My few weeks with Wambui, her family and the staff and children at Familia Moja went by too fast as usual. Strangely, Wambui was not called away on any business. Normally she is so tough to pin down: in meetings with the District Children’s Officer, or off in Nairobi and elsewhere drumming up support, assistance and publicity for the home. Her energy and commitment are impressive. But this time we were able to do a lot together, which was highly motivating for both of us. I enjoyed being her “Personal Assistant” and I think she enjoyed having one! It was great to get to know the other members of staff better also. Elizabeth was away on well-deserved leave, but Beatrice and Timothy were doing a great job in her absence, aided by Virginia during the day. My first impression as I walked through the door was how clean and organized the entire home was: not an easy feat when raising 31 children who come home covered in dust or mud, depending on the season!
My first stop with Wambui, was to visit all the schools and meet with as many headmasters and teachers as possible to check on the children’s progress. A teacher myself, I was very impressed by the professionalism and sensitivity the teachers’ possessed towards each individual child in their classroom. Their observations matched many of my own and the staffs’ at Familia Moja, and together, we were able to discuss measures to be taken to address certain issues: academic, or emotional. Schooling and education are so much more effective when teachers, guardians and student co-operate and I was thrilled to confirm that this is something Familia Moja takes seriously.
The children work really hard. Their day starts at 5am, when they get up, bathe, have breakfast and leave for school by around 6am. School starts at around 7:30am, finishes between 4:30 and 5:30 in the afternoon and is Monday through Saturday: only the little ones have Saturday off. They start drifting back home from around 5:30pm and the first stop is the showers to wash off all the dust/mud. Dinner is at 7pm, followed by homework, prayers and then more homework if you haven’t finished. Homework was one issue Wambui brought up with one of the schools as some of the children seemed to be getting simply too much. It is also a challenge when the electricity is cut, at which point all the children have to huddle around kerosene lamps. Sunday mornings they go to church and then the afternoon is free time!! Yay!!
Long days aren’t they? But that’s the way it works in Kenya, where succeeding at Primary School is essential to be able to continue into Secondary and beyond. The schools the children go to have excellent reputations, and in seeking out places in these schools I’m convinced that Familia Moja is providing the best conditions possible for the children to become influential, successful and caring adults in their communities in the future. At this point, I’d like to say an enormous thank you to our education sponsors, without whom this would not be possible. Only 5 more children need sponsors for this year if anyone is interested, let us know. Unfortunately though, these good schools are not always close and we dreamt a lot about how lovely it would be to have our own bus, so the kids didn’t need to get up so early, and could have some free time in the evening. Another dream is to have a freezer to store food (every now and then we receive such a large vegetable donation that we can’t even manage to give it all away before it starts going off) and generator for when the electricity cuts. We have seen so many seemingly impossible dreams come true in the past year, maybe one of you reading this can pave the way for these to become reality!
We also spent a lot of time on finding ways to streamline our processes and organise the administration of the home. Now that the Familia Moja Support Initiative NGO has been formed as an umbrella for the home and other projects within the community, not to mention the increasing involvement by Kenyans and internationals in development projects, a need has been observed to prioritise communication and documentation of Familia Moja’s activities. There are many challenges in this area. Food and petrol prices and exchange rates are even hotter topics for conversation in Kenya than they are here and affect the monthly running costs of the home enormously, as well as education fees, where transport and lunch are provided by the school. Fluctuating budgets as well as fluctuating exchange rates affecting overseas donations, means frequent readjustment and a trained eye to document these so we have now found a trained accountant who will help in this area. Lack of reliable and secure, virus-free internet is another challenge when communicating with development partners abroad, and therefore with you, our supporters. Internet is cheap on mobile phones, which explains Wambui’s frequent Facebook updates! But when it comes to exchanging recent official documents, and larger files such as photos, you need to travel to a cyber café you trust, which takes time.
This trip was one of the most exciting I’ve had to Familia Moja. Some challenges are still the same. For example, the monthly running costs are not currently being met and when this happens, the rent is left unpaid, and some sacrifices have to be made that are not ideal. This lack of security makes planning ahead difficult so if anyone reading would like to help be part of the solution to this problem, please get in touch with me, Jess or Wambui. Many of our dreams of developing income-generating activities to take the weight off the monthly budget (and one day completely cover it!) are starting to become reality, but for the moment, we still need support in this area. Maybe the people you work for would be willing to contribute on a monthly basis, or you’d like to organize a fundraiser? Things are really starting to happen and it’s a great time to get involved, not only in the home, but also in supporting the community projects that the Familia Moja Support Initiative dreams of putting in place, like workshops for parents to develop awareness of how they can be more involved in their children’s education, or better farming techniques. Familia Moja means “One Family” after all and not only wants the best for the children in its care, but also its community.
And you are part of the family too. You come from all walks of life and you’ve all given something to this dream, whether it be through an enthusiastic interest in its development; offering skills, advice or a creative new idea; a financial contribution, or warm words of encouragement. And look where we are now! Why don’t you join the blog, where we’ll be posting regular newsletters or if you’re on Facebook, join our page www.facebook.com/familiamoja It’s a great way to share your thoughts and ideas. Looking forward as ever to hearing from you!
Sandra Steiger
Development Partner
8th August 2011
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