Update
January 2024
This visit to Kenya was filled with even more joy, gratitude, and a wonderful sense of community. In both Jackson’s and Wilson’s communities, I was greeted by hundreds of women and children, dancing and singing to express their appreciation for what we have done for their lives. They are proud to own their own businesses and confidently manage them so that they can take care of their families. I spoke with them about their important role in conserving their culture and they were able to see how important their voices are, and how strong a force for good they can be.
I also had a meeting with key land committee members from five different communities. We discussed the repercussions of having their land divided and fenced. They told me that this has shattered their way of living as community. With this recent change, people did not feel welcomed to visit each other easily and their children do not have the opportunity to learn from one another. The individualistic way of life has led to isolation and conflict that they had never experienced before. They realized that they now have to be deliberate about reconnecting, sharing, and working together.
Although it is now raining there, they are thinking ahead about the coming drought, which is predicted to be one of the worst in history for them. With our support, Jackson’s and Wilson’s communities have planted hay and are planning to harvest and store it for the drought. They will share it with others. Because of what we taught them when planting the hay, some are also growing corn; this is something that they had never done before.
The two wells that we have installed are providing access to clean water. The people are full of gratitude and are healthier. However, many women still have to walk several miles each day to bring water home. The people in Wilson’s community have been able to lay piping to extend the water supply to another area and hope to extend to yet another area in the coming year. They reminded me that “Water is Life.”
I had a chance to visit our small clinic and saw the new maternity area and the houses that we and the community members built for the male and female nurses. They are much happier to have comfortable places to live. The nurses go home only once a month. The female nurse has a young child who is being cared for by her mother. Now, she can bring the baby to live with her at her clinic house. More than a dozen babies have been born at our clinic in the past three months. The mamas brought several of them for me to see. The new space has allowed the mothers and babies to be well cared for. We have also provided a motorcycle so that the medical staff can go to people’s homes to care for them and can bring people to the clinic when needed. The nurses and the community members expressed great gratitude. They also asked if, in the future, they could have a lab to test for diseases. Now they have to send very sick people more than an hour away by motorcycle to be tested. I told them that we would put that on our priority list.
The feeling of community was powerful, despite the partitioning of their land. People are still generous with one another and work together to take care of the wells, the clinic, the hay project, and their small businesses. I was able to see that our partnership has begun to change the quality of the lives of these people. Your generosity and sense of caring has reached across continents to become community with them.
On our last night with them, the roads were washed out from the rains and the vehicles were sliding off the bumpy roads. Our vehicle slid into a ditch and landed on a large boulder. It was dark. Jackson and Wilson jumped into action without complaining and tried different ways to dislodge the vehicle. I got out and watched, thinking we would not be able to go on. (I wondered how to call the Auto Club to be towed!) Out of the dark came community members - boys
and men - two or three at a time until there were twenty of them. They dug around the boulder, pushed the vehicle, pulled the boulder, pushed and pulled more. They worked tirelessly for two hours. I met a young boy who was working along with us and
who spoke good English. I asked what grade he was in and he told me that he was supposed to be in 11th Grade (which they call Form 3). However, he was not in school now because his family could not afford school fees. He had an account pending of $400 USD. I asked Jackson what we could do; he knew that family and the boy’s teacher. By the next day, I was able to send the funds and the boy was back in school. That evening I saw community at work to help us and an opportunity for our community to touch theirs in a life-changing way.
My heart is full of gratitude as I write this! I appreciate that you have stepped forth with me to connect with these wise, wonderful people. So little to us means so much to them.
I hope to extend our work together to touch more lives - to fund small businesses for more women and men, to provide more clean water, to harvest hay for the coming drought, to improve our clinic and to see more healthy babies be born. I carry you with me. Know that the people there know who you are and appreciate you greatly.
If you want to continue to participate in this important work, please click here. Together, we will see your contribution make a big difference
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$50 for a small business with training to “pay it forward”
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$500 for a cohort of 10 women or men to work in groups and support one another
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$500 for school scholarships (we are now supporting 5 young people who are in school and committed to supporting their communities)
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$1000 to extend access to clean water
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$1000 to develop a lab to diagnose and treat diseases
It is an honor to have carried your generosity into the lives of this community. I am learning more about the strong values of the Maasai people, and look forward to sharing what I have learned with you.
With genuine appreciation,
Barbara
