I haven’t stopped the whole day. Only in the evening I finally hid in my room. (It consists of one mattress and my luggage.)
At half past six I got up from the mattress. I washed myself, had some tea – the typical Kenya tea with milk. The children were eating their watery oatmeal „uji“ and they were asking me to drink it from their glasses.
It was a cleaning day, everybody was cleaning, carrying water, washing. The children were washing their clothes. I had to keep avoiding the „waterfalls“ that were created by pouring the water on the staircase.
I sat down on the wall and the children asked me to tell them some story. So I was telling them about the good shepherd and the lost sheep. I decided that I would learn more stories like this in Swahili. So far I was able to work with the story of Little Red Riding Hood (Kofia Nyekundu) and Seven Little Goats.
In the morning I was taken to Nakumatt. Nakumatt is a guarded shopping mall situated right behind the slum. Mostly upper classes and mzungus (white people) go shopping there. It is like a small version of Bratislava’s Aupark. And that is another paradox of life in Kenya. But from time to time one enjoys some „rest“. I was especially looking forward to the toilets. Not only are they of the classical type but they also flush and there is running water in the sinks. In the Children’s Garden we have the classical toilet and sink in the house but the water is not running so we wash in tanks and the water used for „showering“ and washing hands is then used for flushing the toilets. Most effective usage of water.
After this incredible experience in Nakumatt I spent the rest of the day in the children’s home again. Most of the time, I speak in Swahili. I use English less. When I am tired I speak in Slovak without even wanting to. The children usually only speak Swahili with me. It is a challenge for me because it moves me forward. We don’t talk about complicated things, it is a „kitchen vocabulary“ so it works. I am astonished myself about how easy it is.
In the afternoon I was occupied by a group of younger girls. We went to play games on the meadow where the cows were grazing. I taught them a game where all the children get tired except for me. I called it „Fisi Mbaya“ (Bad Hyena). The point was to catch the bad hyena that was played by an older boy. I was cheering for them. Classics. As it was Saturday everything had to be cleaned. The girls were washing their hair so they washed my hair with the soap, too.
In the afternoon I went for a walk through the calmer part of the slum – of course, not alone. I also made a few photos. It was hard to „catch the moment“ because there were 20 children with me and they wanted to be in each of the photos in a different combination.
About 4 o’clock the match Kenya – Nigeria started. All of the boys were sitting in the dining room watching the granular screen. Kenya lost. However, I saw (HEARD) the joy when they shot two goals and it was definitely worth it! (I probably shouldn’t have provoked by shouting „Nigeria!“ during the match)
In the evening I was playing football till it got dark. As the goalkeeper I was especially successful in getting a lot of goals but as a defender I kicked the ball as well as legs. I was good at that. When it got dark the children decided that they will play up to me and I will be standing in front of the cage shooting goals. The plan was great but I couldn’t hit the ball – I was mostly kicking the air and when I finally managed to hit it, the shot didn’t meet the cage. I keep saying to myself that the ball was too small.
I am always dragged by someone, someone always holds my hand, touches my hair, squeezes the „hippo“ skin that I have on my elbows, plucks the hairs on my arms or my hair. Yesterday for example they were pinching and beating my arms to see how my skin goes red afterwards. Maybe that is why I am all bruise now.
Besides, I stuck my hair in the barbed wire and they had to disentangle me.
There aren’t many places in the world where you can finds yourself at home as fast as in the Children’s Garden in Kawangware.
It has just started to rain. That kind of pleasant summer rain.
My journey to Muhoroni...
Saturday, November 14, 2009
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