Stark contrasts...
We took a 30p bus ride from the slum to the Serena... I reflected how 30p could connect such contrasting worlds
By John A. - Little Rock Early Development Centre - ACA 13/02/2011
Wednesday 9 February 2011
Waiting for Erick to arrive, so I have a little time to write. Getting into a routine now. We leave the house at 6.30am and get to Little Rock about 7.30. The kids are already starting to arrive and Joy and Evelyn start the daily ritual of getting the parents to bring water and/or pay their school fees. Fees are 300/- a month, about £2.50. It may not sound much, but it’s a struggle for most of these parents. There is an awful lot of administration and hassle in collecting a relatively small sum, but Little Rock believe that it reinforces to the parents that they are responsible for their children’s education. As for the water, there is no mains supply here so all water used in the centre has to be brought in. Again they are trying to reinforce the parent’s responsibility by insisting that they bring water every morning.
Morning assembly
There was bad news yesterday. On Monday night there was a fire in the slum and seven of the parents lost all their possessions. When you have very little, this must be hard. I just walked by a truck unloading sheets of corrugated iron for rebuilding the houses. Little Rock are going to give uniforms to the kids involved.
Yesterday I went with Joy to meet a client of hers. She supplements her income by doing some wedding and party planning. We took a 30p bus ride from the slum to the Serena, a plush hotel in downtown Nairobi. Whilst she had her meeting, I sat beside the pool, luxuriated with a cold beer and reflected on how 30p could connect such contrasting worlds.
Sunday 13 February
Two weeks gone already.
Work is progressing OK. I will be working with Evelyn next week to start entering the 2011 data. I hope by the end of next week that we will have January’s data input. The main obstacle will be for Evelyn to get the time to sit down with me. All the staff at Little Rock are busy, but it’s important that she does the Quickbooks data inputting so that she can continue after I leave. We will see how it goes.
I took some time off this weekend. On Saturday I visited the Giraffe Centre which is a breeding centre run by a local wildlife conservation group. The highlight is feeding the giraffes from a tall tower. They have incredibly long bluish tongues with which they lick the peanuts out of your hand. Then on to a shopping mall to buy a few things, and finally round to Lilly’s for dinner. Lovely chicken and a fish called tilapia which was delicious. I got around by taxi to give Joy and Jerry a break from ferrying me around. I was thinking about hiring a car, but the driving in Nairobi is a tad aggressive. I have seen two collisions in the two weeks I have been here, so decided that discretion is the best part of valour and it might be better to let someone else take the strain.
Today, Sunday, I have done the typical Kenyan family day with Joy, Jerry and Chege. We went to church, which is just round the corner. It was packed out and we joined the people standing outside watching through the windows. I’m not religious but the singing and the dancing were absolutely fantastic. The front row of the church was filled with young people in bright green teeshirts, and the choir sat in the next six rows wearing tartan smocks. The hymns were in English or Swahili and were all accompanied by an organ, a drum and tambourines. The young people were up on their feet dancing and everyone was singing their hearts out, clapping and enjoying themselves immensely. A great experience. Then we went on a tour of the city centre and on to the “leafy suburbs” to the north of the centre. Miles of fantastic houses in large gardens behind big gates. Again, what a contrast to the slums of Kibera. Lunch in another shopping mall in an area called Westlands and then home. Dinner tonight is fish and chips!
