i keep thinking of this documentary my friend's mom told me about. a couple of interested people made a short film about what a handful of homeless women would do with $50 if it was given to them with no strings attached. i'm not sure what the name of the documentary is or anything, but one woman went to a salon to get her hair done. when she was asked why she spent the money on that, she said it was because, more than anything, she missed human touch. with the $50 she could pay someone to wash her hair and they would touch her for the brief time it takes to shampoo. that story broke my heart in some way.
the street girls here i'm sure would love to get their hair braided. it's the luxuries we typically take for granted when we're not strapped with the daily pressures of where we will get our next meal or the guards we would have to sleep with to get a place to sleep. anyway, today was a day for a little victory. spearheaded by kei, we have been meeting with the street girls to hear about their concerns and it was widely decided that they would benefit from a girls-only day at the center for street children here, named Tumaini (or hope). unfortunately timely, one of the teenage girls was recently gang raped. the idea gained momentum over the last week and we have been discussing on how to get it off the ground (big obstacles: funding and sustainability). then a woman came to the IU house who has an NGO with her husband and she had lunch with us and listened and decided to fund the effort until May. So, Friday morning (and Fridays thereafter) we will go to the center and hang out with the girls and be able to serve them lunch! (on the agenda: the hookey pookey; how babies are made; making sanitary napkins available; art) I really do hope it works out. Really good, dedicated, long-term people (both Kenyan and American) are passionately involved in the center; the commitment spans well beyond our short time here.
saturday night we went to an outdoor musical festival. this guy was there (who was voted the most famous celebrity in kenya). i met a (drunk) christian 30-year old who scolded me when i told him i wasn't regular church-goer then informed me he stays so young looking by having sex with so many women. hmm. then around the time my left-y belief system began the tirade about religion-based organizations and the effect of missionaries in Kenya, Nicholas Kristof published this op-ed and i had to go back to the opinion drawing board (i'm still there, i think it's a lifelong learning curve).
but this article is currently hanging in the dining hall here, and it gives a wonderful run down of all the wonderful things AMPATH is accomplishing, and Dr. Einterz is staying in the house with us for the week and is a really friendly guy.
and since i'm always getting ready for sasquatch, i've been jammin' portugal. the man.
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