Nyumbani Newsletter - May 2008 From SR. MARY

Dear Friends of Nyumbani,

This time I start my letter to you from Nyumbani Village where I am spending a few days. Greetings to each one from the 251 children, 29 grandparents, Nicholas, Manager and 41 Staff – a population that grows by the week. 'Massive' is the word that comes to me to describe the Village, now 1½ years in existence.

To-day, Tuesday, 29th April, I start my visiting with the Primary School where a Seminar on Life Skills in Relationships is in progress. I join in. How eager these children are to learn! Last Term, all the 8 classes came First in the Zonal Examinations, the Dramatized Dance represented Kitui District at Provincial level and came 5th; and 13 girls and boys participated in District Sports with one footballer being chosen to play at Provincial level. Our Educational Consultant, Mr Mukele, and staff are rejoicing.

A landmark event recently was the visit to the school of the British MP, Jeremy Hunt, who is the patron and funder of Hotcourses Primary School. Hon.Hunt wanted to have a firsthand experience of the school, the high point of which was his teaching English to the top classes. The fascination and joy of the children was delightful. One of our local media houses, Citizen, made an excellent short TV documentary which truly captured the vision of the Village, and BBC also came and will feature a radio clip.

I am now in the Polytechnic, admiring the furniture being made with the Italian-donated machines for the newly constructed Administration Block. With the new Manager, Charles, in place, there is visible enhancement in the quality of production and in general organization. Woodwork classes started on 17th March, and, with the coming of another government-seconded instructor, tailoring classes will begin after the vacation.

My next visit is to the construction site. Four family houses, the Administration Block Phase 1 and the extension to the Guest House are complete, while 16 more family houses and a classroom are at varying stages of completion. One challenge facing us in construction is the escalation in the costs of materials subsequent to the Post-Election crisis. We now face a 33% increase to our previous estimates…. Finally, I spend the early evening visiting some families in their homes, and the later evening chatting with staff.

Wednesday morning is for time with the grandparents. Language here is a barrier for me, but Nicholas will interpret. We listen to their experiences of 'parenting' not only their own grandchildren but also those of other families. Blending of the families is a challenge, but they report improved co-operation and behaviour from the children. I emphasise that the role we are asking of them is the guiding of behaviour, which will include disciplining, and the handing on of values. As happens in any family, the older children help with housekeeping. I also invoke the traditional African value of respect for elders, challenging the grandparents to expect this.

To the Clinic after lunch where the Clinical Officer, Steve, details preparations for another Government inspection. A successful outcome will mean free access to certain medicines, much needed since patients from the surrounding community are on the increase. The newly-tiled facility will surely impress the inspectors. As I expected, Steve makes an appeal to set up the laboratory. We also discuss the need to move into separate financial management of the Clinic, a step I now see needs to be taken in all the services. Massive...

My last visit of the day is to the Village Chaplain, Fr. Julius. As I listen to his experiences, I become more aware of his energetic pastoral care, his knowledge of the grandparents and children, and his challenging to value living. His is an inestimable influence in the Village.

Thursday, my first target is a meeting with the 29 Secondary and Polytechnic students. I want to get to know them a little more and to hear their experiences. The Secondary students board in 15 different schools. With 20 finishing Primary education this year, I ponder opening a Secondary School in the Village....

I spend the rest of the morning visiting the farm. I am alone at first as I walk through Farms 1 – 4. When I reach the lush riparian area, I am arrested by the beauty of the trees and shrubs, by a spiritual quietness where the song of the birds and the crawling and winging of insect and small animal life prevails. God is here. 3 years ago, this was scrub…. The Farm Manager, George, now catches up with me and leads me knowledgeably through the present achievements of the Sustainability Program. He proudly shows me the variety of vegetables growing under drip irrigation, some for the residents, some for marketing; the flourishing castor plants, whose oil is currently under analysis in order to identify the best marketing strategy; and, ray of hope, budding jatropha plants started from cuttings, our latest attempt to have this biofuel plant grow in our climatic and soil conditions. We end our tour with the livestock: five heifers , four calves and 34 goats from which the village residents get an increasing amount of milk. With most of the families rearing their own chickens, our chicken project can now go commercial.

I end with a meeting with Nicholas to share some of my experiences. As I drive back to Nairobi that afternoon, reflecting on the three days, my heart is at peace. The Village challenges are great: personal care of the children, moving into financial management based on self-sustainability and co-ordination of the expanding services. I come back with a list of needs and gaps to be filled, but, in time, we will address these. Nicholas and his team deserve great commendation. Fr. Angelo D’Agostino’s vision is being realized….

I return to a Nyumbani Home taking a day of relaxation after a taxing, learning-based vacation. What a contradiction! Educational competition is so great here in Kenya that tuition occupies school vacations. However, Sr. Julia and Donna made sure that the hard work was interspersed with treats and outings. It is lovely having our High School youth back with us, but it is a 'come' and 'go' situation with the varying tuition dates.

A special day this vacation was Family Day on 19th April, when, through the efforts of Helen, our social worker, and her team, 49 children received a visitor. The evening before, Protus called a meeting of the children and invoked as a slogan that, if a child does not receive a visitor the following day, it will be 'next time'. As Protus and I were standing bidding farewell to the guests, 3 year old Nicholas passed us by and then turned around with a smile and said 'Next time'. What a heart-tug!

These past months, medical challenges have been facing us. Sammy is now three months in our special care unit. Investigation finally revealed that his brain has been affected, so we are now endeavouring to give him the best palliative care we can. He is in contact with us but cannot speak. Each day when I visit him, my heart breaks. What must it be like for staff and children! The good news, however, is that Geoffrey had successful surgery in Italy to lengthen his shorter leg, and Simon can now walk with his feet flat on the ground. John has still to undergo further surgery. We are deeply grateful to Dr.Antonio Melotto who, with the help of his contacts, made all this possible Our gratitude too to Sr. Julia, who accompanied Geoffrey to Italy, and to her Congregation.

International visitors and volunteers are beginning to return now that our new Government is in place. Juliet arrived to volunteer, Becki, Lloydie, Deb, Simonetta and Chiara came for a return visit and BA crew came for the traditional Easter Bunny. Clare, Richelle and Greg came from Ireland to bring the proceeds of their fundraising and spent a familiarization week with us, which included outings for the children.

I am happy to tell you that we finally made contact with nearly all our Lea Toto children. Sadly, we had to declare 36 'Lost to Follow-up as result of Post-Election violence’ after all efforts to trace them proved unsuccessful. However the door is always open.... The Lea Toto staff are to be commended for their untiring efforts to trace our children. With Lea Toto active clients now over 2,500, early this year we decided that we now needed to decentralise and make the six centres more independent. The change was effected in mid-April. This week, the new Centre Administrators had an intensive Project Management training to support them in their new role. Expansion is also placing more and more demands on the facilities. As I listened to the sharing of insights, learnings and plans of action at the end of the Seminar, I foresee that we now need to consider a long-term approach to this situation.

Another letter to you, our Friends of Nyumbani, another opportunity to express our gratitude for your interest and support. I assure you that each of you is held in prayer and in the memory of at least one of us. I marvel the way the children quite spontaneously recall a volunteer or visitor and recognise immediately those who re-visit. Here in Kenya, we are in a healing and reconciling period as the Government gets into action with the priority of facilitating IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) returning to their homes or be resettled. As we here strive for forgiveness and a new harmony among different groups, may all of us be blessed with that peace which only God can give.

Sister Mary 3rd May, 2008.