Hearts4Kenya

HeartsforKenya’s annual trip to Oyugis, Kenya was in two parts this year. A group of fourteen – 5 doctors, a nurse, and 8 volunteers – departed on June 4. A group of nine – 5 students and 4 adults – departed with me on June 11.

The doctors and nurse, along with the other volunteers, were able to see and treat hundreds of adults and children during their 2 week stay. They worked at the Wire Clinic and were able to go to 5 schools and treat the students. They treated everything from cuts and worms to AIDS and leprosy.
They also visited a few farmers and schools supported by HeartsforKenya, helped many people, and made many new friends during their stay.

My group of students and adults spent a good deal of time visiting the farmers and 20 schools supported by HeartsforKenya. The students spent a good amount of time talking to the high school students they visited and playing with the primary and preschool students. One of the projects the students completed was fencing in a vegetable garden for the Special Needs School in the Wire community. (The chicken was eating the vegetables!) In the 20 schools HeartsforKenya supports there are 8,062 students. Because of the farm program in the schools the students are able to have one meal a day in school.

The farmers in our co-op will be harvesting their crops, corn, beans, sweet potatoes among others, in July. The rains have been good this season and they are expecting an excellent harvest.

The group also repaired a swing set for the 200 students at the preschool at Amani. The swing set was first built in 2001. It needed help after 10 years of hard play. The group painted the outside eating area at Amani. They also spent time on a farm learning how beans are threshed and how to milk cows and goats.

The group also visited the St. Matthew’s Kids at Rongo. Many songs were sung and soccer balls kicked. The new hall and kitchen look great. They were cooking for the orphans on their new stove. The cook told me it really was better than the open fire they had been cooking on. The orphans looked good and healthy. We enjoyed our time with them.

The group did an excellent job on the projects they worked on and learned a great deal about life in Kenya. The greatest thing they did was to meet Kenya people and build new friendships.
Because of you, the 2 groups that went this year, and the many others that have gone over the years, are changing the lives of the people of Oyugis, Kenya.

Kenya Bound!

Bricks used to build the church

Our third project will be working with schools in the area. We will have an opportunity to teach Bible stories, crafts, songs and games and we will do some small construction work and painting.