After leaving Pipeline Friday evening, Irene wanted to stop in at Baruku IDP Camp to check the construction of a school house that is going up there. The van pulled off of the highway onto a dusty, seemingly deserted road. The sun was starting to set, making the dust seem that much thicker as it lingered in the air. Dust, dust, dust everywhere. Then, out of the dust came the Dust Babies of Baruku. Seemingly from nowhere, children started to appear – covered with dust, without shoes or proper clothes – swarming and laughing. Even in Kibera, I haven’t seen children with so little. They were dirty, hungry and overwhelmingly happy to se all of us wazungu visitors step out of the vans. We were only able to talk spend a couple of minutes with the Dust Babies, but I’ve thought about them every hour since and look forward to going back out there with the rest of the Yes We Kenya group.
I’ve brought some kids clothes with me, but not nearly enough for all of them. I am planning on using some of my donation money to purchase more clothes for the Dust Babies and, hopefully, organize some sort of food distribution there. Irene thinks that about $400/week would feed the Dust Babies and their families. If you’re interested in donating specifically to the Dust Babies (aka, Baruku IDP Camp) please let me know.
Jenn Winter 