Struggle

Tough day.  When I got to school this morning, Shedrack’s mom was there and I knew that if she were there it meant they didn’t have money or food and needed help.  I asked Isaac if that’s why she was there and he said yes so I went and got 90,000shillings worth of flour, beans, rice, oil, and a bit of meat as well so that they wouldn’t have to worry for a while.  Not a permanent solution but it’s better than Shedrack and his mom going another day without food.  I went to the house with them to unload the motorbike and was, again, so distressed by their living situation.  His mom was so grateful she started sobbing into my arms which of course made me cry as well, so we just sat there on the concrete floor and took it all in for a few minutes.  I noticed the piece of foam they used to sleep on was gone, and I asked where it went.  Apparently the dust that had been collected in it had gotten to be too much and was making Shedrack cough in his sleep so they had to get rid of it.  Now they are sleeping on a pile of clothes which isn’t much better considering they probably have two changes of clothes each.  I told her that I’m going to get her a mattress because there isn’t enough space for a whole bed, but a real mattress will be better than the foam and clothes they’ve been sleeping for the past who-knows-how-many years, and she started crying again, thanking and blessing me for the help...may God fill my pockets with money so that I may have a better life than I could imagine.  

I got back to Hill Crest and spent some individual time with Johnson, a family friend of Isaac who just finished his class 7 exams (he’s 12) but comes to Hill Crest to keep reviewing his english and math.  We did individual work and we just went over vocabulary, he’s so smart and has so much potential and I want so much for him.  Isaac, Johnson’s grandfather, and I are going to look at secondary schools tomorrow for him to hopefully go to next year.  (Anyone want to sponsor an incredible kid from an even more incredible family who deserves to continue his education?  Email me, katherine@thisendup.com )  We’ll see which has the best program and figure out costs and everything so that we can find a way to get him there.  I’m anxious to figure out if sponsoring is possible because I’d love to make it happen.  

After spending about 45 minutes with Johnson, another volunteer started cleaning the dishes from the day and complained about how gross the Ugali pot was.  Ugali is a traditional African food that is just water and flour, it’s a heavy and sticky food that is used as a filler here because it’s cheap and easy to eat with hands.  I was so mad that she was complaining about having to do the washing.  Elizabeth does it every day but today she had to take Grati to the hospital and wasn’t there to do it, she said “Elizabeth needs to be here to do this” and I may or may not have flipped on her.  Tomorrow is her last day but it is probably going to be awkward because I wasn’t exactly nice or subtle about what I had to say to her.  Isaac had to pull me aside and tell me to calm down, that she doesn’t know better but I still don’t understand it.  But after two weeks of her coming in late so she doesn’t have to pick up the kids that live far away, leaving early so she doesn’t have to sweep and mop, I am perfectly okay with my reaction to her complaining.  And I’m even more fine with her not wanting to come back, I never thought I would encounter someone like that here but it happened.  That’s all I can say about that particular situation because it’s making me angry and upset just thinking back on it.  

Isaac and I are getting to work on future Hill Crest plans next week.  We are going to talk to builders and contractors, we are going to come up with a design for how he wants Hill Crest to look, and we are going to budget everything.  I’ll be glad to have more time with Isaac and Elizabeth again because I’ve been busy lately doing little things for the school.  This afternoon I’m going to get a water dispenser because the kids are always so thirsty after break and we don’t have anything to drink, and tomorrow we are going to look at schools and next week we’ll get to work so the 3 weeks are going to be very busy.  I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, I absolutely cannot wait to see what is in store for Hill Crest, I am so so so excited to get to planning this new school and Isaac & Elizabeth are even more excited about it.