Great Minds at Work

The 4 R's

As a child, I often heard mention of the 3 R's:  reading, writing, and 'rithmetic, as keys to a child's success. Later, I was introduced to the 3 R's: reduce, reuse, recycle, as keys to saving our environment. Today, Kenya taught me the 4 R's: RESCUE, REHABILITATION, REINTEGRATION, and RESOCIALIZATION, as keys to saving our children.

Due to abuse, drugs, HIV/AIDS, neglect, and cancer; a number of reasons exist why the children of Waithaka (one of the 6 divisions of Dagoretti, Western Nairobi) end up living on the streets instead of in the safety and security of their parent's home. Today we visited a Center that does not turn a blind eye to the issue, but rather proactively intervenes to rescue the children.

As we drove from the city center, we first passed Kibera, a slum of more than one million. We then exited the highway, and turned down a rough road, alternating between rocks and red earth. We did not pass another vehicle, only pedestrians.  At the end of the road, we encountered the unfriendly site of high walls and barbed wire. Little did we know the beauty of what takes place behind those walls.  

It is the child's personal choice to enroll in the Center. This challenge by choice to transform one's life requires motivation, commitment, and determination from within. The Center has found this rescue approach to work best to ensure that the child truly wants to be there and will proceed through the next 3 R's.

The children range in ages from 7-17, with the number of boys far outweighing the number of girls. Girls often hide the issues they face and so the presence of boys living on the streets is much greater.  We encountered one such group of boys who just began the program, following the first step of rehabilitation, a 10 day orientation, which translates to a detox period to end the habits of sniffing glue, smoking marijuana, and pouring fuel on one's clothing to breathe in the fumes throughout the day. This group of boys cannot move directly from the freedom of the street to the confining walls of a classroom, and so at this stage, they are given more time to play football and engage in other physical activities in the grassy spaces outdoors.  Most had a vacant look upon their faces as they moved about in clothing that ranged from an orange safety vest to long sleeves hanging down past the waist.  A few made eye contact, but not one smile or small wave was exchanged. I cannot imagine the horrors these boys faced to get here, but am so thankful the community-based project thrives in this area.

The students spend the day at the Center where they have access to showers, a healthy breakfast and lunch, and a non-traditional education program that focuses on drama, art, music, videography, and photography. Based upon the classes Necessary Arts attended, students appear to be stimulated by and engaged in the hands-on activities and learning tasks. The arts are used as an educational tool, as well as a form of healing, the very heart of the healing process.  The smallest ones were in art class using crayons to show their comprehension of the life skill of cleanliness.  The middle group were beating on modified drums, those they made out of used products, showing their understanding of recycling. The most advanced group were actively engaged in physical theatre activities within the drama school: "street theatre for social change".  The Center finds over and over again that the students are more eager to receive love and acceptance than a bowl of warm food. This approach to rehabilitation empowers the students through psycho-social education. The drama students are closest to exiting the program, which is apparent in the fact that they easily made eye contact and smiled in return to our smiles.

A critical component to the program is reintegration of the child to the house and to society. For this transition to be successful, the Center reaches out to the family to educate about effective parenting skills, the rights of the child, family planning, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, child labor, and HIV/AIDS. Often the parents themselves are so young they do not know to parent. Empowerment through education strikes again!

The final step is resocialization, whereby the social workers from the Center promote sensitization within the community to identify situations of abuse, to alert teachers or police when problems arise, and in general to focus on child protection and safety. Before a child can be safely exited from the program, the parents must prove to the social worker they can and will care for the child. My favorite component to this step is that the parents must bring an admission letter from the public school guaranteeing the placement of the child. And when this letter is presented, the child is given a new school uniform.

This process of the 4 R's is a personal choice, and I am inspired by the project and the students. During the few hours we were there, the success of the program was visible. There is nothing more important in this world than the safety, protection, and rights of the child. Necessary Arts is full of gratitude to Rosemary and Nancy for sharing this success story with us. We look forward to partnering with AMREF,  its parent NGO company, to contribute to its continued success.

Swarming like Bees

Cars and matatus overwhelm the streets of Nairobi and create traffic back ups which last for hours.  Upon leaving the chaos of the city, we immediately exhaled and slowed down. In the Masai Mara, cattle roam and large pastures of land stretch endlessly. After stopping for an afternoon meal of nyoma choma of goat and chicken, along with sides of ugali, spinach, tomatoes, and mokimo, we arrived at the rehabilitation and educational center whose motto is to "to become the best institution for academic and spiritual excellence". Although shy to greet us, approximately 75 boys and girls dressed in gingham uniforms began to swarm like bees, and within minutes attached themselves to us.

"What is your name?" "Where are you from?" "Where is your husband?" We were bombarded with questions, hand holding, and warm welcomes. Some of the students were able to speak English fluently, while others could not respond to our simple questions but shared a blank face.  All were anxious to interact in whatever manner they could and we immediately made a lot of new friends and inherited several daughters. To transition into accomplishing our goal of stimulating minds through artistic expression, we invited the children to participate in a variety of drama activities.

Unsurprisingly, the non-verbal drama activities gathered a huge audience with high levels of participation. After repeated efforts to try to create small groups of only 10 students, we always ended up with at least 25; a flowing sea of colorful sweaters, big smiles, shaved heads, huge white teeth, an equal number of brown teeth, and shoes bursting at the seams. The eagerness and joy in being involved in new challenges was intoxicating.  The verbal activities attracted a huge audience as well, but only some could participate while the rest hung around the periphery, eager to be a part of the excitement.  As time passed, it was apparent that students would smile and act as if they understood what we were asking of them, but realistically they could not respond independently to verbal directions, at least not until a physical example was shown.

The groups worked through the games and activities in a small patch of dried grass near the hanging laundry. Sadly, the lack of clothespins encouraged the free flow of the clean clothing to land on the ground.  The youngest students were challenged with a group activity to count rhythmically from #1-10 and from #10-1.  Three groups emerged: those who could accomplish the task easily, those who struggled with the counting, and those who were simply in attendance.  Peals of laughter occurred in response to students trying to count backwards from #1-10, but even without stating the proper numbers, rhythm was kept. The concept of eye contact was introduced into the activity. Participants had permission to verbally respond only to the person who made the non verbal connection with his eyes. The student leaders caught onto the concept and explained the idea in Swahili so everyone could comprehend. The entire group had smiles pasted on their faces all afternoon. For the final activity, students were asked to choose 2-3 words to describe themselves in being a good person within their community.  "I'm a good person because I like to help my friends." "Help is your word." "I'm a good person because I say my prayers for everyone." "Prayers is your word." These special words accumulated and were then added to the original counting challenge.

Meanwhile, the older female students who had worked with NA during previous visits completed written responses to questions asking why they like and what they have learned from drama. Their answers, although thoughtful, included non-grammatical statements like "I learned how have confident".  The girls gathered outside in a tight circle near the fallen laundry, where they were asked to define the words "global" and "citizen".  No one knew the meaning of the word global, nor did they have any reference to the word globe, though they had greater success with the word citizen; "a citizen is a person living", "where they are from".  The students were asked to think how the words global, citizen and community relate, and what made each girl a good person in her community.  The thinking taking place was obvious in the face of the girl with the grey sweater who finally asked, "Naima, are you talking about what makes us a good person in our culture?"

With further prompting, the girls were asked if it is a peaceful community where they live because it certainly looks peaceful.  The girl in the grey sweater adamantly replied, "No, it is not peaceful for girls. When a girl turns 9 in my community, she has to get married.  A girl's life is not peaceful." Another young girl contradicted this by stating "It is peaceful!"  Since the students disagreed, they were asked to create images with their bodies, no words allowed, to demonstrate peace and non-peace. They accomplished this first in pairs, and then in groups of four. Finally, the group was asked to share a true story to share how a nine year old girl does not live in peace. The girls had a private conversation in Swahili and then shared the following. "The wife lose the sheep and the husband come home and (mimics beating)." The girls were able to act a tableau of the story with the sweetest of the group crouched on the ground acting as sheep.  The conversation tried to raise an awareness that the girls are part of a community, of Kijiado, of Kenya, of Africa, and of the whole world.

These students have faced great struggles in their lives, including traumatic experiences that no one should ever have to, especially not a young child.  NA attempts to reach the unreachable children coming from multilingual and multicultural backgrounds. This workshop was dynamic, and the students proved the need for such work through their interest, excitement and success. NA is committed to reaching its students, especially those at primary school level because with such a foundation of understanding, they will influence and create the change needed for their generation.

"I thank Him because He promised she will come back, and she came back!"

Our J.E.H.O Family
Miriam, a widowed mother caring for 43 orphans, lives in a 3 bedroom flat located above the church. She shares her tiny bedroom with Grace, found in a field near the airport by the pastor of the church on Easter morning one year ago, abandoned within the first 24 hours of her life. The front bedroom holds 12 sets of bunk beds for the girls, while the identical back bedroom houses the boys.  Firewood continues to smoke from the kitchen where warm porridge has just been served to the youngest children, while fresh chapatti is being prepared in the stairwell for tonight's supper.

The Social Setting of Our Outreach Beneficiaries
Upon entering Pipeline via a rough and dusty road, one is overwhelmed by the colors and sounds emerging from the plethora of tenement buildings also known as "vertical semi-slums".  Laundry is hanging outside every balcony, while silent wishes are expressed that the clothing not fall, for it is known the item of clothing would never be recuperated.  Trash dresses every bumpy, muddy rut with colorful plastic bags in red, blue and yellow as its accessories.  The street level is full of entrepreneurs selling everything from fresh tomatoes to phone cards, working along side a herd of roaming cattle.  Despite the harsh reality of living in Pipeline, the doors of JEHO were opened widely and lovingly, inviting us into the warmth of the church and home.

The Psychological Setting of Our Outreach Beneficiaries
The harsh and dark physical environment in which one enters the home is a complete juxtaposition to the smiles, warm greetings, and laughter that emanates from the children who are standing on each step and behind every curve of the dimly lit hallway. The family survives with the barest essentials; yet even with just one set of clothing, and no books or toys for stimulation, it is no wonder that these children grow and thrive due to the abundance of care that Miriam offers, along with a strong spirit of respect and dignity.  Each child, with a name of Gift, Faith, Blessing, or Grace, has access to a small Bible which appears to be the only tangible tool for learning literacy within the home. The young girls recite Bible verses verbatim and the boys sing and dance with full devotion to the music played by them, on the electric keyboard that is used for the church services.  The presence of God lives in the house and within each member of its extended family.

Our PsychoSocial Work
Today, we presented Necessary Arts' (NA) third series of humanitarian arts workshops to the children. In an attempt to look for understanding, we began the session by asking the students to write down their favorite learning memories from the previous workshops. The students commented on the activities in which they participated, highlighting the acting, singing and dancing.  Several students spoke fondly of singing "Mary Had a Little Lamp".  In addition, they shared what life lessons they learned: "we should have confidence", "behave in a good manner", and "respect our elders".

Their students' written work ended with messages of:  "May you continue with the spirit of helping orphans", "Our love to you shall never end", "May the good Lord bless you", and "May God reward you abundantly".  The children's' faith and love is genuine and present in their every word and action, and these learned behaviors have roots right here at Jeho, transferred directly from Miriam's heart and soul to the children.  It is apparent that 43 children go to sleep each night knowing they are loved.  By growing up on a home full of goodness, imagine the positive impact they will make upon community, society, and humanity.

NA is operating as an educational humanitarian organization with the motto to stimulate minds through artistic expression, to empower students to reach their full potential, and to become confident, productive, innovative contributors. The Reach the Unreachable project focuses on the singular objective to foster global citizenship among today's youth from multicultural and multilingual backgrounds. Through the theatre arts, we promote personal development through creative expression.  Students demonstrate this to us through their words, songs, dances, and overall eagerness to participate.  Through literacy development, we promote successful communication in the English language. Students demonstrate this to us through their word choice and tidy penmanship.

NA has been working with this group of children for one year, and while I cannot yet confirm the students are able to exhibit strong leadership, critical thinking, and innovation, while making positive contributions to a global society, it is evident that based upon their positive upbringing, along with NA enhancing their life skills, learning is most definitely taking place.  These could in fact be the small steps that allow the children the opportunity to grow and develop into global citizens.  No matter one's background, upbringing, language, culture, spiritual beliefs, and so on, we are all connected, and it is through this connectedness th
at our global society will thrive.

Think Globally; Act Locally

Returning to Kenya  - Building Global Families

Humanity is the buzz word of  my ocean's ride. With the highs and lows, the ins and outs, the ebbs and flows, it is clear to me that we are always exactly where we are meant to be. Returning to the J.E.H.O family as I affectionately call them, allowed us to ascertain where we are in delivering our service to them.  I, for one, am of the belief that humanity underpins and drives development if there is to be any sustainability of our global society. This theme echoed through the DIHAD conference last week and now that I am here, on the ground in Pipeline, I root myself even deeper in this truth.

In the end, I suppose if enough of us walked in the tracks of compassion, dignity, responsibility, tolerance, diversity, good temperance and the like, we would show up for each other, ready to overcome life's challenges through a collective mindedness. Our Pipeline students benefit from the opportunity to think globally, while acting locally. They are ambassadors for their generation, and will develop into dynamic global citizens who truly make a difference.

Statistics of Shame

Statistics of shame

• One year of global failure resulted in 23,969 cases and 9,807 deaths from the Ebola virus.
• Only 15-20% of the monies donated to Somalia are actually received by the beneficiary.
• Although Gaza is overcrowded and becoming more and more unlivable, 7,000 new students enroll in the schools annually.
• Tens of millions of people around the globe have been forcibly displaced by conflict, natural disaster, or persecution.

Although the data is staggering, a person cannot become just a statistic.  Each individual deserves help, treatment and service, in addition to dignity and respect.  Necessary Arts is trying to reach such individuals by providing theatre arts workshops which focus on one's psychosocial development: the building, or perhaps the rebuilding, of one's psychological development in and with a social environment.

Necessary Arts has a vision in mind. If the end result of the Reach the Unreachable project looks similar to what we expect or anticipate, have we truly succeeded? Wouldn’t it be better to see how the project could develop naturally, based upon the shared communication among the donor organization, the humanitarian actors, and the affected communities?  It was suggested at DIHAD today that we do NOT give fish to those in need, NOR do we teach them to fish.  Instead, we tap into their innovation and creativity.

Necessary Arts doesn’t just seek change; we are committed to change.  Let us all be part of the momentum!

How does one morally quantify poverty?

As we were walking around the DIHAD exhibition hall today, I saw a poster defining the group as “an international, humanitarian organization dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty.”  I immediately wondered how one could possibly differentiate poverty versus extreme poverty.  And more importantly, how does such differentiation exist in our world today?  

The United Nations defined the phrase extreme poverty as “a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services.”  Currently, extreme poverty refers to earning below the international poverty line of a $1.25/day.

Take a moment to estimate approximately how much money you typically live on per day.  And then try to visualize your life with such a reduction of earnings.  Humbling, isn’t it?

DIHAD 2015 “Opportunity, Mobility, and Sustainability”

Our recently formed book club has chosen “The Blue Sweater” by Jacqueline Novogratz as our first read. She begins her novel by reminiscing that once upon a time, she had hoped that her nudging of the world with good intentions and philanthropic efforts would make a difference, though she quickly realized nudging wasn’t enough. The gap between the rich and the poor continues to increase drastically, dangerously. For the first time since WWII, the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes exceeds 50 million; hence the desperate need for humanitarian responses.  Humanitarian actors continually respond to such suffering from perpetual crises; yet we cannot allow this to become “the norm”.  I might argue that the solution is assistance and relief, while you might suggest opportunities for development as the essential component.  Yet realistically, the most sustainable response is humanitarianism; the motivation behind what we do, based upon our own values and ethics.

Syria, Iraq, Central African Republic, and South Sudan are four of the United Nation’s highest emergency level crises that arose simultaneously.  Immediately, a barrage of negative thoughts comes to mind:  blockades and occupation, food insecurity, malnutrition and poverty, armed conflict, breaches of international humanitarian law, targeting of aid workers, inconsistent education, and human trafficking.  These conflicts and challenges require dignified, coordinated, and sustainable humanitarian responses, which can only arise by the actors working collectively beyond borders, beyond cultures.  And then one day, when those four countries are mentioned, perhaps a positive response would come to mind instead.

As we walk around the DIHAD exhibition area, we are overwhelmed by the positives: portable solar power solutions, safe drinking water systems, emergency food and shelters, medical and rescue equipment, opportunities for formal education and vocational training, armored transport vehicles, emergency responders, microfinance opportunities, disaster management, female empowerment, migration management, mosquito nets, fleece blankets, and healing the wounds of war. The solutions exist, but must be put into action. The need to protect refugees, resolve refugee problems, and help find durable solutions to allow them to rebuild their lives in dignity and peace must be prioritized.  There is no other option.