Ndhiwa and Tom Manning

Today our plans were to visit Ndhiwa Orphanage and if there was time, Tom Manning Orphange.  We made the hour and a half drive with no drama, save another minor “diversion”.  This one was short, however and it reminded me of how much better this road is compared to what it used to be.  Maureen said that when the orphanage at Ndhiwa was new, it took almost three hours to get there because the road was so bad.

At Ndhiwa, we were met by Alfayo Bodi, our worker for this area.  Alfayo has become one of our most trusted men here, overseeing four facilities with 372 lives at stake.  He takes his responsibilities seriously, always trying to do the right thing by his kids and the church.  He is my good friend and my family has come to love and respect him as well. 

Ndhiwa is big, housing 153 widows and orphans, and the feeding station here feeds 103 twice a day.  As usual, it was in great order.  The facility looked great, with details that my eye sees like schedules posted in the dorms for the kids and food budgets and consumption records in the storeroom.  We checked for mosquito nets, they were pretty good, and happy kids that are the sure sign of a well run orphanage.

There was one problem that we saw, and that was the platform supporting their water storage tank had collapsed, ruining the tank, and keeping the facility from having water pressure at their taps and showers.  Fortunately, donations this month have been good, and we will be able to fix it right away.  It will give us the opportunity to relocate our water filters and clean up the system some.

The widows greated us warmly, save for the grieving widow, Eunice Atieno Achar who lost her daughter Lavenda to throat cancer complicated by AIDS two weeks ago.  Lavenda was the girl who’s face captured my heart on my first trip here in 2008, and I have been grieving for her as well. 

As at the other sites we have visited, Pam Hicks has been showing special love to these women who God has redeemed, and who serve these kids so faithfully.  She and her friends have prepared embroidered aprons stuffed with gifts and notes for each of them.  She presents them in a heartfelt ceremony that really blesses the widows.  My Susie also has a special heart for our servant widows, hugging and touching them and kissing their faces.  These ladies have met her before, so they greeted her especially warmly.

After a great lunch in Alfayo’s new house, we set out for Manning Orphanage, about 40 minutes away.  Manning is newer and smaller, but Alfayo’s eye for detail was present here as well.  Some of the kids who have half-day schooling were there to meet us, so Mbuvi and the others had a great time with them.  Manning is at the Ototo Church of Christ on Alfayo’s father’s land that he donated to the church.

Along our way home, we passed scores of kids going home from school and I was again struck at how friendly they are.  They don’t see white people very often at all, but their reaction to us is always positive and friendly.  The kids chase after us, waving and shouting “How are you?” in the cutest British accents.  I was also struck with how most of the people in this area live.  As you drive along a back road in Kenya, it’s like being in the back yards of hundreds of people.  Life happens all around you.  We saw a mother bathing her kids in the muddy water by the side of the road.  Further down was a small boy carrying a sack of maize on his head, his family’s dinner for several days.  We saw a small child crying alone on an embankment, his shirt tattered and torn.  Where will his salvation come from?  Will it come at all?  Nothing motivates me quite like that.

Tomorrow, Uriri.

27 Sept