Friday in Jail

It is now Saturday evening here in Kisumu. Yesterday was a new experience for all of us. Cameron, Suzy and I, (Dan) went into Dunga to do some work with the Care and Compassion ministry there. We first met with Beverlyn, a three-year-old orphan who is infected with AIDS. She is cared for mostly by an older cousin but he was not around that day because he was looking for a new job. We then met with Grace, a mother of six who is also HIV positive as well as her oldest daughter. She is in a dire situation because she can no longer go to work where she was. There was a rumored outbreak of Cholera there so they are not allowing any workers back where she was. She also has a newborn baby to care for in addition to her other 5 children.

After meeting with Grace, Suzy came back to the house and Monica went with Cameron and I to see Allan, a 6-year-old orphan who lives with his grandparents. They live in Nyalanda, the village across the street for Christ's Hope's headquarters. They are strong Christians and are working hard to do everything they can for their grandson but they struggle because they can not afford to pay for both the medicine they need and for his school fees and so he is not able to attend school. We spent time with each of these families and their struggle gives a face to the true voracity of this epidemic. I spoke with Jisca afterwards and found out that in Dunga somewhere between 50-75% of the population is HIV positive. Grace is also a perfect example of how some of the customs, (in her case, wife inheritance), only aid in spreading the disease more quickly. Her worry also is that many of the children who are infected live with their grandparents. Because this disease came up in the 80's it has affected their generation much less, but when the next generation comes, all of their parents will be dead, (the children now) and will have no grandparents to take care of them. This also underscores why the Choose to Wait ministry is so important. God's perfect plan for sex can and will eliminate the problem if people will only follow it.

In the afternoon the entire team went to the Children's Jail in Kisumu. The jail is for street children that have been picked up by the police, some for real crimes, some simply because they are living on the street. No cameras are allowed inside the jail, so we do not have any pictures from the time there. It was a time that I think most of us were a bit apprehensive about because we didn't really know what to expect. We had heard many warnings about how rambunctious they might be, that they may try to steal some of our things, etc. but the time there was such a blessing to all of us! We began by singing, as always, and then we acted out the story of David and Goliath with the kids, which they loved. We followed that by teaching them "Deep and Wide" and then performed our skit. After the skit there was a craft to color pictures of David and Goliath and glue them on Popsicle sticks to make puppets. When that was finished we went outside and had a good time playing with the kids for quite a while - Tom and I played soccer, Monica and Cameron played some sort of keep-away game and David played volleyball. Each person rotated the groups they were playing with during that time, and the entire team was busy bonding and playing with the kids even though I can't say right now what each person was up to specifically. After playing we sang again and asked if we could pray for them before we left. Two of the students shared, and we prayed for them. One of them, Peter said that he asked we continue to pray for each of them there. He said "it is not our will that we are here. Please pray that we will be able to get out, and that we would have good behavior to please God and so that we don't end up here again," so please remember all of the children that are there in your prayers.

That night we went out to an all-you-can-eat Indian restaurant, which was quite a treat. The food was amazing, and we thank Joe for taking us to all of the best eateries that Kisumu has to offer! After dinner there was an incredible home-made ice cream for desert, so for those that are wondering, the embarrassing picture of Monica was one that was snapped while eating ice cream at dinner last night! We don't really have much in the way of pictures because we don't take cameras on Care and Compassion and we weren't allowed in the jail, so our apologies for that. Today was a bit of a free day - we went shopping in town and this afternoon Shelley got her hair braided and the rest of us hung out around the house, went for walks, etc. This evening we went to see the sunset over Lake Victoria and eat dinner at a resort here in Kisumu. It was an amazing night, and we will probably post some pictures of that tomorrow since we have yet to load them on the computer from the cameras.

Thank you for continuing to remember us in your prayers and check the blog for updates. We only have a few days of work left here in Kisumu, which is met with mixed emotions. In many ways it feels like we have been her for such a long time, but when faced with leaving so soon, realizing we have only been here a week makes us realize how short our time here is. Please pray that we continue on well next week as there is still much work to be done. Thanks.

Dan