Little girls playing the game koraduring their school lunch break
at the Eastleigh Community Centre
The rain has been a blessing in Eastleigh over the past few weeks. Most of Kenya has finally received some rain fall after a dismally short spring rain. We pray that these rains will last and refill the reservoirs and dwindling water table. Throughout Nairobi, we have been on strict water rationing (only receiving water once a week) and many of the city's bore holes have simply run out of water. The recent rains have had a miraculous affect on the grass and plants around us. Seeds that we planted over a month ago have actually come up through the ground over the past few days. The rains have also produced a tangible sense of hope in people, you can see the relief on people's faces.
One of the places that we talk about the importance of rain and water is with the children of the Eastleigh Community Centre. Each day about 320 primary students and about 90 preschool children learn, live and play together within the safety of the community centre.
"Everything is better with the rain," commented one little girl. "I don't like the dust, it bites my eyes." The girls are sitting on a cement walkway gathering stones and bits of broken pottery into circles for a game of Kora. They take turns throwing and catching the rocks as we talk about the weather and the importance of water. "I don't like it when it doesn't rain. Everything is sad." agreed another girl. For most of these children, no rain has meant that there is no water to bath, wash their clothing, and at times even cook their meals. Without access to city water, most families living in slums like Eastleigh and Mathare have had to resort to buying buckets of water often at prices five times that of what we would pay in North America. And the water they are drinking is often of poor quality. In response to my question about how they filter or clean their drinking water, one of the elder girls answered "Sometimes we boil our water or filter it. But you can't do that when you need it right away."
Every Thursday, many of these children take part in a refugee children's program called "The Happy Club". We started the club with two volunteer leaders from the Iftin literacy program. Along with games, songs, and dancing (the kid's three favorite activities) they are able to talk and learn more about issues of heath and wellness. We pray that as these children learn more about the dangers of unclean drinking water, that they will be agents of change in their homes as they put into practice many of the simple behaviours that can protect them and their families from water born diseases.
Despite the bravado of the little boys the girls insist that they are much better at the game!
