Wow, month seven! The past several months have really made the Race feel like the global endeavor it is. A little over a month ago we were leaving Guatemala, heading to Los Angeles to catch our flight to Thailand, and now we are in Africa, hard to comprehend at times. We spent a great month in Thailand and saw God working in the darkest of places, the prostitution bars of hot and humid Patong Beach. Now we are working in an area where poverty is more common, the issues run deeper, and the temperatures remind me of a perfect Ohio fall day. My month in Nakuru, Kenya is just beginning, but it has already been incredibly powerful.
The past two days we have found ourselves working with children. We arrived at the first orphanage on the Fourth of July and were told, here are the kids, you are free to play with them. This statement terrified me as I have never been overly excited about kids, the thought of unstructured interaction for a prolonged period of time terrified me. I quickly got over my fear and found myself enjoying the time we spent at the orphanage. The environment helped make it easy, a large house with a beautifully landscaped yard, very clean and western feeling. It was a wonderful setting. The kids made it even easier. All of them had been abandoned as infants and they were all under the age of four. Many of the children were HIV positive, we weren’t told which ones. Each was filled with joy and energy, but also a respect and a desire to spend time with us.
The kid that I found myself spending the most time with was Judah, a smart little man who was content to just sit, talk and play with plants. He enjoyed the little fruits that grew on one of the trees in the garden, so we found some of those and sat enjoying them together. At first he was throwing the seeds from the fruit on the concrete ground. I then explained to him how seeds work. After we talked about planting seeds and I explained how the more you plant and the more water and sunlight you give them, a greater the quantity of plants will grow, he didn’t want to stop planting. By the end of our time together we had dug 10 little holes, carefully counted by my small friend and planted 10 seeds. He was fascinated by the idea of something growing from what he put in the ground, his excitement was energizing and his maturity was encouraging. After an awesome day of working with the kids, we headed home, ready for more.
The next day we were taken to a school. This facility was markedly rougher. The structures were dirtier and less refined and there were over 150 children there. This school specialized in providing the children of the dumps with a safe place to spend their days. The philosophy of the school was this, “The more time the kids are with us, the less time they are living near complete poverty and the dangers that come with it.” The philosophy was intriguing and the six-day-a-week school boasts that the longest the kids are ever away from the facility is two days, Christmas and the day after. The kids here knew their parents and still lived with them. They were much rougher and excitable, they were also more outgoing and eager for interaction. We spent the day playing with the kids, cleaning dishes, and helping the teachers in the classroom. At the end of the day, the children returned to their homes, sad to leave their American friends behind. It was another rewarding day.
It was interesting to see how the orphans are cared for compared to the street children. The orphanage was nice, quality over quantity and was clearly dressed to impress couples seeking to adopt. The other children had more than they would had the school not existed, but I couldn’t help but wonder if these children would be better off had they been orphans. The conclusion I have come to is no, a home is a home regardless (relatively speaking of course) of the quality of care provided. The orphans cannot escape the institution they live in, although the street kids spend most of their time in an institution, they still have a place they return to at night, with parents who can provide them even the smallest amount of personal attention.
So far Kenya has been amazing, I hope to have more stories to share as my time here continues.
