"hello - how are you?"

hello hello

its weird to say this after only a couple of days, but i am officially starting to feel settled in, and am now referring to the IVHQ house as "home." the people i have met (both volunteers and kenyans) are sooooo nice! i am so glad i came here!

today i went into Kibera which is the largest slum in Nairobi and the second largest slum in Africa. it was the most humbling experience i have EVER had. Kibera houses over a million people, literally every corner of space is utilized! these people have nothing. literally. they live in "houses" that are the size of my room with no running water - and if they have some money, spotty electricity. even the houses with electricity are pitch dark, and almost impossible to see anything. we spent three hours walking around passing out flour and beans to residents, who were so thankful for our help! the food we gave them (about two bags of flour and a bag of beans per family) feeds their family for a week. everywhere we walked the children would shout out "hello, how are you? i am fine" in a chorus (the most english they know) and chase after us. it was so adorable, and heartbreaking at the same time. seeing these kids who were so smiley and happy, running around in donated, dirty clothes shouting out to us and coming up to get hugs was overwhelming. sadly, most of the families cannot afford to send their children to school, so the kids spend their days playing in the sewage and rummaging amongst garbage. to send a child to school here cost 600 shillings a month, which  is a little over $5. but the families simply cannot afford it. i have already decided that i am going to sponsor a child and pay their school fees, it is the least i can do when they have so little.

the project i helped out on today passing out food was started by a past volunteer very recently, and they are looking for a volunteer who is "long term" to help run it. i am considering taking this post, as surprisingly i am the most long term of this new batch of volunteers. as heartbreaking as today was, it was also reassuring that the things that we do here are actually helping! by providing food for these families, they are able to save money to put toward their children's school fees.

after returning from Kibera - literally covered in feces, yes feces (my shocks will most definitely not be coming home with me!) we went to the "walmart" of Nairobi to purchase drinking water and some fruit. i also bought a Kenyan cell phone and some minutes, so now i just have to figure out how to use it!

tomorrow we have orientation, though i have to say i feel like i am getting the hang of the lifestyle already without it. tonight i will be taking a much needed shower, followed by packing up in case i am moving for my placement.

i will try to post pictures on my blog soon, but to be honest i haven't taken many because i don't feel comfortable enough yet. i draw enough attention to myself being here, that i don't want to add to it by being "that tourist" with the camera. also, i have not figured out how to add pictures at the internet cafes. the computers are old, and i am not sure i can plug my memory card into them...perhaps i will have to search for a more expensive cafe that may have more updated equipment.

well, time to head back :)
 xo