Hamomi Homies

Join the Hamomi Pen Pal program! Altered 1-2-3 (the above was for an event we were at but we would like to open up this program to everybody! So: 

1. Choose a pen pal below

2. Write him or her a letter

3. Mail the letter to us with a picture of yourself, your return address and a $10 donation. We will deliver your letter and return a letter to you! Contact and donation info here.

SORRY! All our students got picked already to become pen pals! They are on holiday break right now but we will get a whole new set of pictures of kids who want to be pen pals as soon as possible!

Welcome to the Hamomi Composition Competition

Our 12 class 8 students, (and upcoming graduates), typed and submitted essays based on a simple, yet massive prompt: write your autobiography. They did an astounding job. Read them to know and understand our students and their struggles a bit better.

Then you determine the winner! Vote for your favorite three here! Voting will go for one month - closing on November 3rd, 2012.
                                            

Ann Wangui
"...my new friends did not like my rural looks, 
rural manners and rural ignorance..."

Brian Misiko
"Only that is the day I got freedom of movement." 

Charles Wabwire
"If her anger had driven her mad enough 
we may have seen the sun for the last time."

Clementine Mwenesi 
"Sometimes I refused to eat and 
refused to talk to anybody."

Daniel Wambua
"My mother...approached the warriors outside 
at night and begged for our lives."

Godfrey Gudah
"I ended up with my left arm in a plaster.
I was fractured."

Douglas Anyoso
"I was angry with my grandfather, for taking
me to the doctor to be circumcised."

Metrine Awino
"...that is why I was born at the wrong time.
At the end of a marriage..."

Moses Ruzigi
"I have a feeling that my life is too complicated 
to be written on a fullscape page."

Mildred Kagai
"One day, my mother left for work in Kisumu
only to disappear for a whole year."

Valerie Musimbi
"I am not a cry baby. I am tough. Am still the
biggest and fattest pupil in my school."

Silas Okuku
"When I was born my mother was a refugee

running from the wrath of her husband."

A 90% Thumb's Up

For me, there has never been a more beautiful sentence than the one written by clinicians Jared Mukhola and Jeffrey Simon: "90% of children attending Hamomi Children's Centre are medically fit."

But wait, it goes on: "Nutritional status is excellent, height and weight is good. No child was identified with malnutrition, which is usually very common among under-fives. A number of children seem to have normal seasonal medical problems which are observed daily in normal days of life."

That is not to say everything is perfect. 20 students needed to be referred for dental issues, eye care needs, skin 

conditions and nose bleeds. Care which 
we need to find an affordable option for.

We need to do a better job making sure that kids under five all get their immunizations, we need to ensure that everybody over five receives tetanus shots when necessary, we need to have more health and hygiene workshops. 

Five years ago, we offered nothing. Today we offer an annual check-up, breakfast and lunch six days a week, voluntary counseling and testing workshops on HIV/AIDS, hosting of open dialogue and discussion workshops on a wide range of health topics, access to clean water, a hand-washing station and reusable pads for the girls of age. But we still don't offer so many things.

We will one day, but all we can do is add services here and there as funds allow. That can feel slow and frustrating, but it also leads to sturdy, reliable change. It leads to reports like these that I know aren't a fluke, but are actual reflections of change.

It's all more complicated than a sweeping 90% thumbs up. But for now, for today, for this small moment, I'll take it and be absolutely thrilled.

More Medical-Related Links:

An overall run-down of our Medical Program after our most recent audit in May, 2012, walking through the frustrations and difficulties trying to get even the simplest of free services. 
Read more.

We are already meeting our goals for more hygiene workshops, check out a recent visit from the Dettol mascot...we think he's supposed to be a bar of soap, but really it's really anybody's guess.

Read about an interesting workshop from August on Road Safety. May seem like a strange topic, but it is a very real concern that I feel better knowing we are addressing. 
Read more.

May we not get ahead of ourselves and forget just how complicated this all is, especially after the recent loss of our most beloved matron, Janet Kimuli, who died after giving birth prematurely. Preventable horrors are happening around our staff and students every day. We can't forget that, and we can't let that 90% take our focus away from how much work ahead of us.

-Susie

Giraffes and Elephants and Lizards! Oh my!

Through an incredible and generous donation from the Giraffe Centre, about half of our kids got to visit the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and Giraffe Center to interact with all kinds of animals. The trip provided a bus for transportation and lunch for the whole group. It was a big hit.

The second wave of students took a whirl-wind trip to Mamba Village where they also got to play with wild life. They made a second stop to get some swinging in a childhood carnival ride you might be familiar with.  Check out photos of Hamomi kids on their adventures below!

Quite the view!

Photo-op!

Part of the herd!

Can't wait to get there!

Someone's made some friends.

Watch your fingers!

Break from lunch for a quick hug.

Just two pals hangin' out.

Thumbs up!

Have a good swing, guys!

The kids are clearly enjoying time to goof-off!

Who knew tortoises were so cuddly?

Dettol Soap Hygiene Workshop

 Dettol Soap came and ran a hygeine workshop with our students at Hamomi.  We are always promoting good hygiene practices - what better way to do it than with a giant soap mascot?  Check out some photos from the fun and informative event!

The Luxury of Art

Bryn Mooney shares her experience volunteering at Hamomi and teaching a photography course.

I arrived in Kenya a little weary after 3 months in India and Nepal. However, as soon as I got off the airplane I immediately felt at home. I don’t know what it was about the colors, the people, the energy; it just felt right. 

My second day in Nairobi I took the 4-5 mile walk from my host home to Hamomi. Because they were on vacation, I decided to take the opportunity to travel to the coast. When I returned, still a little disoriented, I was in shock and almost paralyzed by the teachers' willingness to throw me right into a classroom to start my unit. No meetings to go over my material, no game plan, no assistant? I felt a little under-prepared and overwhelmed, but they seemed to have such faith in the face of my doubt. That gave me the courage to embrace it.

I dove into my first class, with grade 7. Wow. They first appeared a bit meek, an attentive class so quiet and tuned in. But, when I pulled out the digital cameras, all I could see were these eyes, like huge beaming saucers, looking back at me. I knew this would be a special and exciting experience.

I wasn’t ready for their total unfamiliarity with an object so “everyday” in our culture. Just finding the shutter button had to be taught, I quickly became aware of how pared back this unit and my lessons would need to become. Another obstacle that I just couldn’t have been prepared for was the students’ unfamiliarity with self-expression, voice, creativity, and thinking outside the box. I think due to the political climate throughout the history of the country, the kids were not as exposed to or encouraged to exercise creative thought.


In Kenya there is a lot of emphasis on 

how to get ahead, or stay afloat, which doesn’t really involve checking in with your personal thoughts, feelings or abstract forms of expression. I really became aware of what a luxury the arts are, and how I may be taking for granted the fact that I got to STUDY art in SCHOOL and MAJOR in art for COLLEGE and now be lucky enough to be TEACHING art for a JOB! Not to mention the superfluous adjacent “creative building models” I had access to in other classes and the ever-present elected “after school activity”.  I quickly understood how it would be a much larger hurdle to jump for these kids as opposed to those in America, who are constantly being fed the American dream, “you can do and be whatever you want to be.” 

Teaching in America, I am used to every kid shouting louder, louder, louder, to make sure their voice or idea is heard. Honestly, sometimes in Kenya it is like pulling teeth to get honest, genuine, and playful kids to imagine and come up with an idea or story someone hadn’t pre-placed in their heads. There was always concern for “correctness”. What never faltered however, was their enthusiasm to shoot images and to capture the life around them. Amongst their favorite things to document were friends and familiar surroundings- their community- the people who support them. Looking back I see how powerful this is.

My experience in Kenya really put into perspective just how raw and important safety and biological needs are. When they aren’t met, how can one be expected to think of abstract things? They are irrelevant. 




By the end of the unit we had finally made it through 5 lessons: Introduction, Learning your Camera, Composition, Concept, Advanced Functions). Finally we were ready to PRINT two images- 1 self portrait and 1 free choice (their best work) thinking about what would best represent them as an artist and what they had learned compositionally through the unit. The giddiness and pride that shown from the students is what I remember as we watched the images emerge from the printer. "Wow!" "Gladys….Ohhhhh!" "Beautiful!" etc.

As a class we were constantly shifting our meeting time, squeezing into lunch hour, laughing, and always, always, always running over on time. I think the donated book, of pop photography was held together by threads when I left from so much use as kids shouted, “Oh! Look at this one!”

We culminated our unit with a final show. Everyone, including, if not specifically the teachers, had a hard time being patient! The excitement to see the work captured on tiny, rectangular, electronic devices came with a long waiting period. Many more kids “helped with lunch” in anticipation and hope of catching an early glimpse of all the work. 

It was brief and displayed on a corrugated metal fence, but there, outside the office, hung 168 beautiful color photos. All work made within 40 days of picking up a camera.

The background information contained within each image was huge: weeks of looking at photos, exploring composition, learning new English vocabulary that had no relevance before this time. These children expanded their boundaries and the growth was drastic. You could see the expressions of pride, joy, and laughter from not only the individuals looking at the fruits of their labor, but also their parents, teachers, and peers. Hamomi students and staff went above and beyond to fit it into the schedule- Thank you!

In hindsight, I may have bitten off a little more than I could chew by trying to reach Class 3 all the way through Class 8, paired with planning 2 visits to nearby High Schools where Hamomi alumni currently study. However, I can most honestly say: “it was all 100% worth every minute!” I can’t wait to see the work being made as the year continues forward and hopefully, hopefully, hopefully one day soon it will be in my future to make it back for round 2.

We look forward to showing some of their work at a showcase here in Seattle this winter or next spring….perhaps keep your eyes peeled at the auction in February!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Hamomi and teachers for shuffling, postponing, supporting and encouraging the kids and me. It truly was a gift to me to be able to teach this unit and get to know such beautiful, loving children.

-Bryn

Meet Anna the Intern

Hello All!

I am the new intern for Hamomi!  I started back in July. I am beyond excited to have joined the Hamomi team and community. A little about me:

I'm originally from Ithaca, NY but spent the last two and a half years at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. I’m double majoring in International Affairs and Human Services – hopefully with a minor in African Studies.  I absolutely LOVE to travel and explore new places and cultures – my most recent adventure landed me in none other than the wonderful Kenya – oddly enough doing a research project unrelated to Hamomi.

So, how did a girl from Upstate New York going to school in Boston end up moving to Seattle to work for a school in Kenya?  Northeastern has a program called Co-op that is sort of a 6-months-on, 6-months-off model.  For 6 months students do internships related to their field of study, and spend the other half of the year taking classes.  While visiting a friend in Seattle last December I was connected with the wonderful Susie Marks and a plan was divulged to potentially create my own Co-op position with Hamomi.  Fast-forward six months….and here I am!

It has been a few months and I would argue that I have the best co-op anyone has ever had.  The entire Hamomi team has been so welcoming and patient in helping me settle into things.  I’m excited to contribute to all of the different projects going on here!

Best,

Anna