Friday in Kenya

What a busy day! Today was filled with gathering as much information as possible on unsponsored children, interviewing teachers, taking pictures of kids already sponsored, buying food for Angel Cottage, and organizing books in the library. The list of unsponsored children is very long and full of need. Two girls stood out to me yesterday. One is a little girl named Claris. She is approximately 6 and deaf. Claris has never been allowed to attend school and was never taught sign language. She came to Humble Hearts this week and is curious about everything. She seems to be very bright and is picking up on the routine, a few signs, and classwork quickly. Another girl I learned about is Laureen. She has been at Humble Hearts for 2 years with no sponsor. She is in Form 2 (a sophomore in high school) and seems to have asthma. She loves to participate in sports, but it's hard because of her difficulties breathing. We will be sure she is able to see a doctor about this. If you would like to sponsor either of these girls, please contact us at patricia@angelcovers.org. As soon as I return, I can send a full bio and picture.

The dedication of the teachers was obvious during the interviews. I had the privilege of interviewing 5 and all love their jobs. They are working for approximately $90 a month, compared to 4 or 5 times that in government schools. One of the deaf teachers was told her entire life by her father that she could not go to school because she was partially deaf. She would sneak out of the house to go to school and when caught, would be locked in. She convinced the neighbor child to rip his textbook in half and give her half his pencil so she could study. After being severely beaten by a teacher because she didn't understand what he was saying, so lost all hearing in her left ear and for years had puss coming out of the other ear. After not passing the national exams to attend college, she worked in the rural areas growing ground nuts to pay for another year of high school in order to fulfill her dream to be a teacher. Against all odds she eventually attended teaching college and is now working at Humble Hearts. We are BLESSED to have her.

These are just a few of the stories I learned yesterday. The dedication of these great people is beyond compare. I'll post more stories when I return, but know you are a part of great things.

Kari

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