MOMBASA

September 2010
Kenya, Africa

A couple missionary friends (Simone, Lisa B. and Lisa M.) and I started working on quite a project!!! The project is to gather student bios, pictures, family, home description and other information. All this information is put into a data base system. This will eventually give child sponsors the capability to view their childs information and picture online.

While we went to the schools to start this work, Lisa M., a nurse, volunteered to do a medical exam on each student. The most common problems were scabies and ring worm. Thankfully we had treatments that were donated to use for these children.

We successfully completed at two schools. This consists of about 500 children. It was fun learning about the personalities of the students, hearing what activities they enjoy, what their favorite subjects are and what sports they like. A lot of the kids speak multiple languages, English, Swahili and their mother tongue (tribal language).

All of the children live in homes with no running water. They have to fetch water at a borehole, well, pond or tap somewhere in the community. These children certainly have a lot of chores and 'to do’s' just to take care of their basic needs. They grow up quickly. Most of the children live in homes that do not have toilets. They either use a bush, or a pit latrine (hole in the ground). For cooking, many families use three stones with firewood in the middle while placing a pot on top. I’ve seen men, women and children carrying huge loads of firewood on their backs. Some use jiko’s with charcoal to cook. Houses are generally made of either, stone, sand, cement or mud and wood. Roofs are generally iron sheets or makuti (leaves from coconut trees).

I talked to a teacher about one of the students that is an orphan. I asked her who he lives with. Many times orphans will live with other family members such as an aunt, uncle or grandparents. However, he lives in a house with other boys that are orphans. He takes care of these other boys that are younger than him. Twelve years old and already a dad.

Hearing about his living situation made me think of my own niece and nephew who are that age. I simply can’t picture them living without their parents while taking care of other orphans, and struggling with basic needs. The thought breaks my heart.

What a courageous and strong boy this is! I am thankful that he and the others that live with him are able to go to the school. They can feel support from the other children, the teachers, the pastor, etc. God can give them Hope during this difficult childhood.

I want to thank you all for your prayers and support. Thank you for notes on fb and emails of encouragement. That always means a lot to me and brightens up my days. Thank you for helping me get here to do this work for these lovely kids. I truly could not be here without all this support!!!

Love,
Kristen