thursday

Thursday

Final full day of being in Spurgeons, so there was lots of finishing off training going on.

Helen, Chris, Jake and Naomi taught P5, P6 and P7 in the morning whilst Gillian did numeracy and literacy training with the upper primary staff, Ally did mentoring and self-esteem training with the lower primary staff, Carey and Meena did some first-aid training with Rose, and Mary finished off dress-making with the sewing ladies – a very successful morning and some very satisfied staff.

In the afternoon, Gillian did more of the above, Carey and Naomi worked with the final third of P5, Ally and Jake worked with the final third of P6, Meena finished off her training with Rose, and Helen took Chris and Mary to visit the Haduma Health Centre. This is a small health centre nearby in Kibera that serves all the children and staff of Spurgeons, as well as others in the community. It has one doctor and two nurses who keep the centre open 24 hours a day, and they have a 2-bedded male ‘ward’ and a 2-bedded female ‘ward’ as well as a delivery room, and a room for minor surgery.

It was fascinating to see round, and to hear what the common ailments are that come their way. Another example of very dedicated staff serving a very needy community in a very inspiring way; just like Spurgeons.

The day at Spurgeons finished with Ally, Carey, Mary, Chris and Helen going on a home visit to the home of Mwanga Stephen and his family. He lives in a different part of Kibera to Elvina, so a different walk to yesterday, but still very eye-opening and thought-provoking for us all.

Here are some thoughts from Jake on what he saw:

I found it very different to my house, and it was quite a shock to see what he has to walk past every day, and the smell of it wasn’t pleasant. It was sad to see that there was only one bed in the whole house and there were 7 of them living there. The size of the house was very small; it had one room which was small and that also had the bed in there and the kitchen area. The structure of the house was pretty shocking; it was made out of mud, wood and a metal roof. The only light they had was when they opened the door and still it was pretty dark. Stephen was telling me that he really happy that he gets 5 bob a day, which equals 3p a day and I don’t feel that I would even take it if I was offered it, but to him it is a lot. It gives him the chance for an extra bit of food, but instead he is saving up for a watch.

If I had to change from my English home to live in Kibera, I wouldn’t be able to cope. It’s sad that anyone has to live like this.