Well, we managed to get our site up and running these last few weeks. It took a lot of work and fair about of communication back and forth with Lia, who set the site up. What we would like now is for you to tell us your first impressions, your input, your suggestions about the site and how to improve it. If you have any ideas about how we can make this site more interesting for you, so you will feel inclined to come back another time, please leave a comment here. If you have any advice or suggestions (e.g. links) about possible collaboration partners or schools, also please leave a comment.

 

Here is a picture of the children in our lower primary school grades. Some of the children are residents in our CBSM housing. Others are non-residents who stay with guardians, well wishers, amongst other families in our community. It doesn't matter whether they are residents or non-residents of CBSM we are all one family. It is our responsibility to make sure they all feel happy. We believe it is important to show the children how they must look after each other as members of the same family. This is, sometimes, a challenge since they come from various different backgrounds and different tribes. Each day brings trails equally as blessings.

 

I’ve just managed to make a few photos of our project that I would like to share with you over the next few days.

The people in this photo were hired to build a house in the neighbourhood. The house is made of bricks. The people are part of the Kimilili community, our neighbours, and our helpers since we came here.


None of the people in this photo came with us from Nairobi;  rather they are part of the community that appreciates the
CBSM coming to Kimilili. They do work often (when funds are available) and they share in helping us take care of the children’s needs.

There are other ways the community extends their hand of participation & help to us. They offer us food donations, especially, when they have harvested crops. The women come weekly to smear the classrooms’ floors with cow dung; as they are not cemented and must be made free of dust.  They help in preparing food for free. They even occasionally give us donations of firewood.

And most importantly, they provide alternative homes for the needy children, by reducing the burden from on
CBSM home. Some neighbours have taken some children to keep company with their kids (age mates), hence taking on extra responsibilities upon themselves. Neighbourly pastors come weekly and teach the children the word of God, also assist us.

In one of our national languages, Swahili, we call this sort of unity “harambee”. It means people coming together or joining hands for a common public goal.

 

I would like to write in this blog post about the story of how the Kimilili community came to be the home of 250 OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) and the Benando Breakthrough Support Mission (BBSM), and how they have welcomed us into their arms.

The BBSM came to Kimilili this past January, when we fled for our safety from Kayole Soweto, in Nairobi. Our facilities burnt down during the violence surrounding the national elections and we feared for our lives.
Skirmishes, due to political unrest, inter-tribal strife, and exorbitant inflation, made it impossible for us to continue living in Nairobi any longer. The army and police came to our rescue and escorted us, amongst others fleeing as well, the 600 km from Nairobi to our new home in Kimilili. It was a very arduous journey that brought us to the safety of our new home.

You can imagine how difficult it must have been for the people of Kimilili to cope with the sudden arrival of 250 children and 7 adults (guardians and teachers) in their midst! They not only welcomed the children into their homes, but they also helped us by offering us their labour and assisting us in finding a home to rent. Other renters occupied the eight-door house we received, but they agreed to move to another place to facilitate our acute need.

Their kindness and generosity over the last months has helped the children recover from the trails of those times in Nairobi. Now they are living in safety again.

We are currently all working on improving these accommodations. We need to cover the mud floors with cement, install proper lighting, and adequate lavatories. We are very grateful for all that has been accomplished to date.

We are optimistic that we can continue making progress to improve our living conditions. Already, some of our kind neighbours have made good suggestions about how we can do this. With the Lord’s guidance and our neighbour’s goodwill, we will find our way.

 

In this blog, I'll be writing about our work; problems that need to be solved, community events, and new ideas. If possible, I will be posting relatively regularly. It is important that you feel connected to our life here in Kimilili, Kenya. Please feel free to comment and tell me which topics are of interest.

If you are interested in where Kimilili is, please go to our Contact page and see a map there.