Shelley Bragg's Story

My name is Shelley Bragg and I am from South Africa. I have been involved in numerous projects with the GVN and the GVN Foundation and it was through one of these that I found myself in an IDP camp in Kenya in January 2010, helping to build houses for some elderly and ill women and their families. I had little in mind about what to expect when I signed up for the task, besides manual labour, intense African sun, and a lack of basic conveniences that most of us take for granted in our daily lives. What I found was a way of life that was so simple in nature but so fraught with complexities that it forced me to reflect on my own way of living entirely. On arrival at the camp, my building partner – and subsequent mentor – and myself were greeted with a welcoming party. They were singing and clapping, the men politely shaking our hands and the woman embracing us. Had they been disappointed to find one of their long awaited “fundis” (carpenters) to be a younger, smaller built woman, they did not reveal it. I found out later that I soon became the talk of the camp, because I was a woman endeavouring to perform tasks, which are only ever taken on by men in that culture – and, well, in most cultures in fact. And it was certainly a difficult task. After a brief meeting with the District Officer and District Commissioner from the area, we were given a tour of the camp, shown the materials that we had available to use, and shown an example of one of the houses being built. We were told we would be provided with extra tools, and a site plan, of which we received neither. We were given a rough indication of the dimensions and layout, but found this to change with each person we spoke to. We found varying materials with each family and varying assistance throughout the days. We measured, we calculated, we dug, we sawed, we hammered, and we sweated, but we also smiled, we laughed, we learnt, we connected with the families, and we were compelled to do more.

The community in the camp is close-knit but not spare from violence’s and traumas, which I believe our helpers tried to veil from us. The first lady we started building for was blind, and had four children, two of which being under the age of 2. We came to understand that she is often taken advantage of sexually on account of her defenselessness. There are clearly high instances of theft as well, as families would rather sleep on their building materials and belongings, in their small tents, than leave them outside where they risk being stolen. Our first few days, we were accompanied by community members and warned about walking around camp unattended, but this soon became lax as our apparent lack of concern became more evident and I believe as our presence in the community became recognized as being purely helpful, and not intrusive. There is a community Chairman and Vice Chairman. I found them both to be dynamic, and friendly, and with a little bit of discussion we soon had them involved in building, and teaching us the language.

I was struck by many things during my time in the camp. The poor conditions in which everyone lived were of course evident, and I tried hard to understand the Kenyan Government’s involvement in the community and what they were doing to help these people. From my understanding in the conversations with the Government officials, they had given this land to the community, with each family receiving a portion of land to live on, and a portion of land to farm. The farming could only begin mid-year and in the meanwhile they supplied the community with food once a month. They had also provided building material for the families to build houses, which would see them removed from their over crowded, unhygienic tents. There would be latrines, better sanitation, and better water sources. There was one water source nearby, which children were constantly visiting to collect their water for the day. There were so many children. Children greeted us with the few English words they knew as we passed their tents; they followed us through the fields calling, “Mzungus” (foreigners or white/rich man), their faces covered in flies but beaming with smiles. The older children watched us intently as we worked on their homes, slowly growing more comfortable with us, asking us questions, telling us their stories. There was one boy who helped us, day in and day out, on each site we worked on so that we could quicker help him to build his mothers house. I would ask the children, “why are you not in school today?” and got a reoccurring answer, “I am usually in school, but my mother needs my help.” I learnt from members of the community that the nearest school is quite far away, and even though the primary schooling is free, uniforms and school materials are very expensive and most families can simply not afford this. Once a child reaches high school, they also have to pay the tuition fees on top of everything else. I was upset to learn that these sweet, resilient, inquisitive children, who were eager to learn, eager to help their families, and eager even when living within such hardships, had very little chance of being able to fulfill a potential which it was clear that they had. If these children had a chance to an education, imagine how much more they could help their mothers, and their community in the future, never mind themselves.

Another thing that I noticed was the large number of young, and physically abled men in the camp, who seemed to wander around with a shortage of things to do. It might not have irked me as much as it did had I not been attempting to complete tasks which took me probably triple the amount of time it would have taken one of these efficient panga wielding men. I was forced to ask myself, and later others, why it was that these men were not working, or at least helping within the community. There were even fundis from nearby Nakuru who were simply volunteering to help build houses, but many community members would not offer the same assistance. I tried my best not to pass early judgment and spoke to our host one evening whilst enjoying a simple Kenyan potato and bean dish that he had made for us. He explained that the men battle to find work because they were farmers before. They were all forced from their lands and do not have other skills to offer. He stressed how hard it is to find work in Kenya and pleaded with me to understand the psychological effects this has on a man, on his confidence and his motivation. He said, “how can these men feel positive and help others when they can barely feed or help themselves or their families.” This is also when he told me how my name as the “Wangiro Fundi” (girl carpenter) had grown famous. I decided to take a different approach from then on and began to ellicit the help of many members of the community, woman and men, in our building projects through pure good spirits and negotiations of, “help us here with this house and we will come across to help you with yours after”.

I found the community as a whole to be welcoming, and friendly. I never at one stage felt threatened even though our host was insistent on our security measures. The children crept into my heart and my pull to help them get the opportunities they deserve in life is ever as strong even though I am now miles away. This is why we have begun the IDP Education Fund, with GVN and their partner in Kenya, VICDA. VICDA has received funding from a donor to build a primary school in the camp, which will help ensure the education of the younger children. They still need funding for school materials, children’s uniforms, teacher’s accommodation and much more. The IDP Education Fund aims to provide these. We have also set up a School Sponsorship program to help encourage and support the continued education of the high school aged students. The sponsorships received will be paid directly to the schools, and regular progress updates will be provided through the schools and VICDA. We aim to make the children’s education possible, successful, easy.

We will soon have more information from VICDA and will provide regular updates. We will announce our funding and sponsorship goals and look forward to surpassing them with your help!

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