Oh my...

Today's blog post could be primarily photos.  I took 287 photos of happy excited children in various poses.  Boy do they love the camera!  Sometimes you just have to give in and snap endless photos.  I felt like I had been there for 2 hours, but in reality it had been 30 minutes...

Wow.  I guess that about sums it up!  The kids had a fun day playing and getting their pictures taken!  It's so strange because I had one goal in mind on this trip:  make sure the kids were eating.  I was so focused on that, I didn't prepare any Bible lessons, didn't even remember to bring them snacks!  And boy did they remind me that I forgot the snacks!!  But it's okay, it's made this trip quite unique in comparison to trips past, and I feel like I not only accomplished my goal but I didn't have to kill myself in the process.  I've gotten to take naps in the afternoons and just relax!  I do feel like my work on this trip is done, and I'm ready to head home, but that's a good feeling.  No complaints from me!

But next time, I'll remember the snacks.

Definition of Success

What is success?  I mentioned in an earlier post that I was hopeful for a successful trip.  But what does that look like?

I looked up the word success on Dictionary.com and although many of the definitions used the words wealth and position, the definition that spoke to me in this situation is this:

the accomplishment of one's goals

So what are my goals for this trip?  They are pretty simple and really there is only one: to continue feeding the children of the Virginia Home.  I had to peel back many layers to figure this out.  I get bogged down that these kids don't live like we do.  Their accommodations are pretty bad:

As an American "mom" and a crusader to save the world (ha!), I think to myself, they can't live like this!  Then I start to compare my/our goals to the goals of Family Legacy in Zambia who build houses, usually in honor of someone who has passed away, and bring children in to live in them.  How AWESOME is that?  Why can't we do something like that?  Or Naomi's Village right here in Kenya, started by a classmate of mine from Baylor and her husband.  The have an awesome facility and the children who live there are so well cared for! 

What is just some stupid food gonna do, when they live in a place like above?  Well, that stupid food has kept them alive and actually helped them thrive for the past 3 1/2 years.  I think food has to be good enough for now.  Feeding them so they can live is actually the best chance they have for something more!  This has been a hard concept for me to accept.  They have so many needs and we are only supplying one.  And, in some ways, my American pride says we have nothing to show for it!  I think I need to get over myself, and get over what I think others might think.  Food is basic to life.  It is pretty darned important.  Why do I look at tattered clothes, dirty feet and yucky accommodations instead of seeing these bright happy faces?

What good is a nice bed or a beautiful uniform when they are starving to death?  I've had the benefit of seeing these kids grow up, and seeing their dull faces turn bright.  So food is good enough, and continuing to see that they are fed is my goal for this trip.

I was able to have a lengthy meeting with Philip, the director, today.  He shared with me how the support for food had changed their outlook.  They are encouraged in so many ways.  He was not sure what he was going to do had we taken away the support, but he was forever grateful to have had it for a time anyway.  It really helped and motivated all of them in more ways than he could express.  When we talked of the support continuing, he showed me how he would account for and record where the money goes.  He said he understood my expectations, and at this time, ALL of the money is to go for food.  He said he knows trust is hard to come by and easy to lose.  I am very hopeful that this is going to be successful.  I am hopeful that we can expand the support to include school fees in the future, finding sponsors for some of the children.  

But for now, food is enough.

First Impressions

So, I traveled here with my friend, Tom Stickney.  This is Tom's first trip back to Kenya since he and his family moved back to the US three months ago.  When I left him in Nairobi, he asked me to email him after my first day at the Virginia Home with my initial first impressions.  See, in my last post, I told you where we were, but only touched on how we got there.  While I was on the board of ACO, Tom and I dreamed BIG dreams of starting new children's homes, having a major non-profit organization take over the Virginia Home, etc.  The funny thing is that the "glass slipper" never seemed to fit on any of the "feet" we tried it on.  If you read my blog in the past, at times it may have sounded all over the place, one minute we were going to do this, then next minute we were going to do that.  Once the rest of the board decided get ACO's focus back to it's roots (University students and campus ministry), and I decided to focus solely on the Virginia Home, the glass slipper seemed to find the right foot!  So my husband and I committed to supporting and raising money solely for the children of Virginia for now.  A lot of people ask me, "Why Kenya?  There are plenty of needs right in your own neighborhood!"  I've never had the answer to that, until now.  It's not really Kenya, or Africa, it's people.  And these "people" happen to be the little faces we know in Kenya.  That's it.  Just that small group of people.  Tom and I still have dreams of children's homes, and now that we are both staying true to our focus, I'm hopeful those dreams will start to take shape and come true!  I digress...sorry.

Anyway, I do actually have some first impressions of where things stand at the Virginia Home:

1.  I'm fat.  If I was ever unsure, it was confirmed by a precious (hmphh) child who said, "You must love food because you're so fat."  Now, in my defense, everyone is fat to them, but I'm not gonna lie...it stung.

2.  The look on Philip, the director's, face when I first walked in his office said it all!  He was humbled, excited, shocked, and gracious all at the same time.  Not only was he glad I was there, he was glad we didn't leave them when ACO no longer had staff on the grounds.  I hope these emotions are enough to keep him true.

3.  We're not in Kansas anymore...I have to stop thinking of things by American standards.  This is Kenya.  

4.  The kids look healthy.  I took a photo of Ann today.  I'd like to compare it with the first photo I have of her.

 (Today)

(March 2011)

My point in sharing these comparison photos is to show what a difference two meals a day can make.  Sure there's always more to consider: are their diets balanced or are their teachers academic enough, but at this point, FOOD is the key to the "present day" Ann.  I would LOVE to be able to provide them all with a first rate education or heck, even a hot bath, but when I question if food is enough, I look at the photos again and I think I have to say, "Yes it is for now!"

And here I am...

One year, one month and eleven days later...I'm back in Kenya.  A lot has happened since I was last here with my family.  I had planned a trip for November 2013 with my friend Kim, but violence in Nairobi (Airport fire and Westgate Mall attack occurring just after we left) postponed the trip indefinitely.  

It was time for me to come back.  My friend Tom Stickney, director of ACO, moved his family back to the states in June of this year for safety reasons (they lived in Nairobi) so he is no longer "boots on the ground" and able to check in on the Virginia Home (he will still be a missionary in Kenya, just "home base" is now in the states). ACO has also decided to have limited emphasis on the Virginia Home as their main area of focus has always been the University students and evangelizing them. We've talked (or dreamed) about taking some of the children from Virginia and starting our own "home", but my family's passion has always been the children of Virginia.  Ever since we saw these hauntingly precious faces, 

(Ann and Carol, March 2011)

(Harrison, March 2011)

we knew we couldn't turn away from them.  One day we were making sure they had food, and the next we were moving onto other, "more glamorous" projects?  That just did not feel right. 

I guess you could say we are "accidental" missionaries.  We never thought of ourselves as the missionary type, would never pretend to have the calling and "success" of REAL missionaries like Tom and many others, but we feel strangely called to the kids of the Virginia Home.  I have stepped down from the ACO board to concentrate all of my efforts into the feeding and schooling of these kiddos, but that is proving to be a monumental task when you live on the other side of the world.  You can't just send money and not follow up...

We actually had a Kenyan man on staff with ACO that we sent money to, but temptation must have gotten the best of him as he took some of the money for his personal use, and then disappeared for a time.  It wasn't a large sum of money by our standards, but it's the principle. He took food out of the mouths of the children.  This was tough, because I personally (and I am not alone) considered him a friend. We trusted him with our own children when we were in Kenya, we tried to help him any way that we could...to say I am disappointed (again I am not alone) is an understatement.  I sincerely hope he finds his way.  So, we had a dilemma: how do we continue feeding and schooling these kids while living in the USA?

We have communicated back and forth with the director of the Virginia Home.  We have set up a plan, a budget, and an accountability system with him.  He has seen the great things our support has done for the school (his words), and he has told me on numerous occasions that he could never have imagined all of this would be possible.  By his own account, he would be crazy to abuse the support, and he has assured us that he will do the right thing with the money each week (and I say "each week" because we are trying to reduce temptation.  If we give a month's worth of money, it's awfully tempting to use a bit of it to pay the electric bill or whatever, and get the money back in the account as quickly as possible...), he will keep receipts, records and communicate regularly with our Kenyan contact as well as with us.

This is our third month of working directly with the director.  We still have a safeguard that we send the money to and he sends it on to the director, but we are counting on Philip (the director) to use this money as intended.  We are ready to pull the plug at a moment's notice if it is abused.  This is the reason I kept my visit to Kenya quiet.  I wanted to surprise them and see if things were going as they were supposed to without giving them warning to "put on their Sunday best" for our benefit.  We wanted to "see who they were when no one was watching". I have had many of you asking to support a student or help with food, and I may be hitting more of you up, but not unless I felt confident your money would truly touch the intended cause.  I do feel that Phillip cares about the kids and truly appreciates what has been done for them and that is half the battle, right?

So as I titled this entry, here I am...and I'll be telling more of my visit this week, whether it is a successful or not.  (but I get a feeling it will be successful)