Sad stories remain in the focus

This morning Fundi, our Hospital manager packed his furniture to be moved to a small village at the border of Uganda, were he spent his youth. He and his family ran for their life when the turbulences started in Nakuru. I spontaneously gave them shelter. After a while his wife and children returned back to their parent's home. They belong to the Kalenjin tribe. As the wife couldn't take all the belongings with her, her husband is now bringing the rest. It is an 8 hour journey. Hope all goes well and he will be back soon; we need his help.

After returning home the phone rang and it was John, our clinic doctor. With agitation he reported that our youngest nurse Aska had been attacked yesterday evening and had to be delivered to the town hospital where they treated her for 6 hours, before she could go home. They also stole her salary that she picked up from the bank. She saved money for three months to help her mother whose house had been burnt. And she wanted to build a little hut around the hospital to be together with her animals. For the time being she had to take shelter in the police station. It is disheartening to hear all these stories. It seems that sometimes human beings are more cruel than animals. - Mama Matata

The rainy season started also in Nakuru ...

Nakuru town: expensive and dangerous

rs. This morning I went to Nakuru to make some payments and was looking for mattresses, but I couldn't find any. Before the elections, normal foam mattresses cost 235 Kenya Schilling, now they are 3 x more. It's unbelievable how the prices rose, also in regard to food. People try to steel money wherever they can, especially those who are not town residents, but come from other villages and from the show-ground. You have to be very careful when walking in the town and you have to carefully close all zippers of your jacket. The situation in the street is getting very unsafe and quickly I went back to my car where my boy "body guards" took care of my car. As recompense they usually get milk and bread. After returning from town I quickly checked the hospital before returning home.

Falling temperatures, rain and a birth

rs. Stephan and the other Swiss returned home and here I am back alone with our daily duties. The temperatures drastically fell to 18°C, it is heavily raining and it became windy. The rain season cannot be stopped any- more. Today a new soul was born: Jakob. Besides this many daily routine and office work and some troubles because of our inconsistent power supply which is especially bad if you are working on the computer.

This is the Hospital ground with the tent camp

Today marked the last day of our stay in Nakuru, that means of Nicolas Senn, his mother, Gaby from the Swiss TV and myself (Stephan). Tonight we will return back to Switzerland via Nairobi. We had again an active day giving out the food for many refugees in the hospital area. It is always a big task to handle the masses but Ruth Schäfer has the needed poise together with a hidden firmness to keep the situation under control. As a last excursion Nicolas and myself went a little up the mountain to make some shots from the Rhein-Valley Hospital ground with the tent camp.

Nicolas and Ruth

Visit our Kenya Photo-Blog !

On the new photo blog "Kenya Photos"
you will find one new picture of Stephan Holderegger every day,
and even in much bigger format!
Here is the link:

http://kenyaphotos.wordpress.com

Another Dulcimer concert on 2700 m

Today we visited the water station in Thugunui on 2700 m where all school children gathered together to attend another concert of Swiss dulcimer player Nicolas Senn who is currently staying in Kenya together with his mother. The water station was opened on November 15th 2007 together with the Austrian help organization "Schilling für Schilling" and allows the whole community to have fresh drinking water the whole year round ... and even free of charge! The children were very receptive and happy. The adults were also listening and all had a good time. At the end the community thanked Mama Matata and the musician. Nicolas took the opportunity to walk down to the Rhein-Valley Hospital ground on 2000 m and realized how much effort it took for the locals in the mountain village to bring the water up the mountain before the water project was established.

This old men sponsored the land for establishing the water station.

Film shooting at the Aequator with Nicolas Senn

ns. Today the Swiss delegation (Gaby from the Swiss TV, musician Nicolas Senn and Stehan Holderegger) went to the Aequator and visited a village where Nicolas had a concert last September. The locals immediately recognized the Swiss dulcimer player and showed autograph cards from last time. Gaby filmed the meeting and could make several interviews. We even plan to organize a big concert together with Kenyan dancers. Fortunately we had no rain on the way back to Nakuru. Soon the rain season is expected to start here and we already had first showers last night. Let's hope that the thousands of refugees in the camps will survive! The conditions will get worse and worse.

In today's newspaper...

Clip from today's edition of Kenyan paper "The People Daily"

Easter Sunday together with the street boys

After the successful concert of dulcimer player Nicolas Senn around the Rhein-Valley Hospital we planned to go to the city centre of Nakuru to play again for the street boys and bring them some food as a little Easter present. As soon as we approached the main post office the people rushed from all sides towords us and were astonished about our colorful outfit in the Swiss tradition. We also were astonished to see so many poor people on the street that have nothing but their life, and the youngsters most of the time spend their time with sniffing. After the concert started the children were laughing and seemed to get some happiness. It didn't matter if it was a traditional Swiss country song or a American Rock'n Roll. Gaby Schädler from Swiss TV was trying hard to capture the atmosphere without being overrolled by the masses. The situation became tense when we started to give out some food for the people. They feared not to get anything and were panic-stricken. Mama Matata had to climb on the roof of her car to bring herself in a safe position. From there she tried to continue with the food distribution but finally we had to stop the action and escape in the car. It was not safe for us anymore, to say the least. Anyway, we manged to make around 1500 young people happy this Easter Sunday! - Nicolas

World Water Day and Concert in Nakuru!

sh. To celebrate today's "World Water Day 2008" we had a very active program. The Swiss TV crew was filming the whole day, dulcimer player Nicolas gave a concert for thousands of Kenyans and we gave out the twice weekly food portions to the refugees. Nicolas also helped for 7 hours with the food program! Also present were school classes from Thugunui where we have another water project together with the Austrian organization "Schilling für Schilling" with Eddie Kroll. Our own water station at the Rhein-Valley Hospital was also very active until the evening and it was a real joy to see the manifestation of the "World Water Day" in reality! By the way our hospital is fully occupied at the moment. Unfortunately we have to place newcomers in the Nakuru camp. Although it was cloudy today the temperature here in Kasambara still was very high: around 35° C in the shadow and this on an altitude of 2000 m!

Making the children happy

Yesterday we met quite a lot of children collecting wood for their cooking fires back home at the camps. To some of them we offered T-Shirts and caps and also a Frutapura package. With little things you can make them happy! We also went to Nairobi to welcome Gaby Schädler from the Swiss TV (Rundschau) and Swiss dulcimer musician Nicolas Senn together with his mother. Today we have a full program - more news tonight.

Story on girl who escaped the flames

In today's edition of the Kenyan Newspaper "The People Daily", a story of a girl was published that escaped from a burning church. As the paper mentions, "young Wanjiru persevered with serious burns on the left side of her body for four days at the Catholic Church grounds before a Good Samaritan took her to Moi Referral Hospital for treatment. She is now camping at an non-governmental organisation-sponsored facility, Rhein-Valley Hospital, at Kasambara in Mbaruku area of Nakuru District. Wanjiru is grateful to the hospital's directors Ruth and Stephan who footed her hospital bill. Stephan says the girl was initially deeply traumatised that she could not allow anybody to touch her. But she responded well to treatment and has now recovered. The hospital is hosting over 2,000 internally displaced persons from Eldoret, Burnt Forest, Likia, Londiani and Naivasha. Some from Nakuru showground had also moved to the hospital. Wanjiru intends to get back to school at the nearby Kasambara Primary School. She has however forgiven those who killed her father and grandmother, but would like the Government to pursue and arrest them." Click on the article to enlarge it.

Street life in Nakuru

sh. Today we were in Nakuru to buy the food for the 3,500 refugees that are expected to come to the Rhein-Valley Hospital on Saturday. This will be an important day. Swiss musician Nicolas Senn and a Swiss TV crew will be here. Many school children will came from Thugunui and Kasambara and there will be a big concert for them. While staying in Nakuru we could visit a sewing factory and were quite shocked about the working conditions there. On the streets we were protected by our boy body guards who also look after our car. Life in the streets is also not easy to digest for us Europeans. It is impossible to mention all details here. The street boys are always on good terms with Mama Matata and it is amazing how she can accept the situation. For me (Stephan) it is a bit more difficult because of my week immune system. I have to keep some distance.

Bicycle reparations at the street corner - but still with joy!

Original Kenyan artworks to thank the donors!

km. The staff of the Rhein-Valley Hospital recently sent out mailings to some recent donors in Europe. The letters were not only all hand-written, they contained an original Kenyan artwork! Watch this sample. Click on the picture to get a larger view.

Tent camp for the refugees nearly finished

sh. A day full of activities and suprises here in Kasambara (Nakuru). We managed to install 35 tents for our refugee camp at the Rhein-Valley Hospital and hope to finish the remaining 15 on Thursday. A couple of volunteers helped us preparing the ground so that the tents could be put in place and properly fixed. The sun was burning our faces and the sweat flew down the chins. Then we had to think of the next steps: ordering mattresses and getting blankets. I quickly called Heinz Heer from "kidstokids" in Switzerland and asked him to check with Erich Kühnis, President of the Rhein-Valley Hospital Association, how we could get some in the next couple of days. Heinz had the idea of contacting again Thomas Kumpera from the catastrophy services at the Swiss Red Cross and he promptly agreed to donate 300 blankets. Soyana promised to bring them from the capital Berne to the Airport in Zurich and SWISS Airlines agreed to transport them by Air this Friday free of charge to Nairobi. It is a 500 kg delivery. Our refugees will be more than grateful! Today we had our first big downpour so the urgency of having a tent camp is obvious. Hope the sunny days will still prevail in the near future.

Growing support for Mama Matata

sh. Today we not only served 3,500 refugees at remaining hot temperatures but we could do it in the presence of many journalists from Nairobi as well as a TV crew from Switzerland (TV TSR). A big help to bring together so many press people was Josef Muyu, Director of the Lake Nakuru Lodge. Mr. Muya (see right picture) also brought a present for the refugees: 4 bags of milk powder, answered questions from the journalists and praised the activities of the Rhein - Valley Hospital. Today we gave out food for the next 3 days: corn, rice, sugar, white and brown porridge, Frutapura baby food, beans, milk powder and not to forget: fresh drinking water. Some hope is dawning: the press is acknowledging our work and we have to forget the past. Let's build together a new future for the Kenyan people!

Swiss donate 150,000 CHF for Kenya

km. The popular Swiss weekly "Migros-Magazin" (circulation of 3 million) again presents the issues of the Rhein-Valley Hospital in today's edition on 4 pages. After a first report of the magazine there was a huge reader response and a total of nearly 150'000 Swiss Francs were donated. Dispite all problems Ruth Schäfer (Mama Matata) speaks about first signs of hope! Here is the link to the article in the online-edition:

Italians bring pharmaceuticals and more...

shh. We had a hard working day. Mama Matata and our book- keeper Niaga got a visit from a Government agent because of the papers for our container. In Kenya you learn to be patient. Today we also got a visit from three Italian friends: Enio, Gabriella and Gianni. They brought several pharmaceuticals as well as food and clothes for the refugees. Our Italian friends were enthusiastic about our work at the hospital. Last October they organized an exhibition with drawings from Italian children for their Kenyan brothers and sisters and are helping the "kidstokids" organization in Italy. The drawings should be in the big "kidstokids" container that is planned to finally arrive next week. We also installed the first 10 tents; we hope to finish the camp by the end of the week.

Press and TV will visit the hospital on Tuesday

sh. Today we had a meeting with Josef Muya, Director of the Lake Nakuru Lodge in Nakuru Town. He helps us with the food distribution for the Kikuju refugees and plans to come to the hospital this Tuesday together with journalists from the Press and TV to explain the current situation. He hopes that the tourists soon will come back to Kenya, because without them the country cannot survive. We also have strong hopes that finally the Press and the Government realize the facts and start supporting our efforts.

Peace match by local football team

sh. Mama Matata sponsored a dress for the football team of Molo that had a match for peace outside the official stadium, because this is currently occupied by 6000 refugees. Only through sports a new friendship can be built, if only for a limited time. The Coach and the team members were very enthusiastic about the initiative of Mama Matata.