Comfort the Children International

Yesterday afternoon Gus and I visited a special needs school in Maai Mahiu, a small town down in the valley just below Kijabe. The town is much like a truck stop, as it is on the main road from Nairobi and Mombassa (the port city), transporting goods to Uganda. Check out the entire picture album on the Picasa link at the upper right of the blog. You will see some pictures of the surrounding shops and road, in addition to the school itself. I also have some video of the Shooting Stars class (this is their advanced class) singing a couple songs for us. Gus sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" for them and then they sang their songs. Unfortunately, I didn't get Gus's song on the video (sorry the video is not uploading properly-will see if it can be added to Picasa).

Malaika mean "angel". At CTC Intl, there are the Malaika kids, children with various disabilities, and the Malaika Mums, the children's mothers who are working in the sewing room. This place has been a double blessing for these families, allowing the mothers to earn a living and the kids to receive therapy and an education. Prior to providing these services, it was common for mothers to "hide" children with disabilities and deformities out of shame or humiliation. Additionally in these circumstances, the father has left, so it becomes very difficult for the mothers to support their families.

I was also greatly impressed with the additional community outreach which is being facilitated here. Faith, the admin director, provided me with the grand tour and introduced me to everyone. Meanwhile Gus ran amuck, exploring the facilities and playing in the various classrooms. Some of the things happening there included: Mentoring for the students, like a big brother and big sister type of program; an Environmental Club, where they are planting Jetrophar trees which produce oils to be used as biofuels as well as direly needed shade and reforestation; and a Health Education outreach primarily for AIDS education.

We were able to donate some stuff we had brought from home, including some dresses made by local NW women (these will likely be distributed to the IDP-Internally Displaced Persons- camps, which are prevalent in this area of the Rift Valley), as well as art supplies, toys and books for the students and their visitors (local families and schoolchildren regularly visit the school to play with the students to raise awareness and acceptance of persons with disabilities). As we unloaded the goods from the car, I asked Gus if it was okay to give these toys and books to the school and he happily agreed. These were all things he has been playing with daily. Bravo Gus!

Zach