How it is in Kenya.

(google mapgoogle road map,road maps,route map,street map,london map,delhi road map,delhi map,road conditions,india road map)
(the highway,highway patrol,highway to hell,highway conditions,highway code,highway 1,lost highway,road conditions,highway road conditions,highway star)

You can turn off the TV, you can go about your day but just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s gone away.”

We wanted to share with you some facts about how things really are here in Kenya…

Kenya could fit into Australia 13 times, but has double the population.

50% of the population live below the poverty line. A small group of very rich Kenyans take a great deal of money out of the system through corruption. Politicians care more about buying expensive Mercedes cars than about addressing the big problems: AIDS, poverty, crime and the widespread corruption.
Politicians and Police are receiving monthly payments greater than what a casual farmer will earn honestly in an entire year in exchange of allowing the production and selling of illegal substances.
Serious offences such as rape, murder or theft are not reported or simply swept under the rug as long as you have money to pay the bribe.

INCOME:
The average income in Kenya is $1100 per year. However, 40% of the population is unemployed.
Women working in farms are paid150 Shillings ($2.30AUD) and the men earn around 200 Shillings ($3.05AUD) per day for casual labouring (typically construction of some kind.)
One loaf of bread, half the size of the average Australian loaf is around 25-35 Shillings.
Rent of one small room (which is considered a house) is 1000 Shillings per month.
You can do the math and work out how much money is left over once a family are fed, sheltered, clothed, educated and receive any minimal health care.
The best ways to make money are prostitution (150+ Shillings for a quickie) or starting a Church. There are 60 churches in Mitunguu alone (Population approximately 3000) some have only two followers but it is a great money earner!

HEALTH:
AIDS is a big health problem in Kenya. About 7% of the population have HIV/AIDS and 150,000 people die of AIDS every year.
80% of the people living in our local slum are HIV positive. A child born with a HIV+ is at high risk of contracting the disease through birth and during breastfeeding. Access to proper hospital care during birth can lower the risk of the child getting HIV. However, when a child is born into poverty, they cannot afford a substitute formula therefore the only option is to breastfed or feed the child maize and beans. The consequences are HIV or malnutrition.

EDUCATION: In our local slum there are 50+ children who do not attend school. The regional minister of education denies knowing of such issues and announces that all children will have a place in school in the coming year and that it will be “free”. “Free” doesn’t include uniforms, books and administration fees.

INFRASTRUCTURE: There are only 8,000 km of paved roads in Kenya and something in excess of 170,000km of unmade roads and those unmade roads are like a river bed winding around the mountains. You have to have a 4wd to travel on them or otherwise you get stuck. Already in the 5 weeks we’ve been here we’ve got bogged several times. It makes us cringe to think of the new Eastlink with all the fancy “entertainment” architecture along the way, costing thousands of dollars when it’s a big deal to see a tractor here thats capable of flattening out a road…

2 weeks ago, we emailed 500 individuals that we have encountered somewhere in our life and we’ve had around 12 responses. We’ve had 4 people physically hand over money. Before we left, we had numerous people telling us that there was no point in us going to Kenya, that we couldn’t end poverty, that “poverty has always been, and will always be – that’s just how it is in Kenya”. Our reply was that if we could change one persons life, then our journey was fruitful. Our journey here has been very fruitful as we are daily given the opportunity to give joy and hope to others. When you step back and look at these children who are running around in rags, with no education, who go hungry for days, who are raped by men several times a week, who have lost at least one parent to either AIDS or bloodshed -  you can’t treat them any different to how you’d treat your own flesh. They have every right to live as a dignified human and we have the ability to give them that. So please, we beg you… GIVE! It’s really not that difficult. These people are our brothers and sisters and they’re crying for OUR help. We can’t stop corrupt governments today, but we can fill an empty belly right now.

We’ve been watching facebook updates about what the rest of the world is doing – shopping,  going to concerts, recovering from hangovers which are all fun, we miss doing those things sometimes but they’re empty satisfactions. You’d get a lot more happiness out of doing something that will actually make a positive impact on the world by handing over even $5. Even uni students have $5 to spare – have one less beer, one less coffee or go crazy and wear something you’ve worn before instead of buying a new outfit.
Until we can end our attitude that poverty is acceptable and  stop our greed, selfishness and apathy someone will always be going without the basic necessities of life.
Before we came here we saw the photos on TV of dirty kids with no clothes on and now we’re living with them and they’re the most beautiful little creatures who have been born into a really crappy world. Let’s get to the bank or online, transfer some money and start making the world a little brighter for someone.