Welp…it has been a whirlwind of a week. God has blessed me incredibly with adventures from bargaining at the Maasai Market to visiting the women at a couple of WEEP (Women Equality Empowerment Project) Centers to kissing a giraffe. Honestly, I am not sure how I am going to sufficiently put into words the past week, but I will do my best.
Several of my days have been lovingly labeled “Office Days.” These are my opportunity to focus on my project—designing and authoring HEART’s first Kids for School Newsletter. A chunk of the reason that the end of my week was spent in the office was due to Kenya’s constitutional referendum. August 4th was Kenya’s big voting day—yes or no to this constitution that would redefine Kenya and make history. In 2007, Kenya held a huge election which resulted in an incredible outbreak of violence across the country. Thousands were killed. The violence was concentrated in the Rift Valley and Nairobi. In Kibera slum, it was typical to get stopped by a random person and asked to speak in your mother tongue. If from that the person could discern you were from a rival tribe, they would murder you—even burn you alive. One of the staff members at HEART even struggles with the memory of seeing people being burned alive in the streets. It was horrific. As a result, we were advised by the US Embassy to keep a low-profile this year—stay home—better safe than sorry. They expected a peaceful election this year, but no one was interested in taking chances. So we had office days, when we not only worked hard, but prayed hard. Praise the Lord, the election went over very smoothly and very peacefully. And Kenya has a new constitution!
On Monday, I had the opportunity to visit the BulBul WEEP Center with the other interns and the sweetest couple in the world, Ken and Paula. As we listened to their stories, I was amazed at the transformation of these women. They have truly come from death to life. It’s almost hard to believe that at one point their skin was peeling off, their hair was falling out, or they had a CD4 count of 6. (That’s nothing! At that point, you might as well label her dead…seriously.) But God had a radically different plan for these women. When before they woke up and wandered the streets aimlessly, they now wake up with a purpose, with a mission, with meaning. They are mothers to their children, who are in school, because mom now has a job sewing mosquito nets. They are full of life, love, and joy. They are living with HIV. And even after they are kicked out of their own homes, even after they are widowed and left alone, even after laying hopeless on the side of the road for weeks…for years…they have been brought back to life…through treatment with ARVs, through the support and encouragement of Vickie, through the care and love of others, through the income of work, and through the power and grace of God. And, boy, do these women praise Him! Of course, in their generosity while we were there, they fed us a Thanksgiving-sized meal and sent us off with hugs and blessings.
Throughout other days, I have been able to serve at a table in the Westgate Mall (a super fancy mall where all the rich go in Kenya) where we, as a HEART team, spread the word about the Freedom for Girls Project. We expected it to be more of a “hand-out-brochures-and-let-people-know-what-HEART-is-doing-so-they-might-donate-later” type of event, but we ended up raising over 12,000 Kenyan shillings right then and there on that Sunday afternoon! Praise God!
As various guests have visited HEART, I have also had the opportunity to do various PR activities, such as giving tours of the compound, telling stories about HEART, or explaining HEART’s various projects and what exactly we do. It’s been fun! I am starting to feel like staff here. (God willing, maybe soon I will be.)
We also were sure to have fun on Saturday as we visited the Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Center. Surprisingly, the Elephant Orphanage was really hard for me—not because of the sad stories of the elephants, but because I was surrounded by a large group of people who had traveled all the way to Kenya…and they were pouring out compassion on the elephants. Don’t get me wrong, I love animals and I think it is important to care for God’s creation. But it got me thinking…how many people there were really going to see Kenya? How many would visit an actual orphanage? Were they here to give…or were they just going to take? Did they come just for safari, apathetic to the deep needs of Kenya? Were they just going to look straight ahead and not look into the eyes of the orphan, the HIV positive woman, the Kenyan who needs to know they are loved by the Creator of the Universe? It hit me hard. I don’t know what they were in Kenya for. Who knows…maybe they were here serving, doing something to help out… All I know is that the whole time…my heart ached.
After I had some time in the car to think, to pray, to process through… I was able to really enjoy my time at the Giraffe Center. I had so much fun delighting in God’s truly creative creation as I fed the giraffe. I even got to kiss one—TWICE! I put the food between my lips and it just swung around and ate it right out of my lips. It was slobbery and disgusting, but totally awesome! I mean…how often do you get to kiss a giraffe?!! It was way cool. I was on cloud nine as I was delighting in this creature made by God. On the way home, we named him Lenard, and I even decided giraffes are one of my new favorite animals. How precious…how awesome for the Lord to let me have that time up-close-and-personal with His handiwork in Africa!
Finally, I was so blessed with the opportunity to return to the Kibera WEEP Center for the first time in about a month. It was even more special seeing the beautiful faces of the women again, and they truly looked even better, even stronger, even prettier, than they did a month previous. Going back, their stories become more real. They are still there…living, sewing, working, laughing, singing, dancing, praising God in Kibera. You would never ever know in a million years they are HIV positive. During this visit, we made home visits. This was an adventure because since we were short on time, we had to split up. It was me, Katie, Margaret, Ken, Paul, and Sofia. Katie was the only one who had done home visits before. So of course, God pushed me out of my comfort zone just a nudge, and sent me to do my first home visit with Marge and Sofie. I loved walking through Kibera. Now I know that is way odd, considering the garbage and sewage lining the streets and overwhelming the air…but I was getting into the real deal, the real life, of these women in Kibera. So we carried bags of groceries from the WEEP Center to Roda’s home. The walk probably took about 10 to 15 minutes, which was filled with the constant call of “How are you? How are you?” So, in response, I would say “Habari?” ("How are you?") or “Sasa?” ("What's up?"), which really got the kids’ attention (She speaks Swahili?!?!). It was fun.
As part of the home visit, we were required to ask a bunch of questions about Roda’s home life, her rent, her children, her health…anything and everything…for HEART to be able to keep an up-to-date file on each woman in the WEEP Center. Roda’s story is an incredible one of recovery. She is probably one of the smartest and strongest women of the WEEP Center. She helps translate into English for the other WEEP women who struggle. She counsels numerous other HIV positive women and serves as a personal mentor to the newest WEEP member, Lillian. Not only does she work at the WEEP Center, but once a week she teaches in a clinic about HIV/AIDS. All three of her daughters are in school, paid by her own money. She even opens her single-roomed home to a 19 year old orphan who stays with her and her three kids. She pays her own monthly bill of 800 Ksh for rent and electricity. There is food on the table, but not only that, but her family is eating a balanced diet. She is healthy, experiencing no side effects from her ARVs. But that is why the next part caught me so off guard…her second born…now 10 years old was raped in the year 2007 during the post-election violence. The hardest part was that when it was mentioned, it was fairly casual…not in the sense that it was not a big deal, but in the sense that it happens all of the time…like it is just a part of life for most, if not all, girls around here. As I looked over at her 10 year old daughter, I wondered…who in the world would want to rape a 7 year old girl? The daughter was smiling and I could not help but wonder…did she cry? What is she thinking now? Does she know she is valuable? It was unreal. It was heart wrenching. And it makes me sick.
As Margaret and I forced ourselves to press on with the questions, we made sure that her daughter had received proper medical care after the event. She did. We continued with questions and concluded our times with photos and prayer. I was so blessed to be able to pray over Roda, her family, and their home. I know that though my words may not have been sufficient, I have a perfect translator—the Holy Spirit. He knows the needs of that household, and He knows me heart. (What a relief!)
Like I said…it’s been a whirlwind. Please be praying for my heart as I am attempted to take this all in. God is showing me so much. Blessing me so much. Stretching me so much.
I keep thinking back to the words that we sang at one of the Revival services at the church around the corner… “And when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.”
