April 1, 2007

flip phones & friends
It’s crazy the thoughts I think. I heard Anne Marie’s cell phone ring with the ring tone that my cell phone had when I was in the States (when I had a phone which rang because I had friends) and I think – I should’ve stayed in the States. I had a cool flip phone. Can you make decisions based on stuff? Or I think – I should’ve stayed in the States. I had friends. Can you make decisions based on people?

It’s the temptation of the frivolous (not that people are unimportant) to pull me away from walking out the will of God. Flip phones and friends. I know I’m where I’m supposed to be.

ghetto washer
I was washing dishes the other day and thinking about how my brother, Bryan, used to call me a ghetto washer. He called me that because I would reuse the dirty water from one pan, pouring it into the next. I was saving water, and soap. I was frugal. I wouldn’t do this if the water was disgustingly dirty, but I ghetto washed a lot in my teen years, with my brother on my case.

Ghetto washing comes in handy here. I’ve got no dishwasher and we get our water supply from a well. It’s strange the things in early life that prepare you for later life, isn’t it? And every time I turn on my faucet I am cognizant of the fact that my running water separates me from the majority of Kenyans.

PWDs
Everything in non-profit land has a clever abbreviation. Now I’m learning about PWDs or Persons with Disabilities. There are approximately 3 million of them in Kenya. And Kenya, as a government, has only recently (as in 4 years ago) passed legislation concerning their rights. And they’ve yet to really enact the legislation as far as I can see. So the PWDs remain marginalized. You pass them on the streets begging, legs twisted in a permanent contortion. You feel helpless to help. Not much has changed since Jesus’ day.

About 8% of the children within the care of New Life Homes are PWDs or special-needs children. We want to meet these special needs. Not only do we want to meet their needs, but we feel like God is pressing us to go bigger and to meet the needs of more PWDs, especially the children with disabilities, within Kenya.

We have home/rescue center at Kisumu, near Lake Victoria that is the intended location for a state-of-the-art facility for special-needs children. We’ll begin by caring for children who are diagnosed with: cerebral palsy, SED (Severely Emotionally Disturbed), visual and/or hearing impairments, autism, chromosomal disorders, and microcephaly. Approximately 8% of the children currently within the care of New Life Home Trust are in need of long-term care due to the fact that it is highly unlikely that they will be adopted or fostered into families. There are currently no such special-needs facilities of this kind within western Kenya. The Special-Care Center at Kisumu would be the first of its kind, hopefully leading the way for the creation of more like-minded facilities within Kenya.

kung fu films
The Pruitts had me over for dinner. We watched a movie “Night at the Museum” rented from the video store. Rented from the video store and yet so obviously pirated. Yup, pirated (and annoying!) The words didn’t match the faces. Like watching a Kung Fu film. Apparently there are zero anti-piracy laws. Anne Marie says all the video stores do this. Theft seems to be the “in” thing in all sectors of industry here.

sky
The clouds and sky are so beautiful in Kenya. (Come see! ) Reminds me of England. The British have colonized the skies, too?

short rains, long rains
The Kenyans measure their seasons by short rains and long rains. I guess we’re in short rain season now. I’m tempted to get some big old black galoshes, but my Kenyan friends say that I don’t walk anywhere to need them and besides, I’ll look like a yard worker. I kind of want a pair though…

The sky drops buckets without hardly any warning. Last Friday all of the babies were out on the lawn when the sky opened up. It was kind of funny watching from the office until we realized that the babies were upset and that we really should get out there and evacuate those babies! You should’ve seen the zillions of volunteers and staff picking up crying babies and running for cover with them. And right after the rain evacuation, the rain stopped – like a faucet – just as abruptly as it started.

my plans
OK. So I know more details about my life and career so I can share them with you now. For now, it looks like I will be living and working in Kenya for 6 months out of each year and then living in the States for 6 months. So I’ll be stateside from July to mid-January 2008. They (New Life) want me to focus on National Development Projects. Such as the Special-Needs Center, Schools, Wells, Sustainable Agriculture projects, Rescue Centers/Homes for babies, etc. The list of Kenyan projects in need of development goes on and on. I will concentrate on advocacy, research, networking, project planning and development, funding, etc. As with the four other non-Kenyans on the New Life Homes staff, I will be a full-time missionary meaning that my salary, living expenses, etc. will be fully comprised from churches, individuals, etc.

skilled at mourning
ILO (International Labor Organization) announces 130,000 child laborers in Kenya largely due to AIDS. The working orphans. This kills me. I want to run in a zillion directions. Can’t do enough in a day (ego). Can’t gather enough children under wing (ego).

And will this broken heart be permanent? Worse than any breakup. It will never mend or heal or seal.

I think God wants it that way.

I am trying to prepare for my teaching to the Muslim caregivers and teachers on Lamu Island. We’re teaching about child development and the impact of trauma on the development of the child. The words are blurring – I can’t quite ingest the idea of the sexually exploited child. They have little faces now. They’re not just numbers and statistics anymore. They’re little brown faces with big eyes. Looking at me. And you.

When the Bible talks about going and getting the women who are skilled at mourning, I’m sure it means me. I’ve gotten really good at crying. Crying and praying makes me feel 100% better. Cleansed and released. Though I’ll need cucumbers for my eyelids tomorrow and Jacinta will tell me that my eyes look smaller – I have to not care. I have to be in this humble place and rely and His grace.

“Call for the wailing women to come
send for the most skilful of them.
Let them come quickly
and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
and water streams from our eyelids…”

Jeremiah 9:17-18

Trusting that these tears will be “liquid prayers” for the people and children of Kenya…

Kwaheri na Afrika,
janay