Cura - Day 3 part 2

Hey Everybody!

I wanted to do another post that's more about simple random stuff going on at Cura.

Update on Minet. She is still very shy around me. Still picks on me though. When I walked into her class today, she hid her face under her sweater laughing. She makes it too easy to pick on her. I have been promised to receive my bracelet tomorrow. :)

Yesterday we all went for a walk and was making the other girls jealous by walking next to me. It's quite funny to see them tease each other!

I also wanted to post some photos of Cura so you have an idea of what the place looks like. I wish I could write a caption under each photo, but unfortunately, blogger will not let me. So I'll describe some of the photos in here.

Below you'll see a wooden plank building. That is their kitchen. All the "mamas" and older girls from the orphanage cook the food there. It's separate from other buildings in case there is a fire. They use wood, split by hand to cook with.

The building behind the blocks is where the library and computer room is located. It was designed to be two stories, but unfortunately, funding ran out and the stopped at one floor.

Inside the orphanage you'll notice it is square with blue steel doors. The building is double locked once the children are in bed in order to keep then safe from potential outside threats. Two walls are dedicated to boys and two walls are dedicated to girls. Minet gave me a grand tour (which I filmed) of all the rooms. I'll post the edit once it's finished.

On a side note. My friend, Gilbert has been teaching me Swahili.

Jambo - hello
Jambo sana - hello to you

Asante - thank you
Asante sana - thank you very much

Karibu - welcome (you're welcome)

And most importantly for me:

Unaelewa kiingereza - Do you hear (understand) English?

Very fun to learn!

I just wanted to share these thoughts with you. More to come tomorrow!

Cura - Day 3

Hey Everybody!

Finishing up day 3 at Cura. Today has had less drama than yesterday, but is twice as busy with hustle and bustle as the community gets ready for the ground breaking ceremony of the secondary school! I can't talk about it right now, but there are some very exciting things planned!

Today I visited each grade. Below are photos of some of the classes. You now have a visual for the needs portion of my last post. The children sang, read, and asked me questions about where i come from and how many brothers & sisters I had. When I told them my age, they giggled! I guess my bald head was throwing them off.

Later in the day, during recess, the children were going around the compound, cleaning brush and tall grass. The only lawn mowers here are bare hands. When I asked the Deputy Head Teacher If what they were doing was for the event on Thursday, she replied, "no, this is their field, their community and they like to keep it nice and clean." Speechless.

While walking away from the field I gave a child, Peter, a high five. Oh boy. I had to give every child a high five! Some multiple! They kept running around in circles, climbing over each other to touch my hand. Absolutely precious. They're still fascinated with my arm hair. I now know what cats and dogs must feel like. Haha.

Later in the afternoon, I interviewed Scola, the technology teacher. She's responsible for the computer labs and library. Below are photos of both those facilities. She was explaining to me the materials they had. The computers they're using are Pentium IIIs. If anyone knows of any college surplus sales going on for computers faster than these, please let me know! I would love to see the children have faster computers to learn on like the young kids in America. Also books. Anyone know of a library selling off books? I would really like to know!

As the day ended, I was able to grab an interview with Moses, the head manager of Cura Orphanage. He was explaining to me that the orphanage has changed the children's lives from a mind set of despair to one of hope and optimism! Both he and I started to tear up during the interview. I asked him why there aren't more children in the home when it has the space for 150 (50 living there now). Moses explained to me that there aren't enough resources to support that many children without lowering the quality of life from the current group. Food, clothing, blankets, etc. Theres a waiting list of other orphans who are praying to get in but cannot. It's very sad.

Tomorrow is a busy day starting off in Nairobi with the bee keepers of the community coming together for a yearly meeting and then traveling off to Cura for more excitement. Their soccer goal collapsed, so in going to put the camera down for a bit and try to fix it for them.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Cura - Day 2

Hey Everyone!

So I'm finishing up day 2 at Cura. Another wonderful day! I started off by filming the workers clearing the area that the new school building will be going. All work is done by hand. The work ethic of Kenyan people is amazing!

While I was filming the work site, I saw several small children from the nursery school peeking at me. Nursery school is similar to our preschool. Below is a photo of my with the children. When they saw themselves, they started waving! Makes for a precious photo!

Later that afternoon, I walked over to the primary school to shoot some footage. All the children were in their blue suits, singing, dancing, learning all sorts of subjects just like in America. Tomorrow I'm going to be sitting in on the lectures to see the schooling first hand.

I also had a chance to interview the Head Teacher and the Deputy Head Teacher. Absolutely fascinating! Like America, Kenya has country wide exams that all students are required to take. Both teachers explained to me how thankful they are for the support being given to their community. The quality of life has been growing at an exponential rate. I had to dig a little deeper to figure out what else can and needs to be done for the children to have basic quality of life. The head teacher did not want to sound ungrateful of what they've been given, but I was able to get a response:

Educating materials!! More books for the children to learn from. Desks for the children to work at during school. Basic sanitation facilities- not latrine out houses. A cemented or graveled courtyard so the children aren't stepping in potholes (or mud during rainy season) when they go from class to class. Basic needs that I've always taken for granted.

After visiting the school I took a walk with the children to "grandmothers" house. This is the lady who cooks food and takes care of the children in the orphanage. Now, what I'm about to say is in no way an insult to grandmother and I mean no disrespect to her by saying this. I've given it a lot of thought and I felt compelled to share. Grandmother invited Gilbert and I into her home. A very sweet and living gesture. Her home would be comparable to a tin sided tool shed in America. Inside were a few chairs, a table, and about a 1000 flies due to the heat and fruit plants growing in the crops around the property. She gave Gilbert and I all that she could offer; a few bananas, some avocado, and chapatti (similar to a tortilla). The reason im telling you this is to give you an idea of the living conditions the people of Cura are in. Again, I tell you this story with zero intentions of disrespect for grandmother.

Late in the afternoon, some men showed up, slightly intoxicated, looking to work on the new school. This upset a lot of people, including the children who hid behind me until we got then inside. Gilbert and I have now been advised to leave the orphanage before dark for our own safety. People in the community and the surrounding areas know what I'm doing, what equipment I have, and are now feared for my safety after dark. It's amazing how they barely know me and are now watching out for my well being.

If you've made it this far in the blog, you know it's been a busy day! Lots to look forward to tomorrow!

I want to take a quick moment to point out Cura's website for those of you who would be interested in contributing to these wonderful and well deserving people. You know I'd never promote something I didn't truly believe is worth supporting. These children love the life God has given them. Let them see you as an answer to their prayers!

CuraOrphanage.org

People would tell me that when I get to Cura, it will change my life. I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what they meant until 15min after I stepped out of the car. This orphanage is full of more life, smiles, and pure innocent wonder than you would see in a Hollywood movie. My outlook on life and my world views have become much humbler now that I have seen the joy in the orphans eyes.

I think I've gone on long enough for this post. More to follow tomorrow!

Cura - Day 1

Hey everybody! I'm just finishing up my first day at Cura.

The day started out with a riveting interview of Mr. Mike Eldon. I'm impressed by his knowledge and leadership in both Cura and in the Kenyan industry. After the interview, I made my first trip to Cura and I only have one thing to say- can I take them all home?! These are quite possibly the cutest kids I've ever seen. In no way does this community/ orphanage give off a SPCA lost puppy vibe. These are some of the happiest people I've ever met.

One girl, Minet, I think developed a crush on me. She follows me around and when I turn, she ducks away giggling. She gave me a beaded bracelet (which she tried to sneak on my arm) but unfortunately it broke when a boy grabbed my arm. Not to worry. She said she would make me another!

Speaking of my arms, the children find my arm hair entertaining. At one point they were all rubbing my forearms like the back of a puppies head. All I could do was laugh and smile.

I was given the grand tour of the facility by the children. Everything from their cows & chickens, to their rooms and their football (soccer) field. One of the interesting things I saw was the mothers (thats what they call the women who take care of them) cooking dinner along with the older girls of the orphanage. They were so generous, offering me a plate of Ugali, beans, and grilled meat.

The day finished up with a couple of shots on top of one of the buildings, filming the complex during sunset.

I have to say- this part of Kenya makes me want to come back very soon. The place is full of life and optimism- something that I haven't really felt anywhere else. These kids don't think about what they don't have. Rather they're thankful for what they do have.

More updates to come as the building projects begin.

Rawr

I was able to get one more photo going :) hello Mr. Lion!

Saturday Safari

Hi Everyone!

Sorry for the delays in posts. The Internet hasn't been cooperating with me. Apparently, a ship dropped anchor on the fiber optic line, severing it off the coast of Mombasa. 3weeks of on and off Internet outages.

Well today I was able to see the animals. I couldn't come here and not see them! I started off with the Nairobi National Park, seeing rhinos, buffalos, two male lions shading themselves, a lioness hunting, zebra, antelope, and giraffes. Quite amazing! Pictures will follow in a later post. I was able to get a few below.

Once I left the park, I went and visited the baby elephant adoption facility. This is where they take in elephants whose parents are missing- typically due to poachers, and raise them for two to three years before releasing them to the wild. Below is a photo of two elephants wrestling.

Upon leaving the elephant orphanage, I travelled to the Giraffe center where you could feed (and kiss) giraffes! Plenty of photos of this will come.

Lunch time! My wonderful guide, John, took me to the Makutani Grill. I was able to order an official Kenyan dish- samosa's. It's basically grilled and seasoned meat. Very good. I was also able to try a Kenyan diet coke. Much better than US diet coke!

After lunch, I travelled to Karen Blixen's house (the person/home from Out of Africa). The plantation is huge and it's very interesting to see all the things I've read and watched.

On the way home, John, took me to see the lookout where the Kenyan president addresses the country. Its pretty cool to see the whole city.

Now it's time to get ready for what I'm really doing here- the documentaries. Tomorrow I kick off, interviewing Mike Eldon at 10:00am, the traveling to Cura to meet everyone, and hopefully get a few more interviews. I'd like to get all the business out of the way early, so I can focus on the interesting shots and following the children.

Stay tuned!