Report from Kenya 3.8. – 9.8.2009

Report from Kenya 3.8. – 9.8.2009 - part I
Jiří Pergl, Enterpreneur, Czech republic

Jiří Pergl is an amateur traveler, a person best described as an adventurer! For me he’s also a person full of contrasts and some to this day uncomprehended acts. Fortunately, these acts are positive, praiseworthy and even moving sometimes. This relates to his activities towards African children in Kenya, whose fates stand on the edge of society’s interest. We bring you his first story today. We decided not to edit it and leave it in its original version. Perhaps to make it possible for you to gain an understanding of his person through his words. This man, who has two beautiful red Ferraris in his garage, at one point in his life realized that there are other things in life than the race circiut, powerful machines and the so-called lifestyle. His earlier interests are so different from his current activities that I include him among people with the most contradicting personalities I’ve ever known. I wish him and his foundation many accomplished goals. Adolf Zika WEEK OF LIFE.

Five months later, I decided to return to Kenya and help children impacted by AIDS with my own financial resources and those collected during the beneficial actions of OMCD. I was not alone. Jaroslav Tarczal, owner of the restaurant U zelených in Beroun joined me and we both started on a journey. He decided to go with me after having seen my documentary film about the children, which I made in February. He was not the only person impressed by my film. After its presentation, many people from the Czech Republic decided to help as well by making donations.

This journey to Kenya had just one objective – to deliver donations from the organization ONE MORE DAY FOR CHILDREN to those who need them the most.

3.8. Nairobi

After our late night arrival, a friend of our Kenyan friends Patrick and Cyrus took us to my favourite hotel, Hotel Central Park, which is in the centre of the poorest part of Nairobi. The hotel offers security, dinner, a bed and a warm shower. That’s all you need in Kenya. The price for one room depends on the season—from 50 to 100 USD per double room per night.

Back in the Czech Republic, we had made a reservation in advance for a car in Kenya. Cyrus and Patrick could help us because in the winter, I had invited them to spend some time in the Czech Republic. I was their host during their three-month stay and introduced them to a completely different life than they had known in Kenya. They flew back home on August 2nd and on the same day, both the new members of the expedition, Jaroslav, and I, settled in on our journey as well.

At 9 am, Sam arrived and helped us arrange all the formalities needed to rent a car. We chose a Toyota Prado 4x4. It cost 216 USD per day, which may seem too expensive, but the investment is worth it. Around the city, there are many police patrols controlling and stopping every car of second-rate quality and trust me, they will always find something bad on the car to get the money from you. Moreover, the roads in Kenya in combination with their typical speed bumps are in such a bad condition that after 100 km spent on the road you have to find the nearest vehicle service to have the torn exhaust pipe changed, in the best case. It’s not really worth it to be scrupulous with a car in order to save money.

After all arrangements were made, we went to see Doctor Martin who was already waiting for us at the hospital. Doctor Martin claims to cure patients affected by HIV and AIDS. The first time I met him in the winter, he told me that he had 537 pregnant women and 137 children in his program to help HIV-positive individuals. At the present time, the numbers have increased to 1,680 pregnant women and 589 children. He gave us the creeps. We gave him a lot of sedatives and medication from the Czech Republic for his patients and also a financial donation to buy food because as he always says – patients taking medication for treating HIV infection must eat, if they don’t, their stomach cannot handle it. Since January, 30% of Doctor Martin’s patients have died of hunger.

Our next trip led us to the airport. Patrick and Cyrus came back at 1 p.m., because they flew on a different airline than we had. The welcome from their families was amazing. About 30 family members waited for each of them. Nevertheless, I had to deal with another thing. In the Czech Republic, we packed toys into Patrick’s and Cyrus’ bags for a Children’s Home in Nanyuki. But the customs officers wanted the boys to pay a duty charge. I didn’t like it of course and I demanded an explanation for why they wanted to seize toys destined to children dying from AIDS. On top of that, these toys were second-hand. I wanted to speak to the chief of the customs’ officers and security guards. After what seemed like a never-ending argument they just let us go. Anyway, they took me aside after the chief left and I had to pay some money. Kenya is well known for its corruption.

I was wondering about what to buy with the donated money from OMDC and after consulting with Mrs. Hellen, we decided to buy a Plasma TV. We had already purchased a DVD player and DVDs with fairytales from the Czech Republic. Children from the children’s home in Nanyuki have never seen any fairytales and had no clue what one was like.

4.8 Trip to Nanyuki

When we woke up and took our breakfast at the hotel, we loaded all the bags and television in the car and went to Nanyuki. The road to Nanyuki can take approximately 4 hours. Here in Kenya, distances are not calculated in kilometers but in hours. Roads are in terrible condition, and so the average speed is not more than 50 km/h. In the middle of the drive we had to do something very important. We had to buy food for children. The huge African food market is set in the city Karatina, mid-way from Nanyuki. We needed to buy flour, sugar, corn, carrots, cabbage, beans, legumes, oil, washing powder, tomatoes, onion, potatoes, etc. Half a tonne in total.

We arranged to have two local boys keep an eye out for the food that we had already bought and left in the middle of the market, and two other boys carried it to the car. Because of the large amount of food, we decided to call a pick-up taxi. Our Toyota was fully loaded and there was no space for the rest.

Before our arrival at the Children’s Home, we had to crush the corn from which mush would be made by adding the other ingredients. So we found a corn crusher in Nanyuki and had it crushed.

Children in Nanyuki had already known about our impending arrival so the welcoming shout was immense. The huge joy that surrounded us was very much like that at the arrival of Barack Obama to Kenya. Everybody here respects him and is proud of the fact that one of their own became a US president.

First off, we unloaded the food from the taxi.

The joy we saw in the children’s eyes was inexpressible. Of course, they were enthusiastic about the food, but the biggest happiness came when we started to carry the suitcases full of toys into one of the common rooms. Even though we had wrapped the big plasma TV in a sleeping bag, we could hear the children’s voice calling, “TV, TV!” and obviously we had to put it out immediately. Mrs. Hellen then told them that we were from the Czech Republic and had brought them some food, presents, candy, and one surprise. The children along with Mrs. Hellen and the member of the staff from the Children’s Home started to sing and dance in the rhythm of traditional African songs. None of us can even imagine such happiness; you had to have been there. I have to confess that I wept with joy.

Report from Kenya 3.8. – 9.8.2009 part II.

Weeks of Jiřího Pergla