View Photo Album of Children in Kenyatta National Hospital >> View Photo Album of Children in Kenyatta National Hospital >>

Kenyatta National Hospital is an eight story, enormous maze of cement block walls that also serves as a teaching center. It took me close to half an hour to navigate my way from one end of the hospital to the taxi stand at the other end. Getting lost in the crowded halls and stairways is easy. The halls are bustling with medical and nursing students walking this way and that, and with visitors coming and going. There are constant throngs of visitors walking up and down the stairs, five abreast, and long lines waiting outside the accounting offices (of which […]

In Kenya I worked with children at three “non-formal” schools (not subsidized or recognized by the government) located in the slums of Nairobi. They are commonly founded and run by individuals (often women, but not always) who saw the need and created a school. Many of them are more of a safe sanctuary for children during the day, rather than learning centers. The staff is usually made up of volunteers. Half of Nairobi’s population lives in the slums…a place difficult to describe (desperation…total lack of dignity…I don’t know the best words) and even more difficult to imagine. Trash everywhere…unbearable stench…crowds […]

One of the reasons that I was excited about returning to Kenya was to work with the women and children at Langata Prison. Maggie, a dear friend and country director of The International Child Resource Institute, had written over a year ago asking me to do an art therapy project in the prison. Most of the women are imprisoned for petty crimes and sometimes they remain two years or more before they are even sentenced. Those women wear white uniforms, and they are many. The true prisoners wear striped uniforms and they often receive sentences of over five years. Maggie […]

The workshop with CONNECT had been arranged via email several months earlier and I was eagerly looking forward to working with therapy students. I had been told that CONNECT (Institute of Family Therapy offering a three year degree program) was one of the more sophisticated local operations with a strong infrastructure. That appealed to me tremendously. I was looking forward to a smooth, constructive day. Boy, was I in for a surprise. It was a Monday morning and Rodgers, our driver, dropped us off at the CONNECT office at 9:15. It turned out that the training was being held elsewhere, […]

Goromonzi district is two hours northeast of Harare. Mercy Corps International hired me to work for one afternoon at an after school program in that district. My assignment was to work with two groups of thirty children each, ages 15-19. The children, very proud to be attending school, walked many miles from surrounding villages in their often tattered school uniforms. The countryside was lovely…rolling hills with giant balanced rock formations scattered here and there. When we first arrived (in a fancy Mercy Corps SUV driven by Never), I asked to be shown the ladies room and several of the female […]

I had one day off (it was April 2006) and I told Clever, my driver, that I wanted to visit the pediatrics unit at the largest hospital in Harare. I felt such a strong urge, as though I NEEDED to make that trip. Driver was not happy about that plan; he wanted to take me shopping, the choice of most tourists. The extent of suffering is so enormous and I imagine that Clever would not choose to spend the afternoon in a children’s hospital…surrounded by even more suffering. Reluctantly he took me to the Parirentyatwa Hospital in downtown. When we […]

Street children continued: On day five, a group of boys wrote the following story, and acted it out in 6 scenes after practicing for many hours. They worked so hard and took great pride in their production. 1. The mother was cooking meat for supper. She then leave the pot and go outside.2. Her son entered the house. He was feeling hungry and stole the meat from the pot.3. Later the boy was caught eating the meat. The father started to beat him, he then chased him away from house and told him never to come back.4. After one week […]

Back to the street children: We talked and talked and we PLAYED; circle games, running games, laughing games. We played Zimbabwean games and we played American games and then we started all over again.The boys said:“I like cruising around with my friends.”“I like beating drums and dancing. I don’t like people who steal.”“I like dancing.”“I like eating and dancing.”“I like playing football.”“I like making baskets.”“I like cricket.”“I want to look after my family and get married to a white person.”“I like being funny.”“I like soccer and rumba.”“I like playing soccer and dancing.”“I like gymnastics and eating sadza.” (the national dish […]

Today I am going to write about the street children of Zimbabwe. Last year I attended the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) and I gave some talks about art therapy. This year I was invited back to work with a group of street children to create a large permanent mural installation. I had arranged with Streets Ahead, a local organization that provides a day sanctuary for street children, to identify fifteen children (ages 10-17) who would be reliable and interested in a week-long project. The sign outside says, "Streets Ahead is an agency which provides foster care and […]