Homeward Bound!

“All our bags are packed – we’re ready to go” —- the words from an old favourite hit by Peter, Paul and Mary. Today, Friday January 18th, we leave Kenya.

In previous blogs we have shared with you many of the stories of the beneficiaries we have met and interacted with. We will always remember their faces. Our concern for their well-being and our prayers for them are ongoing.

While the beneficiaries have touched us deeply, the people we have worked alongside have had an equally significant impact on our lives. It is these people we want to introduce to you today and to say thank you to for the way in which they have received us, supported us, laughed with us, and tolerated us!

On this project we partnered with Pwani Christian Community Services, a long-time partner of World Renew in Kenya. Pwani’s strategic goal is to contribute towards the equitable, improved and dignified quality of life amongst communities in the Coast Region of Kenya. Their Executive Director, John Mangenge, who has specialized in this type of work for more than twenty years, provided us with the necessary guidance and direction and their Accountant, Elizabeth Righa competently looked after numerous details for us.

Much of our time in the field was spent with Mary Mulewa, Henry Ziro and Elijah Mambea, the Relief Coordinators for the three targeted counties, and Hanah Mwachofi, the project’s water expert. From these four people we learned the intricacies of beneficiary selection, food distribution, community development initiatives, water pan construction and liaisons with other NGOs. They also taught us about the lifestyles of our beneficiaries, water harvesting, and road construction. They were wonderful to work with! We thank them for their patience with us, their commitment to their communities and their concern for the beneficiaries.

We were assigned two drivers – John for any transportation needs during our time in Nairobi and Julius who spent day and night with us during the two weeks we were on the road every month. We are thankful for his remarkable driving skills that were sorely needed to deal with traffic and road challenges. Julius’ knowledge of the area in which we were working was critical to our ability to reach our destinations, since there are no road or street signs where we travelled! Julius also doubled, as needed, as a translator, photographer and country/cultural guide.

In the Nairobi office, we met and interacted with the staff in both the development and disaster response departments of World Renew. Sharing devotions on Monday mornings and lunch on Fridays was a special blessing. Mostly we were in the disaster response offices where Jackie Koster, the Disaster Response and Preparedness Manager for East and Southern Africa and Chris Shiundu, the National Disaster Response Manager for Kenya – our “bosses” – were available to us as needed. Gloria Muthoni and Edith Nganga, the accountants, were always willing to help us sort out budget stuff as well as add much cheer to the office as evident in their photo! We also met and shared office space staff who are involved with various other World Renew projects originating from this vibrant office!

During the past week we shared our recently acquired knowledge and experience with Rients and Margaret Mazereeuw, the IRMs who will take over and complete this project. They are currently immersed in the fifth food distribution! Much as we will miss this project (and already do!), we are confident that it has been left in very capable hands!

To our blog readers, we say “thank you!” again for your encouragement – you kept up our enthusiasm and spirits! A huge thank you also to the donors to World Renew and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. You can be assured that your donations have had a very significant impact – your generosity has fed 7,400 Kenyan households and over 60,000 people for 6 month! The beneficiaries have asked us to send their greetings and sincere appreciation!

Matthew 25:35 and verse 40 “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink” … “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”