When we left their house that day I new I would be back. The mother, Violet had a beautiful heart for the Lord and although times were tough she was faithful the Lord would pull her through. Violet explained to us that her home was infested with jiggers. I looked around on the floor thinking I may see little bugs everywhere but all I saw was eight beautiful children smiling and looking up at me. She didn’t have the money to fix the problem or the medicine to treat each child sitting there on the floor. Sadly, each of them had also been affected. As the mother spoke tears filled her eyes. I looked back down at her children inspecting their little bodies and I could see the soars on their feet and hands. The room was then filled with joy as all of the children jumped to their feet and began dancing and singing the words Mambo Sawya Sawya. They were praising the Lord saying it’s already better. Smiles filled the house and in that moment Violet’s ttears of sadness turned to tears of joy. That evening I tried to find out as much information as I could on jiggers. I learned that they are tiny parasites that resemble fleas. They embed themselves in the feet, hands or other exposed body parts of humans. Serious infestations may lead to severe inflammation leading to loss of toenails, auto amputation of digits, and death may also occur. The risk of secondary infection, such as tetanus, is also high. Jiggers live in dusty conditions and other unhygienic environments, and are generally associated with poverty-stricken populations. This broke my heart. Thousands of children are affected by jiggers everyday in Africa. Probably half the children I meet here in this small village suffer from it. There’s no way I could help everyone and I thought what’s the point. But then God whispered to me ” love the ones I give to you.” Violet’s family definitely had a special place in my heart. I loved each of them so much and I new this was only possible because of Christ in me. Loving your neighbor as yourself is an easy concept but much harder to actually live out. But I had so much love for this family it didn’t even make since. I could barely sleep that night thinking of the jiggers eating away at their little feet. As soon as I could we took the drive into town and I bought everything I needed to get rid of these nasty bugs. That very same day we went back to Violet’s home. I told her how much God loves her and that I wanted to help. My team and I then spent the next two hours cleaning out wounds, decaying toes and little fingernails. Each one of them trying to keep a smile even though it’s an extremely painful process. That day no miracle was performed and I didn’t radically change Kenya all I did was love the people God had given to me, eight little children and a mother. At the end of it all I kissed each one on the forehead and told them I love you, I love you, I love you. Reflecting back I can see how faithful God was. Mambo Sawya Sawya, it’s already better!
