The girl with me in mt profile picture is Paskalina showing off the sweater knitted by my sister.
This picture here is of Paulina and her family. Paskalina on the very left - Marguretta is third from left.
One of the tragedies of Africa is poverty and what it does to people.
Sylvester, the father of these kids used to milk cows at the Diocese Farm. There were around 30 cows and they were milked by hand. The Diocese had not long come out of a war over it's very name and was suffered through a lack of funds, therefore the workers were paid irregularly (6 months was not an unusual wait). Trouble was Sylvester had a problem with booze and even at milking time he was far from sober. He ended up losing his job because of his insobriety!
Sylvester's wife was Paulina, who also worked on the Diocese Farm, picking coffee, sowing and harvesting maize, and other odd jobs as required. She too was put off because the farm shed staff due to financial troubles.
Between them they had seven kids! Marguretta is 'adopted' being a child of Paulina's sister.
Paulina popped them out close to Christmas, year after year, and was something of a legend because of it!
There are - Zachariah, Anna, Emanuel, Alibariki, Marguretta, Issac and Paskalina.
Sometime we were sent small amounts of money by friends or service groups such as the Waianakarua Lions Club and we would make up small food packages for people we knew needed something. Paulina's family were beneficiaries a few times.
Seldom would there be spare food available in Paulina's house, and if she was desperate, she would send some of her children to beg food from us. I had a soft spot for Marguretta, and Paulina knowing this, sent her most often!
The maize mill made flour for the staple food, ugali and when Paulina did not have money to mill her maize, the only way she could pay was with her body.
I used to go to the farm to collect dry cow manure as fertilizer for my nursery. Paulina's kids used to help me - wild and dirty, they worked to help me fill my truck - joking, laughing and teasing each other as they worked. There reward was a ride in the truck out to the road - Paskalina was always frightened and could not always be coaxed.
Dusty and dirty they would climb in the back seat, and in fun, I would order them to sit with arms folded and in the same spirit they would do so and we would sing as we drove out to the road. Once there, I would tell them to line up outside the vehicle, then I would shout 'Kimbea!' Run! and they would be off home as fast as their legs would carry them.
Those children knew that they would never leave our house empty-handed, even half a loaf of bread or a few mandarins were always greatly appreciated. Most usual was the request for sugar (the universal gift really) to make the milky, sweet tea which is an important part of the diet. They used to sit with me on our verandah and I would tell them stories - old stories that I badly translated into Swahili as I went.
Poverty does not always make unhappy kids.
One of the tragedies of Africa is poverty and what it does to people.
Sylvester, the father of these kids used to milk cows at the Diocese Farm. There were around 30 cows and they were milked by hand. The Diocese had not long come out of a war over it's very name and was suffered through a lack of funds, therefore the workers were paid irregularly (6 months was not an unusual wait). Trouble was Sylvester had a problem with booze and even at milking time he was far from sober. He ended up losing his job because of his insobriety!
Sylvester's wife was Paulina, who also worked on the Diocese Farm, picking coffee, sowing and harvesting maize, and other odd jobs as required. She too was put off because the farm shed staff due to financial troubles.
Between them they had seven kids! Marguretta is 'adopted' being a child of Paulina's sister.
Paulina popped them out close to Christmas, year after year, and was something of a legend because of it!
There are - Zachariah, Anna, Emanuel, Alibariki, Marguretta, Issac and Paskalina.
Sometime we were sent small amounts of money by friends or service groups such as the Waianakarua Lions Club and we would make up small food packages for people we knew needed something. Paulina's family were beneficiaries a few times.
Seldom would there be spare food available in Paulina's house, and if she was desperate, she would send some of her children to beg food from us. I had a soft spot for Marguretta, and Paulina knowing this, sent her most often!
The maize mill made flour for the staple food, ugali and when Paulina did not have money to mill her maize, the only way she could pay was with her body.
I used to go to the farm to collect dry cow manure as fertilizer for my nursery. Paulina's kids used to help me - wild and dirty, they worked to help me fill my truck - joking, laughing and teasing each other as they worked. There reward was a ride in the truck out to the road - Paskalina was always frightened and could not always be coaxed.
Dusty and dirty they would climb in the back seat, and in fun, I would order them to sit with arms folded and in the same spirit they would do so and we would sing as we drove out to the road. Once there, I would tell them to line up outside the vehicle, then I would shout 'Kimbea!' Run! and they would be off home as fast as their legs would carry them.
Those children knew that they would never leave our house empty-handed, even half a loaf of bread or a few mandarins were always greatly appreciated. Most usual was the request for sugar (the universal gift really) to make the milky, sweet tea which is an important part of the diet. They used to sit with me on our verandah and I would tell them stories - old stories that I badly translated into Swahili as I went.
Poverty does not always make unhappy kids.
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