Today I removed my wedding and engagement rings for the first time in almost 25 years. But more on that later.
This morning was a super early start for Bill, Lindi and Cathy & Paul as they went to the ANZAC day dawn service. They had a wonderful time: enjoyed Cathy’s vocal solo, had a great breakfast, met an amazing array of people.
Lindi had a wonderful chat with the High Commissioner (even though she didn’t know that’s who he was) and another great chat with the deputy high commissioner (who it turns out she knew from Uni days!) How cool is that!?
And me? Well I finally slept. And slept and slept. Which was great because I really have not slept much at all lately.
Last night at dinner there was much discussion about our impending walk in to the Kibera Slum. We had all basically decided that Lindi would sit this one out – it’s apparently quite an experience and we were all concerned that it could be overwhelming without having Mark go in at the same time and not being able to debrief properly. We left it that Lindi was going to ‘wait for a sign’ overnight. When they collected me after the ANZAC service Lindi announced ‘I’m coming with you!’ Her first waking thought had been ‘I can’t come all this way and not go in!’
So off we went in 2 cars and some borrowed ‘wellingtons’ from our British friends (the ground in Kibera is all raw sewerage – you can’t wear your shoes). We left all our jewelery (this is the bit where I had to remove my rings!) and left everything in the car in a secure compound.
We met our armed guards (!!!) Jeff and Patrick and set of on our 1 hour walk into Kibera – approx 4km square and home to about 1 million people.
Apart from our guards, our group consisted of Sally and her husband Stuart who are the pioneers of the Lunchbowl project (www.lunchbowl.org) that runs the feeding project in the slum that we were visiting (as well as the Angel Kindergarten). They brought their 4 gorgeous children with them. Then there was Cathy, Lindi, Bill & me and 2 Kiberans who always walk in with them for local protection.
Kibera is amazing. I don’t really know how to explain it. There are some photos here on the AMS Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/AustralianMusicSchools/posts/904336496297721
There is also a good description and some photos here on the ‘Kipepeo’ page (Another wonderful initiative employing women in Kibera) http://kipepeodesigns.co.uk/pages/about-kibera
We visited 2 homes – firstly Edwin & Grace (the blind boy that we met the other day.) Grace has 9 children, 2 of them blind. 2 of them are still at home with her and her husband died several years ago. They live in a 2 room abode (about 3m square each room). Dirt floor, corrugated iron / cloth walls. They eat, sleep, cook etc in this one area.
They were delighted to have us visit, thanking us over and over. Edwin has a Casio keyboard (battery operated, a present from his big brother) that he loves play. His favourite activity is to sing and play songs that praise God.
Next stop Phyllis’ house. It was pretty much the same but with a grand sweep of red fabric decorating the area. I think her home was only the one room (3×3) but she has a television and was very proud that we noticed.
Again, we were blown away by the pride and appreciation. They were truly honored to have us visit.
Off to the compound where we were privileged and humbled to help feed 400+ kids. Again, these are the orphans and the vulnerable and need to qualify to come in for lunch each Saturday. (More here: http://www.lunchbowl.org/)
The 400+ kids were led into the hall at 9am and were quite happy to sit until lunch time, singing and praying. Once we arrived they began with the older kids singing and dancing for everyone before lunch was served.
It was amazing to see where they cook for such a crowd – just 2 huge vats over a wood fired stove in a hut outside the hall. These were then carried inside and served out to the waiting children. The whole process was incredible.
An incredible production line materialized (made AMS camp feel like a picnic!) Plates were handed from person to person along lines until the entire hall had eaten.
Each plate had 1/2 banana, rice, stew (it was a special day as meat was in the stew) and a sachet of fresh milk. The kids sat patiently and passed the meal along waiting for their turn. We have never even dreamt of seeing anything like it.