Here in Kenya we have spent the month in a small town called Kiserian, which is about an hour outside of Nairobi in the Ngong Hills. Our team, Amani Warriors, has been living with a very kind family of five: Mama Grace, Baba Moses, and their three children- Carolyn, Victor, and Derrick.
Grace has a passion for children, and she started a school in the hills near her home. Her vision is to see vulnerable and poor children be able to get an education despite their circumstances. The primary school currently serves children up to 8th grade, and we visited the school about four days a week this month. We taught classes, sang songs, gave messages, and played with the kids. Grace’s vision continues outside the school- she wants to start a children’s home as well. She has about 25 kids that she would love to see live in a home with her- a home where there is a bed for every child, ample food, school fees taken care of, and electricity for lights to do their homework in the evenings. Part of the way we were able to help Grace this month was to create a folder of media material that she can use in the future. My teammates Kate, Sammie Jo, and I spend a large portion of the month collecting stories, taking photographs, and creating videos for this folder.
This is one of those stories:
The first day we met Mama Grace she told us about the need for a home. She began with the most heartbreaking story of them all- the story of a girl named Jane.
Jane is twelve years old and has a younger brother and a younger sister. For the first six years of her life, she lived in Ngong with her parents and siblings. When Jane was only six, she woke up one night to witness something that no person, let alone a child, should ever have to see. She witnessed her father killing her mother.
Throughout the month our team has gotten to know Jane. We’ve seen her at Grace’s school, where she is in sixth grade. We have visited the home where she lives with her grandparents, which is a 75 minute walk up a steep slope in the Ngong Hills. The last week of the month, Jane stayed at the house with us, which is only a ten minute walk away from the school. We’ve gotten to know her better at dinnertime, when we watched movies together, and when the whole family has conversations together.
For those who know me, you know that I’m not really a quiet person. Jane is painfully shy. Painfully. I can hardly get a word out of her. Even after living in the same house with her every day for a week, I can count, on one hand, the number of different words she has said to me. Literally. It’s hard for me to engage with someone speaks so little, but after a few days I decided to use a new tactic. I talked to Jane as if she verbally responded to everything I said. I asked her about her likes and dislikes, shared my love for the Olympics, and showed her photos of my family. I never really knew how much she enjoyed our conversations, but I just assumed she did. I can’t imagine being 12 years old and not wanting an adult to show interest in me.
Jane has a sad story. She did not get an innocent childhood. However, I refuse to let myself label her that way, and even in this blog, I don’t want her to be a sob story in Africa. As much as getting to know Jane was a challenge, in her I saw redemption. I saw her playing with her friends at recess, smiling and laughing like any other child. She does her homework every night and has goals for the future. During the school talent show, Jane impressed my socks off during her presentation of a poem that she recited with precise articulation and passion.
God has not left Jane. He is with her, and he is doing a work of redemption in her life. Only the LORD could take a story so sad and put forth so much promise. Jane’s life is full of promise- she has people who love her, education, and knowledge of a God who is ALWAYS for her, no matter what.
To learn more details about Jane’s story and to see her on screen, view the video I made about her family below.
