The rise of the morning sun brought another birthday into my lifeJ It is Thursday, May 13th and the first birthday I've ever had in Africa. God has blessed me with healing and strength that I might enjoy the years he has given me. Approval to place Ian in a new home has been granted and we are on the road at 8:30 in the morning looking for our four year old little boy. His mother usually returns to Kipsongo in the evening but she hasn't any permanent place to call her own. We ride through town and some of the streets in hopes that we will spot her. She is very often in town begging for money in order to buy some home brew. Today she isn't any where to be found so we head for the Kipsongo slums.
We pass the women sitting by the edge of the busy road gathering items of food and reusable items from the trash dumped here. This is a daily sight if one passes by this area.
The downhill slope leads us into the slums. People are sleeping on the ground. Little ones are running around without being clothed properly. Hands palm side up start to beg off us. We have everyone's attention as visitors, especially two white women, are not often seen walking here. We walk and ask everyone we meet for the mom by name. The communication barrier keeps us in the unknown.
Then I see a little boy outside on a grain bag. He is lifeless and his eyes are locked in a stare. For a few seconds we questioned if we had found him in time. The flies were all over his sick little body. He had nothing on but a dirty little button up shirt. He'd been sick all night and was dehydrate. He had a fever and looked like he had lost hope. Not a muscle of his body moved. Most likely he had spent his night here under the stars without a blanket. It is the season of long rains and the nights are cool and often rainy. Everything his mom owns she carries in a sac over her shoulder. She has been given many items over the last year but they have all been sold for a few shillings.
Joanne has Ian in her arms when his mom walks toward us. She admits she knows he is sick and joins us as we take him to the clinic. After the doctor examines him he sends Ian to the lab for blood work and the across town to have a chest x-ray. The doctor wanted to make sure he didn't have TB. Ian was raped during the night a couple months ago so he also was checked to see if he was HIV positive.
We tried to get some nurishment into him but nothing would stay down. While waiting for his reports to come back he takes a short nap in the safety of my arms. His reports came back far better than we expected. With meds for malaria, a bacterial infection and low iron he should be back on his feet soon. Chiggers are a big problem here and Ian had to have some taken out of the bottom of his feet. He also had to be dewormed. With a proper diet and lots of fluids he will be just fine in a few days.
The time came to tell his mom she was free to go. I took her aside and explained to her that now we would take Ian to a new home. She was told it was time for her go and leave him with us. He had a safe loving home waiting for him. She would be permitted to see him now and then in the future. I expected to see some kind expression of sadness. I waited for a response and there was none. I repeated myself to make sure she understood. "Sawa" (ok) was all she had to say.
We had a little bag of food in the car for her to take with her to eat later. We knew she would be going back to nothing. Before she walked away we asked her if she wanted to give Ian a hug. "No" was the answer. All she wanted was the little bag of food.
After we said goodbye to Ian's mom he is dressed in his new clothes and shoes that Joanne has bought for him. He is then taken to meet his new parents. They have big hearts full of love for unwanted children. Their home is a happy home. Tonight he will sleep in a safe, warm, loving home. He has a bed with a mattress and blankets to keep warm with. He'll have all the hugs he wants.
The sun is setting and the day has been long. We've gone from agency to agency, office to office with the goal of giving this child a chance at life. We are tired and our emotions have been set aside in order to accomplish all that has been set before us.
Now we sit quietly, thinking of all that has happened. We wonder how much Ian will remember of the pain and suffering that he has endured in the early years of his life. We try to process how a mother can give her child away without regret, without emotion, without sorrow. How can one refuse to give her child a hug goodbye?
Another birthday brings the gift of life.
After an exhausting but fulfilling day we awaken with the rise of the sun on Friday morning the 14th. We meet with Ian's mom to make sure she is doing ok. She does not ask about Ian and shows no regrets for giving him up.
The Children's Department asked that we try to fill out the forms and make application for his birth certificate before his mother disappears. Many here don't have a birth certificate. They don't even know when they were born. Their birth is usually remembered by an event or a visitor not by a date. Without a birth certificate a child can never go beyond an 8th grade education. So it is important that we gather all the information necessary so that Ian can have many opportunities in the future.
Some forms require that we meet with the Assistant Chief of Kipsongo and also one of the elders. Even though the mother knows the year of birth they are not ready to believe her without other documentation. While waiting for the Assistant Chief we observe a grown man washing his face in a mud puddle. As he kneels to the ground the dirty water is scooped up with both hands and brought to his face. He splashes the dirty water over his face a few times and then walks away.
We run back and forth between offices, stand in never moving lines, gather more forms and realize it just isn't going to get done today.
At the end of the day we stop at the market and both fill a bag full of clothes for Ian. The day is not complete until we stop and see how his first day went at his new home. We could not believe the change we saw in Ian when he entered our view. He had the most beautiful smile and his eyes were full of life. His life has changed so much in 24 hours. Never again will he be left alone in the dark of the night without a place to call home.
Sunday morning, May 16th, I return to the village of Rafiki to speak at Faith Church. It rained hard throughout the night and this morning the roads are very muddy. We pass cars stuck in the mud beside the road. We toot as we start to slide this way and that so that the cows, sheep and people will move aside. This is obviously not the first time our driver has driven on such roads. With an "oh no" once in awhile he does deliver us safely to the church door.
It is a day of great excitement as the women of the church have started their garden. We have leased a little over an acre of land and provided seeds, manure, hoes and pesticides so that they can have food for their families. It is to provide them with an income as well. Yesterday they started to hand plow their garden.
There was much thanksgiving in the church today. One man testified that they have prayed and prayed to God for help and now he has seen God answer their prayer. Another man said he has never seen God answer prayer before but now he has. One man was happy that he had a wife because he would benefit from this blessing too.
The women are more than willing to work hard and now God has provided them with a way to bring increase into their homes. The church people have a time of prayer to bless the women and their garden.
Fifty new Bibles were given out in Rafiki today. They will be taken into different areas of the village and bless the owner as well as those that live around them.
The Chief of Rafiki has visited the pastor and thanked him for the work he is doing in this area. At one time there was a gang of 5 men that everyone feared. People were afraid to walk the streets. Three of the gang members now go to church. One of them received a Bible today.
The roads were much better on the way out as the sun has been shining. We can see the afternoon rain clouds rolling in and we thank the Lord that the worst of the mud is behind us.
This area is blessed with heavy rains almost every afternoon. North of Kitale in the Lodwar area we have heard of 200 people being displace because of the rains. Also luggas or rivers made from the rains have washed out large sections of road and some bridges going north out of Lodwar. There is a large camp of displaced people north of Lodwar that cannot receive any food or clean water now. Food is transported into these areas by truck loads as the desert soil is not suitable for gardens. The camp has 100 thousand displaced people inside. They will be without food for some time. The heavy rains bring many problems to the people in the Lodwar area.
It is Monday May 17th and today the birth certificate application forms have been completed and accepted. Our work here at the Children's Department has come to an end. We just wait a month or so for them to process the forms and return a certificateJ Ian will now be able be have an education above the level of 8th grade.
A woman walks in front of us. She is low to the ground and without legs. With a baby tied to her back she uses her hands as feet. There are many needs here and some silence you.
There are so many monkeys here in Kitale. They sit by the road and run from roof top to roof top. There are also many unfed dogs that continually have puppies. They wander the streets and sleep here and there. The officials will set poison out during the night in different parts of the town. It is there way of animal control. The dead dogs are collected early in the morning.
Please pray for Pastor Alfred of Kawangware slums Nairobi. He is the assistant pastor in the church I have been so involved with. His wife passed away this week.
Isaiah 49: 15
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
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