Meandering reflection on my two weeks in Marsabit

I have now been in Marsabit for 2 weeks.  It is amazing to think of all the people I have met, and the communities that I have seen, and the stories that I have heard.  Here are some of my thoughts - welcome to the random world of my brain!

In Marsabit itself, there are many NGO's here, many of them doing very good work. It doesn't appear that there is a lot of collaboration between them - unless it is to sometimes share their vehicles, which seem to be in very short supply these days!  With the immensity of poverty and the incredible shortage of both food and income, there is more than enough work for each one of the organizations that are here.  However, beyond the work that the NGO's are doing, what has touched my heart the most is the generosity of the Kenyans in terms of looking after their own people.

One of the people who is very involved is Tim's friend, Paul.  It was Paul who first approached Tim many years ago and asked him the simple question:  "But, Tim, what about the widows?" Paul has lived in the area all of his life, has worked at many different things, and he knows the area very well.  He could see that even with all the big agencies and the work that they were doing, that the widows were often falling through the cracks.  These women could have 10 children who were dependent on them, but they weren't getting help in any significant ways that would enable them to move beyond just relying on food relief.  So Paul and Tim together chose one widow and found the money to build her a new house, and then provided her with some goats to get her started.  When they saw how that worked so well, they carried on to create the work that Sauti Moja does today.  It began with one widow, and has now expanded to a dream of providing assistance to 1000 widows!  Paul believes that things have progressed very quickly (over the last 5 years) and he is very happy with the work that is being done.  Tim is not sure it has been so fast - could have moved a lot more quickly in his opinion!

When we were in Qachacha, we stopped to wait for our vehicle beside this school - the kids were singing and so we stopped in so I could take a picture of them.  As Martha said, "we need to just have fun with the children for a few minutes".

Below is a picture of Martha who was interpreting for a grandmother who provides childcare to enable her daughter to go away to school.

Martha is on staff with Sauti Moja Marsabit, and is deeply committed to the work that she does with the widows and the child mothers. Martha has also lived in this area most of her life.  As we were standing there in the field beside the little school house, there was a man sitting by the side of the road.  He was wearing a heavy, quilted fall coat and thongs with bare feet - I do find the clothing choices rather intriguing at times - it was hot enough that I got quite a sunburned nose that day! We often see people wearing wool toques as well. Another intriguing thing was that as we sat there his cell phone rang.  There are many, many cell phones here - but it still feels rather incongruous to be in such a rural setting and hear the ringing of the phone.  Anyways, one of the things that he told Martha is that the villages really appreciate the work of Sauti Moja - that they see that when the people from Sauti Moja walk away, the widows have something that has really made a difference in their lives.  The help that they get lasts much longer than only getting food relief, which helps in the short term, but which won't help them to improve in the long term.  Those comments meant a lot - they came from a man sitting there by the side of the road who just wanted to thank Martha for the help that he sees the widows from his village are receiving. 

Another person who has impressed me very much is Pastor Moga.  Moga's family is mostly from the Logologo area, and that is where Moga's church is.  But these pastors cover HUGE areas - Moga seems to constantly be on the move.  When we met some of the child mothers in Kamboi, we would talk with them for a little while, and then move on to visit with others in the village.  I watched each time as we moved away from that particular child mother - Moga would put his arm around the girl and walk off with her a little ways offering his own words of encouragement and support to her.  It wasn't done in a flashy or oppressive way - it was pastoral care at its very best.  He showed us his church as well.  They used to worship under this tree.  

Over the last few years they have done some fund-raising, and have managed to raise enough to put up a roof and pour a cement floor.  But he said when it is raining they still get wet cause they haven't managed to get enough money to build the walls.  He said they have also grown quite a bit, so they have a dream that some day they will have the funds to move the walls out even further so there will actually be room for all of them so sit under shelter.  I told him that when I return to Canada to worship in my building, I will picture him and his congregation worshipping there under their tin roof.

I have heard it said of both Africa and Nicaragua, that in these places God is very close to the surface.  I know that as I continue to spend time here, that I am most definitely walking on holy ground.