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Bishop Samuel, a dear friend to us all, shared this picture from rural Kenya.  Out on the edge of the economy, survival is a daily task and not an easy one.

Samuel tells us, "We started the church under a tree. I helped build this shelter of mud and sticks. Am sowing to built a permanent blocks building very soon." 

When I asked if we could contribute to their building fund, he replied, "Thanks Brian my friend. This area is very remote, the church offering each month is $3; the pastor helps to teach children under this shelter. She gets $20 from the small fees she charges. She told me she borrowed money to buy 2000 blocks. That touched me. I pledged to help. Any help available will really help them."

Welcome to the real world where folks live on $2/day or less. Samuel has established a couple of dozen churches, all in places where they're needed.  They provide a community center where folks can work together and help each other, where children can be taught, and where lives can be changed.  All practical, all real world useful.

Interested in helping a bit?  Drop me a note (contact the author - in the sidebar) and I'll provide a church through whom you can contribute and get your charitable contribution tax deduction.  

Or if you want to go see for yourself, I'll introduce you.  Chance of a lifetime.

Through the eyes of an 18 year old ...

Katie and family.  Read their story here.

the classroom i teach in is between the animal feeding grounds and the pit latrines, so my classroom is constantly filled with the smell of waste, animal and human.

the weather is stifling here; the moment i step out of my icy shower, i begin to sweat.

i sleep under a mosquito net to avoid getting bit by mosquitoes infected with malaria among other diseases, but i still cant avoid ants and crickets in my bed.

in my bathroom lives a rat the size of a house cat and there are a few bats in the shower. this morning i almost grilled a lizard in my toaster.

for lunch and dinner we eat posho, which is corn-flour boiled in water until it is thick and pasty. it tastes a little worse than elmer's glue.

fred, my piki man is almost always late, sometimes runs into cows, runs out of gas, or forgets to warn me of impending pot holes.

when i walk home, i am hit on by at least ten disgusting, crude men, most 20 years older than me.

when it rains, the awful roads turn into muddy swamps, making it nearly impossible to go anywhere.

sometimes, the children are so dirty they actually reek; it is impossible to touch them without becoming filthy,

with the wind blowing red dust everywhere, it is impossible not to be filthy anyway.

a rooster crows around 5 to wake me up; that is if i haven't already been up all night with a sick baby, or getting sick myself.

and to you, those sound like complaints. they are not; this is me, rejoicing in the Lord. because you see...

Katie and family.  Read their story here.

i love my tiny classroom. i love the hot sun on my face. i love my bed, cozy under my net after a long day. i love my home sweet home, all its creatures included. i love fred, my piki man. i love my long walks home, day or night, rain or shine. i love the beating, cleansing african rain. i love my african meals, prepared with such love and generosity. i love to be hugged and touched and jumped on and cuddled by the dirty street children. i love the cool, dusty breeze in my hair. i love every african sunrise, the cool and calm of a new morning. i love each and every day, each and every moment that i spend in this beautiful country; i rejoice in each breath that i take.

In December of 2006, 18-year-old Katie Davis from Brentwood, Tennessee, traveled to Uganda for the first time. She was immediately captivated with the people and the culture.

In the summer of 2007, Katie returned to Uganda to teach Kindergarten at an orphanage. As she walked the children home, she was shocked to see the sheer number of school-aged children walking along the road, playing with their friends, washing their families’ dishes, or digging in the fields. She learned that most schools in Uganda require school fees for attendance, making impoverished families unable to afford an education for their children. God laid it on Katie’s heart to start an Education Sponsorship Outreach matching orphaned and vulnerable children who are unable to afford schooling with sponsors anywhere in the world. A annual gift of $300 enables one child to go to Christian school and provides the necessary school supplies, 3 hot meals each day, spiritual discipleship, and medical care. Originally intending to have only a handful of children in the sponsorship program, Katie had 150 signed up by the end of 2008. Today the program sponsors over 700 children.  Her personal story and book, here.

The New School Year

 

In western Africa, our scholarship project is underway for the fall semester.  Staying in school is hard for many.  Parents have to choose between food and school, sometimes.

Supplies accumulate at STeP UP in

preparation for the project startup.

STeP UP is the NGO on site; they identify the ones who need a hand, then provides school fees, uniforms and shoes, and some assistance for the family.

Education is a key part of the way forward for these folks.  

Join in; it's tax deductible.  Around $60 does it for one child, and it's a big deal.  Email or IM me for the details.

Delivering family photos from

 the preceding year.

Friends from Pantufo, the 'rowdy neighborhood'; it's a 

fishing village right on the beach on the northeast coast,

maybe 5 minutes from my work site. It's among my 

favorite places in the world.

Latest photos of growing kids ...

Grandma and her kids cutting up for

the camera.  Again.

And if you'd like to visit the country and meet some of the world's nicest folks, we'll introduce you around.  For a $60 donation, we'll tell you all about it!  :)  

Purpose in Life

photo credit ashley kitchen

Ashley and her sister Louise spent two months in Tanzania volunteering at LOHADA. The organization's Camp Moses and Camp Joshua provide food, schooling and shelter for kids in need. Hundreds of kids are on their waiting list, hoping to escape the death-grip of poverty.

From the sisters' blog:

"A few nights ago, I was invited to join the kids at the orphanage while they said their goodnight prayers. What I experienced was nothing like I have ever seen before. These beautiful children, some the same age as my nephew Theo, ages 2 to 6 sang such beautiful songs with big smiles on their faces in a large circle. Kids pushed their way to sit close to me….as we sang these songs I had no idea what we were singing but my heart was so happy to be with them. Yet I was so broken thinking these kids should have a mom and a dad. They are lucky to have Lohada but it still made me so sad. Then they started worshiping the Lord….with their eyes closed and hands lifted up…I felt the love of Jesus so strongly as tears streamed down my face. And if that wasn't moving enough, they soon after went into a prayer time when all these baby kids started pressing into Jesus, crying out to Him….I Joined in. Before you knew it half of them were on their knees crying out to God. These kids have hardly anything but what they do have is the best thing a person can have…a relationship with Jesus!"

"This is what I believe is our purpose in life. To receive Jesus’s unconditional Love and then in return give it back to Him by sharing it with others."

If you're curious, read the rest of their story here.

If you're hovering at the poverty level in America, you're in the top 30% of the world's rich folks.  It's hard to grasp the reality faced by most of the world and especially by children like these who have nothing at all.  They, more than we, can pray with a genuine heart, "give us today, bread."

Grant me, Lord, neither wealth nor poverty lest I in my comfort think I have no need of you, or in want decide to take from others and spoil it all.

Progress takes time

Dignified young gentleman (left), stands overseeing the family corn.  Having completed the first grade this year, he's well begun.  We first met when he was much smaller (right).

He was three years old back then; a nice fellow from a good-hearted family.  He'd lost his dad in a traffic accident that crippled his mom.  Living in a small family group of sisters and cousins and brother on the edge of the city, they'd been evicted a couple of times as the wealthy expanded their influence into the area.  An extraordinarily difficult circumstance for all; Kenya has lost much of its tourist business (and available work) following terrorist events in Nairobi and Mombasa.  With 80% unemployment, there's no assurance of survival; life is precarious.  This young man and his family are among those who made it this far.

Precious friends

Arriving at their house; the kids met me and ran off with my cameras before I could even finish saying hello.

I didn't understand the world when I arrived in Africa for the first time.  This rather large family took me in and taught me more than any schooling I'd had.  Nice folks, typical for their culture; hospitable and accessible.  We could learn a lot from folks like these.

We have a new baby boy since last

 time you were here!

That, and it's less than a mile to the palm-lined beach, and it's 85 degrees and sunny pretty much year 'round.

Walter's girl, grown 

so much.

New family additions come for photos.  I'll deliver prints next time I'm in country.

Survival is the primary concern here in Sao Tome & Principe.  Income per household is perhaps around $60 or so per month, so everybody works all day, every day.  And they share common tasks like childcare, cooking, and water carrying.

Join us in helping folks along if you like.  We work through a local NGO, STeP UP Sao Tome.  Family assistance, education sponsorship, small business and small project finance.  You're welcome to join the family, and if you'd like to visit, we'll introduce you around.