Faith, Chickens and goats.

This morning was all about Faith and how the belief in God can get you through anything. This is what we saw from our visit to church. The singing sends out happiness and hope, making you feel joyous of life, even the toughest ones! As the congregation stand up and dance to the worship music, closing their eyes and looking up for god to shower wealth  upon them.

We all had the opportunity to share our prayers and stories infront  of the congregation, i thanked the community for making us feel so welcome, allowing us to fully embrace the Kenyan way of living. I talked about their spirit for life which is echoed through their dancing and singing, along with their faith, these 3 things will stay with us forever.

Shirley talked about how trees have blossom before they bear fruit, sharing the analogy that change has to happen if things are to improve. We can faciliate this change but everyone else needs to play their part. It was a very motivating and inspiration morning.

The afternoon started with a journey to the outskirt of Kisumu, this is where we were to purchase the goats and chickens! As we arrived we were greeted with a whole group of people wanting us to purchase their livestock. We had to hold the chickens on the journey to the slums which was about 30 mins. As we cuddled up to them, bonding with them, we knew they would make a big difference to families. We did name the chickens we were holding as we wished thrm happy lifes in their future homes.

Arriving at the slums the first things you notice is the amount of rubbish and the smell. We walked up very stoney paths to the family home of Emily. Emily was found on the streets by James and are now supporting the rest of the family in staying out of poverty. Evelyn, the mother, is without a husband and relies on the charity bringing them food. She has aids and has passed hiv on to her children, she has medication for this. As we pass the goats and chickens to the family it hits us how this small gesture will make a difference to the quality of life, which is one of the reasons why we wanted to be part of this project. We find presents for the children, two small teddy bears, we will never forget the faces of these children as they look with disbelief that these belong to them.

We visit 3 other families to offer our very small gestures, the homes are all very similar, one room divided into 2 by a dusty sheet. There is seating, benches and small stool in a very confided space, you can see that these are used for beds for the whole family when you see piles of mattresses placed on one side of the hut. Outside one home you get a strong odour of the toilets, when I say toilets they are 3 galvanized huts with a hole in the ground. It is hard to get across in words the poverty of these families living condition are, the pictures only do it a bit of justice. What we noticed what just the amount of rubbish their is around. It makes you realise what these children go home to when they leave nursery.