team kenya 2014

Here are some team snapshots from our Kenya travels. Our team motto was everything is awesome! Yes, we all watched the Lego movie on the plane.... Thank you for being awesome teammates!

Celebrating Bailey's 12th birthday in style

lots of laughter

wordless wednesday

friends in kenya

One of the things I always look forward to when going to Kenya is getting to spend time with both familiar and new faces at Food for the Hungry. These people do incredible work on behalf of FH. They love on the people in the communities they serve and seek to advocate on their behalf. They work tirelessly always with a smile. And even though having a team come visit adds extra work to their job, they always welcome us in with open arms. We consider them great friends. 

Every morning we would start the day at the Food for the Hungry office with devotions and often before we left for Njuruta we would also enjoy a cup of Kenyan tea. 

We got to spend some extra time with Zipporah and Makena who hosted our team. We are so thankful for these women and all they did for us.

We of course also made other friends along the way.

Here are the sweet women who took care of us where we stayed by cooking and cleaning for us. 

Our driver in Meru/Njuruta, Paul!

At the end of our journey, when we returned to Nairobi, we got to see our sweet friends Loise and John. It was so great to see and catch up with good friends. We wish they lived closer.

building a new classroom

One of the projects we helped support while we were in Njuruta was the building of a new classroom. When we were there in 2012 we saw their new brick maker and one of the classrooms they had built with the bricks they had made. This year we got to witness (and help a tiny bit) as they started building yet another classroom. It is so encouraging to see how much they value education and making sure their students have a good environment to learn (see this post for pictures of their old classrooms). They seem to understand how important education is to the flourishing and future of their community. Nicer classrooms also help attract teachers to the area and since they have started building better classrooms more teachers have come. 

One of the days we were there we helped lay the foundation of the new classroom, which meant helping gather large rocks.  

As the days went by it was fun to see the progress as the community came together to help build the classroom.

together we are stronger

One of my highlights while in Njuruta was visiting an IGA group (Income Generating Activities). We have done trainings with them on past trips, but this was the first time I had the opportunity to sit down at one of their meetings and hear about everything they have accomplished together. Wow! I was blown away by how much they were able to accomplish together and how well they take care of each other. 

After sharing a meal together, they gave us an update on how their group was doing (their group is one of the most successful in Njuruta). We were thrilled to hear how they had pooled money to make sure that each one of them had 5 goats and chickens to help provide food. Likewise they had pooled enough money to purchase solar panels for everyone so they can have a little electricity. This is among other things very important for the education of their community as it provides light for the students to use as they study. They also shared about their future plans to use their pooled savings to generate income for the group. 

I am so proud of all they have accomplished and how dedicated they are to furthering the development and success of their community. I love how they look out for each other and trust each other. What an incredible reminder that together we can accomplish so much more. Together we are stronger. 

As a parting gift we received a big box of eggs. Wow, what an incredible gift! We are humbled by their generosity.

wordless wednesday

i'm so proud and honored to know this boy

I have introduced you before to a very special boy named Antony (and his brother Lawrence) here and here. This boy has a very special place in my heart. I have known him since he was about five years old. He is now about 13 years old and I am so proud of him and so honored to be part of his life. In July I was blessed to see him for the fourth time. One thing that had changed since my last visit was the absence of his spunky grandmother. She is old and has fallen ill and isn't able to live with Antony and Lawrence anymore. For the first time it really really sunk in how difficult their life is and is going to be. I mean, I obviously was aware of it before from past visits, but it hit me hard this time around. This visit was both an incredible highlight, but also incredibly difficult at the same time.

Antony and his brother Lawrence are orphans. They don't really have any reliable caretakers so they take care of everything on their own. They must find and fetch water, cook the meals (assuming there is anything to eat), milk the cow (so thankful they have one even if it doesn't produce much) etc. And they are still going to school. They aren't doing well in school, however, because of everything they are responsible for outside of school. In the past eight years Antony has only made it to the 3rd grade. But I am super proud of him! I am proud of him for still going to school and trying his best. I am proud of him for being as strong as he is and capable of taking care of himself - and still having a smile on his face. I am proud of him for having a roof over his head and being more responsible than he should be at his age in the same culture. I am so thankful that he and his twin brother have each other. I am thankful that they can do this life together. Most likely they have a really hard life ahead of them. That makes my heart ache. My role is not to sweep in and "save" them, but I can pray for them. Seeing  them and where they live helps me know how to pray for them. And that I am committed to doing. When we peeked into their room they share with their calf, I saw his bible as one of his only possessions. I pray that despite of his circumstances he will know the Lord and lean on Him.

starting every morning with singing and dancing

Every day when we arrived in Njuruta we were greeted with song and dance. And the dancing wasn't a performance for us ... it was interactive:) What a joyful way to start the day. The team was great  - everyone jumped right in and danced (even though we couldn't begin to compare to the dancing talent of the community:))