K E N Y A A F R I C A

Subject:

Dearest Friends and Family,

Greetings to you in the name of our loving and merciful Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you all for your wonderful prayer support, encouragement, emails, even phone calls that have lifted our spirits and renewed our faith. How thankful we are to be bond together with each of you on this climb.

RAIN: Maua has had some rain in the last two weeks for which we are most grateful. Bill is the area rain fall tracker as we own a rain gage. We have received about one third the rain fall that is normal for this time of year. However, country wide Maua is extremely blessed. Yesterday we drove to Meru and just 9 Km. from here it is dry and dusty. The predictions that are now appearing almost daily in the newspaper are if Kenya does not receive more rain in the next 2 - 3 weeks 700,000 Kenyan's are at risk of starvation. Northern Kenya has received almost no rain in two years. They are in the same condition as Ethiopia and Sudan. The stories of starvation appear daily in the newspaper and in our Pediatric Unit. Please pray for rain and if no rain, for help. Starvation no longer brings to my mind the pictures I've seen in magazines of unknown people who look more like stick figures than humans, walking across the dessert. Starvation is infants and children with names and faces, mothers and fathers, misery and pain, and I have seen them and held them. They are real!

HOSPITAL: The hospital remains very busy. Last weekend a large truck coming down a steep hill lost its brakes and hit a matatu that was standing still and some pedestrians. Two people were dead on arrival, eight were admitted with serious injuries, including head injuries and total body abrasions and 12 people were seen and released. The next day we received 12 men with gun shot wounds. They were in a tribal conflict that centers around the drought. The Boran's and the Somali's live in the same area and have cattle and goats. They live in a very dry area (no rain since Jan. 2000) and both sides claim the other stole cattle and goats which started a shooting match. They came from Isiola. Maua is the closest town to Isiola if you are a bird. However, by road it is quite a distance and these men passed one government and one mission hospital (another government hospital and mission hospital were closer) to arrive at Maua Methodist Hospital for care. They said that 21 had been killed and we should expect 30 more the next day. All 12 were admitted and the hospital began moving patients to prepare for the next 30. We were ready but the next day the Kenyan Army moved in to stop the fighting. Ultimately 30 people were killed by the army, roads closed and the 30 never arrived. The twelve admitted are all doing well. Most were shot in the legs, though we had two chest injuries and one man was shot in the buttocks. Many will go home this week. Malaria continues to ravage this community. In the last few days we have had cool weather so many babies have been admitted with pneumonia and of course are malaria positive. And from Gika and other dry areas we have the babies with marasmus (starvation) and kwasiorkor (protein malnutrition). "Ah, that bread should cost so much and life so little."

STREET BOYS: Now for some very good news. About ten days ago Bill came home from the market loaded with vegetables. One of the street boys that was circumcised in December was helping him carry the bags. This young boy has "made it". He has jobs working for several merchants in town. The jobs pay for food, a shelter of sorts, clothing to include shoes, and even a small, inexpensive transistor radio. I wish you could have seen him walking with Bill. He was so proud, as are we. But it gets better:> In Jan. Bill and I started talking about how much we wished some of the street boys, especially the younger ones, could go to school. Bill talked to Ibrahim to see if that was possible. Ibrahim explained that he would need to find sponsors for the boy's as they would need to have someone feed them and a place to stay at night. School fees are not required for AIDS orphans or street children. We volunteered to pay for the uniforms, buy books and supplies. Ibrahim went to work on the sponsors and found them for 6 street children and two AIDS orphans. Then he had to go to the school and have it approved by the School Board. This past Wednesday Bill attended the special ceremony for the 8 children, 2 girls and 6 boys. One of the girls is an AID orphan and one is the sister of one of the street boys. The mother is a single mother and had the daughter stay in the home all day with her but could not afford school for either of them or food for the boy. Bill was asked to come in the morning to see the children. When he arrived they all jumped up and started cheering and then circled him laughing and thanking him. Bill was deeply touched. That afternoon there was a ceremony with many officials from Maua and the area. Bill presented the children in their uniforms, including shoes (shoes are not a requirement and many young students would not have any shoes), backpack and books to the District Community Relations Officer, who presented them to the Chairman of the Board of the program Ibrahim runs. Then they all drove to the school in a land rover (16 of them) and the children were presented to the Headmaster and faculty of Maua Primary School. What a blessed day! Thanks to each of you that have contributed to the street boys project. You have made this dream come true.

SCHOOL: The date of the opening of the School of Nursing has been moved up to May 29th for Set B, May 31st for Set A, and June 2nd for Set Z. The pad locks were finally removed from the Principal Tutors office and Sr. Alice, Sr. Mbogori and I have worked everyday in the school to have it ready to open. We have cleaned, gone through resources, books, posters, files, etc. throwing the old away and keeping what would be helpful. It has been a big job but I know I have learned about so many things that we have that I didn't realize. We had cupboards I had never known existed with a variety of items, some useful and some not. The resource room looks completely different as does the inside of all the cupboards. Yesterday Sr. Alice, Bill, and I went to Meru to buy new curtains for the 12 windows in the classrooms and library. Several of the things that had been promised at our last meeting have not happened as scheduled or at all. Thus we are taking things one day at a time. We pray the school will be ready to open and if things come together we will be there to open it. We definitely need your continued prayers that the decisions that we make will glorify God.

FAMILY NEWS: This week has been full of challenges for members of my family. My sister and brother-in-law live in Los Alamos, NM. They have been evacuated from their home and are staying in Santa Fe with my mom. At this time they do not know if the house they live is one of the 280 houses that have burned or not. Also, along with the fire my brother-in-law has had a biopsy this week to rule out cancer and will know the results next Tues. This past Friday my mother had cataract surgery which went well. Please pray for my family. Right now with all these things happening it seems we are a million miles away rather than 8000! We are so grateful for email so that we can stay in close contact, know what is happening and have the opportunity to pray for them as they pray for us.

"We are often troubled, but not crushed; sometimes in doubt, but never in despair; there are many enemies, but we are never without a friend; and though badly hurt at times, we are not destroyed." 2 Cor. 4: 8-9.

Climbing together,

Jerri and Bill

You can answer this letter at savuto@MAF.org

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