(New video recorded at Riruta Central on March 11. The boys and I explain to all of YOU what Kenyans eat for breakfast everyday, and what the boys hope to be able to enjoy soon....
<<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1x69b-a218&feature=channel_page>>
Pictures: Mandazi in the Making- Yum Yum (down below)
They told me back in January that they had no breakfast- at that time, paying tuition and uniforms were the top priorities, but with that taken care of thanks to the abundant generosity of some socially concerned Canadians, we are looking ahead to some other, more minor concerns the boys have.
One of these issues is the lack of food- Kenya right now is going through a food shortage, and some international NGOs have even classified it a famine. The cost of staple foods has more than doubled over the last year- imagine if you went to the grocer in London, Ontario and 3 litres of milk had gone from $3.99 to $7.99. Would your household find it more difficult to budget and put food on the table? Now imagine that the $3.99 was nearly impossible to begin with, and that the new price is simply more than you have. You don't buy milk. You can't buy cereal either. All you can afford is bread, but certainly not the butter to put on it. Even this dire circumstance would still be better than the one Manyok, Francis, Lino, Kuot and Dennis find themselves in. Last year I always used to exclaim to my boyfriend "Oh man, this sucks, I have no money"- but that didn't mean I had ZERO dollars. Maybe it meant I had $100 for the week and that other than the basics, I couldn't afford to buy anything superfluous.
But when I ask the boys "why don't you eat breakfast, why do you wear your school shoes on the weekend, why can't you take the bus to the clinic to get your malaria results?", they reply with a embarrassed smile and their eyes fixed on the ground, "I have no money"- and it doesn't mean they can't afford those as a priority, it means they literally have no money. So, the boys and I decided that if any more funds come in for their cause, the main priority would be to buy breakfast every day. This will cost about 8cents/boy Canadian per day- every day for the whole year, all 5 boys can eat Mandazi (like a donut, but not sweet) for only $120. Given that studies show people perform better when they have food in their stomach, I feel this is a necessary component to their successful education. I hope some other people feel the same and that these boys- who never ask directly for money- get to enjoy a small breakfast before they settle into class each morning. Thank you to all you who have donated thus far- the boys are ecstatic about their good fortunes already, as am
I as their new "adoptive" mum (haha!).
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