Mama Alice is cleaning the house right now and I am so
pleased. She speaks a little bit of English, I speak a little bit of Swahili,
so communicating what I want and what she needs is like a game. But I have my
Swahili dictionary on the table to fill in the gaps!
I thought I should do an update on here about what we have
accomplished since Elizabeth and I took over. Some of this may be redundant if
you’ve seen all of my posts on Facebook, but I know some of it will be new!
I’m not sure exactly the date I took over, legally, but we
have made some big moves. The first thing Elizabeth wanted handled was our
oldest class, Class 1, a primary level class. We had around 20 kids in the
class, but Hill Crest was not fit to teach them, as we are a Pre Primary
School. Apparently Isaac was keeping them so that when the project finished, we
could move them there. We never agreed to change our boarding pre primary
school to a day primary school, but that’s what he told the parents of these
kids. Elizabeth’s main source of stress was having these older kids. We both
knew the teacher was terrible, so I moved quickly and found Maasai Joy, a small
Primary school in the hills of Ngaramtoni. The kids got sponsored so we moved
them there and fired the teacher, who we found out was not a teacher… just
someone Isaac met on the street. Good one, Isaac. Now the kids are at Maasai
Joy and doing so well! We miss them at Hill Crest but they needed to be
shifted, for their own benefit!
Around Christmas, a girl with club feet was dropped next to
Hill Crest to stay with the neighboring family who happens to be the family of
a Hill Crest student. We invited Cadogo into school and enrolled her. She was
measured for a uniform and a visiting volunteer bought her two beautiful
dresses, as it didn’t seem she had anything. With Isaac gone, it was my chance
to do something! So I went to a clinic/school/therapy/pre-op house for kids with
burns, club foot, benign tumors, etc. It’s a beautiful facility called Plaster
House. The Founder explained the process and said she would take Cadogo and get
her ready for surgery in either April/May or August/September. I don’t remember
the exact details from that conversation anymore! They would start preparing
her bones for the surgery by casting her several weeks before, and the surgeons
are European volunteers so it technically wouldn’t cost anything, but if the
family/caregiver/guardian is able, they appreciate 100,000 Shilling donations
(approximately $54). Of course, I accepted and waited for them to call and tell
me when to move her into Plaster House! During this time, her mom and siblings
came back and moved into a vacant mud hut next to the school. When we took
Cadogo to Plaster House, the founder said that she was a “wicked case.” They
are confident her feet can be fixed, but it is going to be a long and painful
surgery and recovery.
Word of Cadogo got back to the US through Judi Davis, a
former volunteer, major Hill Crest supporter, and founder of Sunflower Kids
(her NGO that raises and sends money for food at Hill Crest). A 10 year old boy
heard Cadogo’s story and started making and selling bracelets to fundraise for
her surgery, shoes, and for Mama Cadogo to go visit her. He’s so excited about
it and has raised $200 for her! That definitely pays for her surgery and first
pair of shoes, and I will hold onto the remaining and make arrangements for her
mom to go visit her for as long as possible while she is recovering. Taxis are
expensive and Cadogo has a long journey ahead so I’m hoping Colter can keep his
spirit up and keep raising money for her! It will be nice for both mother and
daughter to have each other’s support during this process. Her next step is
casting, so that’s when we I will start arranging to take her mom, or send her
with my motorcycle driver.
The next thing I handled was Noella. We have lost a handful
of the kids I started with in 2012, they moved or their parents split and one of
the parents took them. I don’t remember when Noella stopped coming to school,
but something inside me never stopped asking about her. Maybe it was because
her house was right on the way to hill crest so she was easy to think about,
but anytime I asked Isaac he just brushed it off with her parents shifted, he
was not sure. I asked him at least ten times over time and always settled
because Isaac likes to talk, and most days I just couldn’t fathom asking a
question that could make him talk for another unnecessary 30 minutes. I settled
when I should not have, and I am so angry at myself for that. One day as
Elizabeth and I were going to take care of a personal issue, we passed where
Noella was living and I asked Elizabeth where the family went. She turned around
immediately and started asking the neighbors questions. That was when we found
out that her parents divorced and her mom took the three kids, then her dad
took them, then their grandparents got them, then their aunt, then their dad
took them back again. The dad and stepmom don’t take care of the kids which is
why they were being taken by the other family members. We met with the Aunt,
who is living in the house they used to live in, and she told us how serious
their situation was. We told her to call their dad and tell him to prepare
their things because they would be moving back with their Aunt until we figure
out the best thing to do for them.
Elizabeth and I went on to deal with this issue, and the
next morning Noella and her sister were in school. Before I got there,
Elizabeth texted me and told me that I would cry when I see them, and she was
right. Noella was skin and bones, her face thinned out and that beaming smile
was missing. Her young sister, Angel, jumped into my arms and clung her little
arms around my neck and would not let go. Her cheek was pressed against mine as
she held me. My heart broke and I was reduced to tears at the sight of them. On
my way to school, Angel used to meet me on the street, running to me with her
shoes on the wrong feet, a shirt that was way too big, and a huge smile and
giggle as she yelled “teacher! Teacher! Teacher!” the whole way between her and
me. I always scooped her up, gave her a big hug, then continued my walk to
school. Noella was always one of my favorite students, probably because she
always wanted so much love. She also did this cute thing with her mouth anytime
she spoke English, pursing her lips as far out as they would go. And for being
so cute and gentle, she was also vicious. I always adored her. I couldn’t
believe the two girls I was seeing were Angel and Noella. Elizabeth and I
bought food for her Aunt, who has three kids of her own plus the three she just
took in, so it was necessary. That’s when I turned to Facebook, desperate for
help for these kids. I’m so thankful for the $575 that was raised for them, it
is going to go so far. We will be able to buy so much food over the next
several months and we will also go to the market to get all six of the kids
clothes, and something special for Aunty Noella also. She deserves it.
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