My third trip to Kenya

This is Andrea Pierce.  I am so excited and happy to be here for my third trip.  I came in 2009 and knew I had to return.  2010 left me again wanting to come back. This year, I have been amazed at how Mary and Wallace's visions have come to pass. The permanent Village 2 school is being built. In 2009, we arrived one week after the tin-walled temporary school opened for the first time. There is now a high school to attend following the previous top grade of 8, which allows the students to complete that education without returning long-term to Mathare Valley and probably stopping school.
The past 3 days, we have run a VBS which has been very successful.  The children have loved each section and it has been wonderful to see them so involved.  Nancy and I have done the crafts which without Melissa's planning would have been impossible; she had each detail arranged perfectly!
Yesterday afternoon, my half of the team made a visit to a man who is Muslim.  He lives with his wife and has grown children who do not live with him.  He was not interested in becoming Christian but was ready to teach his neighbors how to purify the water they drink and to know the true facts about HIV after we taught this man.  A lady we also saw on Tuesday had been taught the water purification by a neighbor we had seen on Monday.  This is part of the vision of the approach to the community members that the Mission of Hope is trying to create. Neighbor helping neighbor.
Today, we visited a shanty where a husband, wife, and 7 children live in a very small space. The only floor to walk on was less than a 6x8 foot rug.  In the middle of the room was a charcoal stove (size of a large pot) where chai tea was bubbling.  The fumes from the coal were strong as the 5month old twins slept on the bed.  Ezikiel  and his wife, Jacqueline sat on the same bed, 3 of us sat on a sofa, one on a stool, and 2 stood while we heard their story:  Soon after the first 2 children were born (now 14 and 12), they went to the home of Ezikiel's parents.  The two children already showed signs of cognitive disabilities. The grandparents said Ezzikiel could remain there but his wife and children would have to leave due to the disabilities.  If he wanted to stay with his wife and children, he would be disowned by his parents.  Because they loved each other so much (and still do) they left.  For the next 8 years, they lived in the woods  where they ate what they could find there.  Then, hoping to make a better life for the family, they moved to Nairobi.  Ezikiel found a job and rented a home where they stayed until they were thrown out in the middle of the night because the children were not toilet trained, and messed in the house due to the disabilities.  Another home was rented for awhile but Ezikiel was injured when he was beaten up and could no longer work.  Just about that time, the twins were born.  A person who owns one on the shanties in Mathare Valley has told the family they can live in this house while Ezikiel looks for work.  He has been looking since April and has found nothing yet. Unemployment is 45% so it does not look good. Ezikiel now has TB, his wife is doing laundry for the only income and one of the twins possibly has a medical problem as well.  Stories like these are frequent in the slums but even though some have given up and turned to drinking and drugs, people like these still try to hope things will change, and attempt what they can do to help that happen. For that reason and so many others, I know I shall leave here again counting the time until my next trip!