Monday Evening

Well, it is Tuesday morning here. Since we are mostly packed up, I am writing from my phone and will be brief. Yesterday, we spent the first half of the day with Pastor Gideon of Mumomatei. We have known Pastor Gideon for almost ten years and Hope Africa has been assisting with his ministry. He and his team do home visits with some of the HIV+ population in the slums of Nairobi. We were able to visit the homes of five such clients. Each of their stories were unique and the most pressing needs in each home differed. Some were strong and relatively healthy with things controlled by their medications and no current side-effects or secondary infections. Others were in worse health, to the point of being almost bedridden. We experienced and learned a great deal about life in the slums. About people struggling to find work that may pay them $1 a day and trying to use that to pay rent on the place where they live and feed their families. Nutrition is a huge problem. Schooling is almost impossible because of the inability to pay the fees for even the "free" public education where class sizes may reach 90 students and sometimes there is simply no teacher. Mumomatei helps were it can with the meager funds that it is able to raise and spends time in prayer with the clients. They also work with clients on revenue-generating ideas, such as the chicken hatchery that was started by a donation from the US a few years ago (we had a chance to see that, too). To be honest, it was a difficult four hours. But important. After leaving there, we took Pastor Gideon to lunch in downtown Nairobi, which gave us a chance to explore there and for Alex to begin to learn the art of haggling in the market. We came back to the Guest House for a few hours and then had a dinner meeting with Bishop Henry. We had a very good discussion about all things related to Sakwa (the area of the school) including the financial status of the school, the status of construction on the first floor of the school, planning for construction of the second floor when funds are available, the potential medical clinic, additional land that is available for purchase and some that may be soon, electricity at the school, etc. it was very good and we agreed on priorities (completing the school) and how to move forward. There will be more to share on that in the future. Today we will visit Joysprings school in Kibera, another of the Nairobi slums. Hope Africa gives the school some support and Pastor Charles and Rose are friends that I look forward to seeing. From there we will visit the elephant orphanage for a break from the last few days and then head straight to the airport to start heading home.