Slum Juice

Day 1:
Today we went to the slums in Mkuru, a suburb of Nairobi.  Within 5 mins of getting out of our van a 12 year old boy walked up to me, grabbed my hand, and attached to me for the rest of the day.  His name is Francis.  I really felt honored that he chose to come up to me because there are 45 of us on the team and the rest of the Kenyan kids were too shy to walk up to anyone at first, so I was the first with a buddy for the day.  Francis said he remembers me from our visit last year.  I think that is incredible mostly because I was in such a culture shock last year and didn't feel like I connected with anyone in particular.

This is a view from outside the slums.

Every time we come to the slums I'm amazed at how gracious the people who live there are to us.  Francis after a short time asked to carry my backpack for me (which normally you'd think maybe I shouldn't give all my possessions to this random Kenyan kid, but he never left my side for long), and he carried that backpack proudly all day.

Francis, carrying my backpack. Thanks buddy!

The program we run is based out of a sports ministry program here in Nairobi.  They take kids from the schools in the slums who want to participate in a soccer league, coach them in soccer, and tutor them in school.  The idea is that when they make good grades in school, they are allowed to participate in the soccer league and the soccer league brings in money to pay for their schooling.  Even primary school here in Kenya costs roughly $500 American dollars per year, which is pricey.

Alyssa and I did some water testing today, this was one of our test sites.

We toured the homes of the athletes, which are little more than 10x12 aluminum boxes connected to thousands of others.  In each home (from both this year and last year) I was again amazed at how gracious the people were towards us.  The parents were so proud of their tiny rooms for a house and would gladly offer us their couch or chair and any drink or food they possessed (more than they had to offer).  Think about how many times you have been embarrassed by the slight messiness of your house or your room when a guest was over.  Now think about living in a house with dirt floors that is no bigger than your closet where the roof leaks and there is no bathroom or heating/AC with your whole family.  How would you feel about bringing guests over? If you are reading this, you are so privileged.  This year more than anything I noticed the sense of community within the slums, each person is like a brother or a sister to each other and the kids are almost common possessions.

When we came into the school within the slum, every single kid was screaming with happy excitement to see us.  It's awesome the way they welcome you in Kenya! Karibu sana!

One of the classrooms at the school.
90% of my pictures from today were taken by a 12 year old, he's an excellent photographer.

Later during the day, 12 of us went to an orphanage for abandoned children, many HIV positive, where we fed and played with the babies.  It was fun, but difficult because it had already been a long day and many of us are jet lagged and exhausted (like now where it is 11 at night and I give up writing for today).