SWINGS< ROUNDABOUTS AND MIRACLES

SWINGS, ROUNDABOUTS AND MIRACLES – So thing have changed once again with Peter. For the last week or so he has just been getting on with life in Cheryls, apart from the large tumour on his head you wouldn;t really know anything was happening, he is still his funny and usual self. Peter has a great sense of humour and is always making everyone laugh. I have been buying him plenty of fruit to eat, lots of fluids and a bit extra food. The amazing thing actually though is how is tumour seems to have reduced in the last couple of weeks. It has been remarkable and so before seeing the neurosurgeon I thought we should go back and see the professor. He was astounded and it seems hard to explain! He ahs never seen anything like this before I think, he has seen non-hodgkins lymphomas go down fast but not like this and also tests indicate its not that anyway. So the decision has been made to keep going with the chemo for now and see whats happening, he will perhaps need surgery later but for now if the chemo works as miraculously as it has been then we shall continue. Peter’s case is being presented to the Tumour Board next week and I know the doctors are all very interested in it because its a bit of a mystery! I know lots of people are praying for Peter so perhaps are we seeing a miracle in the making?? I don’t know? But after the sad news of last week, perhaps there is hope!! I’m trying to just take each week as it comes, because the situation is constantly changing and we are swinging from one thing to the other. The hard times are still the hospital, yesterday he had his second run of chemo, and it was a painful day for him, he did struggle and in a way I think it eventually all caught up with him as he sobbed after receiving the 2nd lot of medicine. In a way I was pleased that he could express his emotion, if I was him I would be very unhappy, sad, angry and confused, I am sure he is feeling all these things, this just seems so unfair, but its important he can express that. He is such a good boy, but letting out your emotions is a healthy thing for him. It was an emotionally exhausting day for me and James too looking after him, but we found that a few very competitive games of LUDO cheered us 3 boys all up! Why does Peter seem to win every game??? Especially draughts, he pretty much beats everyone, even the adults!!

BUMPER CARS – ok so yesterday I had my first Nairobi crash, ok well crash sounds a little dramatic, I bumped a bus. Unfortunately the buss was in pretty good condition and had a good paint job. I was trying to pull out of the Cheryls junction, but the traffic was crazy on the way I was going, I decided the only way to get going was to move out and try and get in the queue (pretty much what you always have to do here, no-one really lets you out unless you push your way in). The bus should have let me through, but he decided to just go and force me off, I think he pulled slightly towards me and I let go of my brakes slightly and edged forward (partly because I was so angry he didn;t let me through) and then my bull bar touched the bus, scraping it slightly!! NIGHTMARE! Was sooo worried, it was my fault, but on reflection he was also his to a certain extent. But waiting for police to get involved is a nightmare. We talked, he spoke on his phone to the boss and I paid him some money for the paint job and we both left, annoyed with each other. My heart was racing after, but mainly because I was annoyed at myself. Oh well, could be the first of many, who knows, it seems to happen all the time with everyone! But its not much fun!

HIGH SCHOOL – at the moment many of our high school students are waiting to get back to school. A couple of the schools we were using we have since discovered are really bad schools so we are trying to transfer schools. For girls this is not so bad because in Moi’s time as president he built many schools for girls, but this has left the boys behind. We have 6 boys here waiting to go back to high school, but we are stuggling to find them. Also the cost per child is sooooo huge for us, its about £300 per term all included for the cheaper schools, but even this is high for us, as we have nothing in the bank at the moment for this. We have 6 boys to send to high school, plus lots more form 1’s who are starting high school this year. Its a massive pressure, and I was laying in bed awake at 5am this morning just wondering how we will manage it. I can;t wait for us to build our own high school and a lot of this pressure will be eased, the cost will be much less! As much as we are working hard to buy land to build for our future projects we still need to keep running things as they are, its an almighty task. The amazing thing is how keen they are to go to school and how much they want to work hard. Our children really value education and are disappointed when teachers aren’t performing well and pushing them hard. In a way its sooooo different from home, but here an education can bring you a real future, so its highly valued, but just expensive!!!

POLICE SQUAD – There are many check points at night time on the roads, supposedly looking for stolen goods, drug trafficking etc, but in reality all they do is take money from people and bribes. Well so far I have managed to avoid getting stopped, but the other day I was pulled over. This was at a police check point on the highway, yes the main large 2 lane motorway in the city, they force everyone to slow down and go through this barricade thing, its nuts!! But anyways i was stopped, he checked my insurance and said hello, pointed his torch inside a few times and then thankfully he let us on our way, at that point my heart started beating again! It is a big question for us living here, do you pay a small bribe, just to keep moving and avoid any hassles, but in the process help contribute to an already corrupt society, or do you stand your ground, risk going to court and paying a high fine. Its a big moral dilemma. On the one hand I want to keep my integrity but on the other I don;t want to risk too much and end up paying a huge fine. Its a tricky one, and in reality until I get my residency permit I don;t want to risk too much, but it is a moral dilemma that so far I have not been faced with, but I am sure at some point my luck will run out and I will have to make a choice!

STIMA – I have learnt that the Swahili word for POWER is STIMA. I want to know why does the STIMA always go off when its your day off and you want to relax at home watching some rugby on the TV??? In all seriousness the power going off can get really annoying. We cancelled our movie night at the kids home on Friday because the STIMA was off. Its just one of those things you have to live with here, but its soooooo annoying! If it does it during the 6 nations I think I will cry! (no exaggeration!)

CRIME – So the other day we had a thief in our childrens home. He was in the office going through Mary’s bag. She was down at the school and I hadn;t arrived yet. He was caught red handed. As I turned up there was a small crowd round him at the gate, some of the older boys holding him, Mary holding his arm, everyone shouting loudly in Swahili. I asked what was going on and was told. I thought i would be able to help but after a while realised i did not understand what everyone was saying so just left it as Mary called the police. Stealing is a very serious crime here and I had heard that in crowded areas people can lynch and kill thieves. Well Mary phoned the police, their advice was “just kill him and then we will come and pick up the body”. They couldn;t be bothered with the hassle of arresting him or the paperwork, so easier just to lynch him and deal with the dead body. Now I understood why the guy was so scared and crying, he knew he was potentially facing death! Its strange that even though you hear about stuff, still when you’re faced with it for real its a big shock. Samuel and I sat down and discussed it, we decided we should just make sure he is really scared and warn him off and then just let him go, we don’t want any blood on our hands. So just as we were about to let him go a policeman turned up and took him away. The whole thing was crazy and real eye opener into the culture here. I was pleased that Sam was so relaxed and we had both come to the same conclusion, it wasn;t worth getting upset about and causing problems, such as DEATH! But what it has done is raise concerns about security. We have become aware of people checking out our place and also that our fence is very poor. One of the things we don;t have is a day security guard, which is a problem. Its nice the kids can come in and out of the gate no problem, but we also have so many strangers coming to see us, asking for help and we know some of them will be criminals checking the place out. We have found some resources to put up a better fence and secure the property, but really we need a day guard, where visitors will sign in and out. It will be a shame for the kids as they will be leess free in a sense, but for their safety its what we need to do. But then we have the same problem, money, everything comes down to money, we need to find money to pay a day guards salary, until then we must wait, keep watch.

ARACNAPHOBES – just an update on the spider situation, well they seem to have gone for now. Its the dry season now, very very very hot and while there is no rain, it seems the baboon spiders are vacationing from my house somewhere else! So hope they are topping up their tans and eating plenty, then when the rains come I’ll be ready, watchful, armed with my DOOM spray and a shoe! But for now the spider wars are over!

The link to Peter's medical profile is below on a post, also for the building project as well.