Stories untold

I am in Amsterdam for the next 7 hours, waiting for a plane to take me home. I am alone for the first time in over a month, and it feels empty. I miss my Kenyan family. I miss Kakuko. And, surprisingly, I miss the interdependency that has resulted in strong ties and friendships. As I got on the plane in Nairobi, I was somehow saddened by the other tourists. They came to Nairobi, went on safaris, ate American food in expensive hotels, bought factory-made “traditional” souvenirs, and left without actually seeing Africa. I wonder how they avoided the poverty, the heartbreak, the oppression of minority tribal groups. I wonder how they missed the passion of new leaders and their incredible dreams for the future of their people through sacrifice, perseverance, and unwavering faith in God. But most of all, I think of the individual stories of both hope and sadness, and realize how much they have changed me. These people deserve to have their stories told. They deserve a voice. As my last post, this is what I aim to do. The following people are who I spent my time with in my home away from home.

Nelly 

Nelly’s father died when she was in secondary school. As a result, she was not able to afford to attend university. A couple of years ago, she became a mother, and her daughter’s father left them both. She then began to work as a housekeeper in the home of a man who promised to pay for her to attend computer training school. This promise was not kept, and Nelly ended up leaving this job as a result. Michael heard about her story and has been offering to give her work at his home, helping with housework and giving female visitors (including myself) companionship. Nelly still maintains her dream to obtain computer skills, and I have been able to teach her the very basics. We also sat together, exchanging favorite Bible verses and how they’ve helped us in our lives. Even though the work at Michael’s home has helped a little, it is not nearly enough to provide consistent support for a single mother. Nelly needs to find a full-time job, which is very difficult without education.

Lois 

Lois and her husband are very close friends with the Kimpur family, and have several children. Lois and Angelina went to primary school together, but Lois was not able to complete primary school (I’m not sure why, but probably for financial reasons). Her family moved from Alale to Kapenguria about 10 years ago, and have been struggling to make ends meet ever since. They both make charcoal by going into the forest, cutting down trees, covering the wood with sand, and burning the wood. It is extremely hard work, and has taken its toll on them both. In order to actually sell the charcoal, they have to carry it 2 hours into Kapenguria on foot (they live outside the town), and even then, people may or may not want to buy from them. Lois is extremely talented in making traditional Pokot jewelry, and I commissioned several pieces of jewelry from her to give to people back home. I also found out some information about an organization that provides microloans to Kenyan women, and have been encouraging her to start her own small jewelry business. However, this is a very difficult process, and usually only large groups of women receive microloans. This family needs to find a way to consistently provide for their family; they will likely move back to Alale soon if they cannot find sustainable income.

Kasule

Kasule is a very energetic person, and Michael’s children love him! He also struggles constantly to provide for his wife and two children, and makes his living constructing outdoor toilets. This work is inconsistent, and when he does work, he only makes about $6/day. One of his children is completely deaf, but Kasule cannot afford to pay the school fees for her to go to a special school for those with hearing disabilities. Other schools do not offer sign language assistance, etc.

Kakuko/Grace

This girl is very special to me, and it was extremely difficult to leave her in Nairobi. She told me that she would go with me if there were Pokot people where I live J For her story, see my previous post.

Amos

When Amos was young, he was unable to walk at all. I think this was as a result of polio, which is still very common in the village areas. Being from Alale, a very poor village, his parents could not assist him. They ended up “dumping” him at a World Vision feeding camp in Kiwawa (this was not done for his own good, this was done because his parents did not want to take care of him). This place was where he met Michael. World Vision was able to send Amos to Nairobi to get numerous operations, involving inserting metal plates/rods in his legs, and he was able to learn how to walk! Now, Amos is the only nurse in Alale and started the only clinic there. He also recently started a secondary school for girls in Alale, based on the fact that these girls previous had to travel very far to other schools and it was common that they were assaulted on the way to and from school. He commonly talks about his faith and how it is the only reason he does what he does.

Peter

Peter is kind of like Michael’s “assistant”, which can involve anything from taking pictures to bringing children from remote villages to Daylight. Before coming to work with Michael, he was a cattle rustler. In fact, he was pretty much the ringleader of the Pokot cattle rustlers and fought many times with the Turkana tribe. Michael approached him, told him to stop, and that the only way to provide change in the tribe was through the children and education. Peter did not agree right away, but after a negative cattle rustling experience in which he walked away with a scar on his forehead, he decided it was time to change his ways. He is now one of the most gentle and loving people I have ever met, and is vital to Michael’s mission and the vision of Daylight.

Christine (pronounced “Kristen”)

I think I mentioned Christine in an early post; her father died when she was young, and her mother died last year at the Kapenguria hospital. Their family was neighbors and good friends with Michael and Angelina when they used to live in Alale. When Christine’s mother became sick, she was brought 6 hours from Alale to the Kimpur home, and they rushed her to the local hospital. On her deathbed, she told Michael and Angelina to take care of Christine, and make sure she was able to finish secondary school. Her school fees are expensive (about $400 each term), and it is a struggle finding sponsors for her.

Rachel

I became very close to Rachel, who is Michael’s youngest sister. She is in her last year of high school in Uganda, and around 20 years old. She is a very positive spirit, and Kakuko loves her! Soon, she will take some very important exams, which will determine if she can go to university (and which university she can attend). Her dream is to study nursing so she can move back to Alale to help provide MUCH needed health care in the area. Hopefully she will score high so she can study in America!

Michael/Angelina

Both Michael and Angelina are from Alale (most of Angelina’s family lives in Uganda however), and have incredible stories. You can find details about Michael’s childhood on the Daylight website- http://www.daylightcenterpokot.org/ When Daylight first started, they were trying to help children living in poverty, even though their own family had the same problems at the time. Still, they persisted and were able to slowly build a network of support through Nathan Roberts, the U.S. Daylight co-founder. Even now, they continue to give everything they have to others in need, including each of the people I wrote about above, and especially to Daylight students. There is still a long way to go in terms of making Daylight sustainable, however, which at the moment involves being able to finish buying land for the new school. If you feel like you want to help in any way (not necessarily financially) with Daylight’s vision, I would love to hear from you J

The story of Kakuko

I met Kakuko next to a hut made of sticks and mud. The hut was hand-built by Michael’s mother 2 years ago as she moved around, trying to find better land for herself and the goats. This homestead, consisting of two tiny huts and 11 people, is where most of Michael’s family currently lives and is part of his home village, Alale. I just figured that Kakuko was some neighbor girl, curious about the arrival of a vehicle (rare in those parts) and a white person. She was with two other girls, both of who were carrying babies fastened to their backs with long beautiful scarves. After resting for a couple of hours, Michael decided that we should climb a nearby mountain. So off we went. Michael, Peter, myself, and the three girls in tow. They knew the land much better than us and could navigate around the numerous thorn bushes with ease. We spent most of the afternoon on top of the mountain, and even were joined by several other children and two puppies J After we returned, a neighbor boy who is a goat herder came to me with a big open gash in his leg. I cleaned and bandaged it while the children watched. This act, which I have done so many times in my time here and especially in the 5 days I spent in the bush, started a chain of events I never thought possible.

At the top of the mountain

Kakuko with her sister (left)

Cleaning and bandaging the leg of the boy who herds Michael's family's goats

The following day, Kakuko came to the homestead looking for me. She had the same scarf tied around her head from the previous day, but this time she took off her scarf and showed me what looked like the worst ear infection I had ever seen. It was full of green pus and even her skin around her ear was becoming infected. I told her that I didn’t have the right medicine, but to wait until later that day (Michael was sleeping and couldn’t drive us then) and we would go together to find someone who could help. I also found out that she was an orphan; in that area, this means that there is literally no one else who can either afford or is willing to help her. She is no one’s child so she doesn’t matter.

Within an hour, she was nowhere to be found, and I started to panic. No one was sure where she was living, or how to find her. That night, Michael and I met with his friend Amos, who is the only nurse in Alale, and he told us to bring her into his clinic the next day. So the next morning, as we were heading out (still no sign of Kakuko), we didn’t know exactly what we should do. I was uncomfortable just getting medicine for her because it didn’t look like a normal ear infection. As we were driving to the clinic, we saw two girls standing on the side of road next to an anthill. One of them was her. She had been waiting for us to drive by for a long time. We found space in the car and continued on our way. Seven people in five seats, Kakuko gripping my arm to stop herself from falling and grinning at me the whole time.

Amos, who started the only clinic in Alale. A very good man.

Waiting at the clinic

At the clinic, we found out that she has some kind of growth inside her ear. It is uncertain if the infection caused the growth, or the growth caused the infection. What is certain is that it is completely covering her eardrum, severely affecting her hearing and causing pain deep inside her ear. Eventually she will have to have an operation to remove the growth. We got some medications, and Kakuko got a tetanus shot. The nurse told me that someone had to clean her ear and put new cotton in it every 3 hours, so we decided she would stay with me (and by “stay”, I mean sleep in the truck in the driver’s seat while I slept in the passenger’s seat J). The next day, we were planning on leaving to come back to Kapenguria and it was then we decided that Kakuko would come with us. If she stayed, no one would be able to help her with medication and she would continue to suffer in silence. The infection had started last October, but she had no way of accessing health care until she saw me with a simple first aid kit, bandaging a leg wound. She had been resigned to the pain for the past seven months and was losing her hearing as a result.

We located the family who was letting her stay with them, and they told us to take her as they couldn’t help anyways. We told them about Daylight, and that she could stay and go to school, and they agreed. They told us about what had happened to her family. Her father was killed by a neighboring tribe, Karamoja, in a cattle raid sometime in the late 90’s. At the time, her mother had been pregnant with Kakuko. After her father’s death, her mother remarried a man who also died a short time later. And then, early last year, her mother died suddenly of what seems to have been malaria. She is what is known as a “double orphan” in the Pokot tribe, and is exactly the kind of child that Daylight seeks to help. It was then that I knew the reason I came here. She is the reason. She is the why. I decided to help sponsor Kakuko. I called my sister Amy, told her Kakuko’s story, and immediately she agreed to be a co-sponsor. We also gave her an English name (most people in Kenya have an English name in addition to multiple other names). In Pokot, names are chosen based on the way or place of the child’s birth. Michael was born next to a river named Kimpur, so his name is Michael Kimpur. The name Kakuko means that she was born with the help of her mother’s mother. The only reason for this situation in the tribe is if the father is already gone. The name is devoid of hope and symbolizes the endless pain she has experienced her entire life. Amy, Michael, Rachel, and I chose the name Grace because it was truly an act of grace that we found each other.

The older woman who was taking care of Kakuko

Finding out about what happened to Kakuko's family. This man was the person who gave permission to us to take Kakuko to Kapenguria.

On the road to Kapenguria

In the last few days, we have been here in Kapenguria, helping Kakuko to adjust to life outside the bush. It has been a pretty funny experience. From going to the bathroom, washing her hands, even entering other peoples’ homes without an invitation to come in, Kakuko has a lot to learn about living here! There are so many differences between living in Alale and living in Kapenguria, and she has been so fascinated and curious at everything she sees. She truly is a fish out of water at the moment. She does not have any belongings; even the clothes she was wearing have to be returned to Alale since they were borrowed from a neighbor. So yesterday, we went shopping and she was able to own clothes for the first time in at least a long time. We also took Kakuko to meet some Daylight students and teachers. She seemed pretty shy at first, especially since she doesn’t speak Swahili, only Pokot, but she is a fast learner and has already shown that she can adjust quickly.

In her new clothes. She was so excited about them!

We have also been to see a couple of doctors here, and have had to travel to three different cities to find the rare antibiotic she needs. Her ear has not shown much improvement, and I have continued to clean it every 3 hours and give her medication. Today we will go to a specialist in Kapenguria to see if there’s anything more that can be done at this time.

My favorite picture, taken on the way to her new home.

UPDATE: This morning, as I woke Kakuko up to clean her ear, I noticed that I couldn’t see the growth at all! It must have burst during the night, which means she won’t need an operation. We will still see the doctor today to fully clean everything and get more medication for the infection, but as of now, Kakuko says she can fully hear and there is no more pain. If she would have stayed in Alale, she never would have healed and would lose her hearing completely.