‘THE NEST’ IS FULL OF BABIES

So it has been 103 days since I left Australia.  I am not sure why I am still keeping track of my days away, I guess it is a habit that I just haven’t gotten out of yet and it is still ear marked in my ‘hard’ copy journal that I have kept since my whole amazing journey started on the 27^th March 2011.  Well not the original one of course, but once one fills up, I start a new one and this has been one constant thing from the start as well as my blog of course.  Yes I have now passed the 2 year anniversary of literally being on the road, leaving a great job, great friends, a great life really in search of exploring this wonderful planet we call home.

I have been in Kenya now, my new home, for just over 2 months now and I can honestly say I am now settled into my new country.  I have a weekly routine that pretty much consists of Tuesday being shop day, Friday is Masai Market day and then I generally have some form of social plan on the Saturday and then my week begins again and I also try and fit in a lunch date during the week when people have the time (some have to work).  So what do I do with the other 3-4 days of the week?  It is a good question that I get asked.  I always seem to find something to fill my time from writing my blog, house cleaning (which is always ongoing due to the dust), throw in lunch, an afternoon movie and the day has all but gone and then its dinner time.  This has what has kept me busy the last 2 months and I think it was a great way to settle into Kenya without the pressure of having to learn a new way of life quickly, the work commitments and stresses and everything and anything else that comes with a relocation of gigantic proportions.  I have been lucky.  Some people that I have spoken to that move here with jobs already lined up have been shipped here a week before they are due to start and then depending on the kind of job they have, they work 5-6 days a week, with long hours and also commute time (this is the killer) and they just don’t get the opportunity to meet people or even see the magnificent country that they are living in.  Before they know it there tour of duty will be up, they will be on a plane home and wonder where the hell all there time went.  I have had the privilege of settling in, making new friends, getting a routine and living a nice quite life without all that hullabaloo.  I must admit my first 4 weeks here were difficult-really hard, but to find myself where I am now, I am proud of myself, the hard yards have been done and I am happy to say I am settling in well, I am coping well and I am happy.  Truly happy.

BUT…… it has come time now to do something productive with my time.  I not only moved to Africa for a better way of life, but to also help people (children) less fortunate than myself and it is time for me to get off my semi-retired butt and follow up a few leads that have come up and out all those words into some form of action.  There were 2 really good leads I had to chase.  One was in the form of a post on the NES Facebook page of a company looking for volunteers.  They had a bevy of departments and locations and the fee to be a part of the programme was minimal, especially compared to some that I have seen floating around.  I emailed the co-ordinator for their orphanage section, got some great information and the locations and after speaking to my taxi driver Steven it was going to cost around 2000KSH (23AUD) ONE WAY-EACH DAY.  I am all in for volunteering my time and paying a small fee to help run the organization but to pay nearly 50AUD a DAY on transport just does not make sense and secondly I just couldn’t afford to do that.  Maybe down the track when I buy a car I can relook into this option, but for now I just emailed them back and told them the truth to which she was understanding and mentioned that I could catch a matatu (local minivan buses) that are of course dirt cheap, but I don’t want to sound precious but I just don’t think I am quite up to that just yet.  Besides the matatu’s having a reputation for dangerous driving they can also be known for not being a safe place for a mzungu.  If it was just down the street I would MAYBE give it a crack, but I would have to travel at least 45 minutes and I would also have to change somewhere along the trip and I think it is just a little much to ask at this point in time.

My other hot lead was from my hairdresser the week before I headed to Ethiopia.  She mentioned that there was a small orphanage called the nest not far from my apartment that is run by a German lady, and she is always looking for volunteers.  She didn’t have her number but told me to just rock on up and ask for Irene and have a chat to her.  So it was time I did it, I said I would go for a visit after I got back from Addis Ababa and 2 weeks has passed since my return and I have done nothing about it.  Well today that was to change. 

Tuesdays are ‘food’ shopping day and I asked Steve on our way to Village Market if he would mind stopping at The Nest for me to introduce myself and have a look around and see if they actually did need my help.  I had no idea on where the orphanage was; only that it was near the big tent church that you can see from the road when you drive to Village Market.  Steve said he had an idea on where it was so we would aim for that and if we got lost we could just ask a guard that most properties have at the entrances to all residential housing.  So we turned off the main road onto a dirt road that turned into a bumpy stone road (made for the rain so it doesn’t get muddy) and we pulled up to a set of gates, enquired with the gate guard and were told that we were there.  THAT is why Steven is my driver and me a mere mortal passenger.  There were no signs; you couldn’t even see the buildings behind the security gate so unless you knew where you were going this totally didn’t look like an orphanage from the outside.   The gates were opened for us and Steven parked and a lady came up to me to ask if she could help.  I asked for Irene and was told that she wasn’t in-so I just introduced myself launched into why I was there and did they need an extra set of hands?  I was pointed in the direction of a building that had a woman standing out the front, whose name was Mary and I repeated my story and her eyes lit up and said help is always welcome here my child.  There were some other mzungu’s there all holding little babies, so I said hi to them and then Mary said come on in I had come at the right time as all the babies were starting to wake up and pulled me into the playroom.  I felt bad but I told her that I couldn’t stay today; I just wanted to make sure that they needed me and what hours were busy for them. 

So this didn’t faze Mary in the least and she said that was fine, come back next week and then took me on a quick tour of the orphanage and to show me where all the babies slept and give me some quick information.  The Nest currently has 17 babies aged from 4 weeks old to 2 years old.  This is the baby section of the organisation, they do have another location at Limuru-but for me again it is a 50AUD round trip there-so it looks like for now I will be working with the babies and you know what I really like the sound of that.  After showing me to rooms, there were up to 3 babies per cot-they were all starting to wake from their mid-morning naps.  Mary picked up a child who would have been 7 months old and said here go to Mama (meaning me) and before I knew it I was saddled with the cutest baby you have ever laid eyes on and he was more than willing to come to me-no tears-no scared looks of a mzungu holding him and I was told he was now awake and I could take him to the play room.  All the babies family/mothers are in jail, so the babies come here in the hope that the mothers will be reunited with their children and if not then the children are put up for adoption to give them a better life.  Ideally The Nest wants to reunite the children with their ‘birth’ mothers but this is obviously not always an ideal scenario.  So I headed back to the playroom, entered and asked if I wanted to feed said baby (I didn’t get his name-bad) but again I said I couldn’t stay today and the child was taken from me and given to some-one else.  Oh how sad.  I spoke to Mary about hours and she said they mainly need people from 8am-10am, noon till 2pm and then 4-6pm.  After all they are babies and they sleep a lot.  So with the promise that I would be back next Wednesday and a spring in my step I felt like I had made a major move in my life here.  It is what I came to Africa to do and to actually turn it into a reality was an amazing feeling.  I should have got my butt into gear a little sooner, but I guess I wanted to make sure I was all settled before getting into something new. 

Initially I was thinking I would just do one full day a week, but based on the hours they need people I think I will be happy to do 8-2pm twice a week and cover 2 of their busier shifts rather than doing one full day.  I have a feeling they get a lot of mzungu’s through the doors that are only here for a week or two at the most-but I am here for the long haul and when I get to know the lay of the land and what they need and don’t need I will hopefully be able to extend a charity arm out and see if we can get some donations to come in.  I would assume as they are babies’ formula, food and nappies are the priority but I will let you all know when I get to know the organisation better.  I know the German owner relies heavily on donations and I hope that we can all help out when the time arises. 

So I have made the first step today towards what I came to Africa for and I have to tell you it is an absolutely AMAZING feeling.  Those little babies need love, care and attention and I feel I am able to offer them all that and more.  The Nest is full of babies and this mama (endearment term apparently) is going to help in any way, shape or form as required.