Dear Sponsors
This is the first monthly email to let you all know that I am still alive and loving in Kibera! I have now been in Kenya for 1 month and I decided it was about time to let you all know how I was doing. I will be sending you a monthly email letting you know what God has been doing here and how I am being used by Him. I want you to share my joys and pains, excitements and disappointments, basically life in general just in a different country :)
April has come and gone. Leaving South Africa early morning, going via Rwanda and reaching Kenya. My first week was spent at a friend's place about 20 minutes from Kibera, and that week was to find myself (which I managed to do, I realised I can't hide very well) and to start to look for place to live. By the end of the week I was in a hostel avidly searching for a long term place to live in. I went to church that Sunday and I ended up speaking to a friend of mine I made last year at Vineyard. On Monday I was put in touch with a friend of hers and we walked around the area called Jamhuri which is about 15 minutes walk away from Haki, in Kibera. I prayed that I would know when I was at the right place, and the first place I saw sat right on my heart (I took it off because it was giving me a heart attack), and after seeing a second place I already knew that the first place was right. Also which was great was that it was not too far from my newly made friend, Lox. He and Ruth (who was from the UK) had been married for just over 3 months and had recently come back from the UK. They are a really fun young couple and it was great being able to touch base with them. I am hoping our friendship grows, as we work around out time schedules. They are both involved in humanitarian work, and when I have been able to it has been uplifting being around them.My house is a complete blessing. It fitted well into my budget, has 2 bedrooms, bathroom, lounge and kitchen. (Photos will come with the next email.) It is on the top floor of an apartment building, and it is not too far away from Kibera but just far enough to separate work from coming home. Speaking of a second room - no one now has any excuse not to come and visit me! I think in all of my life I have not had space of my own like this, and I am so blessed and do not take it lightly. Bit by bit it is filling with needed furniture and electrical goodies.
What has amazed me is that people still remember me from last year. From the local sugar cane seller, the fruit and veggie lady, the metal worker, the 2nd hand shirt salesman, even my soccer shabeen friends. God is good in keeping these relationships fresh. It felt as if I had not been away for as long as I had been. Haki is beautiful, the hearts of my boss Charles and the staff who serve their community so much. All the staff are the same except for two, one being Milli (Millicent) who is in charge of the OVC's (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) and I am working a lot with her due to the OVC program being a big part of my portfolio and passion. I was re introduced to the staff as the Communications Officer and it has put things down strongly as my identity within the staff. They have accepted me and respect my position which is awesome. I am going out with all of the field workers to see what they are doing and to immerse myself in their program so that I can write up reports and share this with Charles and then onto other NGO's and potential donors. I am happy to say that my first report has been done; a report on the first quarter of the whole of Haki. Busy work, and I feel a huge achievement in my first month :)I met with all the children, linked with the old faces and was blessed being around them. Our first big program within April was to get all the children from the area and put them into a fun day that ended up with serving them a full meal. For so many of them it was their first meal in a long time. People were surprised that I was helping serve the kids, but I think it's an Umzungu fall out view. Love the people as if you are being loved by them. That's it really.
So as May begins, I look back into my first few weeks with Haki, meeting absolutely sick bed ridden people and hearing of how Haki's assistance helps them get stronger and leave their bed, seeing children colouring in with donated crayons and colouring in books, and being able to just sit with the local Kiberan people and just being God in who I am. What an honour this is, and I am seeing slowly how Jesus might have been when he was on earth. Being with the people and letting his life talk the truth. I want that, and when I need to talk more about Him, I believe I will have the right words to say. I have found already that as people are hungry for food, bthey are hungrier for the one thing that is not always available. Human contact, a listening ear, and an obvious heart of love that will stay with them no matter when they leave the conversation.And this is why I love being here.
"Preach the gospel, and if necessary use words." Francis Assisi
Grace and Peace
Your friend. Gareth
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