Summer 2004 Newsletter

Warm greetings to you all!

Firstly we would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to you all for your generous support of Double Joy through regular donations, fundraising activities, special collections and one off gifts. Thank you for keeping Double Joy in your thoughts and prayers. There is no doubt that the survival of the project depends on all your support.

As Florence Oyola (Double Joy Correspondent) says:

The support you have put in is helping in education, shelter, clothing and so many basic needs. In Kenya education is very important and without it one can be termed ‘naked’.

And Christine Achieng (young person at DJ, age 15yrs):

The donation you are giving Double Joy is really helping us a lot. It has helped us live a happy and healthy life…we are well taught and we can now live as families.

We have decided to produce an extra newsletter this year as several people have visited Double Joy this Spring with news and view to share. This is also the 10 year anniversary of DJ starting so is a special year for us.

News from Double Joy

Electricity

As many of you are aware Double Joy has been running with no access to electricity for the past 10 years. This year Double Joy is in a special position as an electricity supply is passing on the main road nearby and for the first time Double Joy has the opportunity to be supplied with electricity subsidised by the government. This will mean more adequate lighting for children’s houses and for the classrooms and hall during evening activities. This is made more important by the fact that it is dark by 7pm all year round. It will also enable the clinic to have a fridge in which to store medicines and for the kitchen to have a fridge for keeping milk from the cows cold. Double Joy will need to pay £10,000 towards this. We are therefore seeking special one off donations towards this. We also ask you to look out for possible fundraising opportunities.

Visitors

This spring seven of us visited Double Joy and spent time there together. This included 3 of our trustees: Chrissie Hinde, Glyn Roseden, and Alan Nowell, as well as Eric Roseden, Hazel Warner, Lin Harrison and Mary Alston. Alan and Hazel have written personal accounts included in this newsletter.

As we were visiting during the Easter holiday there was a more relaxed programme for the children. We spent time with the children playing sports, flying kites, teaching songs and dances, and games. We all participated in the children’s evening entertainment, which were a real delight.

Conditions for visitors to DJ are now becoming more luxurious with a cook being employed for the duration of our visit. This is a new development due to previous visitors being overwhelmed by the hazardous paraffin stove and resorting to a diet of peanut butter sandwiches!

Maureen Masterman and her two sons also visited Double Joy this August and we look forward to hearing their news.

We now for the first time have a video of Double Joy made by Mary Alston, which really helps DJ come alive to those who have not visited and is a wonderful reminder of a delightful time for those who have.

Aids/health promotion

The Aids rate in Kenya is no longer increasing but everybody in this community still keenly feels the devastating affects of this illness. Funerals are abundant and every week there is news of another local person who has died. Very frequently staff members attend funerals of their loved ones, who are often dynamic young and middle aged people active in assisting their extended family.

Two recent deaths of prominent people closely linked with Double Joy have had a big impact on Double Joy. One was of a previous Manager of Double Joy who was running a very successful community sub project for Aids orphans as well as looking after many of his orphaned nieces and nephews in his own home. The other was of a Double Joy Board Member (like Board of Governors for a school). He was very well respected and liked in the community for his work in establishing and coordinating Adult Literacy Projects. As well as being a big loss to the community, Mary felt these deaths were particularly tragic because they could have been avoided by Anti-retroviral medication. Anti-retroviral’s used to be beyond the means of all but the very rich in Kenya. They are now slowly becoming more affordable but are still beyond most peoples’ means. There are currently 3 children at DJ who are on Anti-retroviral’s and are thriving on this medication.

Staff news

Mary Hinde is well but increasingly aware of the limitations imposed by getting older and is now handing over increasing amounts of work. This is made easier by having an excellent accounts clerk, Jacob Tuda and a recently appointed Assistant Clerk. Florence Oyola has also taken over much of the day-to-day correspondence, as most of you will have noticed by letters of thanks sent to you. Letter writing by the children has moved up a gear in recent months thanks to Florence’s strong encouragement, if you are overwhelmed by children’s letters and would like to stop or are not and would like to get letters, please let Florence know. Florence says she aims to write to us whether or not we reply.

Last summer 5 teachers left Double Joy to take up government posts, which were better paid with prospects of promotion. These teachers were replaced with 5 dynamic new teachers who have had a very positive impact on Double Joy. Morale is currently high and the children are speaking English to visitors with much more confidence. The visual displays in the classrooms made out of basic materials are very impressive.

A new nurse was also appointed last summer who has settled in well.

Farming

We were at DJ during the long rainy season which meant that the usually intense heat was much more bearable, the rains making it cooler and greener. People all over the region were busy tending their maize crops. Unfortunately I have since heard that the rains did not last as long as expected causing fear of crop failure.

Several of the farm animals have given birth to young, much to the excitement of the children. These have included donkeys, calves, lambs and several puppies. Animals being born is seen as a sign that God is really smiling on the project, and treated as very auspicious. Similarly if a visitor arrives at the time of an animal’s birth or the coming of the rains they are seen as having brought those blessings.

Further education

Young people leaving Double Joy continue to take up a variety of vocational courses at Polytechnic. These currently include carpentry, garment making, mechanics, catering, and electronics. There are now 24 people at Polytechnic and 5 at Secondary school. We were able to visit 3 young people who have now left DJ and have set themselves up in small businesses. It was very encouraging to see these young people using the skills they had learnt at DJ and Polytechnic to support themselves in their local rural community. We also heard of other DJ leaver’s who have found work in the larger cities of Kisumu and Nairobi.

FODJ charity news

Greetings cards

Last year we had 1000 Christmas cards printed to raise awareness and funds for DJ. These sold very well and we only have about 120 remaining. Let us know if you would like more for this Christmas. They are being sold at £2 for pack of 5.

This year we intend to have more cards printed with a new image, which will be blank for your own message. Please let Glyn or Chrissie know if you would like a supply of these.

Fundraising and publicity

We made some attempts last year to seek funds for DJ from a selection of larger charities without any success. We have had more success with smaller local groups and charities and churches and scout groups. Robert Aitken (one of our trustees) has had some fruitful contact with a local Rotary club. Pauline Ogle has had great success in getting donations from many local groups including Scouts. If you have any contacts that you think may be of help please let us know. Also if you need publicity material on DJ Chrissie has a number of A4 laminated photos, slides, articles, leaflets and display booklets.

As it is the 10-year anniversary of DJ starting, we are keen to produce articles on Double Joy for local and national press. If any of you have contacts that may be helpful in this respect please let us know. We had 2 previous local press articles in Lancaster Guardian and continue to use the cuttings in promoting interest in DJ.

You may also wish to pass this newsletter on to friends or family who are interested in hearing about Double Joy. Let Chrissie or Glyn know if you need additional copies.

Diaries of visitors

Alan’s account

I first went to Kenya in 2002 purely as a tourist. Later that year my friend Eric, Mary's son, asked if I would be interested in becoming a trustee of the Friends of Double Joy. I read the newsletters, visited the web site and talked with Eric and Chrissie then decided to join the trustees. I was keen to go to the orphanage and meet Mary, the staff and the children so I became part of the group visiting in Spring 2004. I had two special interests, which I could look at in person. Firstly as an engineer I was interested in the water supply problems and secondly as an atheist humanist I had a minor concern about religious education and its relationship with AIDS education.

I thoroughly enjoyed the visit, especially the evening’s entertainments in the hall. The very particular character of the Luo dances that the children performed for us was fascinating. Their enthusiasm and energy was inspiring. At the end of every night the six visitors shook hands with each of the ninety children and wished them good night, sleep well, "Lala Salama". That was a lot of handshakes in a week. Trying to identify faces and remember names in the semi-darkness was a challenge and it is now one of my favourite recollections.

The water situation seems to be in hand. Boreholes are not possible in the area so rainwater harvesting from the roofs is the main source. When the holding tanks run dry they can be refilled by bringing water from the lake by donkey. This could be looked upon as "Appropriate Technology". It seems that the children’s constitutions are hardened to the untreated water. A pipe from the local water project that pumps, filters and chlorinates water from the lake is an alternative in dry weather but the supply is metered and must be paid for. I couldn't tell how often it was used.

My concerns over religion and AIDS education were allayed by my realization that the local conditions are a lot more complex than we can appreciate from a distance. Only someone, like Mary, who has lived in the area and has had a long-term struggle with the problems, can really know the best approach.

Hazel’s diary at Double Joy

Tue 6th April

On arrival it was dark and we could hear lots of voices but not see very much as there’s no mains electricity. A meal was prepared for us by a local man, George, who was our cook for the week for us six visitors. That was me, Alan, Eric, Chrissie, cousin Mary and Glyn (brother of Eric and Chrissie). Chrissie was sleeping on the floor at her mum’s house but the rest of us were staying in the ‘guesthouse’. It’s basic but fine, a bit like a hot Pardshaw (Quaker place in the Lakes). Not too hot to sleep fortunately.

Wed 7th April

Up quite early. Chrissie and Eric gave us a tour, meeting lots of staff and children. There are 88 children aged 4+, housed in 11 houses. Each one is very basic and small: tiny sitting room with just a small table and two benches, two tiny bedrooms (1 for boys, 1 for girls) with a bunk bed in each; two children to a bed. No mains electricity but a little solar power, enough to provide dim light for a couple of hours each evening in some rooms. No mains water but rainwater collected in tanks caters for most needs. The locals drink it straight but we were advised to drink bottled water. Plastic barrels of water were decanted daily for washing.

The children can learn agricultural skills as there are veg plots and livestock: sheep, cows, chickens, donkeys. Boys get taught carpentry skills and bicycle maintenance, whereas girls learn to make clothes and basketwork. All very interesting, calm, busy and very friendly atmosphere. Had tea with Mary at her tiny house. She lives very simply. Saw the on-site clinic. Played games with the children after lunch. It was very hot.

After supper of tilapia fish fresh from the lake, the children put on an evening of entertainment – fabulous singing and dancing of traditioanl Luo culture – amazing energy, joy, spirit and skill – very moving indeed. They have so little materially yet are so happy – truly humbling. How have we got it so wrong in our culture? Why is there so much discontentment? Song and dance are so important.

Had to shake hands with all 88 children at the end, saying ‘Lala salama’ or ‘Otieno maber’ – ‘sleep peacefully’ in Swahili or ‘sleep well’ in Dholuo!

Sun 11th Apr (Easter Sunday)

Up early to go to the catholic church in the DJ van but we didn’t get far before the van got stuck in the mud and slid into the ditch! Had a service at DJ instead. Piles of muddy flip-flops outside. (Some children wore shoes, some flip-flops, some no shoes) There was drumming for music and some of the older girls led parts of the service especially the singing.

After lunch was the ‘Sunday Meeting’ – prize-giving assembly led by Mary Hinde. Some of the prizes were newspaper cuttings of footballers and photos from the UK. These things were valued by those children. Mary also talked about HIV, saying that the HIV positive children (3 of them at DJ) are well and strong and brave, and that the DJ staff should be setting an example to others in the community and be brave and go to be tested at a clinic, in order to establish their HIV status. Otherwise the dying will continue, she said. The staff sat there, stony-faced.

Had a walk, along small paths, to a local shop in the evening with Eric to buy water. Lots of people around on the way. Shop was in a shed by a few huts. It sold bottles of pop, soap, sugar beet, sweets and various other items.

Mon 12th April

Walked 1km to Lake Victoria with Eric, Alan and Glyn – beautiful. People working in fields, animals tethered to bushes, two small wooden boats at lake edge. Couldn’t easily get to lake edge because of papyrus and water hyacinth.

Got packed. Played with the children all afternoon. There was a wonderful entertainment in the evening. The children sang the songs we’d taught them, the boys danced Alan’s Greensleeves dance and the children did their traditional Luo dances again for us. Wonderful way to finish. Felt quite tearful.

Tue 13th April

Set off early from DJ in the van packed full of people again including five children going to the hospital in Kisumu. Our 11.30am flight to Nairobi was cancelled so we had to re-book on the 4.20pm flight. Sat in the outdoor café at the airport to wait. It felt very strange sitting in the plane, waving out of the window at the DJ children and staff – going to very different worlds.

Hazel Warner

And finally...

Finally on behalf of ‘Friends of Double Joy’ and all the trustees thanks again for all your support. We are particularly grateful for regular standing order donations however big or small, which help to meet our monthly commitment to DJ.

We will be producing our next Newsletter at Christmas. It will help reduce our photocopying and postage costs if we can email this to those of you with this facility. Please email us with your email address if you would be happy to receive your newsletter in this way.

We also pass on love and gratitude from Mary Hinde, the staff and children of Double Joy.

Chrissie Hinde and Glyn Roseden (Trustees)