EBCCK
Elma Barnett Children's Centre, Kamonong began as a basic Christian home for children in the Kamonong area of Kenya. Today EBCC is a complex consisting of a school and living area for primary children (grades 1-8) and a shamba (farm) with crops and livestock. Directly adjacent is the Elma Kamonong High School campus, featuring a well-outfitted school that serves our older students plus boarding students from other areas.
Dormitories
The primary boys and girls live year-round in dormitories, grouped together by gender and age. Each child has a bed with personal storage area and for some of them this is the most secure and stable home they have ever known. Apartment areas provide living space for the two dorm parents (boys/girls) who care for the children on a daily basis and provide a parental role model.
Dining Hall
A dining hall provides space for meals, crafts, assemblies, indoor play during the rains, and worship on Sunday morning. Originally a room with open windows, it now has paned glass and a newly tiled floor, to improve durability and ease of maintenance. When Walindwa directors visit, we are always treated to singing, traditionally led by one of the elder girls. Here's a video from 2012, the year Walindwa was formalized.
Kitchen
Directly across from the dining hall stands the kitchen, where Daniel and Mama Beth prepare meals for the 40+ primary students. A staple in the Kenyan diet is Ugali. It is like a porridge but much more dense made from white maize meal or maize flour. Generally it is generally enjoyed with cooked spinach and/or meat stew. Daily we have fresh milk from the cows for Chai (Kenyan Tea). Eggs from our chicken coop add variety to breakfast a few times a week.
Personal Hygiene
The boys and girls each have their own areas for toileting and standing showers. As is common in Kenya, there is no actual standing toilet, but instead a porcelain waste hole with a raised flush tank. No sitting down here! Toilet paper and soap are stored with the dorm parents and retreived by the children as needed. Pro tip: the Swahili word for bathroom is choo.
Laundry
Laundry is old school: done by hand in tubs of water and then hung on the line to dry. If a brief rain passes through, the clothes get an extra rinse! Each child is responsible for the care and cleaning of their own wardrobe, which includes a school uniform plus casual clothes for play and weekends. New underclothes are a constant need, with so many growing children.
Play Time
Kenyans are a physically active people and of course the children are more so! A football pitch (soccer field) is essential and the play area also includes swings and a place to play net ball (volleyball). Soccer balls have a short life here, since the turf is rough and they are constantly used. In 2018 a slide was added to the area, in memory of Della Weller, mother of Jill Weller, Walindwa's founder.
Staff
Staff members at EBCCK include Benard, who is the social worker and manager. Daniel is the cook, Dorm Moms Beth and Helen, Elias and Erick tend to the compound, dolar, farm and cows. Felix is the bus driver and does other misc work around the compound. Chaplain Mary has offices on the EKHS campus but acts as a spiritual mentor to all the children and staff.