Internally Displaced People...

During the past week, I visited a numbing place. I am finding that sometimes I am shocked to the extent that temporarily my ability to feel or think disappears and I just have to try to take everything in. This happened when I visited the Internally Displaced People (IDP) Camps here in Naivasha. There are still at least half a million people living in these camps across Kenya, having had homes and businesses destroyed and feeling for their lives. Many families lost loved ones in the process.

I have always quite enjoyed camping - but this is something entirely different. Many people have lost everything, other than what they could carry on their backs as they escaped. People are crammed into tents for as far the eye can see. I visited the temporary health centre, which is fortunately coping magnificently without many resources. They told me that last week a woman gave birth in the tent there. In fact, the Red Cross workers and those living in the camps demonstrated a real sense of resilience in order to cope with unworkable situations and keep fighting on.

I met lots of smiling children and saw the school within the campus, again in tents. They have few teachers and classes of hundreds with no desk, a lack of exercise books and writing implements - but the education co-ordinator said that they will keep persevering. I admire everything that they are doing. There is primary education on site, and some secondary school children have been placed in schools locally here, but there is a huge number of teenagers that might have been involved with vocational studies but now cannot afford it, cannot access it, and remain futile - stuck within a giant camp site without anything to do to occupy their time. There are available institutions nearby, but the fees, despite being small by our Western standards, make this positive step impossible.

Introducing Harriet Kibichi...

I've become much more acquainted with my surroundings here in Naivasha, but still every day I see someone who lives in an impossible situation and requires much needed help. I find it very frustrating that it is not always possible to help in a significant way. Although the work of the Sunshine Rehabilitation Centre does an amazing job, giving hope, education and opportunities to some eighty boys, there are still so many boys on the streets, who I see every day that I go into Naivasha Town.

In fact, with the recent troubles in Kenya, and the subsequent financial pinch affecting most families, more and more boys are going to the streets to survive. Last week, I went to visit them, in order to buy a dog. Selling dogs is one of the few businesses with which the boys can be inovlved. I thought that buying a dog from the boys would be a good way to start bridging the gap and building relationships - or at least get myself known by them and gain some notoriety. Seeing where the boys are living - the rubbish, the constant solvent abuse, the malnutrition and dirt covered faces - continues to take my breath away. Although they boys were a little surprised to see me, they are quite friendly. So I bought a dog - a female German Shepherd puppy - and named her Harriet Kibichi. Kibichi is "green" in Swahili and also means "cabbage." Harriet Cabbage is settling in well and I helped build a kennel for her. She will grow up to be a sturdy guard dog, I'm sure.

Gifts...

Together with the delivery of the Land Rover two weeks ago, some other important equipment and gifts also arrived in Kenya. During the past two weeks I had the opportunity to be involved in the process of handing them out, and I wanted to take this time to thank the relevant people who gave, gathered and boxed everything that was sent over in December - people are now seeing the benefits.

In Mombasa, I visited the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya's (APDK) Rehabilitation Clinic in Port Reitz. Here, Footsteps International has had some involvement in donating and assisting particular children. The clinic mostly works with children who need orthopaedic surgery to correct physical disabilities in their limbs, but they also undertake life-altering neurosurgery. They perform the surgery and provide rehabilitation; sometimes the patients stay for many months and receive in-house schooling and tuition.

The container that Mission Care International organised carried toys, books and gifts. I was there when Martin and Mary Print of Footsteps handed these out to the children. Some of the children had suffered so much trauma, but through the work of the APDK Rehabilitation Clinic they have found not only life-changing surgery, but also the hope that when they return home they will be integrated into and accepted by their communities. Their response to the gifts was beautiful - they sang, clapped and enjoyed their first playtime. It was fantastic!

Amongst the many other items that were delivered with the container were computers donated by Bickley Primary School. The pupils of both Bishop Wambari Secondary School and the AIC Polytechnic College are now receiving much needed computer training thanks to the generosity of Bickley Primary. I spent time watching as the students had a computer class last week and they are a huge benefit to the operations of both institutions.

Finally, this week, I was with the Sunshine Boys. The boys were sent a bag of gifts (similar to the shoeboxes that many organisations send at Christmas time). Although these arrived late for Christmas, due to the troubles slowing the transport in Kenya, it didn't affect the excitment of the ex-street boys who received the gifts. I need to particularly thank Alison Evelyn-Rahr and her whole family, who organised, gathered and packed the gifts. Giving the boys their bags was a huge success and a very moving experience for me. It is often said that we take so many things for granted in the UK, but the sheer delight expressed by the boys as they received a bouncy ball or cuddly toy was quite magnificent. We have so much - what a privilege it was to bring such joy to these boys who have had a difficult start to life. With the work of Footsteps and Mission Care International, their future is so much brighter.

Peace and travels...

A lot has happened in the last week, there have been political breakthroughs in Kenya, and some eye opening experiences for me.

The big news here is that the government has made a peace agreement; they have formed a coalition government and will seek to work together. They have a lot of work to do rebuilding the economy, tourist industry and rehousing all the displaced people across the country. At least 600,000 people have been displaced in Kenya, 30,000 of whom are encamped just outside Naivasha. For me the town has had an eerie feeling to it since I have been back - if you were unaware, you could easily pass through without the slightest idea that around forty people were murdered just five weeks ago. Now that we are hopeful of political stability, people may be able to come to terms with what has happened here in the last two months, and move on to a brighter future. My immediate response to the union now found within the government is one of relief and thanksgiving, but it is still true to say that right from the top corruption remains, as there have been recognised flaws in the election process. Most Kenyans seem resigned to the fact that corruption prevails in all areas of society, but because of that, the weak, vulnerable and poor continue to pay the price.

Most of the past week was spent in Mombasa. I drove to Mombasa on Tuesday 26th, accompanied by Joseph Chege, the son of Pastor Simon, the Director of the Sunshine Boys Project. We drove for almost 9 hours in Mission Care's landrover, my wheels for the next six months or so, and the car that Mission Care International will use as the work progresses here in East Africa. In fact, it was Joseph's company in Mombasa that organised the shipping of our container.

The purpose of the trip to Mombasa was to visit Timbwani: a school, orphanage and housing project on the edge of the city. It is run by an English couple called Glyn and Jane who have been living in Kenya for the past eight years. Footsteps International have been very involved with their work, and Martin and Mary Print of Footsteps joined me on this visit - there was a lot to see!

I never cease to be amazed when I can acknowledge transformation in people's lives - from despair to joy, from hopelessness to exciting potential and new prospects. At Sunshine I see this every day, to the extent that you can sometimes fail to notice it properly, but I saw this transformation a number of times in the past week. One great example would be in the case of Winnie, a 12-year-old disabled boy, who uses a hand-pedalled wheelchair that resembles a tricycle. Winnie has recently moved up several classes and school and now has increased mobility. He is very happy within the surrounds of Tumaini School and is an active member of the school community.

Timbwani includes the Tumaini School, which has 600 pupils, as well as an adjoining orphanage for 28 children, a feeding programme for the school children and an additional 200 children from another school nearby, and a housing project for people in the surrounding area. Mission Care International has been most involved with the housing project, building 8 houses and toilet facilities for extremely poor families living next to the school in 2006. One resident of the houses is Elaine, who is a young mother still studying at the school, who lives there with her grandmother.

While in Mombasa, I also visited another project supported by Footsteps. This was the Bombalulu Workshops and Cultural Centre and for me, the work going on there and the community that has been forged, was a clear indication of the Kingdom of God. The project is supported by APDK, the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya. There are two streams to the work here: to provide wheelchairs to those who require mobility aid across Kenya that are built on the premises, and to produce handcrafted jewellery, leather, textiles and wooden carvings. The amazing thing is that the project employs 170 people with disabilities to this. I was given an awe-inspiring tour of the project. In the wheelchair workshop, many of the staff were deaf and mute, and they produce tailor-made products for those in need of wheelchairs across Kenya. In the workshops I had conversations with many people as they skilfully made jewellery and textiles - some were blind, others had missing limbs and various disabilities, but within this community they were thriving. In fact, to me it felt that those we would term as fully able and those we would term as living with disabilities had integrated into an environment of such love, acceptance and empowerment that we rarely see in this world. For me, this is what mission is all about, empowering vulnerable people to achieve while forming a community that supports and enables each other.

I have been re-inspired by my visits this week to ensure that in all that Mission Care International does we will be seeking to bring forth God's Kingdom, bringing heaven to earth by supporting and facilitating trasnformation, empowering the weak and vulnerable to live fully integrated, both socially and economically, in true community.

Back in Kenya...

I arrived back in Kenya last Friday, 22nd February. It was a great feeling when the plane touched down in Nairobi. I've had a busy time since...

Saturday I attended a Sunshine wedding! Mark, a former Sunshine boy who is now living in his own home and supporting himself, married Naomi. It was a small and idyllic wedding which was also attended by Martin and Mary Print, of Footsteps International, the charity that Mission Care International has the privilege of supporting as they run the Sunshine Rehabilitation Centre. It was wonderful to join with Martin and Mary as they watched the ceremony, seeing somebody in whom they have invested taking further strides to independence and beginning his own family. It was an amazing occasion, and one that I was privileged to be a part of.

Sunday I watched the Sunshine Boys play football against another local orphanage. They lost 4-0 and we were completely gutted! I did have some great news though, as my car arrived from Mombasa. The car was shipped out in December, but due to the recent troubles took a lot longer to arrive than we had expected. It is great to have my own wheels and be able to get around. I will be spending a lot of time in the car when I drive to visit our project in Uganda, so it was a relief to know that it is finally here.

Monday I began working with the Fuhomi Project, which is one of Mission Care International's newest partnership projects. The Fuhomi Project is working with four girls who have finished secondary school but who have struggled to find employment or places for further education, which are really limited. Fuhomi facilitates a dedicated gap year programme, providing accommodation and full training for the girls, who will then go into local schools to teach personal and social education to 13-15 year olds. Topics covered will include issues affecting young people in Naivahsa: sexuality, HIV/AIDS, stress management, career choices, how to handle conflict, and more. I will be teaching the girls drama, media and film to help them prepare their workshop sessions for the schools. We began with drama and it was a really good day. The girls have such a positive message to share and it is great to be involved as they learn effective ways of communicating through performance.

I am now due to join with Martin and Mary and drive to Mombasa to visit the projects in there, which I am really looking forward to.

Going back...

I am pleased to say that the situation in Kenya has improved considerably. This means that I am able to return to Naivasha on Wednesday, 20th February.

I am looking forward to getting back to working with the Sunshine Boys and helping with the development of one for our new partnership projects, Fuhomi. Come back next week to hear all the latest news...

An invitation...

I spent time yesterday talking to journalists from the News Shopper and Bromley Extra about my experiences in Naivasha last weekend. Look out for my stories in the editions of each paper next week.

If you would like to hear me sharing about the situation in Kenya and the plans that Mission Care have to support those in rebuilding their devastated communities, please do consider joining us for a special evening on Saturday 9th February, from 7pm at St Mark's Church, Westmoreland Road, Bromley. We will be showing DVDs of different Mission Care International projects and will enjoy some musical entertainment.

Maybe I will see you there!