The opportunity to stay for a few extra weeks in Kisumu has truly been a gift as it has given me more time to visit with some of the children who are candidates for the rescue center. It also has given me more time to visit other children's homes and really understand what it is we intend to do, how it might evolve, the impact we can truly make, and why we call it a rescue center.
The act of rescuing implies that there is imminent danger and/ or distress and saving this person will prevent injury or death. Each day is a risk and each day is a struggle. Each day is also an opportunity for change. The powerful thing about having a vision focused on rescuing is that we know there is still hope. You can't rescue what has already perished, only those who still have embryonic potential.
I can not continue to write about the center, i.e. the tiling, the latrines, the glass, the paint, the perimeter wall and leave out the other half. Currently, there is a void I have not filled, and that void is the human element of the center. A true look into the innards of the center way beyond the paint work. This blog is the merging of the physical center and the needs of individuals who prompted its need in the first place.
I debated putting a bit of a disclaimer and I think it's worth it. This is not a sad story. These are a real lives in progress with a malleable future. The rescue center has the potential to create new futures.
The act of rescuing implies that there is imminent danger and/ or distress and saving this person will prevent injury or death. Each day is a risk and each day is a struggle. Each day is also an opportunity for change. The powerful thing about having a vision focused on rescuing is that we know there is still hope. You can't rescue what has already perished, only those who still have embryonic potential.
I can not continue to write about the center, i.e. the tiling, the latrines, the glass, the paint, the perimeter wall and leave out the other half. Currently, there is a void I have not filled, and that void is the human element of the center. A true look into the innards of the center way beyond the paint work. This blog is the merging of the physical center and the needs of individuals who prompted its need in the first place.
I debated putting a bit of a disclaimer and I think it's worth it. This is not a sad story. These are a real lives in progress with a malleable future. The rescue center has the potential to create new futures.
This grandmother had 8 children with her husband who has since passed away ( 4 girls and 4 boys). All of her children grew up and all but one boy has since died, mostly from HIV/AIDS. What remains are their orphaned children and a daughter in law (the widowed wife of one her sons) with her children. There are nine grand children all together relying mainly on the daughter- in law. This grandmother though resilient is old, and barely able to walk as there is a large venous ulcer on her foot. The daughter in law is originally from Uganda. She goes to Uganda as often as she can to get bananas to sell and then leaves the money there for the children and grandmother's use. The two tall boys to the right are Derrick (white shirt) at 15 years old, and Collins (black striped shirt) at 12 years old. The left most two children are a girl in pale blue dress named Irene who is 8 years old, and her brother Iyang in the striped shirt is six years old. The children are in school due to the OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) program at OLPS. Derrick and Iyang are HIV positive. Derrick especially is showing signs of growth retardation due to HIV, possibly exacerbated by nutritional deficiencies.
Anastasia, the grandmother, and I were sitting in the passageway between a few semi- permanent one room homes that are fenced in. One of the older boys, not seen here, is obviously drunk, and is also one of the grand children under the grandmother's watch. Anastasia notes that one of the girls is not there and asks of her whereabouts. We are informed that "she has been taken", though what that means no one seems to have a clear idea and much is lost to me as they speak Luo.
The daughter in law is also facing resistance from her neighbors who fear that she will take the land and home when the grandmother is gone.
The daughter in law (in the first picture above) is doing all she can to support her kids and her nieces and nephews. The Rescue Center wants to use its resources to place these kids in a better environment and ease some of the hardship faced by the grandmother and daughter in law. We already know the traps and pit falls that lie ahead for these kids as they grow older, as we have seen it in many other home visits.
I have an ever growing belief in the power of the rescue center to change lives. I have just under 2 weeks left here in country, join us by sharing this or giving a gift at www.stayclassy.org/rescuecenter.
The daughter in law is also facing resistance from her neighbors who fear that she will take the land and home when the grandmother is gone.
The daughter in law (in the first picture above) is doing all she can to support her kids and her nieces and nephews. The Rescue Center wants to use its resources to place these kids in a better environment and ease some of the hardship faced by the grandmother and daughter in law. We already know the traps and pit falls that lie ahead for these kids as they grow older, as we have seen it in many other home visits.
I have an ever growing belief in the power of the rescue center to change lives. I have just under 2 weeks left here in country, join us by sharing this or giving a gift at www.stayclassy.org/rescuecenter.
Evidence of the beautiful paint work that has been done at the Rescue Center!