Korongocho

In the week leading up to our departure from Nairobi to Europe, we have had the opportunity to do a lot of things that we have been hearing about and wanting to do all summer. This included learning about Kenyan sign language and deaf education, eating at our favorite restaurants, visiting some friends for the last time, and seeing Korongocho.

Korongocho, literal translation from Swahili to English is trash. Korongocho is a slum area very close to where we have been working all summer. Some of our students even live in this slum that neighbors Dandora and Methare Valley. Korongocho isn’t as old as some of the slums that neighbor it. It began when Nairobi started a landfill in that area. When people came to Nairobi in seek of work and didn’t find any they saw the dump as a viable option for sustaining their family.

Today, 5,000 people live within the dump. They don’t have homes, the families simply burrow a hole in the trash and surround themselves with used plastic sacks for protection at night. During the day they spend the day scavenging for food and used plastics sacks without holes. Once they collect as many bags as they can hold they take them to the open sewage river and wash them. Then they dry them in the sun. They take these “recycled” bags to the fruit and vegetable market in the Korongocho slums and sell 10 bags to the vendors for 1 Kenyan Shilling. That is approximately $0.02 USD. Keep in mind the bare minimum to feed a family in the slums in Kenya for a day is 50 Shillings.

There is a man by the name of Pastor Joseph Kariuki who has made it his dream to educate the children of these families and give them an opportunity to leave the slums. He started a school named The Refuge. He raised money in his church to buy a small piece of land and is in the process of building a few classrooms, small dormitories, and a kitchen. He wants to be capable of housing 36 orphans and have at least 150 primary students. He has big hopes and dreams for the place, but we know that he is completeing the Lords will, and we ask for continued prayer towards his cause.

While we visited Korongocho we received a tour of the facilities and got to give some small toys away to the children. We played with balloons, beach balls, and noise makers. The light that those children bring into your life is something that I will never forget, and those smiles make it so much more difficult to travel home. 

Everybody Has a Story

We are quickly approaching our departure date. The past two weeks were very busy between closing our program at MCDC, visiting Kenya’s Kids for the second time, and speaking at Teen Challenge. The remainder of our stay will be less chaotic, but hopefully just as fulfilling.

A week ago last Friday, Ryan and I had the opportunity to speak at a men’s substance abuse recovery center, Teen Challenge. We were asked to share our testimony and how we have gotten to where we are today. The men in the recovery program were very welcoming and attentive to our stories. They seem surprised that American’s face similar struggles as they do and that being a “missionary” doesn’t mean that you were perfect all of your life. Before we left they wanted to present a song for us. The song they sang was titled “Everybody Has a Story”. As I sat there listening to the lyrics, I realized that everyone does have a story, making them who they are. This journey is our most recent chapter, but our stories would not be what they are without each preceding chapter.

The following day we made our second trip to Kenya’s Kids. We stayed one night instead of two this time, and it was much more manageable. We spent some time playing with the kids and catching up on the events over the past few weeks. Our main activity for the weekend was to split the kids into 4 groups: older girls, younger girls, older boys, and younger boys. Ryan worked with the boys and Chrissy and I worked with the girls. We gave each group paper and instructed them to write any questions they may have about relationships, sex, their bodies changing, marriage, family, etc.  After reviewing the questions and preparing what approach to take when answering them, we sat down and discussed each of the subjects with the kids. We realized that these kids don’t have mother or fathers to sit down and have “the talk” with them. They don’t have anyone to ask these difficult questions to. Chrissy and I felt like we became mother to about 23 young girls that day. It was wonderful getting to be a role model for these impressionable children that are so desperate for knowledge and understanding.

 Later that night we handed out the Bibles and Verse Books that were sent over by the Hollenbeck family. Before bringing the Bibles out, we asked each student to stand by their bunk bed. When they got the first glance at what we were about to give them, they became so excited. The whispers, giggles, and anxiousness spread throughout the room. Each Bible had their name in it and was presented to them one-by-one. There are no words to express how excited they were, but the photos show a glimpse.

Auntie, the woman that is the closest thing they have to a mother, was very interested in the Bibles. We had handed all of the Bibles out to the girls and did not have one to give her. Ryan had one extra so we brought it over and presented it to her. Tears came to her eyes as she opened it page by page and admired “her very own Bible.”

The night ended with my favorite part of the trip, lines of kids waiting for their good night hugs, “sleep good”, “see you in the morning”, and “don’t let the bed bugs bite”. It’s the little things like this that we remember so much as children that they don’t ever get to enjoy.

We are anxiously awaiting our third and final trip to visit the kids this Friday.  

Full Size Video Links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rlt-rqqEvoQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtTZFH9oBto