Ndunberi

In Swahili, the word "safari" means a trip, so to take a safari could mean anything from a big game drive to a visit to the store down the street. We had another "safari" while we were in Kenya, this time a visit to the medical clinic that my aunt helped establish and build and which she and my mom have visited on mission trips over the last few years. It was great to see in person what we have only seen in pictures and to understand the history of this clinic and the amazing work they are doing in the community of Ndunberi.

Missy and Edith

The clinic is sponsored by a local church, where our friends Edith and Haran attend. They saw that many of the children in the church were not getting the care they needed and started a child development center. They quickly realized that while the need in the church was great, the need across the community was even greater. They work with Compassion International to provide for the educational, social, and spiritual needs of these children. In order to meet their health needs, they started the clinic. It is incredible to see how God has expanded their vision and continues to meet their needs, providing land, medical equipment, and staff!

At the Child Development Center

After our time at the clinic, we drove through the Central Provence and the Rift Valley up to a national forest, where a group of people who were pushed off their land during the political turmoil of the 1992 elections have been living in "temporary" shacks. Edith and Haran's church had planned to do similar work with the children in the local community there as they were doing in Ndunberi, but they quickly realized that they had to first address the basic needs of this group of IDPs (internally displaced persons). These people literally have nothing. Each extended family only has a 13X13 bamboo shack with no windows and no ventilation. They struggle to find or grow enough food in the forest. It was also freezing cold there, and they are dependent on clothes and blankets donated by charity and NGO groups. Their children suffer from sickness, hunger, and lack of nurturing.

Huts at the IDP Camp

My parents' church has been working with Edith and Haran to provide both immediate relief to these people and to find a long-term solution to their plight so that they can own land again. In fact, only two weeks before we were there, Mom and my Auntie Fay had been part of a team that provides medical care and works with the children at the camp. We were glad to see what they have been doing and how we can both pray for these people and try to help them.

It was also great to meet Edith, who spent the day with us as we headed up to the forest and back to the clinic. We have heard lots and lots about her (and, apparently, she about us), and it was wonderful to get to know her. Having her perspective--and history--on the clinic and the work with the IDP camp helps us better understand what Mom and Auntie Fay have been doing there and will hopefully allow us more opportunities to address their needs.