Tiny Miracles

Last year, about this time, I announced a shoot for the moon dream. I was honestly thinking about the quote, “shoot for the moon, even if you miss you’ll land in the stars.” Well, I didn’t land in the stars, I landed on the moon. I announced on this blog, twitter, facebook and via email that I wanted to raise $10,000 to bring aid supplies and programs to the slum of Kibera. The support from friends, family and strangers blew my mind. I raised just over $10,000.

I quickly learned raising the money was only the first step. Then comes the planning. It takes a lot of time as you brainstorm ideas, present them and get approval from both Kenyan leaders and their US support and accountability partners.

I think it is vital to hear from the people in Kibera what they see as their greatest needs and meet them there. During my time in Kenya I saw three areas of great need:

1. Basic Necessities: food, water, shelter and clothing.
2. Mental and Physical Health Care
3. Education and Mentorship

All three of these areas were echoed by families and children I have spent time with over the past two and a half years.

My first area of focus will be education. Education, because that is our only hope of breaking the cycle of poverty. While I will be focusing on education I am also going to be supplying schools with basic first aid tools, which can save lives in place where HIV/AIDS and water borne diseases run rampant. I will also be bringing with me as many children’s shoes and clothes as possible.

Now the exciting news... I’m going to Kenya in two weeks with the head of Tirzah International to meet with the leaders of Homecare and Ghetto Light Youth, visit schools, families, homes and businesses. I am honored to have the opportunity. I know that I will be learning so much about the people of Kibera and how I can serve and empower them.

For me the past two years have been especially difficult and filled with trials and loss. This little miracle of a dream reminds me that God is faithful. He is faithful and He hears our prayers, He hears our cries. His answers may not come in our timing but they will come in His. There are times when I have been frustrated, defeated and ready to give up. But two weeks from today I will be arriving in Kenya to put to use $10,000, the exact amount I dreamed and prayed for. I am eternally grateful for all of you who have become a part of this journey along with me, your support means more than I can say. I can’t wait to share all I learn with you when I return.

Asante Sana,

Paige

Remembering My Friends In Kenya

I came across some drawings from my friends in Kenya today. There's nothing like being loved through art and I definitely was. Two little girls in my group drew me in their journals and a friend snapped a shot of the drawings for me. Just thought I'd share them with you all.

I'm hoping to head back to Kenya soon and maybe teach an art class in one of the schools... hopes & dreams...

Thousands of Kiberans Displaced

An article came to my attention yesterday that left me discouraged and saddened. Over 5,000 people in the Soweto region of Kibera have been evicted from their homes with less than 5 days notice. The Kenya government is demolishing their homes to build new government housing. How can this happen, you ask? Kibera is not recognized by the government and therefore all the people who live there are technically living there illegally. The people of Kibera do not have the same rights as other Kenyan citizens, especially when it comes to property.

While I support the Kenyan government trying to create better living conditions for the people of Kibera, I have to think that there is a better way to go about doing it. Over 5,000 people were given 5 days to move from their homes, most with nowhere to go. Some residents didn't hear about the demolition until the bulldozers arrived. The government has provided no contingency plan for the people they have displaced. Yet again, the needs of Kiberans have been pushed to the side. The Kenyan government and aid groups often fail to listen to the actual people of Kibera and impose their own beliefs of what is best upon them.

It is easy for me to criticize and yet I, myself, do not have a solution. The one thing I can do is encourage dialogue. Dialogue and support that comes alongside the people of Kibera and does not dictate to them how they should live their lives.

For more information about what is going on in Kibera and footage on the ground check out this article from The Atlantic Cities.

A Kibera Photo Collage

Helping With A Hug

I am a big fan of Nicholas Kristof, the columnist for The New York Times and co-author of “Half The Sky”. He is in fact my favorite journalist. He illuminates the issues across the globe that I am most passionate about. He has covered Kibera and specifically the work of Shining Hope and The Kibera School for Girls in multiple articles. This guy knows his stuff.

I was overjoyed to come across an article he wrote this week entitled, “A Poverty Solution That Starts With A Hug.” In this article he talks about the release of a recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics based on over twenty years of research. In the study doctors and researchers found that “toxic stress” in early childhood and even in the womb can create life long damage for a child. This occurs because of elevated cortisol levels released when a child is in crisis. The increase in cortisol then changes the chemistry of the child’s brain for life.

The fascinating part of this study is the antidote. Researchers found that best cure and prevention for toxic stress is affection. When a child is held, hugged, rocked, told they are loved, their cortisol levels actually go down.

When I read this article I wanted to shout it from the rooftops because it seemed to be scientific proof of my emotional experience in Kibera. The children we work with are often orphans or their parents are neglectful or abusive. In even the best scenarios the parents are gone all day looking for work. Children are left in the care of other children or to fend for themselves.

When our group of twenty Americans appears for two weeks each year they launch into our arms, fight over who gets to hold our hand and beg us not to leave. They are starved for affection. I often experienced girls who would rather lay with their head in my lap than play with any of the new toys we brought.

It breaks my heart because it is such a simple solution to such an epidemic problem. It costs no money or governmental approval, yet these children go without the fulfillment of one of their most basic needs. I’m not sure what the answer is but I am encouraged that people like Nicholas Kristof are shining a light on this devastating issue. Now go give someone a hug!

To read read Mr.Kristof’s article visit the following link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/opinion/sunday/kristof-a-poverty-solution-that-starts-with-a-hug.html

Please also visit my previous blog post about Mary where I first discovered this great need.

Video Recap

Here's a video recap of our team's time in Kenya! Enjoy!

Kenya 2011 // Ecclesia Hollywood (Kibera) from Aaron Huisman on Vimeo.

An Update on Mary

For those of you who followed my trip last year, you will remember hearing about Mary, the very special little girl who stole my heart with her falling apart shoes and gentle spirit. I wasn’t certain I would get to see Mary this year. We never know which kids will be able to attend camp; family and living situations change constantly in Kibera and we only have the supplies and staff to accommodate 150 children each week.

I tried not to get my hopes up. I knew that regardless I was going to get to spend time with so many amazing children. But I found myself holding my breath as the kids arrived the first day. You can hear their little voices screaming, laughing and singing way before you can see their faces, a joyous cacophony of sound. They rounded the bend and begun sprinting down the hill. Returning kids searching for old friends form America, the new kids looking to quickly make a connection. There are kids swirling all around me and then I saw her running down the hill, her dark round face with a big bashful grin, Mary. In that moment, my heart sighs a breath of relief. So much can happen to these kids over the course of a year, we lose kids to disease and violence, some are orphaned and forced to move in with family members or left to live on the street, little boys and girls face physical and sexual abuse more often than we could ever fathom. I don’t know don’t know the details of what Mary has faced this past year, I probably never will. But in that moment I knew she was safe and happy. She launched into my arms and my heart was bursting with joy.

Like last year, Mary stayed close to my side for the entire week. Her cousin Quinta was also at camp again this year. On the second day, Quinta gave me a note from Mary’s mother, Margaret. We sometimes get requests for money, sponsorship for school, cameras, food, ipods. I braced myself for a request I knew I would have to deny, but this note was different. Margaret simply asked me to come visit her and their home like I did last year. She said she was so grateful I had come back this year and she was praying for my time in Kenya. I learned soon after that Margaret, who has three children of her own and takes care of her niece, Quinta, had also taken on the care of three more children after her second sister had died. Margaret now cared for seven children in a home not even the size of my living room. My heart broke and yet I was amazed. What an incredible, strong woman.

Our team made the trek into Kibera for the first time the next day. My good friend Cecilia, who helps to run Homecare, made it possible for me to visit Mary’s home. We wound our way deeper and deeper into Kibera, where the pathways get narrower and narrower and it is more and more difficult not to step in the waste of garbage, dead animals and human excrement. I began to recognize where we were from my trips into the slum last year. We round a bend into a little 8x8 courtyard surrounded by mud homes. Margaret stood in the doorway of their home and her face lit up. She brought me into a huge hug, tears streaming down her face. Fellow team members and I settled into chairs in her home, as Cecilia helped to translate our conversation. Margaret explained that she had in fact taken on three more children, one who is albino and has a number of health issues. She wanted to know about my life this year and how I was doing. We chatted for awhile and then asked how we could pray for her and her family. Her request was simple, that all of her children be able to go to school and that her relationship with God would be strengthened so that she could show all of the children that kind of love. No prayers for money, or hints that they needed more, prayers for education and relationship. It made me think of my own prayers and how selfish they often were, how little this woman have and her prayers were to be able to give more. I was humbled, heartbroken and completely inspired.

Information is about the children in Homecare is hard to come by but I do know that both Mary and Quinta are attending private schools, which means a real chance at education for them both. Quinta wants to be a teacher and Mary a nurse. I can see them thriving as both. Quinta is the mother hen, always taking care of the little ones and helping the leaders. Mary is a sensitive and caring soul who I am certain will carry a healing touch given the right tools. But what sets my soul at peace is knowing that they have a mother who loves them so deeply and fights for them each day, most children in Kibera are not as lucky. I take with me the hope that I see in their family and the knowledge of what it takes to truly love one another.