Spiritual Time

Life is good here at Daraja! This Saturday I went to town and saw some of the street boys I knew from last time I was here. Three of them were sponsored by a Daraja Family Member to go to primary school and ALL THREE are first in their class! AMAZING. But now they are back on the streets for 5 weeks. I'm working on putting together a study group 2 days a week to get them some positive reinforcement!

Today was spiritual time for two hours this morning, and I went down to see the girls. The amazing thing was that since it is the last Sunday before break, all of the religious "groups" on campus got together for one service. There were Catholics, Protestants, Muslim girls and ME! They are incredible to watch - dancing and singing!

I taught two classes today about teen pregnancy. This week I will be making the trips to town with three girls at a time to get HIV tests. Good Stuff!!

Also coming up - I will be climbing Mount Kenya for four days August 8th - 11th!

Slacker!

Sorry folks! I have been sucking at posting this past week. Let me catch you up!

Jenni (Director of Operations) comes home! Wednesday of last week Jenni came back to Daraja after 3 1/2 months in Cali doing fundraising. The girls were so happy to see her. I had my HIV/STD class before she came, and the Form 1 and 2 girls ended up keeping me for two hours so they could ask me every sex question they have ever had. It was a little awkward on my end but I tried really hard not to show it. The girls were so open and honest and I was really proud of them. We talked about everything from oral sex to female circumcision, and they were super mature about it.

Friday my dad and I went into town to have dinner. It was nice, we had the whole restaurant to ourselves! He is building a swing set for the children that live here (kids of the teachers, guards, kitchen staff). It's not even finished and they LOVE IT!

The weekend was nuts. Every weekend I have 4 HIV/STD classes and the past two weekends I've held 2 CPR classes! I'm certifying 6 girls to be AHA CPR instructors, they are SO into it. I'm hoping that they will be able to use this as a source of income in the future. AHA is setting up a training center in Nairobi so they should be able to work through that. In HIV class this week we played a game with candy that showed how HIV can spread through sexual partners. We also talked a lot about prostitution because a few of the girls asked for ways to help friends who have to have sex for money.

Today (tuesday) we went on a Baboon walk and did some touristy stuff. The baboons are amazing - researchers here have been studying this troop for over 15 years so they let you get very close. I will post some pictures later. We saw giraffe and elephant on our way, and then about 50+ baboon! One young baboon was very curious of my pale legs and when I turned my back she reached out to touch it! I tried not to react because you can start a frenzy but I was a little nervous!

I am going to upload pictures and try to get them on here! We have had rain storms every night the past two weeks so the signal isn't great.

Mandela Day

Today all 77 Daraja girls plus staff and volunteers are headed to Naibor (a local town) to do a community clean up. Today we celebrate Nelson Mandela's 93rd birthday, and will be doing work for others for 67 minutes. Nelson Mandela has been fighting for human rights for 67 years. I can't even imagine, this man is a miracle. I will post pics when I can, but I was hoping that everyone reading this will take advantage of this opportunity to be of service. 67 minutes isn't too hard!! There is a list of ideas on this website: http://www.mandeladay.com/

"Sometimes if falls upon a generation to be great, you can be that generation."

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."

Do it for the love of others!

Catch Up

So I took a few days off the blog to avoid ranting more about my anonymous joy kill commenter. But I'm back and ready to tell stories!


The past few days I had a little bit of homesickness, which just makes me crazy. The past two years that I have been in New York all I wanted was to be at Daraja. And now I'm here and missing home, if only I could erase the Atlantic and bring the two a little closer together.

I have been coming into town a lot this week, running errands and trying to organize my projects. I went to the VCT clinic yesterday which what the HIV clinics are called. I had been there last time I came and didn't have a good experience, so I was a little worried. The clinic was down a pretty empty ally way, and inside there is just one room with a sign that says VCT. I knocked on the door and a man answered who was pretty surprised to see me. Inside the VCT office there was one desk and two chairs, rubber gloves, and equipment to do rapid testing. I told him that I had 20 girls who wanted to get tested. I now have to figure out what is the safest and most ethical way to get these girls there. They want to try to keep it it as anonymous as possible, but obviously I have to tell someone I'm taking them off campus. I am also concerned that if I bring 20 girls there and someone comes back positive, she is obviously going to be upset and therefore everyone will notice. I think I'm going to end up bringing in smaller groups. Some girls agreed to get tested on campus but others were afraid.

Today we came into town to do some research about a recycling plant. One of the volunteers (Sarah) is working on a recycling program for Daraja since right now we burn everything (papers, plastic). The plant was pretty great, they are really trying to do something good and they hire women from the town who need jobs. They buy plastics from locals and farmers and then crush it down and sell it in Niarobi to a place where they will reuse it. Pretty cool!

This afternoon is a staff/student football (soccer) match so that should be interesting!

It's not even 11 am!

I have had a pretty eventful day so far!

First I got up early to go for a run (by early I mean 7 and couldn't get out of bed until 8. I got about halfway through my three mile run when I see 3 little ones from the orphanage waiting for me by the road. I detoured to go see them, since I haven't seen them since I've been back (side note: turns out the pastor that runs the orphanage is a real scum bag. That sucks, so I have been avoiding him since he asked me to buy him a car...) Anyway, I kneel down to say hi to the kids and hear a strange noise from across the field. The church doors fly open and out pours 50+ little nuggets, all running full speed with no shoes to attack. I'm mobbed and "how are you"ed by every little bugger there. Then they notice the ipod strapped to my arm, and all hell breaks loose! I am literally assaulted by 4 year olds trying to change the song, see the pictures, giggling out of control. They all wanted to get their little baby hands on my watch, my hair, my shoes, my nails, but mostly my ipod. I escaped with only minor injuries, life in Kenya is hard :)

Next I finished my run and headed back to campus. I was walking up to the house when Tusker ran up to me with an enormous dead rabbit in his mouth. He has an obsession with showering me with dead gifts (remember the goat leg?). Luckily, he wanted this one all for himself so he ran away before I was able to throw up. Me and some other volunteers came into town, and our taxi got a flat on the way! The driver changed it in under 5 minutes, in long pants and a long button down shirt! I'm not having a COLD Coke and relaxing before I head back to Daraja. My dad arrives this weekend and I'm so excited. The girls ask me EVERY DAY when he gets here.

As my little munchkins said while I ran away "SEEEEE YOUUUUU!!!!"

Picture Post!

I'm so tired so instead of writing a blog today I'm going to post some pictures! It is freezing (yes, I am still in Africa) so I am cuddled up with the dogs. Two of these are from a class I taught about what protects you from HIV/AIDS and teen pregnancy. I am not preaching abstinence, and I know that some of these girls are having sex. But for some reason they all put abstinence as their top method.

Heartache.

Thank God for the weekend! I'm headed out for a run this morning, but I wanted to share something with all of you before I forget. Yesterday I held a class for my HIV/teen pregnancy project. We have be learning about the science and facts, and I wanted the girls to have a break from that. We took some time to be more creative! I had the girls each draw a "shield", showing the ways that they are protected from pregnancy and STD's. I'll try to post pictures later, I can't find my camera cable!!!!

I also had the girls right a poem about their experience or a friends experience with HIV. Here is one anonymous poem that really struck me:

There he stands, with nothing else to lose
life is a blur to him, no hope for survival.
He waits for the young girl, coming home from school.
He lures her with romantic works
and at last spends a night with her.
Three months later,
the girl tests positive and is also pregnant.
She is sent out of school.
Her life is now a blur
There she stands, with nothing else to lose.


Wanted to share that so you realize how important it is for these girls to have access to testing! I can't force them to do it but I can give them access. Click on my chipin link and help a girl get tested, every bit counts!

I never said I was good at this...

So some very smart people have let me know that my ChipIn widget expired and so it won't except donations. I think I fixed the problem :) Try this one:


Today was busy, lots of running around. I am trying to put together a comprehensive Biology study guide for the upcoming finals (in my free time, right?!). This weekend I'm teaching four classes so we will see how that goes! This picture is of vegetarian pilua, basically spanish rice!!

Asking for help.

Hi All,

Yesterday I had a discussion with the girls about asking for help and making empowering choices. I have been really pushing that getting tested for HIV or taking a pregnancy test after having unprotected sex should be something they become comfortable doing, not something they ignore until it's unavoidable. I have had 5 girls ask me to take them to get tested, which is great! There is a place in town that we think does free testing, but they weren't very nice to me when I tried to ask.

There is a nurse here at Daraja 3 days a week, and she has agreed to give the girls the option of getting tested here. So today I'm going to head into town to find out how much it will cost to get these pregnancy tests and HIV kits. I realize that I come out here and offer these girls options they SHOULD have, in the US you can get a free test in almost any city. But getting them tested here costs money no matter what, whether it's a taxi for $20 to get to town, or paying for a pregnancy test at the local market.

If you are interested in helping these girls get test, click on my paypal account to the right of this post. These tests aren't expensive, but getting 50+ girls tested is!

One girl asked me yesterday what will happen if she comes back positive. The answer is Daraja will cover all her medical costs (part of a girls scholarship money). We have a counselor here prepared for whatever outcome. HIV is not a death sentence, and I'm trying to teach these girls that.

Weekend Recap

Weekends are the best time to get to know the girls. Saturday I spent a few hours with the girls watching them wash their hair and braid it. It is quite a process! I also went for a run - I am trying to train for a half marathon with my darling aunt Colleen in October. It is HARD to run here at 6500 ft above sea level. Not to mention the hills and the uneven dirt roads. In the afternoon 50 girls who have decided to participate in my thesis research met with my on the patio to take the pre test survey. It went well, they were so worried about getting things wrong! For those of you just signing on, my study is on the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of Kenyan girls with regard to HIV/AIDS and Teen pregnancy. I was impressed by how much they knew about HIV, but there were also quite a few misconceptions.

Today (Sunday) I went down early for breakfast because it was Mandazi. Mandazi is basically fried dough, and it reminds me of home. I then attended Spiritual time at the "mini mosque" for two hours. The girls were so great and taught me a whole hell of a lot about Islam. One of the best things about Daraja is the diversity: there are girls from all major religions, from 24 Kenyan tribes. This afternoon I taught my first real class for my thesis. I asked the girls to leave me a note in my question box if they wanted to get test for HIV or take a pregnancy test, and I got a great response. Surprisingly a lot of the girls have been tested, but I told them it wont hurt to get tested again! I promised to go get tested with anyone who wanted to.

After class I tagged along on a game drive with Jason. I didn't expect to see much because we were just driving around outside campus. I didn't bring my camera, so we obviously happened upon a family of 8 elephant right on the road. We stopped and watched them for a while, I can't even explain what that is like. These animals are HUGE and could trample in car in an instant, you just feel at the mercy of Africa.