Moi Day

Today was Moi Day in Kenya- a public holiday that got the children out of school and most employees a day off of work. Moi Day was started by Daniel arap Moi- the former president of Kenya who was in power from 1978-2002. The first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, named a holiday Kenyatta Day so Moi wanted to do the same for himself. It's a day to honor Moi. Michael and I arrived at Nyumbani a little after 10 AM to find all the children and the Nyumbani staff standing at the front of the complex. Protus, the director of Nyumbani, informed us that they were expecting Daniel Moi in just a few minutes. Moi had called earlier in the morning and told Protus he would be visiting Nyumbani between 10 AM- 11 AM today to bring gifts and visit with the children.

But 11 AM came around and no Moi. 12 PM came around and no Moi. A district officer arrived and announced Moi was on his way.

12:30 PM came around and still no Moi so the children went to get lunch which Michael and I joined them for a yummy meal of rice, corn and beans.

While we waited, Michael and I spent time with several of the children getting to know them better. We also met two of the

Nyumbani board members. One was Dennis Afande, who served as the Kenyan ambassador to the U.S. from 1988-1993.

He told me stories about meeting Al Gore, Bill Clinton, as well as many others. The other board member was Paula Lanco, who began volunteering at Nyumbani while she was in primary school.

Finally around 1 PM a district officer commissioner arrived and announced that Moi had another commitment suddenly come up and would be unable to make the visit. However, he was sending a general on his behalf to deliver the gifts. I could see the disappointment in Protus' eyes because the children had their hopes up since this morning. But he handled it perfectly telling the district officer commissioner that he needed to go prepare the children so they would not be disappointed.

He approached the children who were all gathered together in the open grassy area by the playground and said there was bad news and good news. The bad news was that the former president was not going to be able to make it. The good news was that a general was still coming on behalf of the former president and every child could have a soda this afternoon. Clearly, Protus knows how to deal with 103 children- soda. The children shrieked, jumping up and down. A few even did summersaults and handsprings. But before the sodas, he told the children "So keep on waiting", which the children repeated back "So keep on waiting."

I have to admit that the children were not alone. I got my hopes up as well.

It would have been pretty neat to meet the former president. But regardless, the general finally did show up around 2 PM and with him was Miss Kenya and a few other governmental officials. The children performed several songs and recited a few poems for the guests.



In return. the general presented Nyumbani with several dozen boxes of food and cooking supplies. The general made some remarks to the children: "As Kenyans, we need to love each other, help each other, see how we can assist each other. As you grow up, if you have some thing you don't need, give it away. Be mindful of the welfare of other people and be peaceful." He also assured the children that Moi would try to come again for a visit on another day with the children were not in school.

The children rushed to the governmental vehicle carrying the food and formed an assembly line to carry it to the storage house and the dining hall. Once it was all put away, they all shouted "teamwork" with big smiles on their faces.





Now that the reception was finished, it was time to play on the playground, kick the soccer ball, take guitar and drum lessons, and try out Michael Jones' camera and videocamera.


I had the pleasure of meeting a brilliant young girl named Elizabeth.

Elizabeth is 17 years old but clearly looks much younger. That's because she's been very ill off and on with HIV throughout her entire life. The virus has stunt her growth permanently. My new friend Susan Gold, the woman who is on a Fulbright here at Nyumbani, told me that she's in good company. Due to the effects of HIV/AIDS, there will be a huge population of very short and not fully physically developed Africans.

Elizabeth is only in grade 6 although she seems much smarter than I was in sixth grade. She's full of life, super polite and truly an inspiration to me. She told me that she loves school and wants to do well in secondary school, high school, college and university. "You have to do well in school to get a good job," Elizabeth said. Nyumbani has encouraged their children to not only excel in school, but realize that their education is the means to their future.

Before antiviral drugs became available, HIV positive children didn't think of their future in terms of education, getting a job and living independently. Their future was inevitably death.

But now that's changed thanks to ARVs and support centers like Nyumbani that guide the children on a path to a vibrant future.

I also met a very young girl named Rosemary who stole my heart. She's 5 years old and from Lake Naivasha area.


She doesn't speak any English, just Swahili. But she followed me around the entire day not letting my hand free.

Before we had to head home before it got dark, I had the chance to meet the Nyumbani nurse and the nurses that run the Nyumbani Diagnostic Laboratory. The nurse explained how ARVs are administered and how nurses decide which combination of ARVs are needed for each individual child.

What combination of ARVs a child is on is based on their height, weight, and their CD4 and viral counts. The Nyumbani nurse, Mercy Mugambi, explained to me that HIV is not transmitted from a mother to a child in the womb. But rather, it's transmitted during the birthing process when the child swallows or inhales some of their mother's blood. That's why sea sections are less risky for passing on the virus however sea sections can be very expensive.

But thankfully there are new drugs out that can lower the chances of a mother passing on the virus to her child if she starts taking them when she first knows she's pregnant. At the Diagnostic Laboratory, nurses are capable of testing for HIV, TB, malaria, typhoid and other infectious diseases. The technicians are also able to perform CD4/8 counts, viral loads and PCR-RNA test. The lab not only offers its services to the Nyumbani children but the local community and labs and hospitals throughout Kenya.

On this particular day, the lab was drawing blood from several of the children to test their CD4/8 counts and viral loads to determine if the current ARVs combination they are taking is working correctly. Each child has to be retested every 6 months.


Tomorrow, we head to Kibera, the largest slum in Kenya where Nyumbani runs a community outreach program called Lea Toto. Nurses and social workers visit thousands of children and their families every day to hand out ARVs, medical care, counseling and food.