The Great Rift Valley is a sight to behold, what beauty in the lush green plains that seem to go on forever. Not only is the landscape of western Kenya beautiful, but the people it holds are some of the strongest you will ever meet. We arrived after 9 hours of driving the bumpy red dirt roads to Megengo. A rural village town where over 50% of the population lives below the poverty line, which is less than a dollar a day. These people have little to no access to medical care, let alone the ability to afford it if they did. We put on a medical camp at a widows center in Megengo this past Friday for the population they minister too, only advertised by word of mouth. Without any public advertising, we saw over 500 women, children, and a few men during our one day clinic. I asked how many people would have showed up if we had advertised publicly and they said over 2,000. I cherished each "Jambo" and handshake from the women's strong leather hands and the sweet shy faces of their children. These women are absolutely incredible and daily they face unimaginable obstacles to survive and provide for their children. They are strong not only physically, but mentally and spiritually. They work so hard and their bodies are to show for it. As I took blood pressure after blood pressure I couldn't help but notice that so many of them have better biceps than 99% of the guys I know (sorry, but its true!). They work so hard to survive and make a living for their children. I was blessed by them and the opportunity to pray for each of them as they were seen. We saw many cases of malaria, intestinal worms, diarrhea, hypertension, back and joint pain, jiggers, colds, and other various infections.
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| Some of my friends showing off their heart tattoos (: |
I made some sweet little friends with my broken swahili after the camp while sitting contently in the red dirt that now feels like home. What a curious creature I am to their young eyes. What is that yellow stuff on her head? Why is her skin such a weird color? I am a curious figure, but I am so glad my looks do not scare away, but rather draw some very curious little hands to touch and explore this odd being. I asked each one of them their names and being valentines day, which is widely celebrated here, I had brought some heart shaped temporary tattoos with me. Oh the joy! This kids had never seen such a thing and their faces glowed with excitement as I gave each on a little gift of not only my love, but their Heavenly Father's love on their dirty hand. These are His treasured ones, His precious vulnerable children. They are His masterpiece.
You can't pick favorites, but one sweet girl in the group stood out to me the most. Her name was Mary and she was a beauty. She came to the group only after she saw us while she was carrying a bucket from her small brick and straw home and the others called her over. I asked her age, she was a tender 8 years. I learned that 4 kids in the group were her siblings and they lived with their grandmother. They were orphans and Mary played big role in running the house and watching her siblings while grandmother tried to make money to feed them. She is a doll, graced with such joy and strength. I will always treasure my time with her and the others.
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| The boys waiting as we introduced ourselves |
The next day we traveled to Kakamega for little different scenery for our medical camp. We went to Shkusa Boys Prison, presently home to 365 boys from around the country of Kenya. Shkusa now functions as a rehabilitation and reintegration prison for juvenile boy criminals, but it used to be one of the worst prisons in Kenya. Boys sent there often did not make it out. They died from starvation and rampant disease all too often. A local Kenyan doctor has made Shkusa one of his many ministry projects and after 2 years of investment and care, Shkusa is a very different place. The boys are once again healthy, due to periodic mini medical camps, like we put on that day, and better nutrition. The conditions are still not ideal, currently all the boys have scabies, but there is nothing that they care do without throwing away all the mattresses and blankets they have, which aren't even enough, leaving many of the boys sleeping on the cement floors without any means to stay warm. We were able to introduce ourselves to all of the boys before our medical camp started and as I looked out at each of their faces I saw I sea of eyes, hearts, and lives that needed fathers. Men of honesty, integrity, and faithfulness. My heart broke for the boys. Yah, they are in prison, but get this, the vast majority are there for being petty thieves. They stole because they were hungry, cold, thirsty. They were trying to survive. Thats a difficult element of the reality of Kenya and much of Africa. Far too many families are separated, leaving mom to raise the children and work the farm, while dad leaves to work in the city because the farm will not make enough to sustain them and pay school fees. Many men are gone for months at a time and unfortunately many are unfaithful to their spouse in the process. They often contract HIV/AIDS, eventually infect their wives, leaving her a widow in a short period of time and eventually a household of orphans. This is a vicious cycle here and its heartbreaking because people are just trying to survive and put food on the table. Nothing fancy.
Despite all of the hurt, there is hope at Shkusa now. Dr George has also brought the gospel there and about 60% of the boys have a relationship with Jesus now. They baptized 63 in the nearby river last August. My prayer is that even though many of these boys do not have an earthly Father, their relationship with their Heavenly Father would become so real and would guide, lead, and empower them to be men of God for the next generation of Kenyan men.
Last but not least we had the pleasure to bless the children most people forget about and don't bother to love or invest in. We took two visits to a school/orphanage for deaf and disabled children. Oh what joy yet again! There are 68 children at the orphanage and as our van drove down the dusty road to their building what a party of jumping and dancing began under the tree by the schoolhouse. I loved our time with them, especially because I took two years of sign language in high school and was able to minimally communicate with the kids. We brought gifts of food with us on both Saturday and Sunday because they struggle to feed the kids. Those sweet silent faces are the forgotten ones here. Many are abandoned by their parents and brought to the school by the police that find them helplessly wandering the streets. Because of that, their government funding is little to non and only 5% of their children have parents that actually pay school fees. We brought them 150lbs of beans the first day and after hearing about their great need we pooled money together and brought 40 loaves of bread, 20lbs of sugar, cooking fat, and salt the next day.
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| Some of the children signing their thanks and excitement at our gifts! |
In addition, we also brought a little party in the form of jump ropes and balls. A classmate and I purchased the toys because we had also learned the first day that they had absolutely no play toys. At all. 68 kids between the ages of 4 and 17 and there were no toys. So we told them they were loved and cherished by us and Jesus and we launched the party. Such fun teaching the group of older girls I had befriended how to hit the ball volleyball style in a circle, laughing and smiling as we played. I will never forget those girls. They even gave me a sign name, which is an honor to receive as a hearing individual. The first day we were with them we used up the rest of the tattoos I had brought and each child got one on their hand and I also had valentines day heart shaped gummies. The kids loved getting loved on and gifted. Such joy erupted from a single temporary tattoo and three gummy hearts. They were desperate for love and attention. It broke my heart, but I was so glad we had the honor to love the Lord's treasured ones. His precious vulnerable children. Forgotten by most of the world, but oh so special in His eyes!
The journey continues and I will continue to post updates more often now that we are back in wifi zone.
Much Love ~Ally
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