Last week was my introduction to working in Kakamega- my first week of work at Mahiakalo Child Development Center. First for some background on Mahiakalo: The center currently sponsors 258 vulnerable or needy children living in Kakamega by providing spiritual guidance, access to medical care, support to the parents, and skills and leadership training. They partner with Compassion International (check this out: http://www.compassion.com/about/aboutus.htm ) for sponsors and funding. When school is in session, the children come in only on Saturdays for devotionals, lessons, skills training, games, and a meal. Unfortunately that means I won’t have much time to spend with the kids as weekends are for FSD intern meetings or time for traveling around Kenya.
On the first day of work I was introduced to my supervisor, Elizabeth, and the two other employees, Mark and Ephel. It’s a small staff and they are all in their upper 20’s, which makes very easy for me to take part in (or at least ask questions about) daily activities. We had our weekly staff meeting first thing Monday morning, where I was debriefed on the basic mission of the program, last week’s progress, and this week’s agenda. Ephel and I then went to the Children’s Department, a government organization, which if anything was a great indicator for the amount of patience I’ll need while working in Kenya. We went simply to ask about any activities they had planned for the Day of the African Child (had to travel to the office by boda since we didn’t have their contact information). After waiting for over an hour, they told us to come back later since they hadn’t finalized their plans yet. And then it was already lunchtime. (I guess I’ve gotten used to finding our any information- and answers- in minutes, whether it’s a phone call, email, or Google-search away). After lunch, I spent the rest of the afternoon asking questions and going through records of the children to track the last time they had been visited at home or school. Each child is supposed to be visited twice a year at home and once at school, but the records hadn’t been sorted through in a while, and there were multiple kids who hadn’t been visited since 2008 or 2009. For good reason; I don’t know how the three staff members begin to manage the issues and concerns of 258 vulnerable children and families, let alone make time for 516 routine visits home a year!
Tuesday was a similar day to my first; taking records, asking questions, sitting through a monthly meeting with the Church Partnership Committee. Wednesday was a national holiday, Madaraka Day, so everyone had the day off work. (The interns got together in the afternoon- it was a lot of fun to reconnect with everyone and share stories of our crazy host families.) On Thursday it was back to work, and I went on my first trip into the rural villages for home visits. Ephel and I visited three homes of children they were particularly concerned about because they were malnourished. The homes were humble at best: two-room “semi-permanent” structures made of mud with tin roofs. When asked what the family had to eat the night before, the mothers would respond, “nothing.” And for breakfast? Nothing. We spent about 20 minutes in each house evaluating, asking questions, and always opening and closing in prayer. And each time we left without answers to their problems, without knowing when the next time this family would eat.
On Friday I went on 10 more home visits, this time routine visits (instead of to children with particular concerns.) It was a much happier experience; almost all of the kids were doing well and in school, with minor complaints like a toothache or in need of paraffin for a lantern in order to do homework at night. It was reassuring to see smiling mothers at home and babies with round, nourished faces.
On Saturday it was evident that many of the kids in the program were thriving. I got to stop by Mahiakalo CDC for an hour in the morning before my FSD intern meeting, and I was introduced to all the kids and took part in the younger children’s morning devotional. There was so much energy, with lots of giggling and calling “mzungu!”
I learned a lot during my first week of work at Mahiakalo, getting used to the office dynamics and daily routines. But now it’s time to start brainstorming a work plan for the next 7 weeks…
Until next time!
Lainey
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