The Kenyans are incredibly gracious. They made us feel so welcomed and appreciated. As we walked through the town and villages, they were quick to smile, wave and shake our hands (especially the children!).

The main work project was to build two homes for the poorest of the poor AIDS orphans and their caregivers. AIDS has devastated the middle generation of Africans, leaving over one million AIDS orphans. Neighbors help by taking some children in, but there are limits to what they can do.

Even though we were near the equator, the weather was actually quite pleasant. We got some stiff winds at the top of the hills, but being at a 5,000’ elevation kept us it from getting too hot. Still, the combination of the jet lag, the work and the new environment made the days somewhat grueling. The work itself was fairly basic – lots of mortar work, sawing, hammering and painting. And no power tools!

The homes cost $1,200 to build. They are 10’ x 12’ (roughly the size of a child’s bedroom in the U.S.) and house up to four people. Houses keeps kids off the streets so they can stay dry, stay in school and avoid drugs, prostitution, and diseases. According to the local church group that coordinates the housing program, having a home does incredible things for the children’s self esteem.

One house was for an 86 yr. old grandmother who will live in the house with her grandchildren. Her son and daughter-in-law died of AIDS and sold nearly everything they owned, leaving the children with just enough land for the house.

We also worked on a pavilion-type area for the local hospital to dry clothes in during the rainy season. The hospital provides an amazing level of services to the region. We take so much for granted when it comes to medical care. Things like stitches, casts and antibiotics are medical luxuries for them. The hospital helps prevent more orphans by keeping HIV/AIDS patients alive with anti-retroviral drugs at a cost of only $14/month.

One of the highlights was seeing one of our World Vision sponsor children, a 14 yr. old named Dennis. We have been writing to him for seven years, so he feels like family to us. Meeting him in person was one of my great joys in life. His great-aunt takes care of him because his mother abandoned him and his father was murdered.

I'm with Dennis in the picture on the left, and with his Aunt and cousin in the middle one.  Dennis' friends & family and the World Vision workers on the right.  Oddly, their smiles were beaming until we took pictures.  I'm not sure if it is a cultural thing or if they just aren't used to having their picture taken. 

His aunt served Cokes and we visited for a while and exchanged gifts.  He is such a fine young man.  He leads a prayer group at his school where they ask students for prayer requests.  If you don't have a sponsor child, please consider it.  It is life changing for you and them.

 Being in such a remote location forces you into a “technology holiday” of sorts, with very little access to phone, email, voice mail and any media (actually, that is one of the benefits of the trip!). Still, I used a lot of technology during and after the trip to share with our Kenyan friends and to tell our story when we got back home.

I took my HP portable printer to print pictures for the families we served and the people we worked with. Most of them didn’t own a single photograph, so they were overjoyed to get one. We took a group photo of a few of us with the gentleman at the right. When I gave them their pictures, it was as if they had been transformed into 10 year olds. They just stood there with these huge grins on their faces.  I gave a picture to lady named Ruth and her daughter, and I thought I had started an international incident. She got so excited that she insisted I run down and meet all her extended family.

As mission trips go, the accommodations were actually pretty nice.  Americanized food, beds with mosquito nets and (sometimes) hot water.  The first picture is the front of the hotel.  Yes, that is a cow walking down the street.  The next picture is of the "all-in-one" bathroom.  You could literally stand in one spot and use the shower, sink and toilet at the same time (if you were so inclined). 

I made a music video DVD of the trip for each team member. I used pictures, some PowerPoint slides, music and video to share the purpose and experience of the trip and to encourage others to help our African brothers and sisters. I did this last year and it had a powerful impact on people – laughter, tears, joy and the desire to go on mission trips themselves. The pastor of our church used it instead of his sermon one week, and it was shown to many other audiences as well.  I showed it a couple times at work as well.  If anyone wants to watch it and participate in a discussion about missions or sponsoring children around the world, let me know!

The statistics can be overwhelming. How do you deal with over 1,000,000 orphans? You don’t. You help one, or two or three, then you encourage others to help one, or two or three. When you see the people face to face and talk, laugh, work and worship with them, and shake their hands, hug them, see their circumstances and see how they love their families, it puts life in a new perspective.