Through the good times and the bad....

Last Sunday, Daniel, his parents: Larry and Danel and myself went to Kisii (Key-see), which is a few hours from the Tanzanian border to stay and visit with some friends for a few days. We had such a fantastic time. It was nice to be in a home that was simple: deep in the village, no electricity and no running water. To be woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of the pouring rain hitting the tin roof and then woken in the morning by beautiful sounding birds. So peaceful.

Kisii is absolutely BEAUTIFUL, the land, the rolling hills, all of it is so stunning.





We spent one full day walking around deep parts of the farm land. Our friend Robert took us to the place where they dig up the soapstone, clean it off and mold it the so many of the items that we have bought from him in the past (plates, sculptures, etc). It was awesome to see where the soapstone comes from and how it was done. We probably walked about 6 or so kilometers that day. The weather was beautiful; the widows we met were beautiful and the children we hugged were even more beautiful.

(this is a soapstone quarry)

(soapstone after being dug from the earth)

(chess boards being sawed...it takes about an hour for them to saw through that peice of soapstone)





Toronto Maple Leafs - representin' in Kenya!!!! :-)

Our mode of transportation to Kisii was a matatu (a 14-passenger van). The police in that area are extremely strict and there seems to be police checks every 2 kilometers. At one point we were stopped at a police check. The matatu, had two empty seats available in it (the driver knowing that the police were rough in this area)…all was right with the driver, the conductor (collects the money and assists the driver to stop and drop off/pick up passengers), the vehicle licensing and the amount of passengers in it. However, the police wanted their cut of money; they demanded a bribe from the driver and conductor. The driver and conductor refused; why should they pay a bribe when all was fine with the vehicle and the contents inside? The police officer didn’t like that they had refused the bribe so he wrote up a ticket. He said that there were too many people on the matatu (false) and that he driver was out of uniform (again, false!). There was nothing the driver could do at that point; the ticket had been written. He was going to have to pay for it….for what? Doing what the law required of him? Frustrating!

Then on the way from the deep village, back to Kisii town, we were stopped by police. I was sitting in the front seat with one of our friends and I saw the driver put a 100 shilling bill in his hand. The police driver came to my side of the vehicle and stuck out his hand to greet me. I refused at first, pretending not to see his hand. But then he put it in my line of vision and said, “Greet me, please!” I did. Then he turned the driver and stuck out his hand, asking him how he was doing (in Swahili). The driver shook hands with him, the policeman taking the 100 shillings out of the driver’s hand…all right in front of my face. I looked directly at the policeman, shook my head at him and said in Swahili that what he did was very bad manners. He looked very surprised that I knew what was going on and that I knew Swahili. He immediately dismissed us.

After spending two nights in Kisii, Daniel, Larry, Danel and I headed to Kisumu to spend a night there. If any of you had been following the post-election chaos here in Kenya, you would have heard that Kisumu was one of the hardest hit places. We wanted to go and see what damage had been done there.

As we walked the streets of Kisumu, we saw a few burned down businesses; all one tribe owned. It saddened me; it angered me. We are now starting to see the effects of the post-election riots. Many say the people have no one to blame for what is happening in the economy but themselves. As the country now sees the rising cost of food, of fertilizer for planting their staple food and the starving people, they are beginning to see the consequences of their (rioting) actions.

A burned down gas station.


Aburned down supermarket and bank.


A burned business.


There are still thousands of people displaced in Kenya, in their own country. These are people who can’t go back to their homes now or possibly ever. These are people who can’t plant their food in their gardens that would help feed them for the next year or sell to generate an income in their household. And for those people who do have their land still, the cost of fertilizer, necessities, etc. are so high; they can’t afford to buy them to maintain their gardens.

The cost of maize (which we buy for our projects every month) is rising EVERY WEEK. The majority of Kenyans can’t afford the increase of prices.

So what does this mean? It means that there will be a famine here, especially next year. It means that people are going to starve; people are going to die. We are already hearing stories of people dying around the country due to starvation. And this is just the beginning.

And here we have a new government now…the two rivalry parties now joined together in parliament saying that they will help the country get back on their feet. Yet with the new cabinet, the people of Kenya, the taxpayers of Kenya, need to come up with 33 billion shillings over the next two months to pay the new government (and added ministers and new Prime Minister) and their ministries (the new 2008 year budget doesn’t come out until the end of June so we don’t know the actual change for that budget yet). 33 BILLION shillings from people who are dying because they don’t have money to feed themselves. I don’t understand.

The MPs here (Member of Parliament) make a salary of 800,000 shillings a month; plus with their allowances, etc., that gives them over 1 million shillings a month!!! That’s over $16,000 US a month. When the average Kenyan lives off of less than $30 US a month and here the MPs is making over $16,000 US a month and yet they go after the average Kenyan person to come up with the 33 billion shillings (in two months) to support their salaries, their ministries, their allowances, their whatever else.

It frustrates me; it saddens me; it angers me; it breaks me. So why don’t I leave this place? Why don’t I just to come to the point of believing that there is nothing that I can do? Because I can’t. I know that we CAN help these people. We can bring not only food but hope and love to the people of Kenya. That’s what I am here for. I am here for these children, for these families who can’t do it on their own, not without the help, the hand, the love of another.

I can only pray that things get better here before they get (predictably) worse; I can only pray that so many of the people of this country, the place that I know as home, don’t die due to lack of food. I can only pray that another mother doesn’t have to cry over the loss of her child and the guilt of not being able to provide for him or her.

It’s a reality here, my friends. It’s not a Made-For-TV movie; it’s not a Hollywood tearjerker. It’s reality. People are already dying every day due to malnutrition. The only difference now: the amount of deaths per day will only increase. Children will lose their parents, parents will lose their children.

I’m not going anywhere. This is my home. I will care and love for every child I possibly can.

Pray for this country; pray for this continent. We need them….so much.

I love you all!
Meredith
xoxoxo