A Journey to Other Worlds

It is interesting how a day can be both an immense privilege and a heartbreaking descent into despair. It is really impossible to describe the degree of destitution, poverty, filth and need present in the three Nairobi slums we visited today. They are so far removed from anything any of us have ever seen or imagined that they seem like the stuff of nightmares; neither of the three are places fit for human habitation. No human being should be subjected to these kinds of conditions, much less live their entire lives in places such as these. Yet, there are some bright spots--thanks to a handful of amazing, selfless Kenyan workers.

This morning we were met by our driver, Musa, and two pastors with whom our host, Gideon, works. The first project we visited is in Kibera, the biggest slum in Nairobi (also said to be the biggest slum in Africa.) One million people--nearly a quarter of Nairobi's population--live in tin shacks with no plumbing or running water. We walked through Kibera to the little Tumiani school--a school serving 130 children ages 3-6 years, three teachers and an adjacent clinic for kids and adults--supported by Gideon's group. Kristin and Brenna were surrounded by a sea of joyful, shouting children who absolutely loved looking at their photos on the LCD screens of the girls' cameras.

Next we drove to Kawangware, a smaller but no less desperate slum. Alfred and his wife, Ruth, live in the slum and run a small school for children living in Kawangera. There the children sang for us--a truly beautiful little spontaneous show. Our second stop in Kawangware was a small therapy clinic for disabled children living in the slum. The therapist who runs this small clinic--Valentine (known throughout the slum as 'Sweetie')--demonstrated her massage technique on a 40 pound, 8 year-old, severely spastic girl. Valentine is truly a saint--she started the clinic after her own child, who had cerebral palsy, died. She now cares for 30 children with CP, Down Syndrome and other developmental disabilities living in Kawangware--the majority of whom are cared for by single mothers. Valentine also has taken two abandoned, HIV+ teenagers into her own home.

Because this post is so long, and I am just about brain dead from jet lag, I'll pick up in the morning with our Ethiopian lunch and then . . . our descent into hell on earth. The slum of Mathare.
(Also, since our internet connection is very slow tonight, I'll post photos tomorrow.)