My great grandmother, known in kikuyu as my "mito", lived her entire life in Kariobangi. Kariobangi is a small community on the outskirts of Nairobi, which, as many rural areas in Kenya, is plagued by lack of schools, medical facilities, and businesses. My mito spent her entire life protecting and inspiring everyone around her. She was a symbol of hope, love and happiness. When she passed on in 1997, she left her property to my mother. The property was left in the condition my mito left it in, until we moved back to Kenya 4 years ago in 2009. My mother and I thought the best thing to do with the property was to preserve it, and thus preserve my mito's legacy, preserve the love, hope and happiness she brought to the community. So we decided to open a school/day care for the children of the community, to protect, inspire and teach, just like my mito did.
Towards the end of her life, my mito lost her sight. The neighborhood kids would all come together and help her with her shopping, cleaning and cooking; in return, she would give them pieces of candy, which back then was a pricey luxury. Because of this, she was known as Mama Sweetie. This made coming up with a name for our school easy. The Mama Sweetie Kariobangi Foundation has now become the jewel of Kariobangi, providing a safe place for not only the kids, but the adults in the community as well.
Today's Visit:
I always love visiting my Kariobangi kids; they are so full of life, it is a great pick me up. Lately I have been having a hard time being positive and happy within my own life, but these kids help bring out the positive in everyone, and every situation. Unfortunately I haven't seen the kids in a while; the change is inconceivable. There is one new girl, Clara, she is four years old and absolutely adorable. She has only been in the school for 2 weeks, but my mom told me that the teachers informed her that her english has improved so much. They have all grown up so much and are extremely healthy; they told me about all the healthy foods they have been eating, and how they have gotten 3 meals a day, which is an extreme improvement. We walked in just as the kids were coloring, which was very exciting because they welcomed me to join in; coloring is always fun, whether you are 7 or 17, so I definitely enjoyed myself. After that we had circle time, and we talked about the "pit" and "peak" of our days. I found this particularly sad, because most of the kids "pits" were their fathers coming home drunk and violent, their moms abandoning them, leaving them to fend for themselves, or even them not getting dinner. All of the kids come from horrifying and extremely difficult backgrounds, and they know way to much for children there tender age. Our goal is to get them as far away as possible from that, and to have them focus on school work and learning everyday, but sadly these horrifying things are still apart of their lives.
We later played with the kids and they really enjoyed playing with my long braids. It brings me so much joy seeing how fascinated the girls are, and how much they enjoy, playing with my hair. After that we took them for a ride in our car, which they all said was the highlight of their day.
The goal one day is to bring the kids to ISK and do something special for them there, so it is something I am planning on working on.
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