In April, I had my first home visits. Together with Mercy, the MCC social worker, we visited families from the community whose children attend the MCC kindergarten or one of the MCC schools, for example, and who are supported by the MMP program. In principle, it was exactly as I had imagined. However, it is still shocking to see the reality with your own eyes. Small houses, consisting of about two rooms. One room is the living room, the other the bedroom. In total, the house is only about 170 sq. ft.+. The unbelievable part: NINE people live here together.
The kitchen is separate, although I didn’t find much more than a fire pit and a few cooking bowls—nothing like the European kitchens we know. Sometimes there is also a field next to it that looks large at first glance, but then I realize that the harvest for a household of this size only lasts for a short period of time.
Most households have livestock such as goats, chickens, geese, and sometimes cows, which they either use for their own consumption or sell at the market to buy other food with the proceeds. In short: it’s about survival here, the search for food, day after day.
A few weeks later, we visited the Mathare slums in Nairobi together with Joseph, the social worker.
When we arrived, an unpleasant smell hit my nose; on one side, pigs were rooting through piles of trash, on the other side, there were many small shops where residents try to earn a little money for the day. As we walked further through the alleys, clothes lay trampled in the dirt, children ran through the streets and shyly watched the Mzungus (the ‘white people’) from a short distance.
The living situations of the families we visited are very similar. Families of 6+ live in the smallest of spaces in rooms of ~85 sq. ft. This is where all their belongings are. Tin hut after tin hut lined up together. Privacy is a foreign concept here. I felt uncomfortable intruding into the private lives of the families like this and, as a privileged white person, only being able to bring a small package that was enough for the current day’s meal. Joseph explained to us that we were at least able to help a little bit. He summarized the living situation in the slums well: “they don’t worry about tomorrow, they worry about today.”
In the final days of March, Barbara Krohne and Helen Milkau, board chairs of our association, came here to visit the Maisha Mazuri Children Centre (MCC). They were here for nine days and took part in several meetings together with Jimmy, the director of the MCC, and Michael, the manager of the MCC. This brought them up to date on the situation on-site and allowed them to clarify future projects. On the day the two of them left, the new volunteer Marta arrived. The children gave her a very warm welcome and immediately carried her suitcase and backpack from the car into the house with great enthusiasm. Marta will spend three months with the children here at the home.
Since Easter was just around the corner that weekend, we decided to continue a few German traditions here. The day before Easter, we dyed eggs in all sorts of colors with the children. For many of the kids, it was a source of wonder why we dye our Easter eggs in Germany. On Easter morning, we had the colorful eggs for breakfast. Some children made faces at the sight of the brightly colored egg whites. After clarifying that it was edible, the eggs were eaten with enjoyment. We also planned to have an Easter egg hunt with the children. Unfortunately, it rained throughout the day, so we spontaneously hid the chocolate bunnies inside the house. They could hardly wait to run off and start searching. A huge commotion broke out, everyone ran around in a scramble and held the chocolate bunnies they found high in the air : )
Since the first third of the school year is over, the kids went on their long-awaited three-week vacation. The soccer field is usually occupied by the secondary school students during the school term. But since they went home to their families for the holidays, the children took advantage of the empty soccer field to play on it for a few hours almost every day. A new Kenyan volunteer is here for three weeks. He comes from a psychology background and, as a current student, tried to contribute his knowledge in various workshops and in everyday life. He is also a soccer enthusiast and spent a lot of time with the children on the field.
During the holidays, we used the time to do small workshops with the children. The children from the community were also included, so we addressed topics such as “hygiene,” “sleep-nutrition-resources,” “manners,” and “privacy” in a playful way, for example by working on the topics in small groups.
Baking couldn’t be forgotten either. With a lot of hard work and fun, there were cookies, muffins, and, like every Saturday, chapati.
Another workshop was crocheting, in which both girls and boys were interested. At first, the children had question marks written all over their faces, but with a little patience and help from the older ones, bracelets, scarves, and the beginnings of hats were created. Continuing to be creative, we made bead bracelets and necklaces together. All of a sudden, all the children were there and wanted to make a bracelet with great enthusiasm. There was almost a fight over the beads. After a short time, all the beads were gone and colorful accessories were created, which the children are still running around the yard with today.
The children here at the home love to bake. But now I specifically wanted to bake muffins with the children from the community, as this is a new experience for them that they can’t do at home. Similar to the children from the home, they were very interested in the baking and helped out everywhere. They admired the finished muffins with “wow, very smart” (very beautiful) and enjoyed eating them.
Since the second-to-last term of the school year is coming up, we also used the time during the holidays to do homework and study. For a few of the kids, this term is crucial, as they will either go to secondary school or the skills center afterwards. In the evenings, after dinner, we like to take the time to sit in the kitchen with the children for a while longer. During this time, there is singing, dancing, stories are shared, or we just goof around. For the two of us personally, this is the best time of the day.