The Faces of Kenya

In less than two weeks we will be back in Canada!  Much as we look forward to being reunited with our cherished family and precious friends, we regretfully leave behind many wonderful Kenyan people. Next week, in our final blog for this project we will tell you about the dedicated and gracious staff at World Renew and our very special partners at Pwani CCS.  However, in this blog we want to share some of the stories of the people we have met during the past four months who, through your generosity and that of many others, have received food they would otherwise be without.   Theirs are the faces and the stories we will never forget.  Here are some of their stories as they were shared with us through interpreters.  The people being interviewed gave consent to have their photos taken and to publish their stories.

Maktau – September 27^th

Philomena introduced herself with her name followed by “I love the Lord and I praise and thank Him every day.”  She is one of the beneficiaries that has been chosen.  Even before receiving the first items, she  already expressed thankfulness. Her husband has left her, has married a second wife and sends no support to his first family. Philomena has five children ranging from four to twenty-two years of age. She has no land, no job and her access to water is very challenging.  In her community, one needs donkeys to cart the water home as it is obtained from a great distance.  She must pay a neighbor to get water for her family.

Philomena said she will be happy to help dig the water pan for twelve days per month in return for the promised food. She stated again that she is very thankful to God that she and her children will be receiving food for six months.

Philomena is a fully engaged committee member in her community.  One of her colleagues on the committee shared that the people in this area are very hungry. The small amounts of vegetables that survived the drought were trampled and eaten by elephants. Ugali – finely ground maize made into porridge or stirred for so long that it thickens, is the staple that the local people depend on and enjoy. It is quite tasteless, she stated, but fine when eaten with some vegetables.  However there are no vegetables available right now.  This carbohydrate (ugali) is rarely supplemented with protein.

Mwatate – September 27^th

This elderly farmer introduced himself as Mzungu.  He had a great chuckle as his name in Swahili means white man! He happily posed with IRM Harry, a real “mzungu”. He owns a good-sized area of land on which he normally grows crops.  It is totally dried out with minimal vegetation these days due to three years of drought. He decided to donate an appropriate part of his land to his community to be used for a water pan.

As the community committee met at the site, he had witnesses (a neighbor, a friend, a family member and the elder of the village) to the fact that he donated this land to the community as a gift and that all may use the water pan that will be dug there. The beneficiaries of this project will dig for twelve days per month. After the project ends at the end of February, anyone who obtains water from this reservoir will be required to excavate a designated portion as payment for the water they take, allowing for a deeper and wider water pan over time.

Above is a photo of the two “mzungus” (Harry and Mzungu) on the flat, dry donated field.  The second photo was taken in the same spot after 3 months of work by the beneficiaries.  Imagine how it will look after 6 months!

Taru – October 5^th

Josephine (in purple) spoke on her own and on behalf of the other women in her group of five. These five beneficiaries do not know each other but are here to pick up their individual fifty-kilogram bags of maize and will divide up the bag of split peas evenly. The distance each of these has walked to get here is anywhere between one and three hours. They each have from four to seven children. There has been no rain for three seasons and four of the families have resorted to charcoal production to make a living. They described in detail how this is done. Although smiling at a camera is a new concept to them, they verbalize that they are very happy to have received this food and are eager to start on their long way home to cook a good supper!

Kishushe/Paranga – October 6^th

Robert is an eight year-old boy who speaks English much better than most children his age. His father is living and working at some casual jobs in Nairobi.  Robert misses him and does his homework faithfully to please his father. He has two brothers and three sisters. His mother was in the lineup for food as we spoke.  Robert claimed that he really enjoys going to school.  However, observing my wristwatch, he said it would be very nice if I could get him a watch so he would know if school will soon be over. (We have since learned from others that children here attend school from seven am until six pm in classrooms with up to 100 students per teacher!)

Langobaya – November 3^rd

Changawa has six children and two wives who he says get along very well!  His only source of income is charcoal production – a fairly complicated and time consuming process.  He indicated that doing this has become a way of life for him.  His two acres of land have not produced a crop for three seasons and even his recent attempt to grow maize resulted in plants that wilted and were burned out by the sun.  He will try once again as there was some rain recently.   Three of his goats died from lack of food and water and he now only has two left,  as well as a few chickens.  Before the first food ration arrived, his family had one meal of ugali per day in the mid afternoon to see them through until morning. These last weeks they have been happy and thankful to have porridge in the morning, some lunch and even some supper. Their water supply is only thirty minutes away and is free of charge.  Changawa enjoys the work at the water pan and stated that even when the food distributions end, he will continue to deepen the pan as having water nearby is very important to his family and community.

Jaribuni – November 22^nd

When we complimented Furaha on the wonderful progress at the water pan she and the other 149 beneficiaries had been working on, she shared how difficult the work is.  A few women nearby echoed her sentiments.  After walking to and from the work site and spending  a day breaking up the soil and carrying it in large buckets on their heads up the hill to the wall, they are quite sore in their backs and arms.  Yet, the women also see the benefits of their work.  The pan  is closer to Furaha’s  home than her previous water source which was a “tap” one hour away.  She lives with her three children aged nine, six and two, and her mother-in-law.  Her spouse lives in Mombassa.  Each month, she receives a half portion of food from World Renew, sharing with another family who has been incorporated into her beneficiary card as each household must have at least eight people to qualify. She said it is worth the hard work to receive the food and to have water closer to her home.  Furaha has a two acre shamba (field) which she plants, tills and harvests by herself – often unsuccessfully when the rain does not come. Presently she has maize about eight inches tall thanks to a small rainfall two weeks ago. She will need more and consistent rain for the maize to produce food. She has five chickens and thus has some eggs for her family. Her two boys aged six and nine are helping her during the school holidays. The family is now eating three meals per day for the two weeks following the distribution.  To obtain some food for the rest of the month, Furaha does some casual labour planting and weeding for a local farmer.

Jaribuni – November 22^nd

Kadzo’s household has three adults and six children.  She has a two-acre shamba where she tries to grow maize, cassava and beans.  She has had very little success the last few years due to the drought in this area. She has only two cows left and no more goats as the rest of her animals died due to illness and lack of food and water. At the nearest water source, a tap two hours away, she can buy one Jerrycan of water for three Kenyan Shillings. She is content to work hard for her food portion on the water pan which will provide water closer to her home when the rains come. She and some fellow beneficiaries also help to build access roads, thus enabling the people in their village to reach the “dispensary” (local clinic) when they suffer from illness.

Ndavaya – December 14^th

This mother of seven children looks surprisingly young! She is carrying a young baby and her oldest child, who helped her carry the received food, is in high school. Maria stated that the work on the water pan is very difficult but she needs to do it to feed her family.  She takes her baby to the distribution, as well as to her work at the water pan. The baby is carried everywhere on her back as he is still breastfeeding and cannot be without her for long. She and her husband have a small shamba but are unable to grow any food due to the drought. Her husband does some charcoal production.  When the interpreter complimented her on her beautiful baby, she said “Take him and get him a good education!”  While her comment may shock us, and we doubt that she was serious about the request, it is reflective of the strong desire to ensure children will have access to a good education.

Ndavaya – December 14^th

Nyange had eleven children but five have died from Malaria and other childhood diseases. He has ten grandchildren and his entire family lives on the same shamba with a number of homes built on it.  They like to grow maize, cow-peas and beans but are discouraged because it is becoming a “waste of time and effort” as there has once again been no harvest.  In fact, there has been no harvest for 5 years!  Nyange tries to keep up a small hope for rain. His family receives some help from neighbors.  Currently he and his family are very happy and thankful to receive food from this project and are content to do the work associated with it.

We feel incredibly blessed to have met these people and feel honoured that they have shared their stories with us. We will always remember them and will continue to pray that God will send them regular rain for their crops as well as enough water to fill their water pans.