Busy little bees

Jambo :)

Boy, the past 24 hours have been eventful! We've been travelling again, from upcountry to Nairobi. I'm sad to say it was my last time seeing Rift valley, the tea plantations, Mau forest and Nakuru, among tons of other amazing things. *sigh*


Although it was a long journey with Mama, we decided to skip resting. (it's not her style). Mama Pheobe Asiyo is part of Nairobi's Women's Caucus, which we've visited in our last excursion here. She's also the UN's UNIFEM representative in Kenya. I'm really grateful to have her as a host mother, especially since I've seen first hand how important it is to push the women's agenda here and around the world.

Anyways, the Women's Caucus has representatives in every region in the country. These are just local women who are concerned with the development of their community. Pretty much any positive initiative a woman is interested in, the Caucus will back.

That's what brings us to Huruma today, in a slum called Madoya. In this area, lives Mama Lucy, a women who runs an orphanage/school called Little Bees.

For more than a decade this one woman has been running this school in the middle of the slum. Did I mention she also lives there with the kids? She is truly extraordinary and deserves the admiration of all who know her.

At Little Bees, she also runs other initiatives such as basket weaving classes and farming on her small plot in order to provide a holistic learning environment as well as an opportunity to generate some money. There are also flush toilets and clean shower areas available to the community for a small price.

Even though Mama Lucy has done alot for her community, there is still work to be done. The fact that she provides the only available flush toilets and running water in Madoya (which is huge by the way), speaks for itself. Through the slum walkways are streams of disease-infested water. The infrastucture is just the start, but with Mama Lucy and other development-conscious women in the area, I know the Little Bees will continue to do great things.