Hiking Boots

I’m quite busy these days so I’ve decided to take the day off to catch up on some things and relax. I’d like to share with you about my recent days at Exodus with Elijah and Jessica. I really appreciate them and I am so thankful that they allow me to accompany them wherever they go. This is how an internship should be: completely involved.

Today Elijah and Jessica (at Exodus) are traveling to a place called Kiboko. Kiboko means hippopotamus in Swahili, but they aren’t going there for hippos; they’re going for land. I went with them last week to Kiboko because they’ve leased an acre of land indefinitely to grow crops and raise money for the Center. It is quite far from the Center, but the acre will have irrigation and the soil is good for farming. We are going to raise watermelons (maintained by a garden keeper, not Exodus), which can be sold for up to about 65 cents in Nairobi. Hopefully, one season will yield between $1000 and $3000 profit. I’m excited about this new source of sustainable and practical income for the Exodus because it is vital for the school fee demands.

On Friday, we traveled far again, but this time it was for what we call a child situation analysis. Exodus has many orphans on their waiting list for support or to live in the Center, however currently the Home cannot accommodate any more boarders. We went to visit the home and school of a girl who has been waiting for a year. We talked with the girl, the principal of her school, and her aunt who is the present guardian. We recorded information about the girl’s situation and her needs. We had to “hike” to the home located in beautiful, but steep hills (or mountains? who knows), under the hot afternoon sun. As we walked with the girl to her home, I was thinking about how hiking boots would be more appropriate for the terrain than my Converse All-Stars, but then I looked down and noticed that the girl didn’t even have shoes. I was satisfied to see that the girl at least had a home to stay in, but we came to know that beyond this shelter, the things inside, and food, the girl’s aunt is able to provide little else.

Something that really hit me about the reality of orphans is that they are completely vulnerable. The survival and well-being is left completely in the hands of whichever relative or neighbor is willing or able to take care of her. I tried to imagine being in such an inconsistent environment, where I am dependent on people who have no obligation to my well-being, as parents would. Sometimes family members want nothing to do with the orphans left behind and they chase them away, such as this girl’s other uncle did. There is no such thing as foster care, so when orphans are left, family members usually take care of the helpless and hopeless children. This is the best situation for orphans usually; however in some cases this is not possible and such children end up in children’s homes or on the streets.