Upon our arrival we were all overwhelmed, to our surprise, the 150 students had been assembled outside for an awesome greeting for their American friends. There was loud singing and clapping, "Welcome visitors! Welcome visitors!" They were so excited, almost as much as I was. The teachers were introduced and then they led the children in singing a few songs for us. It was beautiful! Hospitality was definitely their specialty, to my amazement a select few students approached us holding a necklace for each of the Americans in their hands. Wow! God was already starting to teach me. This, a people with nothing giving to us just to show their appreciation and to welcome us in. THEY WERE GIVING TO ME? They asked us to bend down, I did so gratefully, they then fastened the gift around our neck and gave us a hug.
After the welcome was finished we were assigned classrooms to teach in and off we were. I was assigned to "top class" (kindergarden). In our class we worked on their english vocabulary and pronunciation, and these kids were bright! It was awesome to see them not only soaking in all of the teaching but being THANKFUL for it... imagine that, seeing education as a blessing (that was God adding another helping of conviction to my plate).
After a while in the class, it was break time. We went into the school yard and started playing. We ran and kicked around a ball and were having a great time. That's when I saw Davidsonson. From a distance I saw him just limping around, so I went over by him and he, like the other children, came up to me to be loved on. Pretty quickly I realized why he was limping. His feet (particularly his toes) were all torn up. He didn't speak english as well as the other children but through a few minutes of working at it I was finally told that he had stumped his toes. I thought "I wouldn't figure a street kid would be limping like that from a stumped toe, surely they are tougher than that." As I took him over to Mike to get a picture with him, I was told the rest of the story. Mike explained to me that, Davidsonson has 'Jiggers.' Jiggers are an insect apparently like a cross between a tick and a chigger. They get under the skin to feed and plant eggs that will do the same. Eventually the jiggers will cause the foot to be deformed and ultimately can result in blood disease. We took him to the infirmary, where there was a volunteer nurse doing the best she could with a first aid kit. There he was treated with peroxide.
Davidsonson was extremely attached to me for the rest of the day. Other kids were all around playing and fighting for attention, but he was not letting go of me, or if he did, it wasn't for long. "Tu babae" or "you catch" is what he would say, he just wanted to be held. If we were walking along he would say "sit sit" and start pulling me down with him. It broke my heart when I realized that the reason he didn't want to walk or stand was because his feet hurt him so badly. This, a tough street kid... couldn't bare to walk any longer. I say street kid because, at the end of the day when school is let out, Davidsonson doesn't go with some of the other kids, who go to the orphanage. He, with many others at the school, lives in Kipsongo where the homes are dirt floored 8x10 tin structures and the children play in the raw sewage as it runs between the homes. That is what causes the jiggers, unsanitary living conditions.
My heart cried out, "What can I do!? How can I help!? What can we do for Kipsongo!?"
Mike told us before we got there that if you aren't careful you can be extremely overwhelmed by the size of the need in Kenya. You have to keep focused on helping through practical ways that can make a big difference. He wasn't lying. The need was great and it got pretty intimidating for a bit. "I can't make a difference here, it's too much, I don't have the money to do any 'great' thing here." But then I remembered what Mike said and tried to refocus. The reality is, the best thing for Kipsongo is happening. There is a Christian school, educating kids there to rise up and lead their nation! And there ARE ways that I can help. Davidsonson needs shoes. I can do that. Granted, that's not a cure for the jiggers, he would have to live elsewhere in order to be rid of them. But MAYBE just MAYBE, a pair a shoes would give his foot protection for a time, not a lifetime, just a little while. And MAYBE just MAYBE Davidsonson would somehow be blessed with a more sanitary home in that time. MAYBE just MAYBE Davidsonson, seeing people who love Jesus do something to help him, would cause him to love that Jesus too.
God doesn't ask us to know for certain how everything will turn out before we act, in fact, he tells us we don't know what the future holds. But he does tell us to act, with faith that He will also.
"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this; to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27
"It MAY BE that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few." 1 Samuel 14:6
