2023 KENYA MISSION TRIP

Home Dedication

The dedication of the house on Thursday afternoon was incredibly joyous! As our two vans pulled onto the dirt road, we saw a large crowd of adults and children start to sing and walk towards us. Two school children grabbed each of our hands and walked us up to the house. One of the women attending was the lead teacher at the school, and she let many of the children out for an hour to celebrate their young friend’s new house. Lots of speeches were made praising God for His goodness. A group of middle school children presented us with a song and poem that they were taking to a regional competition. It was not in English, but they were very well prepared and professional in their performance! Dax and Stephanie were given a huge cardboard key and symbolically opened the door of the new house. Most houses in this area only have a piece of fabric for a door, so a heavy door that locks is a very important gift. The most touching part is when everyone (about 100+) lays a hand on the actual house as a benediction is said by a local pastor. There are no dry eyes.

Church In Maua

The children in Sunday School are dressed in their finest and have the biggest eyes and smiles. They joined in when we sang “This Little Light of Mine” to them and they sang a song in Kiswahili back to us. There are several hundred adults in the main service. The Sunday we were there was Disability Sunday and many of the speakers were disabled. One woman got the biggest applause when she said that we are all disabled in some way: someone has cerebral palsy and another person has an anger issue, someone is blind visually and another is blind to the needs of others. After the 2-hour service, we were asked to tea by one of the ministers. There were 11 of us and about 15 others –Muslim visitors from Sudan and a Catholic whose brother is a pastor there. Several church staff are also employed at the hospital, so we were introduced to the head of the nursing school, a pharmacy tech, and others who we would see during the week.

Medical Camp

On Friday, we loaded up our two vans and two hospital vans to drive about 45 minutes to a remote school where we held a medical camp. We took school supplies and soccer balls (always the biggest hit!) for the school and were told we were the first group to ever visit the school! The clinic was supposed to start at 10:00 a.m., but when people walk miles and miles, it starts when they arrive. All day, we watched as people trickled in in groups of 3 or 4. Through our church funds, we furnished medications, eyeglasses, and consultations with PA’s. One man brought his 2 ½ year-old son who had a urinary abnormality which would require surgery. Maua Methodist Hospital does not have a surgeon on staff. The first step to helping the child was to get him on national health insurance. Our team paid the $60 premium for him (and his family for 1 year) The surgery is estimated at about $2,000, and we plan to stay in touch to see if we can help pay for that. Two other people presented with symptoms of TB, which in this area may also indicate HIV. We also paid for their insurance so that after a 3-month waiting period, they can get an X-ray and begin treatment as necessary.

Kitchen Gardens

Several of our group helped fill tall round fabric cylinders with rocks surrounded by soil into which seedlings were planted. This was done at the homes of people dealing with AIDS. To fight the disease requires good nutrition and this has proven to be an effective way to provide fresh produce to people whose income and transportation are limited. The cost is only $60 and our team felt that it was a practical project of deep impact for them as well as those served.

Days For Girls Training

daysforgirls.org

Our last mission day was spent driving about an hour to a school we visited in 2019. We brought along two Days for Girls trainers from Nairobi who presented information about women’s health issues, male and female physiology, sex trafficking, and other topics. There is a great deal of incorrect information on those topics, and Days for Girls has a wonderful program to sensitively give accurate information in a safe and open environment. Normally the training is given only to girls. However, we chose to invite their mothers also. If the moms don’t have accurate info, how can they train their daughters (or sons, for that matter)?

Each of the 78 girls who attended received a kit which contains reusable menstrual products which can last for up to three years. In addition, while the girls were in the training session, our team put together sack lunches. We served 170 lunches in a ‘loaves and fishes’ scenario! Every mother and girl received lunch. We had exactly enough for them. The staff and our team went without lunch, but it was a very small sacrifice to make.