Kenya Recap, Take 3

Wednesday (August 3)

First thing in the morning we went back to visit the old man and the little boy. The old man was even better than yesterday. He was able to stand and had even walked some. He had been taking the Excedrin and said it was helping with the pain. The little boy was inside of their hut and would not come out. His family said they took him to the doctor after we left yesterday but the doctor said he needed x-rays of his cheek bone and referred him to the hospital. As you can imagine, their hospital is nothing like our hospitals. But even still, they could not afford to take him so they had come back home. We gave them more money and urged them to take him as soon as possible. He eventually came out of the hut but he was very self-conscious and was covering up his face. I finally got a better look at it and it looked a lot worse than it had the day before. The side of his face that he fell on was completely swollen over his eye. It looked so painful. I just prayed and begged God to give his pain to me. It tore me up seeing him in so much pain and so helpless. We told them we'd be back again the next day to check on him again.

We had some very interesting experiences the rest of the day in the bush. We talked to one family who said their son was "crazy", which is what they call either mentally disabled or someone with special needs. He was lying on the ground in the dirt with his clothes off and bugs were crawling all over him. It looked like he hadn't bathed in weeks. It was so sad. We got to see part of a funeral service-sort of. Everything in Kenya is so different from things here. So just imagine a funeral that is absolutely nothing like one here would be. It was a very cool experience.

Pastor Harrison has a plot of about four acres and he took me to see it while we were out in the bush today. He started building a new home about 2 years ago and said it would probably be another two years before it was complete. The foundation was made of mud and rock. Most houses are just mud huts so this is a very nice house in Kenya. It still needs a roof along with a few other things.



Thomas will have part of the land for his family to live on one day. It was so special to me to see where he will one day raise his family. This is a picture of Thomas on his land :)


People in Kenya are so patient. Harrison has been living in a tiny hut with his wife and seven children for 15 years now. He most likely will have waited four years to move into a house, which is still probably only about 1000 square feet for a family of nine. Paul and I have waited two and a half years for our house to sell but we have no children and more square feet than they would ever even imagine having. This was only one of many times God gave me PERSPECTIVE. All of our "problems" and stressors seem so pathetic and unimportant in the midst of living life in Kenya. And I am glad about that.

I loved spending time at the church each afternoon while we were waiting on people to come for Chuck's teaching. I loved talking and hanging out with Thomas and his brothers and sisters. I loved watching him interact with all of the children. I just cannot tell you how special that boy is. Check out this precious little girl that I got to play with all week. I wanted to take her home with me soooooo bad!


You will see her in more pictures from our last day at Mbuyuni. I brought bubbles for all of the kids to play with. A lot of children in Kenya have never seen bubbles before and they go crazy!! They could play with them for hours. And the teenagers are not to cool for them either. I love that.




I kept looking for the man to come walking through the bush with my wood carvings but he never did. I was so disappointed and surprised because everyone there seems to be so true to their word. I hoped he would show up the next day or that we could go back to his hut.

Thursday, August 4th recap coming soon...