100 Stitches+Staples = A Miracle

Jireh Before Surgery

Over the past year we have had a series of small miracles happen, and one of my favorite stories is of a boy, who we will call Jireh.  Jireh came into the Children's home a little over a year ago with his big brother.  He had been living with his grandma, who is one of the sweetest old woman you have ever met, but she is very old and was getting weaker by the day, so she was unable to provide for the boys.  They were living in pretty extreme conditions, but luckily they were well loved in their home, which is more than alot of our kids can say.   When they came into the Children's Home they were able to begin their new lives, but Jireh had a physical deformity that was isolating him from the other children and effecting his quality of life.  He had a large growth on this head that was steadily growing and beginning to impede his vision, and also looked a bit strange so the other children were scared of him at first.  Needless to say the first few months on The Hill were a little hard for Jireh.  He became aggressive and would pick fights with other kids to get out his frustration about his isolation.  Obviously, this situation needed to change and as quickly as possible for his physical and emotional well-being.  

Jireh with the expander

Now, fixing Jireh's condition was not going to be easy, but with the growth now slowing down a solution needed to be found fast.  By the grace of God, Ann Smith was able to find a surgeon near Nairobi who said he would take on Jireh's case and help to remove the growth before it took Jireh's sight away from one eye.  The first answer to prayer was that the growth was not cancerous, so they could move on to the next step.  The process was going to be long because the growth was too large to just graft skin from another place on his body, so the next solution was to grow new skin that could replace the skin from the growth once removed.  Seriously, he could just grow new skin!  Pretty amazing medicine for a under-developed country.  The doctor implanted a small tissue expander under the skin on the other side of his head and over the course of about 10 weeks  the expander was filled with liquid to expand and grow the new skin.  During this time Jireh had to be careful not to play too hard and he got a cool Bob Marley looking hat to cover the "bubble" which seemed to help him feel better.  We were so worried the other kids would make fun of him or really isolate themselves from him, but never underestimate the kindness of children.  The kids were the warmest and kindest I have ever seen them during Jireh's surgery and after.  He was covered with encouragement and prayer from his friends and after 10 weeks and a series of near-disasters with the "bubble" it was time for the surgery.  In the surgery, they cut out the growth, then opened up the bubble and stretched is over to cover where the growth once was.

Jireh had a very gifted surgeon and the surgery was a total success, and when Jireh was clear of any infection and began to heal, he returned to his family on The Hill.  He also has an amazing sponsor family that was able to help pay for his surgery, which was a huge blessing.  The best part was when speaking with his sponsor they said, "Well after all of the medical bills we have racked up this year it would be only sweet justice that he is part of our family."  Their commitment to their Kenyan son was inspiring.   So now Jireh, other than a pretty huge scar and one smaller eye brow, looks like a completely healthy child and he is out of the woods.  If Jireh had never come to The Children's Home or we were unable to find the right surgeon, he may have lost his eye and never been able to live a normal, healthy life.  However, through answered prayers, the  the amazingly kind hearts of those around him, and grace of God, a small miracle occurred and Jireh will be able to live the kind of life every child should have the chance to live.

Jireh Post-Surgery and Happy

New Year, New Resolutions

How cool is this thing?!?!?!

It is officially 2012!  It has been a few weeks since the new year and I am finally getting over my disappointment that we don't have flying skateboards or clothing that can grow or shrink to the right size at the press of a button (thank you Back to the Future 2 for getting our hopes up), and can move onto to actual goals and hopes for the new year.  This does not mean that I am giving up on the flying skateboard by the way, and if it could have the ninja turtles on it like the one I had when I was seven that would be ideal.

One thing that I have completely slacked on the past couple of years is recording my adventures over in Kenya on paper.  There are some pictures and random stories, but there have been some pretty incredible moments and stories I've been able to witness or be a part of that I have not shared about The Hill or these beautiful kids.  So one of my 2012 commitments (this sounds more permanent than resolution and does not include a gym membership), is to record these stories and share them as much as I can.  2012 is the year of storytelling and I am going to work on being a better story teller.  I have some friends who are great storytellers and I love a good book or movie that tells a great story.  Shawshank Redemption, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Help.... the list goes on and on.  Great stories stick with you forever, run you through a gambit of emotions before reaching their resolution (that is always better with a John Williams soundtrack), feel more like an experience than a narrative, and you never regret opening yourself up to a great story.  Anyone who knows me could tell you I am not so great at telling stories (either they get a "little" exaggerated OR a little boring), and I want to get better at this because I believe we are made to live a great story.  So I want to tell stories this year.  These stories will be about the kids, the staff, life in Kenya, life in America, or just stories about people who I think are telling pretty great stories with their lives and have inspired me in some way.

The girls in these pictures each have their own unique story and they are inspiring.  Tapapul, Brenda, Nanyu, Nancy, and Karen are strong girls and have gone through more trying times than most of us see in a lifetime.  The saddest part is if you asked them to tell their story or even talk about themselves a little bit they would get embarrassed because they do not believe anyone would really care to know their story.  That might be the most tragic part about their lives.  It is not that they have gone through some rough things, or seen atrocities that children should never have to see, but that after all of that they don't believe they are worth being loved or that people will be inspired by them.  There are few things more inspiring than the 7 year old girl that has lived in extreme poverty and endured physical abuse, and can still open herself up again to being hugged and feeling safe just months after living in those conditions.  These stories are not to be bottled up and kept on a shelf somewhere, but they are to be shared and inspire change.  My hope and prayer is to have the right words to tell these stories the way they deserve to be told. 

 

Harvest Season

It is harvest time here on The Hill.  Yep, its a little turned around being that it is the dead of winter time here (ok, we live on the equator so it's not like we are busting out the winter coats and walking through snow), but none the less it is time to harvest here.  The kids planted their first crop of beans this year and the yield was surprisingly good.  We have four shambas (fields) that we planted a few months ago, and now, after a lot of hard work from the kids and staff, we have about 5 months worth of beans for the Children's Home.  For years, we have been buying all of the food for the home from local vendors, but never grew our own food.  The staff realized that they knew how to farm (most of the staff has their own crops they grow), so they could easily teach the kids how to as well, and they could grow their own food.  It would be a great learning experience plus teach the kids some ownership and responsibility.  Beans are the easiest thing to grow out here, other than maize, and the added benefit is it only takes about 3 months until you can harvest them.  So 3 months ago they all went out, plowed the shamba, and planted their first crop of beans.  Then, this week the kids got to see what all their hard work was for.

 

 It was truly amazing watching these kids work for a week straight to experience the fruits of their labor.  They laughed, sweated, and sang their way through the work.  I even joined them for a day, and I lasted a whole.... drum roll please.... one hour!  Wow, I am getting old and weak.  Seriously, I do not know how they do it.  It is not easy work, but they seemed to really like it.  Maybe it was because they liked doing something together as a family, or maybe it was learning a new skill, or maybe it was just that they worked hard for something and accomplished it.  They are so proud of the large mound of beans that currently sits in the dining hall at the home.  Those are their beans.  They planted them, they watched over them, they harvested them.  They beat them, sweated in the sun for them, lifted bushels of them, carried them home at the end of the day, and now it was done.   Tonight, I looked at a room of 93 joyful, exhausted little faces and could not be prouder of them.  In their worlds, when so much has been taken from them and they have seen so much loss, I wonder if owning this project and seeing it succeed has helped to, in a small way, give them hope.  Hope that they can work hard and achieve success, hope that they have something to offer the world, hope that this life will not disappoint them, hope that they belong and are valued and loved, and, ultimately, hope for their future.

Talented Teaching Team on The Hill

So after weeks of preparation and training, a group of nine teachers from America (including 8 child sponsors) left for a pretty incredible two weeks on The Hill.  After safely navigating our way through the Nairobi airport (never an easy task), we began our time by starting with a couple days in Nairobi.  On our first day we went to Kibera, which is really the birthplace of Oasis.

At a school in Kibera

Kibera in the largest slum in all of Kenya, so it can be a bit overwhelming, but it is where Oasis started so we always feel it is important to visit our friends there.  We started the day visiting a school there led by a man named Pastor Timothy.  There are over 400 kids at this school and they were bursting to share what they are learning, to teach us songs in Swahili, and let us pray for them.  Then we ended our time in Kibera by visiting St. Martha’s ministry, which is a ministry to HIV women and orphaned children.  These women have come together, under great leadership of a married couple there, to create a small business that makes jewelry, sew all sorts of goods, and have made a sustainable way of life for them.

Kibera kids in school

The next day we left for The Hill.  When we pulled up, all of the children were lined up in 2 rows and singing for us.  However, in the front of the 2 rows were the Children’s Home staff with each of the sponsored children who were about to meet their sponsors.  One by one the sponsored children walked up to greet their sponsors, and I do not say this lightly, but it was a holy moment.  To watch these people meet for the first time and immediately embrace, with tears running down their faces, and smiles that they could not wipe off for hours to follow, was a moment that only God could have designed.  The sponsors could not let go of their kids!  

There was a bit of anxiety going into the teaching week from the team.  The team started the week off bright and early with morning devotions at the school.  Then the classes started, and to say that I was overwhelmed by the talent each member of this team as teachers would be an understatement.  Each person on this team offers a completely unique teaching style that the kids and teachers of the school LOVED!  We are learning quite a bit from them about how to love people selflessly.  Plus, the kids in the school have been so much fun to teach and they are so eager to learn!  Then after school, sponsors were given some 1-1 time with their child to give them some special gifts.  Some sponsors went on a short field trip, others spent time with their child plus their siblings, and others just played games and shared stories with their kids.  A couple of team members spent the afternoon with the women of the community teaching them about nutrition.  The women were very receptive and excited about the information they received!   We ended the day with a night devotional with only the children at The Children’s Home (TCH).  For many of us this was the highlight of the day.  The team planned an excellent skit, which was so funny and educational, and made the kids laugh so hard.  However, it was watching those kids worship that had us all in awe.  These kids love God so much and it brings them so much joy to worship Him that, as one team member said, they put us to shame.  They have a complete joy! 

The rest of the week continued just like this, with each day getting a little sweeter because  the team was getting more comfortable in the classrooms and the kids were really starting to warm up to them.  Everyday there was loud laughter and often singing from the classrooms!  What is it about the laughter of a little kid that can make your whole day better?  One of the additional things the team was able to do was visit the home of the guardians to their sponsored child.  These experiences were all unique, but blessed each member of the team so much.  On these visits the sponsored child took their sponsors to spend the day with the people that they call family and to show them where they come from.  They were greeted with immense warmth in every home and were completely humbled by the fact that most of these families were obviously very poor but had gone out of their way to make a nice home for the sponsors.  The experiences varied greatly though.  From waking up at 4am to drive 6 hours to a home, to overcoming culture differences, to being given a sheep as a token of thanks, to being given the family name to take, to being called a sister in the family, to hearing the true, full story of their child’s upbringing, each visit was very unique to say the least.  However, each sponsor had a wonderful time meeting the family that their child comes from and seeing their world.

Our last day was very full.  Everyone taught in the morning and after lunch we had a school wide assembly.  All of the students and teachers gathered to honor our team with speeches and words of encouragement about the work we had done on that week.  The words were overly kind and gracious and we were completely humbled.  Then we had an opportunity to thank the teachers for allowing us to work in their school and also the students for being so wonderful to work with all week.  We also presented each teacher with a special gift to thank them for partnering with us and making us feel so welcome.  When that time ended, we were invited to Joseph’s house for a special naming ceremony.  Many male and female elders from the community were there in full Maasai attire and when we arrived they split up the men and the women.  The women were taken into a room and decorated with a leso and new necklace made by the women of the community.  While this happened the women sang and taught us all how to dance like a Maasai mama.  The men were taken into another room and decorated with shukas, head dresses, spears, and belts.  Then we were all taken outside where we all lined up as a member from the community walked forward and told us our new Maasai name and why they had chosen this name for us.  I already had a Maasai name from my first trip, Naasisho, so only the people who have never been there before get a new name. It was a truly unique and memorable experience that honored our team so well.  

The team at our last dinner together

That night, for our final night, we went up for devotion and had so much fun dancing and singing with each of the kids!  When the devotion was over, we gave each child a sucker, piece of candy, and glow stick bracelet (which they thought was really cool), and got them sugared up before bed!  However, the hardest but sweetest part of the night was the good-bye.  The entire team lined up and a couple of TCH kids prayed for our team, and then the kids lined up and said good-bye to each member of the team.  There were many tears and moments of sadness, but there would not be sadness if there were not moments of joy before it.  The team fell in love with these kids this week and did not want to say good-bye, but we all know this will not be the last time we will see them.  It was an incredible trip with a very gifted team.  This team blessed this community with so much, but I think the team would say they got more from these people then they could ever give back.  They were humbled and honored by their time here, and went back truly changed.  Even though I am remaining on The Hill for a few months, it is not the same without this team here and we miss them already!

Never a Dull Moment

Turning 27 on The Hill

Well, this entry is way overdue.  I am now back in Kenya and this is my third time on the ground over here.  I realize that I severely lacked on posts during my last trip (by lacking I mean didn’t post a single thing), so this time I am committed to posting at least a couple of times.  However, my last trip did include a few noteworthy (ok a lot but I can’t write all of them) things so here is a quick update of what has happened between my last post and this one (I apologize in advance for things I forget to write):

•  Came home, quit my job in Los Angeles, and moved back to Chicago to come on staff full time with Oasis for Orphans.  It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done to leave my friends and family in CA, but never before have I felt called to a job before like I am to Oasis.  Plus, it was great to reconnect with old friends in Chicago and be near my parents again
• Started with Oasis in the fall of 2010 running their sponsorship, trips, and communication, with the help of a great Oasis team
• Brought my first official team of sponsors over in Feb. 2011 and learned a lot of what works on trips and what really does not work.  Had an amazing time watching sponsors really connect with their kids.
• Stayed in Kenya for 3 months and during that time I led a trip out here, lived with the missionary family (the Smith’s) here and Joseph and Annah and their family (10-13 of us living in about 1100 sq feet), made 94 sponsor phone calls with the kids, attended a big Maasai dedication ceremony with the bishop from the Church of God for East Africa, drank a lot of chai, saw Dorm 2 and the fresh water well up and running, got de-skirted by a dog, 5 bats inside the house, saw 5 of our kids have successful surgeries, took and picked up our 6 new high schoolers, 2 staff members welcomed new babies, saw 4 new kids come into The Children’s Home (TCH) and a lot of other chaos (some good and some not so much) that often made us ask as we were about to go to bed, “Can you believe that was our day?”
• Went back to Chicago (well the burbs) in May for a great summer that included being a groomsman for one of my best friends in a ridiculously fun wedding, reunion with some girlfriends to watch another one of our good friends get married in a beautiful wedding, continuing to be involved at Soul City Church, movies and concerts in the park, trip to CA and Dallas to see friends, and actually moving into the city (UK Village) so I can say I’m an actual city girl now and do not have to drive an hour to hang out with my friends anymore!
• In July, brought a team of teachers to The Hill (will write more on this trip later) to do a teachers training and hang out with their sponsored kids.  The team left 2 weeks later, but I will be here until Oct.

The Smith girls with the TCH kids

So I’m back on The Hill with the kids and it is really, really good to be back here.  The other night a few of us (the Smiths and myself) were sitting talking about certain things we’ve gotten used to living here, which bring me to my next segment-

You know you are becoming Kenyan when:

• You are de-skirted by a dog while carrying 250 eggs and your biggest concern is that no one see this happening
• You can be mid-breakfast, go outside to throw up whatever is not sitting right, come right back in continue with your meal like nothing happened
• Going to the bathroom in a hole is totally normal
• Storytelling because a key part of any interaction (you can exaggerate to your heart’s desire as long as it makes the story better)
• Bats in your home are expected, but my response of screaming for a big Maasai guy to come and take care of it has not changed
• Waking up to the sound of a donkey or rooster is your alarm clock
• Rice and beans are an option for breakfast, lunch, and dinner
• A four hour long church service is manageable
• Mosquito nets help you sleep like a rock
• A quiet house without any kids in it seems very weird and creepy
• A lame Kenyan accent is attached to every word you utter (and you know the true Kenyans are probably thinking “lame mzungo”)
• Arriving an hour late for something is fully acceptable if you just say “I’m on African time today”
• You drink chai 3 times a day, and when your hands are shaking from all the caffeine, they will pour you another cup
• A day without singing and dancing is not a complete day (for those of your who know my killer dancing and singing skills, well aren’t the kids here lucky… laughing at me seems to keep them entertained)
• The simple things make your day better, and you really do not sweat the small things
• No make-up, showers every 2-3 days, and repeat outfits are completely acceptable

Ok that’s all I have for now, but I’m sure there will be more to add later.  For now, I will just say I love the simplicity of life here and am so glad to be with these guys again!

Signing Off From Africa

I cant believe this is my last post from Africa.  Tomorrow Katie and I will take shuttle to Nairobi and then hop on a plane back to the good 'ole USA via London.  Im not sure how to begin this blog or even what to say to bring this chapter to a close.  Honestly, I dont have the right words to describe this trip and all of the things I've learned and experienced about myself, Africa, and God.  I hope though that I've written honestly in these last posts to give a sense of the things I've seen and felt while I was here, although I'm pretty confident that my words have come up short.  What I can say is that this trip has forever changed me and to all who supported me in this endeavor I am eternally grateful. Grateful for the things that I learned, the friendships I began, the miracles I saw happen, the continual laughter and joy I felt, the work we were able to accomplish, the energy that I got from working with kids, the humbling experience of working in a different culture, for finding a new family abroad, and for the peace of God I experienced for the first time here.   Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your support, prayers, and encouragement.  I could not have done this trip without those things- I'm sure of it.

Intern Post

  So this pic is of all the Wild Hope interns.  The two goofy looking guys are Steve and Tom.  Just kidding. they are both very nice, awesome, cute guys who we have had a really great time getting to know.  Its been so nice to have a community of people here who are about at the same place in life as us.  We all get together at least once a week for an intern night that usually involves a very safi dinner and a movie or random game  (plus I even got a free haircut out of this deal!).  Sidenote- Apples to Apples is just as incredible in Africa and prison style Apples to Apples is genius.  Steve is officially the king of this game, although every week is a bit of a battle.  These guys have been a huge blessing to us and watching them work with the soccer academy here has been great.  The intern clan has become one of my favorite things about Tanzania and I am just really grateful for the time we have all had together, whether its been telling stupid stories, dancing, movies with the projector, or counting a million beads.  Its all been very fun and I'm sad to leave this crew behind.