We have had a good week at shinners centre. The children who are sickly and sometimes not taken to hospital by their guardians, have been well in the week. You find that a child is ailing,but instead taken to either the local herbalist or diviner. It is a big problem in the slum and reason being, the guardians are old, sickly and illiterate grandmothers. In such cases, the teachers have to do a follow up and make sure they are taken to New Nyanza provincial hospital. Here they receive the best care , infact children below 5 years are attended to without a fee.

The outbreak of cholera had affected the work at shinners the last one month as we had to organize a team from shinners family to assist in creating awareness to the families on clean and safe measures towards eradication of cholera. the slum lacks sanitation. Disposal of waste matters is done carelesslesly and when it rains it is swept into the streams they use and the kids play in the puddles too. The ministry of health sent a big personnel to the slum areas to patrol and arrest any one going against instructions laid down. Business has been greatly affected because food kiosks were closed down till the disaster is dealt with.

One litttle boy , Gabby is a sickly child, though has improved with time. There was a time he would attend school maybe twice ot three times a week. He lives with his sister Cynthia who has now joined grade one, under the care of an old sickly grandmother. The two were abandoned by their late mother after the death of their father. Then, they were between the ages of 1 and 2 1/2 years. He is quite strong and looks forward to coming to shinners daily. Emma and Celila are sickly too. Emma lives with her mother , after their father abandoned them in time of need. The little girl was sick in hospital ,as her mother was also bed ridden. They are now fine and the lady is now running a small scale business that she started with the assistance of shinners. Celila has a serious skin condition , though the doctors have put her on medication. She is jolly girl and smiles alot inspite of her situation. The children need alot of care to keep strong and healthy. They are now having a good time under the watchfull eyes of the two trained teachers, Veronica and David, who is also our field worker.

Milly from Denmark paid us a visit last week. she has a degree in early child education and is here with her fiancee for about 2 years. She is going to work with the children and the youth on volunteer basis. We are happy for the children. She spent the whole day yesterday getting to know the kids. Veronica thinks she is nice. Mathew who is a nurse and works with an American project comes too with his wife once a week to work with the kids. They have done so much for us in terms of advice and support. Mathew has been posting news about shinners on the net through a blog and is fundraisning through a musician (Erik Shephard).We are gratefull.

The youth and the women are aggressively working on the jewellery. It is amazing how the awful smelly fish bones get cleaned up, shaped and dried and in the end beautifull earrings and necklaces are created. The only problem here is lack of good working tools and market. We hope to have a market out of africa soon. This should be able enable them earn a living and support their own. Our working space is now limited. The children occupy 2 rooms which isnt quite enough. We then have the rest of the room for all the other activities (tailoring, artwork, pottery and jewellery making.) It is our hope that we will be able to purchase a piece of land and put structures that can accomodate more children and activities that are sustainable. So far we are doing good. We have achieved so much through the assistance of friends , well wishers and volunteers.