THE BEAUTIFUL GAME – So some people refer to Football as this... especially during this world cup time, but for me the real Beautiful Game is of course RUGBY!!! Its my favourite sport and thankfully is growing and growing in Kenya. More and more locals are getting into the sport especially as the Kenyan 7’s team is doing so well on the IRB world Circuit. In Kenya there are now a number of 7’s tournaments but the highlight of the year is the “Safari Sevens” tournament which takes place at the Harlequins Ground not too far from Cheryls. Over the last few months they have been building a new stand, and as the reputation was so positive proceeding it I felt it had to be something that cannot be missed. Unfortunately I could only make the Saturday, but I booked tickets and took James, Lillian, Neema and Mary (one of the current volunteers). Now as a fan of the original 7’s tournament at Melrose I was very excited to see what the Kenyans could offer. There were plenty of teams taking part from France, UK, South Africa and various countries around Africa. The place was packed with thousands of Kenyans, and a few other international folks. The infamous Vuvuzela used in the current World Cup in South Africa had been on sale in the local supermarket and there were those out in force using them. There were a couple of Kenyan teams playing, including the national one, when they came on the pitch the sound was deafening, the screaming was electric and the dancing was probably vibrating the ground for about a mile around us! It was a carnival atmosphere, which looked very promising. To begin with I was loving the event and vowed to book to come to the whole weekend next year. But the day progressed on and as the crowds swelled with numbers I became more and more disappointed with it all. The rugby was fantastic and of a very high standard, but I began to realise that most of the people that continued to arrive were not that interested in rugby, they just wanted to cheer on the Kenyan teams when they played and get drunk. Fair enough, national pride is important and the Kenyan national team is very good. But a sevens tournament is a festival of rugby, its an exhibition of loads of teams from around the world. As a rugby enthusiast, you appreciate all rugby, even when its not your team playing, at sevens you encourage all teams, welcome them onto the pitch, pick a side and cheer them on, clap and cheer at great try’s etc. Ok ok, so I’m a rugby purist, but as the day rolled on I found that I was amongst the few actually interested in the rugby... the crowds around us kept singing vulgar songs which I would expect more at a football match, they sang bad songs about the ref, and everytime the ref made any decision against a Kenyan team they booed and sang songs slagging him off. Hang on... thats not rugby, thats what happens at football. One of the great strengths of rugby is the respect given to the referee! As the day progressed it got worse and worse, to the point whenever any team did anything good against a Kenyan team like scoring a try the crowd would boo and jeer! Again thats not rugby, if you don’t want to clap just keep quiet. Then as the day drew to an end and we began to leave people started to run on the pitch which is usual at most sporting events and quite funny, but as security tried to catch people the crowds stood and watch as the gladiatorial events took place below, then they began throwing bottles and beer at the event organisers and officials. We left promptly. The papers and press hailed the whole event as a success, the huge numbers of support, but for me the Beautiful Game was spoiled, something that had the potential to be great was ruined. I hear Kenya wants to get a spot on the IRB world Sevens circuit, but I hope it never does, carnival atmosphere is whats required at sevens events, not football crowds. Next year I think I will get folks round to my house and watch it on TV, because at the end of the day, the rugby players were great, the teams were good and they know what rugby is all about, its them who I want to support!
BACK 2 SCHOOL – We have about 35 children in High School, mostly boarders. Each term parents are given a visiting day where they can come and spend time with their kids. We have 7 girls all in one school (All Saints), and when they were home at Easter they requested I came on visiting day with some of the little children. In the end Samuel and myself decided to go together, the 2 dads. We took Chege, Otis and Ruth with us, all aged 3-5 and James and Lillian. We wizzed up the road on a Sunday (which was nice and quiet) and got to the school at about 11am. We were the first parents to arrive. We found the girls and it was great to see them. We caught up with the head and were then escorted round the various teachers to find out how the girls were doing. Its a bit like a parents evening but during the day. There are mixed results with our girls, some are struggling in subjects like Maths and Chemistry, but we are very proud of one of our girls who came top of the year in Form 4 (the last form of school)!!! Also the teachers said our girls are so well behaved and set a great example to the others and are positive role models in the school. It was great to hear this, a real sense of pride for our girls. We then all sat around in the garden area and proceeded to dive into lunch. We had brought cooked chicken stew and beef stew, still warm in the pots, with some rice and chapatti. Lots more parents had arrived at this point but we were definitely the centre of attention, mainly because we were such a big group, 7 girls, 3 toddlers, 2 young adults and the 2 old men, me and Sam. Also being white you tend to stick out at these events, making me a little self conscious, but we were having a blast, laughing and making jokes and everyone stared on. We went round and took some photos (which can be seen below this post). I guess the sad thing was seeing a huge number of girls in one section of the school just staring on to all the visitors, these girls didn’t have anyone coming on that day, perhaps parents were working or couldn’t afford to come, it was sad they could watch everyone else having a nice time, but I heard later that after we all go home, the treats left with the girls are then shared with all the others who didn’t get visitors so thats nice. It was a fabby day, and although it had been a very hectic week it was worth taking this Sunday to head to the high school and see our girls. We really miss them when they go away. Its days like this you are reminded we are one big family and we truely are the parents, fun times!
PETER UPDATE – So many people are asking about Peter which is great, awesome to have so many supporters for him and people praying for him. Well he is doing well, test results recently are looking good, i mean we won’t know fully whether he has recovered or not until he finishes treatment but everything is looking positive. Currently he is receiving treatment every 3 weeks. His next treatment is due sometime this weekend. He has 7 left in total on the current plan, but the good news is that he only has one more which involves injecting chemo into his spine, called the I.T. This is good because its always the most traumatic part of the whole treatment process and the one thing I always worry about. He hates it and being a smart kid he knows its coming each time, but he is dealing with it well, and although he gets nervous before hand he has learnt to just accept and get on with it. BUT great news he only has one more like this and then he will just be receiving future treatments through a drip. This is also good news because hopefully it means we spend less nights in the hospital, but then again it all depends how he reacts each time to treatment anyways. Funding is very low at the moment, we have pretty much worked our way all through the money we raised earlier in the year. We have enough left for the next treatment this weekend and then we will have run out. After this weekend he will still need 6 more treatments and then probably further tests to see what happens next. Based on costs of treatments so far (which average at about £400 per session) we need about £2,400 for the final 6 treatments. If anyone is interested in helping Peter with his final course of treatment please do get in touch ASAP. My email address is: kjbkenya@hotmail.co.uk We are so close to the end and we have come so far we really need to make it to the end to make sure he has the best chance of getting rid of the cancer! Its a shame he is still not allowed to come to school because the chemo reduces his immune system he is at risk of infection, I know he is incredibly bored, but thats a consequence of the situation and he is coping with it. We try and get him work to do but its just not the same as being in school. Anyways please do continue to pray for him, especially as he receives this last I.T. and then please pray we can find the resources to complete the treatment.
THE DROPPING OF NAMES – So who would have thought I would be wining and dining with football superstars???? OK well maybe thats a slight exaggeration, but basically from Kenya there are 2 famous football players: Mariga and Oliech who play for Inter Milan and Auxerre. Oliech grew up in the slum just where Cheryls is based and used to go to the same school as James. He played in the same junior football club as some of our boys. ANYWAY.... Mariga came to the sevens rugby which was kind of cool, but then a few days later James and I were sat at Java house having a bite to eat when this big HUMMER turned up and a small entourage. I joked saying that probably was the famous football guy and of course it was. They came and sat at Java and had lunch... on a different table to us. But I thought it was funny I was dining in the same place as an Inter Milan player... definitely wouldn’t happen in the UK, I don’t move in the same circles as Premier League players! But as I’m in the process of name dropping, I might as well drop another...Jonathan Scott... so do you know who he is... well if you watch Big Cat Diaries on BBC one then he is one of the presenters, the one with the moustache. He lives up in Karen not far from Cheryls, I often see him driving passed and then occasionally he is doing his shopping in Nakumatt and having coffee at Dormands. Apparently he is a really nice guy, but I;ve never spoken to him, but anyways cool to see the odd famous person here and there.
THE DARK SIDE – ok so the title for this section is a bit flippant, but probably due to the fact that I recently watched the entire Star Wars series, which is the first time I have watched them all the way through, 1 - 6, but thats really not important. Recently I have been reminded again about the children we are working with. A week ago one of our foster kids came to school all beaten up, with cuts on her lips and hands and marks on her back. She was very shaken and still in shock I think. The previous night the mother had beaten the girl because she accused her of stealing 5 shillings which is about 4pence. I was so angry and couldn’t believe what had happened... all that over 4 pence, but it demonstrates the poverty and situations people are dealing with and the pressure some of the parents etc are under. However there is no excuse for this kind of behaviour. We know the mother well and this is very much out of character. We provided the girl with medical treatment and she stayed over night with us. We then pursued the situation with the mother and dealt with it all. Many of our kids have gone through this kind of experience, but with all the joy and laughter at Cheryls its easy to forget. Also on our day trip to the high school we met a girl who used to be at Cheryls, but left a few years ago. Her story is very sad, and I can’t go into it all here, but basically her mum started prostituting her out to her friends when she was about 13 years old. The girl ran away from home and managed recently to get to another childrens home. The head teacher at All Saints is giving her a free high school education but now in the holidays she has no where to go, when she ran away from home, Lillian found her working in a hotel near Cheryls, only 14 years old. She is a very smart girl, but its aweful what has happened to her. Its a long story why she is not at cheryls, partly to do with the mother who was causing problems, but we are now stuck in a position where we cannot support her, which is sooo frustrating. When the girl goes to boarding school she doesn;t get any shopping, for example when we send our kids to high school we have to provide things like shoe polish, shampoo, toothpaste, toilet roll, sanitary towels etc etc etc its a huge cost to us but they need it. The sad thing is although this girl gets free education she gets no shopping. I was so encouraged when I heard that our 7 girls share what they have with her (and our girls only get the bare minimum). So although as an organisation we cannot formerly support her its great that our girls have seen her need and are standing by her. Some people question the need for childrens home, and I hear from some of the big NGO workers who think they know everything “I believe every child has family” meaning why put them in childrens home... well I too believe every child has a family but some families are dangerous environments for kids and they are safer with us, thats the real world, unfortunately not every parent or relative is a good one and kids need protecting.
HURRAY HURRAH – So it only took 9 months but I have finally got my work permit. Just as my visitor one was about to run out! But even then it was really crazy to actually get the stamp in my passport. You would think after 9 months and all the red tape I could just go get the stamp, but NOOOOOO, i had to join various queues... go to various offices, back and forth which took a whole day, was then told it would take a week to get the stamp in my passport, but as I explained my visa was going to run out, they did it on the day... but come on thats ridiculous... 9 months of waiting and then still another week for the final step. I shouldn’t be surprised, no one was when I told them... thats life here in Kenya... the government loves the red tape. But at the end of the day I am finally here, legally and have a 3 year permit which is fantastic. I never really felt like I belonged before, always feeling still like a visitor, but now I have this I feel finally I am truly here for the long haul, thats a great feeling and a huge burden off my shoulders! Phew RELIEF!
