We’ve had a busy couple of days in Kenya and are thoroughly enjoying ourselves! On Sunday we had a great field trip with 25 girls and 3 staff members from the Cheshire Home. Cheshire is a residential home for severely disabled girls where they learn basic skills such as tailoring, knitting, and computer literacy. The team hired a bus and we loaded up the girls, put the wheelchairs on top of the bus and headed about an hour into Nairobi where we took them to a huge, beautiful mall cinema to see “Marmaduke.” The cinema was on the top floor and only accessible by an escalator so the cinema staff had to stop the escalator, we would load up 5-6 girls, box them in with team members, and then start the escalator back up. The process took about a half an hour to get everyone up to the theater, and they arrived just in time to see the movie. Afterward, we took everyone to the mall food court to eat Pizza. It was a great day, but I didn’t realize the full impact until we brought them home and they had a little “thank you ceremony” where they talked about what the day had meant to them. Apparently, in Kenya, the disabled are looked down upon and blamed for their condition. These girls had never had such an experience, had never been served in a restaurant, or had attention paid to them. They said it had been the experience of a lifetime, and they sang and prayed for us before we left. Truly beautiful. We’re going back later in our trip to visit with them and to do some craft activities with them (we’re making the furry flip flops with fancy yarn and plastic flip flops – they will love those).
Today, we spent the day in Nairobi visiting a couple of different projects that employ women from the slum (Kibera – the second largest slum in the world) to sew and do beadwork. They had beautiful things to sell and even more beautiful stories to tell us about their lives. We walked for about an hour and a half through Kibera, visiting a market, and then had tea with the staff and administration of Jacaranda Creations. On Thursday, we’re working with them again to help them move into their new showroom.
Lauren’s baptism was this afternoon and was so beautiful. Thanks to Al Puckett for his role in her baptism. Tonight we’re eating together with other friends from the US at the Global Connections Farm. Appreciate your continued prayers for our team to remain safe and healthy!
Pictures to come... the internet is too slow to load tonight!
Did she get her ring? :-)
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