Kenya Update 2

After spending our weekend traveling, we began our first full day of work today. We spent the day at the Watoto Wa Ahadi rescue center. This is the residential facility Sodzo International runs for boys who have been rescued off the streets. They spend anywhere from a few months to a couple of years at this facility while work is being done to reintegrate them with their families. Some of these boys arrive struggling with substance abuse, others are victims of abuse, and others have simply been abandoned to the streets by a family that doesn’t want them or cannot support them. Here they receive housing, food, and most importantly, Christian nurture.

The facility is commonly referred to as The Farm, because the desire is for the place to be self-sustaining. They attempt to grow their own food and raise their own animals. Unfortunately, that goal has not been reached. The rains have been sparse this year, and crops all across Kenya have failed. The farm has acres of corn and bananas and other crops that simply dried up this season without producing anything. A well was dug in an effort to provide irrigation, but the ground water turned out to be brackish and unuseable. Water scarcity is leading to food insecurity, which is further linked to a range of social and economic hardships. This is not just true at The Farm, but all across the developing world.

Our job today was to paint and do some other odd jobs at their dorm facility, which can house over 40 boys, though currently they roughly thirty on site. To be honest, their living conditions are sparse by almost any standards. They get a bed and a trunk for their few personal belongings. There is no running water, electricity is unreliable, and showers are an irregular privilege - especially when the water is so limited. However, most of these boys are smiling, laughing, and generally acting like they are glad to call this place home. Compared to living on the street, the feel like they are living in comfort. They have much to teach us about what really matters.

I attempted to upload some photos, but the WiFi’s signal here is too weak. Just imagine what a smile looks like in the face of hardship and you will have a very good picture of what things are like here. Through the love of his servants, God is healing broken people. And not just in Kenya.