My Visit to Kisii

It was a bit of a rush to book my ticket, a bit of a squeeze to get everything packed, but eventually I was at Heathrow and on my way. The plane was only a third full and I had three seats to myself, so I spent most of the flight in a horizontal position - brilliant.

Once through the passport and customs, it occurred to be that I was relying on being met by someone I had known for only one day, but I need not have worried. The smiling face of Vincent was at the barrier.

We took a taxi into the city and dropped my baggage off at the office, meeting up with my co-director at the same time. I had to shoot over to see a client while I was in Nairobi.

That done, Vincent and I took a shuttle to Kisii. It stopped once in Narok for lunch then were were on the way. We arrived at Vincent's at about 7pm.

Josephat, "my" 4-year-old orphan, threw himself at me when I walked through the door, yelling, "Bab' Mzungu! My Bab' Mzungu!"

There was a stream of Swahili which was later translated for me. "My white daddy has come. I said he would come." He remained attached to me for the next ten days, or so it seemed. Benta, the little girl I help to support was less demonstrative, thankfully as she is a lot heavier than Jojo.

The following day, Jojo insisted that he was not going to school, but was going to spend the day with his Baba Mzungu. This is fine as he attends Baby Class, which is not obligatory.

Abigael told me that one of our little girls, Evelyn had died. She was three and HIV positive.

We made arrangements to have a party for the kids on Saturday. We bought lots of fruit and biscuits, juice and a load of toys and games, skipping ropes, hula hoops, footballs, table tennis, badminton, chess, etc.

When we arrived on Saturday, many of the kids had already arrived and were sitting quietly in the hut. There were a lot of smiles when I walked in and I recognised several of them immediately - Davis and Vanessa, Henry, Morfat, Boniface, the two Divinas and Rister ...

While Vincent and Abigael sorted out the food, I got the toys and games out, much to the obvious delight of the kids. The rest of the day was spent playing, eating and drinking. We also measured the kids' feet so that we could get them their new school shoes, which was the main object of my visit.

On Monday, Evelyn was buried. Her coffin was so small.

During the week, VIncent busied himself with selling the mobile phones and by the following weekend, had enough money to get the shoes. The sack that they arrived in was enormous!

We took Jojo to the hospital for a check-up. He is very small for his age, but looks and acts like a very active little boy. He was diagnosed with an intestinal parasite and we got the medication for him. He was also tested for HIV - he is negative.

On Saturday, we had another party. This time, we prepared a warm meal for the children with goodies sent by a well-wisher in the USA. The parcel contained lentils, black-eye peas and all sorts of other pulses, and raisins. Surprisingly, none of the kids had ever seen raisins before.

Again, the children had a fun time playing with their new games, and the day was ended with them being presented with their new shoes. They all looked so proud, wearing their shiny black shoes. I felt humbled.

The following day, I left Kisii for the Coast. Jojo was not happy, but he knows that I will return. After all, I did before, didn't I?