Article by Monique Verhoef about the Vihiga Children's Home, published in the Standby Magazine in Holland, 2012

1. A 'Happy Smile' for the 'Kipepeo's' of Kenya
As certified dental assistant I traveled together with seven
friends to Kenya to help out with several projects. Like
'Lunch for Life', a project with as goal to help make local
organizations self-sustainable. But also other projects, like
micro-financing and oral hygiene-instructions.
On our own
It is different when you are traveling with an organization. You will
be instructed what and how to do things. Because of this many
people have done outstanding jobs! Still, we decided to go on our
own, with eight people and more knowledge. Every little bit helps.
Montana
We left for Kenya in November 2011. As we had a transfer in
Calgary, we decided to have our last mega meal in a restaurant
called Montana's. There we set some rules about safety in general
and because there was some tension between Somalia and Kenya.
Whenever someone felt danger, we choose the restaurant’s name
Montana as our safety-code.

2. Letter exchange
Well before our trip, there was a letter exchange between these
Kenyan children and our Canadian children. This was a great
success. The Kenyan children are smart and would like to achieve a
better life. For this trip we brought quite some letters with us, even
from my niece’s school from Holland. My grandma also had crochet
quite some blankets for the children, which I have promised to
deliver in person.

3. Edith Junior Academy
On our way to the place we would stay, we already got a little taste
of Kenya. We finally reached the Vihiga-district. We where warmly
welcomed by Priscilla and her family who run the school. Most of the
children do not have parents or guardians. Teachers work for a low
rate or for free. There is space for about 200 children. After some
tea it is time for graduation of class 1 - 7. Class 8 still needs to
write their final exams. During the ceremony people are holding
speeches, but the ultimate joy for them is us to be there. The kids
are singing and dancing. Two children are sitting on my lap. They
are looking relatively healthy, but their shoes are either too big or
too small (if they already have any) and their school uniforms are
full with holes. But still they are happy. The school looks neat with 8
small class rooms. There are bunker beds in the boys and girls
dorms, but some beds don't have a mattress or mosquito net.
Before my oral hygiene class starts tomorrow, we got some time to
meet with the children. They are 'smart cookies' as they are asking
us interesting questions about our world.

4. No Toothpaste
Today it is my turn to give about 200 children oral hygiene
instructions. A big task, but together with my friends it should work.
The children are between 4 and 14 years of age. I thought about
acting out the beginning and results of cavities and gum disease.
Why not? After all, I was equipped with 7 great 'actors'. Two dental
companies from home had supplied me with toothbrushes and floss.
Although positive results of bringing in fluoride into the program, I
decided not to use any toothpaste as for them it is expensive and it
is just simply not going to be there when we are gone. There for I
let them brush with water that was boiled prior and salt as it is
cheap and is in stock.
Acting game
When arriving at the classroom, never mind the given instructions,
there were more than 30 children waiting in and outside the
classroom. A good beginning for chaos....Finally, class starts.
Everyone is quiet. Unbelievable, what an interest. All eyes are
focused on me and my awful drawing of a pre-molar. I explain them
what plaque is and why it is so important to brush. Then it is time
for action. While my friends are doing the act, I explain the

5. development of plaque and gingivitis and the consequences of it.
The children loved it. In reality, these children will not brush and
floss every day, but this class they will always remember. Mean
while the classroom was surrounded with more children, everyone
enjoyed the acting game.
Brushing: For real!
Time to put it into practice. Outside, the children are in a big circle.
Every child is equipped with water, salt, and a toothbrush. It is a
different story when it comes to flossing. Despite the instructions,
they start chewing it. "Because it tastes so good". It is a fantastic
feeling to stand in the middle of a class. Everyone is listening and
does what you asked them to do; they are so enthusiastic and
would love to participate. Within no time, all children are brushing
and flossing! After this class, I instruct the teachers as well on how
to make floss from clean boiled fabric and how to implement this in
their program. The next day early in the morning we heard children
on our site. They where the school children, brushing their
teeth....really

6. Street children
Our next stop is Kipepeo, a community empowerment program in
Emuhaya district. (Kipepeo means butterfly) This is a local
organization that stands up for the street kids and people in need.
Twice a week, they try to provide them with a lunch and education
about HIV/AIDS. There are training projects provided like micro
financing, administration, agriculture etc. This organization holds a
view computers that are connected to the internet. There for they
can have contact with volunteers from all around the world. That
way they may get help with some of their projects. But oral
hygiene...that has never been done. So for this project, there was a
lot of interest as well.
In a church
You can see the difference between street children and the school
children. The street children are more on their own, stand up for
themselves and are more likely to distrust. The 'cold' looks in their
eyes show us the hard street life.

7. Time for class. This time it will
be held in a church. During preparations, I am taken by a local
teacher who takes me to her school across the street. I got to talk
to one of the teachers who made a poster of all teeth. I ask him
"where did you get this from"? He answers: "I made this. I am a
teacher, I supposed to know this, right?" Unfortunately this poster
is the only material he has to show the children. He was very
grateful after I brought him back some of my left over material.
Back in church, quite some people have gathered. Because this time
there were no children present, I had changed my lesson a little bit.
I was very happy with the interested questions they asked by the
end of class.
No dentist nearby
There is no dentist nearby, not even in the local hospital that we

8. visited. To see a dentist you really have to go a big city like Nairobi.
This particular hospital is hoping for some financing so that one day,
they can open a dental-ward.
How to help
After three weeks living with the local people, you start to think
how to help them in the future. We have created a website and
hope to help more with these projects in the future. For people who
are interested, you can find more information and stories about our
trip at
www.kenyaeitght.yolasite.com; www.kipepeomoonfruit.com;
www.edithjunioracademy.yolasite.com
Although we have worked on very small scale, we hope that we
have left a little bit of our knowledge. Like one group leader said
"We would like to receive all of your knowledge".
It is impossible to safe the whole world, but we can safe a little bit
of our own world.
'The simplicity and humbleness of these orphans goes beyond comprehension
when you come from a part of the world that we live in. Only when you come
here the unimaginable becomes tangible. These kids live in the most precarious
conditions a person could have imagined in our world. Starving for affection as
much as for food, defeating the lack of generosity, these kids still retain those
big smiles on their 'little dirty faces'. (Matias)