Tuesday: Kisumu and back to Nairobi

Two Kisumu babies joined us on our
flight back to Nairobi Tuesday night.

We had eight passengers flying on six tickets from Kisumu back to Nairobi last night.  The extra two were nine-month-old baby girls who had been declared free for adoption and have adoptive parents waiting for them in Nairobi, which will free up beds for two new abandoned babiers at Kisumu.  It’s a long, hard drive from Kisumu to Nairobi, so the John and Prisca Ondeche asked us to take the babies with us. 

Aside from the fun of escorting the babies to their new homes, Tuesday was a busy work day in Kisumu for all of us.  First thing in the morning Mary Mac and I joined Jane in what she called a “Board report” meeting with John and Prisca.  Among all the New Life Homes, Kisumu is unique in terms of its relationship with the Amani Children Foundation in that Amani provides nearly 100% of Kisumu’s funds and a good deal of strategic support. 



The Kisumu home currently cares for
38 children -- 17 babies, 10 crawlers,
and 11 children with special needs.

 The meeting was Jane’s chance to catch up on finances (under budget the past two years, despite a falling Kenyan shilling, John reports);  communication (Jane has in mind newsletters from each of the homes directly to sponsors); staff development (ideas involving Skyped delivery of in-service staff training were floated); and a possible return trip to the States by John O, this time possibly with Prisca, who is reluctant to leave her 38 babies (“But if the babies ask for me to do it, maybe I have to,” she said).  It was a crash course in the Amani/Kisumu relationship for Mary Mac and me, and clearly a good meeting for Jane and the Ondeches.

Gladys Awino is one of five social
workers on the New LIfe Homes staff.

While we were with the Ondeches, Mary Anne and Ginny were laying the groundwork for placement next year of an intern from their social work program at Union University with one of the New Life Homes.  They reported a good meeting, too, with the Kisumu home’s social worker, Gladys Awino.

  

Gila Rafiki.  Gila's Swahilii name, Rafiki,
means "one who makes friends easily."



Throughout the meetings, Rachel, Mary Mac’s beading friend from Cleveland, immersed herself in the babies:  feeding, playing, cleaning, cooing, staring, and feeding some more.  She was joined soon by the other women in our group, as Jane worked her way through the day room snapping photos, with a focus on babies in their newly donated outfits, while I set off on a project to interview and photograph the staff, for future use in Amani communications pieces. 



Michael Timizia, nicknamed "Big Mike."



True to form, our visit in Kisumu was all about the babies.  Well, nearly all.  I didn’t mention Monday night’s stay in a nice hotel in downtown Kisumu, with air-conditioning, Coke Lights, a Tusker’s bar, and water-buffalo-sized bath towels.  And there was the lunchtime shopping spree Tuesday with Prisca (but they did stop at a new Kazuri bead shop, which is mostly about the babies).  And did I mention last night’s massage and reflexology session that Mary Mac talked me into? 



A first birhday party for Aeneas, a
tradition at New Life Homes Kisumu.





Aeneas, dude, save some for us!



In the spirit of full disclosure, here’s how the massage went down:  It was a house call by Mary Njambi (that’s pronounced Jom-bee), a Kenyan woman who grew up in the slums, learned her craft from a nun, and has been supporting herself and her mother the past 10 years through her craft.  Mary Mac talked about the Kenyan massage as some sort of metaphysical missing link between the beads and the babies.  I thought of it as no more than a matter of cultural enrichment.  Or was it a random act of pure, self-serving decadence, a Mary-Mac inspired observance of Fat Tuesday?  But maybe I’m splitting hairs.  Mary the masseuse was darn good.  My travel-weary neck and sore dogs liked it a lot, and they want more, so I got Mary's contact info.  Next time you’re in Kenya, give her a ring -- that’s Mary Njambi at 0722-251-631 -- or e-mail her at marypraised@yahoo.com.  And tell her you're a friend of Mary Mac's.

It’s late now and I’m thinking about Lannie and our girls, 8,000 miles away.  I told Lannie before I left that as much as I was looking forward to this trip, I didn’t look forward to being so spread apart:  Lannie in Indy, Jackie in Dayton, Jean in South Bend, and me here.  I miss them.  And that makes me think about tonight’s new arrivals from Kisumu to Nairobi, and what’s next for them.  They’re apart from their families, too, but tonight they're a step closer.  When we arrived at New Life Homes in Nairobi and delivered the babies, Wanda, her caregiver, took hers into her arms, stepped away from us into the darkness, and whispered, “Baby, you are home now.”