Monday 29th of March

The day began with going to the Life for Children office to meet the staff and see the facilities. There are several social workers, an accountant, and others. Right now they are renting the space and have hopes of getting their own facility. This would allow them to have more opportunities to serve the children and save money. For example there is a street girl named Beatrice that Life for Children has taken in and placed with her grandmother. The situation is though that the grandmother lives in the slum area. So when Beatrice is home from Boarding school that is the environment in which she lives. When Life for Children has their own place there will be accmodations for children like Beatrice so they can be in better surroundings.

After there we went out to visit our first village. We met a guardian that had taken in her grandchild. The guardian had 9 children of her own of which xxxxx are left. Her and several other of the guardians have formed a group and they make pottery, sell fish, and she raises chickens to survive. We met Prica Opany who is 62 year old and a guardian. She showed us a pot she had made. On Friday we hope to get some shopping done. I would love to bring a pot back to sell but the concern is breakage on the flights.

Here at Boarding school they attend classes for three months and then have a month break before returning. One new program they are trying is instead of the orphan coming home on break they would stay in school. At school there is electricity and they could continue studying. Also they would be in better environment and have less idle time to be tempted by unhealthy practices.

We learned of some customs that to us are unfair and wasteful. Within a week of a husband dying the house in which he was living in with his family will be destroyed leaving the famiy without a home. A man can come along under the Wife Inheritance Program and claim the widow, meaning he is the new man of the house. This practice is actually his form of income as disgusting as it is. She has to accept him, cook what he likes, take how he treats her and the chidren, and will probably gets AIDS from him. He must build another house for them to stay in. He can pack up and leave at any time with no other obligation to this inherited family. Keep in mind he also has his regular family else where. Life for Children is starting to help the widows understand that they don't have to accept the offer from the man.

At the same village we met a grandmother who is now a guardian, Leona Genga. She is an example of the Wife Inheritance Program. When her husand died her house was destroyed and she became inherited so another house was built. You see in Kenya a woman can purchase land but can not inherit it. She has secretly sold her land including where the house sits. When she dies she will be buried on a small section of land and the grandchildren will be thrown out to survie on their own. She is sick with what they call "The Big Disease" meaning AIDS. They are uncertain of how much time she has left. She has three grandchildren she is raising. One is just a toddler.

This is so uncomprehendable to us. How can anyone not just take these children in? The problem is that everyone else is just trying to survive and they have no means to help their neighbor's children. Peter, one of the staff from Life for Children, said when I questioned this neglect, "You think they care about the children? They don't care." Later in the week we learned more about Michael and his brother Peter. They lived in a rural area pass Homa Bay called Wacharra (?). When Michael was about 10 years old and Peter was about 8 their mother died. Their father was in Kisumu doing business. They where left on their own for two years. During this time the village people did not try to help them and they lived off of food left in the garden area, left over fruit they could find and bugs. After two years their father came and took them to Kisumu where he died in 1997.

The structure of the homes is mud that is then covered with a combination of mud and cement that gives it a smooth outer look. Some paint the outside and not all have the outer layer. What they do is use tree branches for the frame and lay in the mud that is mixed with smaller branches and other material. In the slums I noticed plastic in some of the walls. When you enter a house it is very dark inside even in the brightness of day. I can only imagine how dark it must be in the night time. There are few small windows that really are for more venitlation then letting in sunlight. It is not uncommon to find chickens wandering in and out of the homes.

The women are the ones that do all the work from laundry, caring for the children, cooking, and working in the plot of land to raise maze as a source of income. They begin working in the land early in the morning and don't stop until late afternoon. They use a hoe to beak up the land. This is a common sight from city to rural area.

From the first village we went to another and met Joseph Sombe who is being sponsored by Erik Carter's Sunday school class. He is 15 years old and is doing okay in school. His marks where 400+ out of 700+ so he must put forth a little more effort. He is tall and healthy. He likes to play football, (soccer), and plays forward. He has made 9 goals so far.

Any body of water such as a small pond is used for laundry, bathing, and drinking. It is not uncommon to see people washing their bikes, motor cycles, and themselves in the ponds. One project that Life for Children is looking into is getting clean and safe drinking water in the villages by drilling. This could also become a source of income for them as they rent out the equipment.

Sorry there are some facts about the families I am missing but will add later. I left my notepad in Homa Bay and will not have back until Friday.