemary can't read, yet that is what her shirt said yesterday... she bought it because of the bright colors. She has been through it all and wears it on her shirt. But she is also our friend and we're going to help her. Again. Our prayer is that we can do it the right way, which we realize isn't the easy way. There are over 150 million children on the streets of the world like Rosemary. That's overwhelming. Today we can try to help one. Thank you for contributing to Thanksgiving in Kenya, it's how we're able to help Rosemary.

We haven't been able to find the two girls Phil wrote about the other day.. let's hope that means they are somewhere better...

Ever Hopeful,

Dalene

below is the priceless smile of a rescued child at Mattaw, courtesy of Phil Hamer

Picnic time

 Today we took time out from our busy schedule to have a picnic at the Mayer Farm.  We ate thanksgiving leftovers and took pictures in the sunflower fields.  It was a good time for all.

Asante"giving"

On Monday we had Thanksgiving- I'm not sure why we did it on Monday, but we are in Kenya, so it really didn't matter when we did it.  We ate until we were sick, and then like all good American's do, we watched "National Lampoons Christmas Vacation" (as you can see in the picture below).

It is easy for us to reflect on how blessed we are while we are here in Kitale.  Everywhere you look there is someone in need.  It is heartbreaking to see the 6 year old glue boys on the streets, and the poor mothers who are unable to provide food for their malnourished babies, and the children we visit everyday at Mattaw Children's Village who are orphaned or abandoned.  It is easy to feel blessed, but it is hard to see hope.

Today I met two young street kids, aged 7 and 13.  At first I thought they were boys, but after talking to them, they explained in the little English they could speak that they were sisters (looking like boys is a common defense mechanism for girls on the street- they are less likely to be raped if they are thought to be boys).  With their limited English, and my limited Swahili, it was difficult to have a conversation.  But I was able to understand that these two girls were from the town of Bongoma, had been on the streets for only a few weeks, and had to leave their parents because they could no longer feed them.  This is a common occurrence in developing countries.  When families can't afford food for their children, many times they are sent to larger towns to scavenge or beg for food.  After a few minutes of talking, I had to go, I had to leave these girls to fend for themselves on the street.  As I drove away I had a pain in my stomach like I had been hit with a sledge hammer- it was the pain of knowing that I should have done more to help, and I didn't.  I circled around the block to see if the girls were still there, but they were gone.

All day today I could not stop thinking about them.  Sending them home to Bongoma would only cost about $20, and providing their family with food would cost very little in comparison to what it costs to feed a family in the US.

After working all day today on the drilling equipment for our well project, I returned to town to try and find the girls again.  I circled the block I first saw them on, but was unable to find them.  I asked a few older boys if they knew them, but they did not.

My hope, for the moment, is that we can find these girls tomorrow and help them return to their family.  My hope is that it is not too late.


Phil

A few pictures from our day today...

Only in Kenya does a motorcycle become a 4 passenger vehicle...

Georgie Style...

 Charles...

 Happy face...

 

Us...

help us give a goat...

Some friends of ours have a children's home here called Mattaw; if you're following us you've heard of them before and have seen some of the beautiful children in photos from other posts below. They are doing a gift drive called Cows for Christmas in hopes of becoming more self sustainable, and have three already! One thing we've learned with them is that goats milk is the best thing readily available for children infected with HIV/AIDS. With donations through our Thanksgiving in Kenya fund, we want to gift the children a goat for Christmas. Realistically, they wont understand the impact of the gift, or why they will drink goats milk instead of from their cows, but it will change their lives. After all, the best gifts are those that change lives. All of these children are orphaned and abandoned, and some have stories so atrocious you wouldn't think it possible in the few years they've been alive. But they are all precious and they now know that they are loved.

We want these kids to have the best goat... the milk from it will literally give them life, and the cost for the best is around $300. We are here in Kitale with them until December 1st. Help us gift these beautiful children a goat!

(below are photos from day 4 at Mattaw, courtesy of the Phil Hamer, camera extraordinaire)

 

A hard day in Kitale

It was a hard day today in Kitale.  After a great day at Mattaw, I (Phil) met my friend Sammy at the district hospital to help out one of his friends.  As usual, the story was confusing and hard to understand over the phone, but after meeting Sammy and his friend, it all started to come together. 

Sammy's friend Faith, a young girl no older than 20 years old, had gone into labor two weeks ago, at the same time her husband was killed in a car crash on his way home from Mombasa.  Faith had complications during her labor, and needed to have a C Section at the hospital (most girls from the slums jut give birth in their homes).   However, Faith did not have the 7000ksh to pay for the C section (about $70USD).  After her baby was born, she was informed by the hospital that she would not be able to leave until she paid her bill, and that she would continue to be charged 300ksh everyday she stayed. 

In a country where the average person makes less than $1 a day, for a poor girl who was orphaned at the age of 10 and lives in the slums, paying a $75 bill is impossible.  We were able to pay Faith's bill using donations made by people who clicked the button on the top of this blog to donate.  After getting Faith out of the hospital, where we had to literally show a receipt at the door before letting us leave with the baby (similar to Costco), I asked Sammy a question I wish I hadn't.

I asked Sammy "What would have happened if we weren't here to help Faith?" Sammy responded "They would not let her leave with her baby until she paid the bill."  At first I laughed, unable to comprehend what Sammy had just said.  He reiterated, "Many times the Moms have to leave their babies because they cannot afford the hospital bills, and then the babies are sold".... "Sammy? Really?" I stated in disbelief.  "If you don't believe me, let's leave Faith and see what happens." 

After getting home, I couldn't stop thinking of the 50 or more other women in the maternity ward laying with their babies, and how many of them won't be able to pay their bill.  And what will happen then. 

I asked a few other friends in town if what Sammy had told me was true... everyone sadly corroborated his story.  Each person I had talked to knew of at least someone who had the same thing happen to them.  There was also an investigation that happened at another hospital in Kenya where a woman was kept hostage in a hospital for two years because she was unable to pay her bill and unwilling to leave her new born child.  

I'm not telling this story to guilt you into donating more money to help, I'm not telling you this story because I want you to be impressed at something we did to help, I'm not telling you this story to show the horrors of Africa.   I'm telling this story because I don't know what else to do. 

oh, Thailand.

I was in Thailand this past March for only 8 days, but it was long enough to ruin my world view. Now when children are running around restaurants or skateboarding along the street by themselves I panic. Phil often has to calm me down and lock the car windows so I won't yell at them, in hopes that it will scare them of strangers and they will find their parents. Being in Kenya is a nightmare only in that we are surrounded by abandoned children playing in the streets and no one seems to care except perhaps the pimps that would recruit them. Needless to say, I'm a broken mess from those 8 days, all those months ago. Alex Miller of Defend and Empower forwarded me a news article this morning that I'd like to share with you, to remind us both that justice does happen occasionally. Alex and I were roommates in Pattaya, Thailand, and she has invested much over there in rehabilitating victims.

The news article is copied from the Pattaya Daily News.

Child Prostitution Ring Uncovered in Pattaya Internet Café

(this article is copy/pasted from http://www.pattayadailynews.com/en/2010/11/17/child-prostitution-ring-uncovered-in-pattaya-internet-cafe/)

"The manager of a child prostitution ring has been arrested for the second time in Pattaya for the sale of under aged children to foreign clients for sexual gratification.

Pattaya, 16th  November 2010 [PDN] At 10.30pm Police Lieutenant Colonel Kreetha Tonkhanarat, head of the Child and Women Protect Center from Police Gendarme Region2, along with his team and an arrest warrant number 911/2553 signed on 28th October 2010 for the arrest of  Mr. Traiphop Bunphasong [40] from Sinkburi, an internet shop owner, for child abuse and providing children for prostitution.
The suspect was arrested in the SF Cinema on the 6th floor, Central Festival, Pattaya Beach Road, whilst watching a film.
 
Mr. Bunphasong had been arrested previously on 4th July 2010 for child abuse and providing children for prostitution by the same officer and taskforce, but was later bailed.
According to recent records relating to the Child and Women Protection Center, Police Gendarme Region 2 officers had apprehended several foreign suspects who had committed offences of child abuse with further investigations showing that Mr. Bunphasong managed the prostitution of the boy’s under15 years of age for the foreign suspects.
The Officer collected all the necessary evidence before requesting a warrant from the Pattaya Provincial Court for the re-arrest of Mr. Bunphasong.
Under a brief interrogation, the suspect Mr. Bunphasong continued to deny all allegations presented to him by the arresting officer and was subsequently sent to the investigations department for further charges.
 
This is a continued investigation following the arrest of the internationally renowned Russian musician Mr. Mikhail Pletnev earlier this year when investigators successfully uncovered a network of paedophiles operating through various “front” internet café businesses in Pattaya and statements obtained from a victim of the alleged scam who revealed that the operation involved largely foreign clientele with Thai men acting as intermediaries.
Allegedly after the children ran out of money whilst playing games in often unlicensed internet café, they were offered the chance to pay off debts by performing indecent sexual acts with foreign clients. The Photographs taken of the incidents was then uploaded onto the internet and the child would then continue to earn money in this way to fund their gaming habits or leave.
The Child and Women Protection Center have already devised a “blacklist” of all suspected offenders in the network and investigations into their whereabouts are already underway."



Take THAT, most disgusting people in the world. May all those that prey on children be persecuted in this life and the next.

Pictures from today...

Some Pics from our day at Mattaw

Here are some pictures from our day at mattaw yesterday...

http://www.mattawchildren.com/

thank you

It's Sunday afternoon here in Kenya. The rain is falling for the second time today as I sit beneath the covered porch and hear the gentle drops hit the leaves of the banana trees in the yard. In the distance I hear birds chirping and a drum being pounded, I imagine there's children dancing to it as their afternoon church service continues with no end in sight. Sitting here, feeling the cool breeze from the rain and smelling the sweetness of the afternoon I know I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.

We've been in Kenya since Monday night, and arrived in Kitale on Wednesday afternoon. Since coming to Kitale, where Phil and I met, we've been busy, and it's been good. Among seeing old friends, meeting new ones, celebrating birthdays, having fiestas, visiting and filming at Mattaw, eating, sleeping almost normal, and going to town, Phil's phone has been ringing non stop. It's about 3pm here and he's already had 27 missed calls today from street kids and others needing help. You may have read our previous post about Ian going home, but what Phil didn't share is that it's because he has spent so much time with the older street boys over the years that they helped get Ian on the bus. There are thousands of street kids here and only a few are successfully rehabilitated. The older street boys may no longer live on the streets, but they do run the streets. And some of them got to do something different: they were able to send one boy home and be his hero.

If you donated to our Thanksgiving in Kenya Fund, its because of you that 7 year old Ian got to go home. For Ian's bus ticket, new clothes, food, water and change in his pocket it was exactly $25. Because of your contribution there is one less child sleeping on the street. As Phil mentioned in his post for Until Then, its not always this easy to help reunite a child with his family. But when it is, we jump on it!

This is Peter. He's an older street kid that Phil met before he filmed Glue Boys, and he currently lives in the trash dump outside of town.

Peter is a successful businessman, which started with a micro-loan that Phil was able to provide him with years ago because of a donation. The other day we heard from some boys in town that Peter was sick and unable to work. They were worried and called Phil for help. Because of your donations to Thanksgiving in Kenya, we were able to help Peter see a doctor and get him medication for typhoid and malaria, two diseases which could have killed him within a month. It cost 15 dollars to save Peter's life.

On behalf of Peter and Ian, we want to thank you for your donations to Thanksgiving in Kenya. We could not have helped them with out you!


Dalene

New blog on Until Then

Check out the new blog I wrote for the Until Then blog...

http://untilthen.org/Until_Then/STORIES_2/Entries/2010/11/12_Ian_is_on_the_buss....html

Phil

First day in Kitale

Today was our first day in kitale. Saw a few old friends and started finding the equipment needed for our well project. I went out to the Mattaw Children's Village (the group we are doing the video for) a few times picking up kids and taking them to the drs. here are some pictures from today...

 Starting to shop for supplies for the well in town...

Lucy from Mattaw.  She is 5 years old but looks like she is only 2 because she was so malnourished as a baby.  She loved playing games on my phone and looking at pictures of herself.

Found the best shoes ever- i'm assuming these shoes are named after the famous Phil Hamer...  they didn't have my size, but my new mission on this trip is to buy a few pair.

 

Hey Aaron- saw a patagonia sticker on a truck in town... 

more to come tomorrow...  if you haven't checked out UntilThen.org or Freewaters.com yet, check it out for more info on what we are doing.   Freewaters sandals will be available in February.

We are having a fiesta tonight, nothing like Mexican food in Kenya...

Phil

Karibuni Kenya!

We made it. It took what seemed a week, but we are finally in Nairobi with our dear friends Bud and Kimberly Huffman of Mattaw Ministries (check out their work). Tomorrow we head for Kitale to stay with them and help out with their NGO, and then in 3 1/2 weeks Freewaters will be here to dig a well in Kisumu!

Africa is home for me, and it feels so good to be back. I breath easier here, which if you've been anywhere in Africa must seem ironic since it stinks like burning trash and human waste most of the time.. is it strange that I find comfort in that? Probably, but it is what it is. London was a good layover for us, we were able to spend time with a childhood friend of mine and stay awake long enough to ease the transition of jet-lag (even though we ruined it today by sleeping in until 2:30pm). We were able to watch the fireworks show the city put on in honor of Guy Fawkes Day, which to our disappointment was to celebrate that he wasn't successful in blowing up the Parliament buildings... why would you have a weekend long celebration called "Guy Fawkes Day" if it's to celebrate that he was a criminal? Oh, England. Other than that, it was good. We saw more of the underground than the touristy stuff, but we just needed to stay awake.

Today we went to Westlake Mall, which was very posh. We usually come to Kenya and are lucky if we have showers every day, but our first introduction was to a mall! It eases the culture shock though.

No photos today, we put a couple on facebook but none exciting enough (unless you saw the one Phil posted... oh boy).

Thanks for following us!

goodbye taste buds

We are on our way to Kenya! Yesterday was my birthday and we spoiled ourselves with amazing food. When you come visit us in Seattle (when we get back..), we'll take you on a food tour and you can treat us to where we ate yesterday. Toulouse Petit in downtown Seattle is amazing. Even more amazing is my wonderful husband and friends who surprised me there with a birthday party!
And thank you to those that donated to our "Thanksgiving in Kenya" fund in honor of my birthday! The fund is still accepting donations if you would like to contribute ;)

So, we're in the airport taking advantage of the free WiFi and ready to get on the plane! We've watched "Modern Family" and are enjoying the travel-stereotypes.

First stop, London. I hear we'll be able to partake in Guy Fawkes celebrations. Should be fun, maybe we should watch "V for Vendetta" on the plane?

because it's my birthday

The recent popular thing to do with birthdays is to 'donate' them. One Day's Wages does this, as does World Orphans and countless other non profit organizations. Well, I want to do it too! So, to make it easy on you, I'll tell you exactly what I want for my birthday. I'm turning 24 after all; that's a nice number and I'm going to make the most of it. I like the sound of "two dozen". For my gift, will you donate 2, 4, 24, 2000, 4000, 24 million... dollars to Until Then? You can use the 'donate' icon to the right of this post by "Thanksgiving in Kenya", which will take you through paypal. If you don't have a paypal account, use your credit card! I don't discriminate!
All funds donated are also tax-deductible, so its a really great "thank you" gift back ;)
I know that you love me, and I'm so thankful that you support our passions of serving the world. This gift will keep on giving.


Happy Birthday to me!