Home Visits, part 1

Our first home visit was with Monicah and Anthony. Above is the family. The two sponsored kids are on the right. Anthony, far right, and Monicah next to him.

Monicah’s mother is a survivor of domestic abuse. Her husband, the kids’ father, beat her. When they escaped to a safe house, he found them, burned the home, and all their belongings. They are in probably their third rescue home since. This trauma, disruption, and moving around has resulted in the oldest son, Alex, dropping out of school to help support the family.

Monicah is an extremely sweet girl. She was very, very quiet during the visit. She had met Virginia previously, and had met Claudia, Wangari, and me when we taught at Kimuka Primary. In subsequent meetings, she was very affectionate. At one point she and I stood for about an hour, on a hot day, with our arms around each other, Monicah leaning on me, head on my shoulder, chatting. And sweating.

Below is Monicah. Her sponsor gave her the dolls. As you can see, Monicah is thrilled. Her mother said these are the first toys Monicah has ever had.

Their living room. The house is metal walls and roof. The main room has a sheet to separate it into two rooms, to the left of the picture below. Then there is another separate room, on the right of the picture.

Below, left to right, Claudia, Virginia, Wangari, Mama Monicah, Alex. Alex is sharing his story. Note above Alex is a small yellow box. This is a solar panel control box. It runs a very small power system, which appears to be powering cell phone chargers and nothing else. The pink container to the left of the solar box is holding a cell phone and toothbrushes.

Below is Anthony. I’ve reported on him elsewhere. He is the young man who, after being kicked out of school for nonpayment of fees, started climbing over the fence to avoid the security guard and attend his classes. That is not a problem anymore. His sponsor has his back.

Below, Anthony is reading a letter we delivered from his sponsor. The letters are cherished by the kids, and often by the whole family. They get passed around.

Below is Alex in his garden. He dropped out of school in Form 2 (the equivalent of sophomore year of high school) to support the family, as mentioned. He would like to get more training to earn a better living, and better support. His preference is plumbing. We will be looking for a sponsor for Alex in his pursuit of this technical training. He can get in without a secondary school diploma.

Our second stop was to visit Precious and her family. Tuko Pamoja recently brought her into our sponsored kids’ group. Below is Precious with her family.

Precious’s mother is married. Her husband is a shepherd. He hires out to move/watch cattle for others, part time. They only own two cows, one of which produces 1 liter of milk a day.

Precious’s father contributes a little with food, but not with school fees. Mama Precious does bead work for other people to sell.

Above and below are their house. It has two rooms, plus a kitchen. Note what looks like an electric box on the wall in the top picture. We saw no signs of electric power in the house. They may not be paying for it.

Below is the kitchen. The kitchen is often a separate building to reduce the smoke. But the traditional Maasai house has the fire in the middle of the house and the smoke is very difficult.

Below is Precious reading a letter from her new sponsor!