Muzungu

Children are so innocent, no matter where in the world they are from. As a muzungu (someone who is a native English speaker) I am the object of fascination of many people, particularly children. Walking through Githurai translates into children running up to me, and any other muzungus I may be with, yelling "Hi hi hi muzungu!," and touching our hands. Based on testimonies I read from other volunteers, this is common. However, it is such a striking event and impossible to become accustomed to. Yesterday, when Franceska and I left Elshadai, a group of school kids immediately bombarded us and upon grabbing our hands, exclaimed, "their hands are so soft!" Franceska and I didn't know what to say. Kids pick up on the most interesting things.

All the children at Elshadai speak English and speak it well. There are currently 26 children who call it home; the youngest, Anthony, is 3 1/2 and the eldest is 17. I do not see much of the teenagers except for Benjamin who laughed at me when I asked what that animal with no feathers on its neck was (it was a chicken). Charles is the youngest mtoto (baby) at the orphanage but he is not technically under Elshadai's care. He is the baby of Debra who works at the orphanage. He cries when he sees muzungus but he is slowly getting used to us. Yesterday, when we drove over to the school to bring the kids lunch, Charles rode on my lap. He didn't cry and actually seemed very content, which was a big step for him.

Elshadai is run by Pastor John and his wife, Kezia.  They are registered with the government but do not receive a single Ksh (Kenyan shilling) for help with the children. John and Kezia must rely on help from friends and donations. When there is a need to feed 26 children, plus staff, plus the staff's children, plus themselves,  donations seem to go only a short way.  Budgeting is actually a necessity and there is no such thing as spending too much because when the money runs out, that's it.

There is no running water at the orphanage and no Western toilet. The latter I experienced in Morocco but definitely not to this extent. One's imagination cannot fathom how desperate the outhouse situation is at the orphanage. Disease is so easily spread for reasons I have experienced for myself and it is frustrating to know that cleanliness is not an option for these children. Chickens and roosters walk around the orphanage. Washing hands is not common since water is scarce, especially since the water they use is collected rain water and it has been dry for a while despite this being the "wet season".

The children need attention more than anything. They go to school through sponsorship of the orphanage. When we went to the school to visit them, we played with them as well as the other school children who do not return to Elshadai at the end of the day. All they wanted to do was play with the muzungus. They played with our hair, jumped on our backs for piggyback rides, and became captivated by my tiny silver stud earrings. I tried to learn as many words as possible from them: bata (duck), buzi (goat), habari asubuhi (good morning) plus a lot more I will make a separate post for. The children all have English names: Faith, Charles, Eunice, Stella, Nelson.  This is not surprising after realizing pretty much everything is in English here and it comes as a huge surprise when a muzungu speaks even a word of kiswahili. The road signs are in English, the shops advertise in English, and the soap operas are in English.

On the topic of soap operas, "The Poor Heiress" is pretty fantastic. It is what we watch with Amina at 6pm sharp every day while eating dinner. A lot of international soaps air on Kenyan TV with incredibly horrendous English voiceovers. There is everything from Filipino soaps to Mexican soaps (looking at you, Erica). After 6, we are not supposed to be out unless we are coming home via taxi, so usually we watch soaps and the news in kiswahili with Amina then play with Dornel, her 4 year old son who has more energy than any child I've ever known. He finished school this week and will resume in May. There are three major breaks during the school year: three weeks between April and May, three weeks between July and August, and five weeks for the end of the school year between November and January. By the way, he just passed his exams at the top of his class. All he's been chanting is "I'M NUMBER ONE!"