|
|
|
| These children were found on the streets of Nakuru. After separating them from a larger group of hungry street children, their story was slowly uncovered. Their mother had not been at the home for quite some time, their father had lost his job in July 2004 and had been unable to find another. The children left for the streets when there was no money for school supplies, food or water. We took them to their home and discovered the remaining pieces of their story. We took measurements of their feet to get them shoes for school and left with the promise to return. | In a couple days, we returned armed with shoes, and food. The children delighted in their new shoes and prepared their old uniforms for a return to school the following day. We purchased school supplies at a local shop. A Service Journey participant enjoyed assisting this family. |
|
|
| Along with the new shoes, we brought food. The children had the opportunitiy to have their first Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich! |
Our Service Journey participant not only enjoyed seeing the children fed and prepared for school but also assured that the family would have access to water. She negotiated to pay water access for the past three months and for the next three months. It is hoped that given a bit of a boost the father could find employment within the next three months. In 2006, we will journey to visit the family. |
|
|
|
| ShoSho (grandmother in Kikuyu) is a proud African Kikuyu woman. She is a widow, mother, grandmother and greatgrandmother of several children, and a true grit survivor! She speaks no English and very little Swahili, but her movements and her homestead speak louder than the words of our translator. Her husband was a worker on a colonial farm. When the farm was sold the owner gave a piece of land to each of his workers. ShoSho still farms that homestead. | Her hands and feet are knarled with arthritis and toughened to a rough callous, but she still turns her soil with a hand held hoe, plants and chases the neighbors' sheep from her fields. She lives on top of a distant hill with a breathtaking view, two small mud huts and raiwater catchment tanks. She wouldn't leave her homestead for all the comforts of the town. |
|
|
|
| Arriving after a rolling climb down and up the hills, we found ShoSho in her shamba,(garden). She quickly ushered us to her homestead and into her modest sitting room. As the story unfolds, we find she is the victim of not just one but two tribal raids. The raids left her with little or nothing. Not even the cushions for her sitting room furniture were left. | A Service Journey participant, along with other serendipitous funds, sent us on a shopping trip for Sho Sho. Food, soap, mattresses, pillows, blankets - we certainly had fun. The gifts were packed in and on the Morris Mini. That was quite a site. The pile on the roof was almost doubled the height of the Morris Mini. ShoSho then shouldered these gifts and happily hiked the mile down and up the hills back to her home. We will visit Sho Sho again in 2006. |
| To Expanding Opportunities | Back to PhotoJournal 2005 |
