Chazon- a Place of Vision

This has been a good week here in Molo. It has been a busy week adjusting to life and seeing the town and learning about life here. I worked at the school a couple days and met the teachers and students. Now the challenge is to learn 200 names!

Lucy and Samwel, the directors of the school, have graciously welcomed me into their house and I am overwhelmed with how well they take care of me. I love learning from them and learning how to do life here. Being in a home, rather than a volunteer among other volunteers, means that I get to learn to cook and clean African style, which I am looking forward to. Lucy has shown me all the places she shops in Molo so I can go on my own and buy milk (which is bought daily since there is no refrigerator)or meat (you only buy from people you trust because the meat hangs in a window until it is sold) or go to the general store to pick up bread. This may sound like a small thing, but at WWB, I was always with someone else and there was a general distrust of whoever you don't know. Here, Lucy and Samwel pastor a church and run a school and are working to build up their community. They share with me their vision and their struggles and encourage me to get out and get to know people. It is such a different feel. I already feel more at home here after one week than I did after a month. It probably helps that I am used to the culture already since I have been in Kenya for almost three months. While this week has been spent adjusting and a little bit of teaching, from now on, I will be doing more work at Chazon Children's School, which is a school started by Lucy and Samwel.

Chazon, which means vision in Hebrew, is a school for street children in the town of Molo. To understand the school, you need to know a little of the story of Molo. From what I understand, the lands surrounding Molo were some of the hardest hit by the violence that ensued after the elections in 2008. You cannot be in Kenya long without hearing about this violence. Thousands of people were displaced and many people fled their farms and ended up in Molo. Leaving a farm means leaving a food source for many people. Poverty on a farm still can grow a little beans or maize, but to take that poverty and move to town means taking away your food supply. This is what happened to many families during the tribal clashes over land and the violence that came in 2008. This influx of families and people (I think sometimes even just the children would come to town) brought an increase in needy children- many who were at risk of being in the streets or were already in the streets and needing rescuing.

You also cannot understand Chazon without knowing Lucy and Samwel's story. They ran a popular restaurant in town for many years. As time went on, more and more children from the street were coming and asking them for food. Finally, they decided to do something about it. They closed down their business and separated the restaurant into shops that now provide a small amount of income for them, which they use to pay the teachers at the school. They sold several of their land investments to build a school and the started out. They have literally given up almost everything financially but will say loud and clear that these children are worth it. Providing and education to these children (and hopefully many more through the years) is more fulfilling to them than making money and running successful businesses.

They are such an example to me and other volunteers that come. Their vision is contagious and there are many volunteers wanting to spend time here this summer. It is so great to see change happening in children's lives and in their families by helping out with the schooling of their children.

I am looking forward to learning to cook now that I am living with a family. So far I have learned to make tea and ugali- both staples for life here.

Enjoy your part of the world wherever you are. Here at the equator, God is good and life is fun.