January 1, 2003
Jambo! and Greetings for the New Year,
It is three weeks since I have returned from my trip to Kenya and I feel that only now am I beginning to assimilate it all. The world that I entered there was so very, very different from ours .... and yet so much the same. Many of you asked that I share with you some of this trip, and so I am going to make a feeble attempt here. But know that I have a great set of slides that I am putting together as a slide show, and that is what 1 really want to invite you to see. Here are three times I'll be showing them and talking about the trip:
Sunday, January 12 Durham Friends Meeting 11:45 Pot luck and 12:30 Slide Show
Monday, January 20 Freeport Library 7:00 p.m (This is specifically for my friends. Because I need a good sized room to show the pictures, the Freeport Library has kindly agreed to let me use their community room. Jan. 20 is Martin Luther King Day.) (
Monday, February 10 Freeport Library 7:00 p.m. (This is for the general public. The Library will be advertising it.)
Kakamega Quaker Church and Orphanage
As most of you know, I was inspired to undertake this journey by my friendship with Dorothy Selebwa, Clerk of the United Society of Friends Women/Kakamega and the work they are doing with children whose parents have died of AIDS. I went with two other Quaker women from Maine, Sharon Salmon and Molly Duplisea, and everywhere we went we were greeted with warmth and great enthusiasm. Our trip was blessed by prayers coming from people on both sides of the ocean, and we felt cared for in a way we had never been cared for before. By the time I left, I felt that my plane didn’t need fuel; it was prayers that would carry me safely home.
The trip was highlighted by three interrelated elements: the people, the country, and the orphan children.
The People
What struck me most strongly was the faces. Beautiful, strong, intelligent, heart-filled faces. These are a deeply religious people who place their lives in the hands of God. And their faith and devotion to God and Jesus Christ lights up their faces and radiates love in a way that is rare. I could just sit and look at these faces for hours their eyes and expressions said so much.
Everywhere we went people welcomed us. (We drank so much tea (chai) we became experts at using their latrines.) Many people spoke excellent English so we Were able to share in depth stories of our lives, their lives, and the ways of their country.
The biggest difference I found was their sense of TIME and SPACE. There is always Time enough so that no one hurries. Time to greet one another and converse at length. Time to walk everywhere and NEVER be late (if dinner was served a few hours later than planned, don't worry, no problem - Hakuna Matata); Time to sit together to shuck the beans or crack the ground nuts (like peanuts) and roast them; Time to pray ... many times a day; Time to laugh and joke with each other. Time for people, Time for God. It was a truly liberating experience to slow down and let it soak in.
When it comes to space, the motto is: there is always room for more. Molly, Sharon and I would howl with disbelief as the back of the Isuzu pick-up truck would fill up with 14 people; but then stop and pick up two more mommas needing rides; then the truck would stop and three more people would pile in. It become rather like the telephone booth stuffings of the 1960's. While we were hysterical, they thought nothing of it because all vehicles drive so full to overflowing. (Literally overflowing, with people hanging off the sides of vehicles.) In the little "guest house" where we three slept, eleven orphan girls joined us. They put a blanket on the floor and they all huddled together and fell asleep warm and happy. Where we could fit four people on a church bench, they can easily fit 6 or 7. And did. There is ALWAYS room for more. It was the American "give me space" that just didn't fit.
Gratefulness is the last quality that I was aware of that contrasted so much with Americans. I won't go into it, but just let you imagine how very, very little people have there and yet feel so grateful for what they do have. So gifts of a pen or pencil, a pad of paper or a t-shirt were received with enormous joy and gratitude. So different from....
The Country
Imagine rolling green hills, mostly cultivated into small farm plots .... With mountains in the distance .... A bright Maine-blue-sky with white cotton-puff clouds .... A reddish dirt road with people walking....More people walking .... Cows or goats on the side of the road .... Sometimes a donkey laden down .... And children sitting on the side of the road .... Waiting. Matatos drive past (minivans that are used for public transport). 16 people are squeezed inside; the roof is overflowing with sacks of rice and flour. The potholes are so bad, you drive to the right, the left, the center of the road, anywhere you can find a spot that won't bottom-out your axle. The air is hot, but there's a breeze. Beautiful plane trees and cedars converge to make a wood. No one is allowed to cut them because they are owned by Mr. Delamere. He owns 80% of the land in that district. Men are never seen cutting because the police would arrest them. But police turn their backs to let the old mommas and children collect wood.
Some of the homes are rectangular, plaster sided. Others are round with thatched roofs. The poorest are 10 x 10 feet with a tin roof and no window. A whole family fits into it. And garbage everywhere. Nairobi looks modern in some places, but everywhere the sidewalks are full of streetsellers: mommas with fruit laid out on a blanket; young men with small tables of goods; shirts and clothes laid out on a tarp. Rarely does anyone stop to buy; but they are there just in case.
The poverty is overwhelming. I can say no more than that. Just overwhelming.
But there is hope. A new government led by Mwai Kibaki has just been voted in. While we were there everyone was talking about the upcoming elections. KANU, the party which had been in power for 35 years since independence, was being challenged by a coalition of parties, united into the Rainbow Coalition. Kibaki (previously a vice president and a finance minister who left KANU because of its corruption) was voted in Dec. 27th, and there is great hope throughout the country. Corruption and mishandling of funds has brought the strongest country in Africa to its knees. Nationally and internationally, everyone's hopes are pinned on Kibaki who has a humongous job to do to turn around a government built on corruption and tribal patronage. It's a country where over half the population lives on less than $1 a day. This is a job for Superman. But Kibaki has dedicated 40 years of political life to be given a chance to try it and he has a better likelihood at success than anyone else. We pray for his strength and wisdom.
The Orphanage and Children
This is the most important part of my report to you, as it was the most important part of the trip. I save it for last as I had to put it in context for you. I hope you are still reading and I haven't lost you.
Dorothy arranged that 16 orphan children should live with us for a week at her family's home. Thus Sharon, Molly and I got to know them well; and what an uplifting time we had, crayoning with them, brushing teeth, eating, cleaning up, playing ball, showing pictures of Maine, and singing and singing. But I found I would suddenly begin to weep. I would be going along enjoying what the day was bringing to me. Then I would think of 18-year-old Tom and his future, and I would begin to weep. I would be singing with the children late, well into the night, then before going to bed, someone would say something that referred to the probability that one of "our" children was HIV positive and would die of AIDS, and I would begin to weep. I would listen to the clear, perfect voice of 13-year-old Purity who will probably never be given the chance to develop her extraordinary gift, and the sound of her voice would just trigger something deep within me and I would begin to weep. I never knew when it would happen. And as someone who doesn't cry often, I was surprised—but glad that I was alive to these beautiful children
The Quaker women of Kakamega decided last year to support 16 orphans from different parts of the District so they could go to school. School had just let out when we arrived and so they arranged that these children would come together and stay with us. (We had written that we "wanted to get to know the children" during our stay. But we didn't mean that they should LIVE with us for a week! "But I need my American Time and Space and Privacy!" thought we. Guess what? There's ALWAYS more room .... so Move Over.)
It turned out to be an inspiration. For it became the focus of our trip. We feel more committed now than ever to these children. And to their future. 'For it is in Giving that we Receive." We hope to find people and groups of people who will "sponsor" children so they can go to school. Some of these children, like Tom and Lydia, have spent years watching their father first grow thin and weak and die of AIDS, then care for their mother as she shows the symptoms and dies as well. They all live with a grandmother, "auntie," or uncle, someone who can give them shelter but does not have the means to give them the opportunities for a future.
The major project of the Kakamega Quaker Women is the feeding program and the building of an orphanage. In reality, it is still in the Kitchen/Dining Hall stage. The building is 76 x 31 feet, about one-third of which is kitchen and storage space. There will be 2 toilets that will actually have running water (sometimes) and will flush. This will be an exceptional feature; but we feel that when you are talking about 125 children in the feeding program, for health reasons, a flush toilet is well worth raising money for!
The building is well on its way up ... but is still far from completed. The walls are built, the concrete ceiling is waiting for the concrete to be poured. Still to be put in are the windows, doors, plumbing, electrical, stove, and final concrete. We had a long conversation with Ronnie, the contractor, and we project another $10,000 will be needed to complete the building. We are committed to helping them raise the money.
One thing that really impressed us about the project was the dedication of the women to its success. Many women come to cook and clean for the feeding program; people donate food or money to it. They did a fund-raising event in November and raised $4000, a small fortune in Kenyan terms. When money we send over from our fund-raising doesn't pay for the next batch of materials/labor, they dig into their personnal accounts and make up the difference. They are committed to the project. There is a sizeable committee working on it, so it doesn't depend on only a few people. It is on the grounds of the Amalemba Friends Church lawn (the largest Friends church in the district) so it will always have the support of a sizeable number of Friends. We inspected the books which we discovered to be in impeccable double-entry system that is fully auditable. It is a project that many people are looking to as a model, and we pray for its success.
What comes next?
Along with raising money for the dining hall/kitchen, we are also planning a Service Project trip next summer. It will be about two weeks. During this time we will do some "sightseeing." But mostly we will live in homes of our host families, make very personal connections, and experience how Kenyans live. Our primary time will be spent with the orphan children being served by the feeding program. We conceive of a "Friends Camp" sort of experience, filled with singing, crafts, activities, and love. We will also assist the men who are building the orphanage in whatever way they and as Ronnie see fit.
If you have a church or civic group you think would like to hear about this very person-to-person project, I would like to bring my slides and tell people about it all. It is a modem-day Quaker mission that I feel led to carry on. I look to my friends to help me tell others about it and offer people a chance to give of themselves. Below are some ideas of how people can become involved.
I want to wish you a very wonderful new year. Our lives are truly blessed ... more so than I have ever imagined. I thank God for all we have been given and pray that we may be generous in our gifts ... be they financial, musical, or taking TIME to be with a friend and giving TIME to another.
Thank you for being my friend.,
Mirembe (peace be yours),
Sukie (Momma Sukie) "Auntie Sukie"
Ways to Participate
Some things I teamed from my trip to Kenya