This is the message Bridgette sent her friends, family and supporters after she visited Kathi’s House. As she says in her message “It takes a village to raise a child”. Many of you are part of that village helping to raise the children at Kathi’s House. “We’ve all heard the term “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child”. We traveled today through the beautiful Rift Valley to visit one of the Kenyan pastors we support. Pastor John and his wife Mary live in an area called Mai Mahui and have 4 beautiful children of their own. John has developed a very good reputation in the area-as he has a real heart for the widows and orphans there. Several years ago, an old grandfather who lives in their village came to John and asked him if he would care for his 12 year old granddaughter Mineh. Her parents were both dead and after her grandmother had recently passed, it had become extremely difficult for him to care for her. Through a series of events that could not have been planned if we tried, that one act of kindness has turned into 10 additional orphaned children. You see, we believe that it is much better for those children to remain in their village where they are comfortable and loved than to build yet another orphanage or children’s home dependent on outside donors to sponsor them and control their limited fate. What I saw today was an incredibly loving, happy, healthy, thriving” community”…each responsible for one another. It didn’t matter that they were sleeping 2 or 3 to a twin bed, did not have indoor plumbing and only recently got electricity for the first time. As far as these orphans were concerned, John and Mary are their parents-and they feel loved and at home. No institution could give them that. When I asked one of the children what they liked best about their new home, they said “We no longer go to sleep hungry”…Wow-it melted my heart!
Because of that simple initial act of faith done by John when he said yes to Mineh’s grandfather, this man has allowed John to use a large parcel of his land to plant a hope garden to provide food for his now large family. In addition, Pastor John has also created another hope farm in the village for the widows who work the land and get to keep all the crops. So the circle of kindness gets bigger and it’s a win win for all involved. Partners For Care’s role in all this is to support with our donations Pastor John’s work in this area by paying him a small “salary”, assist with school expenses (education is not free after primary school), help with school uniforms (all must wear uniforms in Kenya), medical expenses, etc…. It’s a hand up-not a hand out because of the incredible work he is doing within his community. Many lives are being changed because of his selflessness. Could you imagine if more people would be willing to sacrifice in order to put a total stranger’s well-being before their own? What would it look like without thousands of lonely, forgotten children in institutionalized homes? It does truly take a village to raise a child…and I feel so humbled to be a part of creating a bright future for the next generation of those young people-who will feel loved, appreciated, have clothes to wear and food to eat, become educated and dream of becoming all they can be because others were willing to Invest in them. Perhaps we could all learn something invaluable from them! WHO could each of us “invest” in today?” Bridgette