In 2006 my sister spent 4 months working for Tearfund in an area of Nairobi called Pumwani. In Swahili, Pumwani literally translates as ‘exhale’ but its meaning is closer to ‘resting place’. It is situated in an area called Eastlands, in the Starehe constituency. Starehe broadly translates as ‘happiness’.
My sister worked in two school’s in the area. The four months she spent teaching 4-6 yr old’s had a profound effect on her and I was extremely excited to see the place and meet her friends.
Dani was very keen for us to hook up with Gracie, the leader of a community school in the heart of the more deprived area of Pumwani. It was a shack no bigger than half a tennis court and yet it schooled 140 children from the surrounding vicinity. If it did not exist the kids would simply not have access to education.
My sister taught Pumwani younglings here and was passionate about the work it was doing. Tragically the school had recently been damaged by a fire (in a suspected arson attack). Dani, eager to understand the extent of the damage, asked to us to see what assistance was required to get the school back to full health.
One of Dani’s closest friends, Peter, acted as our guide around Pumwani. At 6ft7 he was the biggest Kenyan we had seen. He was a gentle giant and judging by the amount of people who came to greet him he was clearly something of a hero.
He showed us around the church, and introduced us to Reverend Moses, who welcomed us to worship the following day. An invitation we were unfortunately unable to accept due to our heavy schedule, but it looked liked the holy house really kicked off of a Sunday. Peter showed me where my sister had sat and ‘attempted to sing’. My sister has the heart of an angel but apparently not the voice.
We were shown a school attached to the Church. In the main hall I found my sisters name on the wall alongside the class of ‘06. Peter also pointed out a mural the girls had done, attributing all the untidy bits to my sister. I felt a great kinship as I looked at the smudged paint lines. Then bizarrely Peter showed us the room where they all spent a lot of time doing aerobics. The thought of Peter in Lycra punch-dancing to ‘Let’s Get Physical’ made me laugh.
Peter then took us to her friend Joseph’s house which is apparently where Dani used to ‘chillax’, smoking, gambling and drinking hard liquor. It could get quite ugly. Apparently Dani once lost one poker game too many and threatened to cut up a man with a shard of glass. Obviously that didn’t really happen. It was a prison
shiv.
Joseph was a lovely engaging guy, with an interesting job. He was involved in community theatre group called 4 Change Theatre Group which uses drama as communication tool. By being a ‘mirror of society’ they educate through skits and dramas which they write themselves. More strength to his arm, a genuinely impressive individual.
We walked from St Johns to Gracie’s school. To our uninitiated eyes the area was a slum but apparently Pumwani is regarded as a middle tier area because a) there is water, albeit a solitary tap, and electricity and b) because people were able to purchase their own plots. In true slums such as Kibira, Africa’s biggest slum, made famous in the Constant Gardner and also situated in Nairobi, there is no running water, electricity and people can only own the components of their living. Nevertheless, slum or no, it was a new experience for us.
As already mentioned the school itself was a tin shack with a black board. Due to fire damage in one half of the structure the children were now being taught in one room. Previously both rooms had meant separation of students so primary and pre-school’s had their own room and everyone else occupied a slightly bigger room next to it. Now one sweltering room had to house 70 kids from 3 -16 with one teacher trying to cater for everyone. I couldn’t even imagine 70 people fitting in the room never mind trying to get an education.
Gracie only needs £400 to get this situation rectified. £400 would restructure the second room and provide all the wooden desks blackboard etc that a classroom needs. The juice is definitely worth the squeeze as they say. £400 sorts out 70 children getting an education. We are going to try to get Gracie this £400, if you want to help please contact us and we can explain more.
Anyway on the whole it was a privilege to walk in my sisters footsteps for the day. She clearly left a hell of an impression, which made me really proud. Big up Random, huge love coming your way from Gracie, Peter, Joseph, Winnie and all the others. And me of course.XXX
Ed
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