Today I was reminded why Partners for Care exists – to change lives. I am in Watamu with the PFC Directors at our annual planning meeting. Each year the directors come together to reflect on the past year’s accomplishment and to establish their program goals for next year. Each year the PFC staff become stronger and more effective in their work to reach out to the most vulnerable with a message of hope in Christ and an opportunity to change their lives.
We have our Joe Beasley center here in Watamu where a small staff under the leadership of Pastor Peter teach literacy to adults who cannot read or write and computers to the young and the old and sometimes the very old.
Today we went to the center to see the work and hear from the students and the teachers. I was so humbled to see Peter the IT teacher and Gataka the literacy teacher in their classrooms. They have such passion for their work! The two rooms they use to transform the lives of the poorest of poor are very small but all the space is used to the maximum and both rooms were humble learning center with teaching materials posted on the wall that the teachers had made from simple sheets of paper. The center was spotless and very organized.
The students included in the literacy class include a 37 year old Massai herder who came to learn to read and write. He started with the curriculum used in baby class as he could not read or write one word of Swahilli or English. After 2 months he has progressed to grade 3 – he can now read and write sentences. He said he wants to learn to read and write so he can have a buisness to support his family. Recently he recruited his older brother who is also a student in the literacy class – at age 39.
One of our staff David is from the coastal village of Watamu. He was especially touched as he saw people he knew learning at the center. He thanked Pastor Peter and his staff for helping to transform the lives of the people of Watamu because as he said he is a “boy from Watamu”.
Thank you for the support of Partners for Care as it allows our team in Kenya to reach the most vulnerable and change their lives.
From the coastal town of Watamu,
Connie
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