Kitale - Arrival Not By Accident
After 36 hours of travel on planes and busses we (Kenya mission team from the Rochester, NY area) finally made it to In Step Children’s Home. The trip is certainly not for the feint of heart. Buffalo, Newark, Frankfurt, Nairobi, Eldoret, and finally outside of Kitale. The final drive which we were told would be 1.5 hours was not exactly the truth. I guess if you don’t figure in stops for cattle and goats to get out of the way, and avoiding the myriads of motorcycles (driving is survival of the fittest) it might have only taken 1.5 hours…but it was not and the poor people in the back of the bus paid a price for every bump of which there were many.
We are really in a remote area. You don’t arrive here by accident.
We were greeted by Carla and Jeff who are the directors and given a brief tour. Of course we were the subject of great excitement for the children as we are the first visitors since the start of COVID. As we moved about we were accompanied by 4 dogs and a growing number of children. In the boy’s dormitory we were able to take part in their evening devotional. The boys shared the things they were grateful for followed by amens. A passage of scripture was shared and then the boys sang “How Excellent Is Your Name” Would that we sang with such enthusiasm on Sundays.
You will see from pictures the home grows some of its own produce and milks their own cows. In Step has a very good water source and shares water and milk with the other folks in the area.
Currently there are 103 boys and 102 girls at the home. They are pretty crowded in, but there are 3 new dormitories in process which will really help. Solar panels are part of the new construction.
We have received detailed instructions on how to take showers and stern warnings about mosquitoes.
Tomorrow the dental team will screen each child and triage the needs for the rest of our time. Others of us will help in the school, some light construction, or help setting up a new closed internet system with Chrome Books donated by a Rotary in Washington state.
Peace,
Hoyt W, Brown
Pastor, United Methodist Church of Livonia
We are really in a remote area. You don’t arrive here by accident.
We were greeted by Carla and Jeff who are the directors and given a brief tour. Of course we were the subject of great excitement for the children as we are the first visitors since the start of COVID. As we moved about we were accompanied by 4 dogs and a growing number of children. In the boy’s dormitory we were able to take part in their evening devotional. The boys shared the things they were grateful for followed by amens. A passage of scripture was shared and then the boys sang “How Excellent Is Your Name” Would that we sang with such enthusiasm on Sundays.
You will see from pictures the home grows some of its own produce and milks their own cows. In Step has a very good water source and shares water and milk with the other folks in the area.
Currently there are 103 boys and 102 girls at the home. They are pretty crowded in, but there are 3 new dormitories in process which will really help. Solar panels are part of the new construction.
We have received detailed instructions on how to take showers and stern warnings about mosquitoes.
Tomorrow the dental team will screen each child and triage the needs for the rest of our time. Others of us will help in the school, some light construction, or help setting up a new closed internet system with Chrome Books donated by a Rotary in Washington state.
Peace,
Hoyt W, Brown
Pastor, United Methodist Church of Livonia
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