More Room for John's Livestock

After collecting our supplies for the day--10 meters of chicken wire, 7 lengths of lumber, and 2 very heavy sections of cast-off picket fence--we tied it all to the roof of a 1963 Peugot 'taxi' and headed up the Kijabe road to Maingi and John Njane's house.

I may have mentioned this before, but John Njane is a wonder and we are so grateful to a prior group of Kijabe Seattleites for putting us in touch with him. John, his wife and his severely disabled 4 year-old daughter live in a small plank-sided house a mile or so up above Kijabe (this is one of the great cruelties of life: that John, who himself has so little yet is so generous in his giving to and doing for others, should carry such grief. Caroline was born healthy but at 18 months, developed meningitis. She recovered but was never the same. She doesn't speak or walk and will clearly never live independently.) They have a little sitting room, the walls draped with improbably spotless white linens, a bedroom for the three of them and a tiny kitchen with a gas cooker. Out back is a small annex where the 5 rescued street boys from Maai Mahiu live; another tiny room houses Grace, their 16 year-old live-in nanny/housekeeper, also rescued from the streets of Maai Mahiu. Just outside is a shed where an open fire is kept burning to heat water. They have no plumbing and no running water; two light bulbs function on a tiny solar panel.

A few months ago, Veronica (the widow down in the Rift whose house we completed) gave John 10 chicks as thanks for all he has done for her. Now they are ten grown hens that have been living in very cramped quarters next to his 6 rabbits. John wants the hens to lay so he can sell the eggs to help support the boys and so we traveled up to Maingi to help him build a deluxe chicken coop.

It was cold and foggy up on the escarpment, and John's 'yard' was incredibly muddy from the downpour we had here on Saturday. The girls and I dug two very deep post holes using a machete (the universal Kenyan tool) and then we set about nailing up the supports, dismembering the picket fence and re-assembling it into a functional structure. We have yet to string the wire and roof the coop, but when we're finished the chickens should have ample room in which to roost. The old coop will be expanded to more adequately house the rabbits so they can be raised to sell for meat as John is constantly on the look-out for any type of commerce that will help support his family, the widows and the rescued street kids. He hopes to buy a goat, which will spend the nights in the space underneath the new coop.

This evening we returned to Kijabe on foot, via a steep, slippery trail through the forest. Just outside of Maingi, we came upon the local cemetery and a freshly dug grave. The funeral for a 15 year-old Maingi boy who died in Kijabe hospital a couple of days ago will take place tomorrow. The boy committed suicide by drinking sheep dip meant to kill fleas.

Photos: path from John's yard; 1963 Peugot 'taxi'; John and Caroline; one of the boys washing dishes; John's house; eating lunch in John's house; John's hand; rabbits; chicken coop takes shape; hens in waiting; Maingi cemetery.