The most critical thing, which I did not mention yesterday, is the beatings that continue at school. Tony and I picked up the little ones yesterday at 1:00pm, after they were released. Moses came out to the car to hand me a note from Naserian, an 8 year old girl, who is usually released at 1:00. I didn't think much about the fact that she was staying until 4:00, because there are times when teachers require certain students to stay late - either to catch up on work or clean the classrooms. After the children had settled back at the home, I opened Naserian's note:
in this school we are biten we the teaches that gave us is one teaches. I will tell you the name is Pere.
Translation:
In this school, we are beaten. The teacher that gave us (a beating) is one that I will tell you about when I get back. Her son is Peter.
As I folded this note and placed it back in my pocket, Janet came to me and told me that she had been beaten. I asked her to show me where first, to see if she had a wound that needed attention. (Janet, incidentally, is a loving and brave little girl. I have seen her take some serious falls, and most memorably, get her hand get shut in a car door. She handled it better than most adults would). Her arm was bruised and was clearly giving her some trouble. I asked her which teacher had done this to her, and what prompted the teacher to do this. Evidently, Janet had taken a sweater from Mrs. Lucy's son Peter, knowing that this sweater belonged to Jeremiah, in nursery school. Mrs. Lucy is the most feared teacher in school. Janet was simply protecting one of her brothers, and paid the price for doing so.
I have met Mrs. Lucy on a few occasions, and she is a force to be reckoned with. She also knows that I am a Mama Simba when it comes to these children, so I am surprised this incident took place while I am here. The children have always told me that there are no beatings in school while Auntie Simmie is here. As Janet relayed her story, the children all gathered around to tell Sho-Sho and me what had transpired that morning. Each story was the same. I asked about Naserian, and they all showed us how Mrs. Lucy had slapped Nase across the face. Janet had been beaten with a stick. As Jer explained that he had been hit in the back of the head, I picked him up, as I was crying, and did not want him to see this. I walked around with him, trying to gather my wits, and he said softly: Don't worry, Auntie Simmie. It's okay.
It's not okay. Not at all. I went to Agnes immediately to discuss this with her. The bottom line is Agnes does not care, and she suggested that I go to the DCO (District Children's Officer) in Isenya or Ngong to report this. She claims that her complaints fall on deaf ears. This is ludicrous, because if anyone is a force to be reckoned with, it is Agnes. She simply doesn't care enough to take the time to even report this incident. She'd rather I do it.
After poking around last night, I found the name of an officer in the Ministry of Education, located in Ngong. I will be calling Mr. Ndungu at 10:00am this morning to report Mrs. Lucy. If necessary, I will make the trip to Ngong tomorrow to follow through.
As for the children walking in the rain, I am going to ask Tony if he will find and commit a matatu to pick up these children every morning at 6:45am. The distance these children walk is simply too much for the young ones; arriving to school cold, wet, tired and hungry is certainly not conducive to learning.
I continue to learn much from these children. My instinct is to pull them from their unfortunate and often times devastating situations, but this is not always the solution. Understanding them and their experiences is what matters. Strengthening their support network and maintaining a sense of connectedness to this community is critical. Going to bat for them is a given, but in the scheme of things, I am not here enough to monitor abuses and ongoing changes in their environment. There is much, much work to be done...
On my list today is facilitating a search for a new matron - one with a social work background. So, I am off with Tony now, to pick up Margaret from boarding school. She doesn't know I am here, so it will be a wonderful surprise. If we have enough time, we'll hit the open market on the way home and load up on the necessities I have overlooked, or simply haven't had time to get...
There just aren't enough hours in the day.....
Siku njema ~
Simmie
My man Tony:
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