A Letter from Our Sponsored Teacher in Kenya

Just received this letter from Kenya. It was from the teacher we sponsor at the Galilee School (see my blog post from Oct: http://teri-gonewalkabout.blogspot.com/2009/10/connect-with-teacher-from-kenya.html ).

It's such an easy way to make a difference...

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Dear Teri

I thank Almighty God who has granted me this chance to write to you this letter. I hope you are doing well together with your family.

First of all I am grateful for the support you are offering us and we trust in God to bless you and give you long life.

I am happy to let you know that our form four students of last year (2009) performed extremely well. We are proud because our school was one of the best school in our Division and we appreciate because you also contribute to its good performance. Our teachers are also dedicated and working tirelessly to see that the students perform well. We trust and believe that this year will be just marvelous.

We are heading to the end of the term. The students (1-3) are doing their end term exams while the form fours are preparing for their first mock exams.

Our music students have also started to rehearse this is because we will have music festival when we open for second term and just as always. God has hot deserted us we hope for the best.

Lastly, let Almighty God bless and guide you together with your family.


Be Blessed
Madam Eunice O.

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The below photos were taken in the school Eunice teaches at. The programs are working to improve the school. The first photo shows unimproved class rooms. The second shows new class rooms.

New Sponsor Child - Mairiamu thru Compassion

Last summer in the magazine Compassion sends to its child sponsors, there was an article about a boarding facility for Maasai girls who had run away to escape female circumcision and an early age (11 to 14 years old) marriage to a much older man. Not only that, these girls dreamed of being allowed to stay in school and maybe even have the chance to go to university.

If you would like to read the article, it will take you a few 'clicks' to get there but it's worth the effort. Go to: http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/compassionmagazine/default.htm On the left side of the page is a column. Click on "Compassion Magazine". When it expands, click on the Summer '09 edition. It's a PDF so it will take a moment to open. Once open, it is page 8 of the PDF file.

We had just ended our sponsorship of a Maasai girl with another organization due to some "discrepancies" in their operations. So when we read this article we knew we had found a way to help a young girl with an organization that we fully trust.

I called Compassion and requested to sponsor a girl at this place the girls call "the rescuing center". Apparently I was not the only one, as there were no girls needing sponsorship. So I requested to be put on a waiting list.

The other day I had a wonderful surprise when I opened my mail box! In it was a sponsorship packet for a girl from the school. And in a confirmation that this was indeed our new sponsor child... her birthday is the same day as my sweet little Hanna's birthday! (Different year, of course).

So I'd like to introduce you to Mairiamu (mah-ee ree ahmoo). She will be 12 years old in August. She has 5 siblings. Her favorite activities are volleyball and other ball games. Her school performance is above average. She regularly attends church and is in the choir.

I look forward to getting to know her!

Guest Blogger: Himself - “A Woman Named Grace”

Please enjoy this story my husband wrote about a happening during our trip to Kenya.


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Sometimes things happen that you can’t anticipate. This happened to Teri and me at a most unusual time—when we were broke down alongside a road. Actually, we weren’t even on a road; we were in the middle of nowhere in some semi-desert scrubland in the Rift Valley in Kenya on our way to see a Maasai child we sponsored thru Compassion International.



In the more remote places in Kenya, you don’t drive on a road—you just drive. And it usually isn’t you driving. You are driven by a Kenyan assigned to a vehicle who seems to know where he is going, at least in theory. Good thing he knew--I swear we passed the same anthill and wildebeest herd a dozen times! Driving along the bumpiest terrain I have ever been jostled along, we rode along in our Land Rover hanging on tight.

Too dry for mosquitoes, the land was prime for dust. No matter how clean you started out, you arrived at your destination dusty. Not that ‘your’ family would notice—they live literally...in the sticks. Their African huts were made of sticks, grasses, ashes and cow dung. (In some of the drier areas, you can’t even get mud...hence, sticky cow dung which helps hold things together.)

Moses

Besides our driver, we had a Compassion representative named Jim, and an older man named Moses who had been our driver to see another Maasai child from another organization. Though a native Kenyan, Moses was a city boy who had never been ‘out there’ seeing such stuff. He indicated he wanted to go—stating that ‘it was like being on vacation’ being out in the wilds at the bottom of the Rift Valley. All we had been requested to do was to pay his employer Moses’ daily wage of $7. We did.

Somewhere along all this we broke down. Great... Don’t recall just what went wrong but soon there were Kenyan butts sticking out from under the vehicle. All of them saying the Swahili word for, “Hmmm...” Not a good sign. Teri and I? We found us an acacia tree to sit under to get out of the sun. Once cooled off we would walk around looking at exotic rocks, plants, and things that slithered. Off in the distance we saw a small family settlement called a ‘boma’--an enclosed camp of Maasai natives and their animals—(Maasai families slept with some of their animals right in their hut.) From this boma we would occasionally see wide-eyed curious kids—but they mainly stayed hidden and would not come near us.

Running out of things to look at I fished out the soccer ball that we were to give our Maasai child, ‘Ntikoisa’. Compassion rep Jim was all for booting it around with me because one, soccer is a bigtime sport for these people, and two, he was as bored as I. A city boy also, he left fixing the vehicle to Moses and the driver, who were still going, “Hmmm...” Teri? She watched Jim and me for a moment...then her eyebrows started going up--which is ‘hmmm...’ for her. Why? Because nearly every bush on the ground had thorns. Informed by Teri that, ‘if ONE thorn punctures this brand new soccer ball, an American AND a Kenyan would be in trouble’; Jim looked between Teri and me. Recognizing the universal sign of ‘woman-with-hands-on-hips’ as trouble already arrived, the soccer ball was soon put up!

After awhile Teri noticed a Maasai woman who was slowly approaching our broken down Rover. She had being walking ‘back and forth’ for some time, finally stopping a good distance away—watching us intently. Teri had watched her just as intently. Then Teri waved. That was all it took and soon she and her infant son were over to visit. A short time earlier help had arrived from the nearest village and with the help also came the headmaster of the Compassion center. He soon found himself translating as these two woman from two different worlds...shared.

This Maasai lady explained that she had seen our crippled Land Rover and had felt helpless to do anything that could assist us. Initially seeing only men from the distance she was afraid to come closer. She then explained that she did the only thing she could—she prayed for us. However, when she saw Teri wave and realized there was a woman with the group, it was then alright for her to come over. Their talk continued on to families, children (including the baby she had strapped to her side), goats and husbands.

Too soon the village mechanic had the Rover fixed and it was time to move on. But before we left, this woman removed a beautiful beaded bracelet from her arm and, catching Teri by the hand, slipped it onto Teri’s arm with the words “remember me”. With the same words in return, Teri removed the bracelet she had put on that morning and gave it to her.

As the Rover chugged back to life, Teri quickly gave her an additional present for her husband... a red baseball cap. It was something he would proudly wear because he had been honored. As we drove off, this Maasai lady full of grace waved good-bye.

This woman’s name? Grace. A woman named Grace. Fitting.

Writing Buddies - Photo Update

Besides the sponsored kids, I have 6 "writing buddies" thru Compassion. For whatever reason, their sponsor don't write. So I (and others) get to fill the gap with these kids. Each month I send a letter talking about all sorts of things like upcoming holidays, places we visited on a trip, what I have been doing at church and so on. I try to find a coloring page that somehow relates to the letter. It's a lot of fun.

Alomgir from Bangladesh

Angel from Guatemala

Felix from Dominican Republic

Franklin from Boliva

Kevin from El Salvador

Merlyn from Peru

Sundar - sponsored thru Compassion

Since I’m writing about our sponsor kids, it’s time to tell you about Sundar.

In January-ish we lost our sponsor child from Ethiopia. At the same time, my favorite writing buddy lost his sponsor. Compassion called me to let me know and to ask if we would like to become his new sponsor. That was a quick “Yes!”.

Sundar lives in India. He is 8 years old and lives with his mother. His father is deceased. His mother’s occupation is listed a “Laborer – rice mill coolie”.

He likes to play group games including ball and hide-and-seek. He also enjoys reading.

Berita - sponsored thru Kenya's Kids in Need

And we have a second new child at Galilee school!

Berita is 10 years old and in Class 5. According to her report her best subject is also English (I’m looking forward to corresponding with these 2 new children!). She likes to play hide-and-seek. And when she grows up she wants to be a chef! Is that a match for me or what?!

She has a younger brother and 2 younger sisters.

Berita

Shadrack - sponsored thru Kenya's Kids In Need

Shadrack is our new sponsor child at Galilee school, replacing our child who left the program.

Shadrack is 11 years old and is in Class 5 (5th Grade). His report says his best subject is English, his hobby is soccer (is there any young man in Kenya who is not crazy over soccer?!) and when he grows up he would like to become a pilot. He has 3 older brothers.

We’re looking forward to seeing him in the new uniform we have purchased him and to see other changes that sponsorship brings about.

Shadrack

Ivine from Kenya's Kids In Need

Here’s one of my new sponsor kids. We’re co-sponsoring Ivine through Kenya’s Kids In Need.

Ivine has had a rough go of it all her life, and the troubles in Kenya after the elections brought more grief into her life. In spite of terrible things, she is determined to finish her schooling and has moved into the orphans house on the Galilee school grounds.

She is a junior (Form 3) this year. Kenya schools run Jan – Dec, so she will be finishing up the school year soon. We and the co-sponsor will do our best to help her pass her exit exams this next year.

Ivine

Losing a sponsor child...

This has been a rough year for us regarding our sponsor children. We have had three children leave their programs and two we have been forced to drop due to inadequate sponsor interaction from the program. (In my opinion... if you are not hearing from the child OR sponsor program, it's time to move on to sponsoring thru a more responsible organization.)

Sintayehu from Compassion left the program early (she had about 8 more months she could have participated). Very shortly after that, my favorite Compassion "writing buddy" - Sundar from India - lost his sponsor and became available for us to take over.

And just a few days ago I learned that little Ruth and Jackson from Kenya's Kids In Need (KKIN) have not returned to school. So we are in the process of working with the directors to sponsor two new children.

Thomas from Uganda was dropped by us because outside of the initial letter when we started the sponsorship, we never heard anything from him or the program for almost a year and a half. Other people we know who sponsored children at the same event also have expressed dissatisfaction with how the sponsor program is handled.

We also had to stop sponsoring Jenifa from Kenya. There were far too many inconsistencies to be comfortable with the sponsorship. This was awfully hard because she is one of the children we visited on our trip to Kenya in '06. We plan on taking on another Maasai girl thru Compassion to fill the empty spot she has left.

Over about 25 years we have sponsored children thru about 7 different programs; from large well-known organizations to small grassroots programs. In that time we have decided that the important factors for us to have in a sponsorship program is first accountability. Is my sponsorship fee going to what I have been told it will cover? How are my questions answered and are they answered quickly?

Another big question is: Does the sponsorship program teach the children skills they need to break the cycle of poverty they are living in?

Personal contact with the child is vital for us. We are doing this to make a difference in the life of a child...not just to fund a program. Not only do we want to be able to write the child, we want to hear back from him or her! We want to build a relationship.

We have found a good fit with the child sponsorship programs by Compassion International ( http://www.compassion.com/ ) and Kenya's Kids In Need (http://www.galileeschool.org/ ).

So at this moment - we have 4 sponsor kids. Ivine from Kenya (KKIN) who is about 17 yrs old and in Form 3 (US grade 11). Then thru Compassion we have Mwayi from Tanzania who is 14 yrs old, Ntikoisa from Kenya who is 12 years old and Sundar from India who is 8 yrs old.

I'm looking forward to getting to know the 4 children we will be adding by the end of the year!

Updates from this winter

It has been a BUSY three months! But you sure can't tell it by looking at this blog. Ouch! So, I'll get y'all updated on what's been going on and then try very hard to not let it slip again.

Himself once again is up in Alaska as medical officer on the M/V Independence. They spent this season in Akutan Bay.

I've spent this winter while Deane is gone finally going thru those boxes from the move. I have sorted...put up...Goodwilled... dumped.... more boxes then you know. But I have almost finished that huge pile in the garages. And will finish them by the time Himself gets home. And I have finished with my upstairs sorting and putting up. What a relief.

Now that spring is coming, my attention is being pulled by our yard. This year we will be doing a lot of foundational work to set up future planting and seating areas. A LOT of mulching. I have been delighted by the spring bulbs that have come up in the yard. However, most will have to be moved as they are right in the areas we are going to re-do.

To help with all our yard projects, I have started attending the Montgomery Co Master Gardeners meetings. In March I was able to take their "short course" series of classes, which gave me some basic information and lots of people to call for help.

Photography is going fairly well. I'll be very happy when I get some of this home work stuff finished so I can pay more attention to it. I've had one showing with the group and entered the KY Extension Service photo contest again (received two 3rd place ribbons). I have been shooting a LOT of photos, and that is an improvement. To help with that discipline, I've started a blog photo site. I've seen a few places where people are shooting at every day and posting one photo each day that they have taken. It's called Project 365. My site is at: http://project365-teri.blogspot.com/

In January, Brenda and I decided we needed to be doing more mission type service. So Brenda and I formed a group we call "Mission Chicks". There are six of us right now and I expect a few more will come in. We are *partnering* with our church to do missions. Kinda of an "I'll scratch your back and you scratch mine" thing. When we do partner, they basically provide us the resources of people, money or name backing and we provide them with the leg work, organization/planning and recognition. It's a win-win situation. If we come up with something they don't want to be a part of, we do it anyway ourselves.

We kicked off on the 15th with a one day collection of items for one of the Mission Chicks who is going to Nicaragua on a mission trip. We didn't do badly at all.

Now we are planning in April a month long...church wide involvement...focus on our crisis pregnancy center (Hope Pregnancy Center www.clarksvillehope.com ). We're calling it "A Month of Hope".

The director is a member of our church (it's his son that I hire to help me occasionally). Rog says the 3 things they always need are 1. disposable diapers 2. formula 3. maternity clothes. So we are organizing collections of all three! We're going to have a competition between the elementary kids (girls v boys) on who can bring in the most diapers. Winner will get something (TBD ). The adult community groups will collect formula. And we will have a hamper at church that anyone can drop off maternity clothes in. Also, the center has a deck that needs painting and landscaping to be neatened. Our youth will be doing that one Saturday.

And besides that... (as if that is not enough) we have a breakfast to host at the site of a room makeover for an ill teenager, a community Easter egg hunt and a team for the Koman Race for the Cure that will be here in Clarksville on 18 April.

In for a penny... in for a pound!!

Beginning of the year, we received notice that our first Compassion child - Sintayehu from Ethiopia - had left the program. She will turn 21 this July. She decided it was time to leave school and enter adult life. We had been her sponsors for 8 years.

Then a short time after that I received notice that my favorite Compassion "writing buddy" (a program in Compassion to write sponsored children whose sponsors - for whatever reason - will not write them) had lost his sponsor. Did I want to take him on? It didn't take long to answer that query with a "Yes!". I will post about Sundar a bit later on.

And towards the end of Jan, a girl in the Kenya's Kids In Need program needed a co-sponsor. I had wanted an older student (the other 2 we sponsor thru them are in 4th and 5th grades). Ivine is also an orphan and lives in the boarding house portion of the school. I'll write more about her later on also.

And a bit of housekeeping on some older posts...

On 7 Feb I posted about the Sheldrick Trust rescuing the tiny baby rhino "Maalim". I am happy to let you know that he is thriving and has doubled his size in that time.

11 March I posted an appeal for Compassion sponsored "Global Food Crisis Day". Compassion was hoping to raise $1M in this campaign... instead they raised $3.1M!!! Incredible!!!

OK, now that I have this done... I will really try harder to be a better blogger!

The Reason Why

I just recently was asked why my sponsor kids and writing buddies and nephews & nieces of the heart are so important to me.

I thought about it for a while and it occured to me why I do this...the reason my kids are important to me, is that in this scary, screwed-up world they bring me HOPE and a feeling that maybe, just maybe, I can have a wee role in making it not so screwed-up.