Terri Martin

Page 4

Reverend Isaac Katunga, pastor of the Kysila African Inland Church congregation that was donating the land, and his team met with us on Monday. He showed us the proposed Clinic site on the church grounds. We had a formal meeting and handed out assignments of what needed to be accomplished before the contract signing the following Thursday. We needed to see some wells, know the population, prepare the budget, choose the contractor, and meet the Board that would be responsible for overseeing the construction of the clinic.

Once, while we waited for the others, Muthoka and I saw some schoolgirls walking home. One young girl was limping. Muthoka asked her what was wrong and she said that she had a thorn in her foot. All that was needed was to remove the thorn, but there was no place to go to have it removed. My heart hurt from knowing that this lovely child could be impacted for life -- or even lose her life from sepsis. We had no antiseptic or band-aids so we had to settle for an antiseptic waterless soap and instructions on how to care for the wound. The need was obvious. We had to see the clinic operational and soon.

Reverend Isaac, Ron, Jeremiah (one of the Board members), and I hiked the hills looking at wells. The wells turned out to be seeps. Amazing how the Kamba can extract water from nowhere. The children rise early each day to gather firewood and feed the animals, go to school, and come home to gather more firewood, and then water or walk the cattle. There is never a time of rest for these children. There is only work to sustain life. But, they play while they work, they sing, and make games out of their chores. While we were looking at the seeps, we saw children 2 to 5 years of age gathering twigs and sticks into plies along the path to take home for the cooking fires. Others were at the seeps filling containers with water. This process takes significant time as they must first catch the water in cups and pour it into five-gallon drums that they then carry up the side of these very steep hills. Often they share the seep with cattle. While we were at the seep, we saw a cow lapping water as the children collected it from the seep. Education is desperately needed about the day-to-day application of basic health principles.

More family, more food, more trips to see how Muthokašs people lived their daily lives ... we had our own mini-safari. We saw giraffe, zebra, gazelle, and wildebeest. It was just as Muthoka had described only better than I had ever imagined. Tom, Muthokašs cousin, was our guide and we visited his family compound. The compound is surrounded by a circle of thorny brush 10 feet thick to protect them from attack. Tom was telling me of a wound he had on his leg that he had received in an attack. I asked him if it had happened when he was a child and he said "No, last year." The other local cultural group, the Masai, believe that all cattle belong only to them, so they attempt to make off with cattle whenever and wherever possible. Tom and his family are herdsmen and they were attacked for their cattle. Tom showed me some poison-tipped arrows and tried to teach me to shoot ... he creased up with laughter as the arrow feel about 2 feet in front of us.

He decided we should eat.

Tom's wife and mother fed us under a beautiful tree in the compound.

In order for them to prepare us warm milk and eggs, they first had to chop the wood, build the fire, milk the cow, boil the milk, and fry the eggs. Sounds simple but it took nearly an hour. One of the things that most affected me was the number of hours women spend in meal preparation and dish washing. To begin breakfast they are up before light, starting fires, gathering the necessities, and preparing and cooking the meals. Preparing each meal (and there were often only two) takes two to three hours. A feast or celebration consumes a day. No microwaves or McDonalds for these women. They sang and worked together. So joyful and happy; I was so impressed.

On Thursday, the meeting at the church was wonderful. Reverend Isaac had the choir sing for us and gave a beautiful sermon before we dedicated the ground the Clinic is to be built upon. We were all given shovels and picks for the ground-breaking. Reverend Isaac anointed the ground with oils. It was so moving to hear the Bible read in Kamba. Muthoka translated for us, we took tons of photographs, and there were hugs all around. Overwhelmed and moved are poor words for the feeling in my heart.

Back in the church for the business meeting, we signed the contract with the church and the clinic development board for the construction of the clinic. Peter Silla was unanimously approved as the general contractor for the clinic. Construction needed to begin as soon as possible. If we didn't start in early April we could be set back six months by the yearly monsoon rains. The rain plays a big role as all the roads in Mua are dirt and it is all-uphill to the clinic site.

We pledged to have $6,000 sent to Reverend Isaac by April 1st, a significant commitment as we had about $1,000 in the bank and no defined fund raising plan. But, we would do it -- of that I was certain.

Leaving Africa was very emotional for me. First, Muthoka and Ron were staying and I came home alone. Second, I knew the impact of this trip had changed me forever. Never would I look at the basics of life in the same way. Water is the most precious resource on the planet and everyone should be able to have more than a gallon for all their daily needs. Most American families use 250 gallons each day. The disparity between the lives of the Africans and my life seemed so unfair to me. I wept as I boarded the plane. Then in that moment I knew the clinic would be built.

During my time with Muthoka's family, I was privileged to become a friend of a young girl named Mumbua. Mumbua was eighteen and not attending high school. We discovered that she had passed her testing to enter high school but her family could not afford to send her. There is no free education in Africa. Muthoka worked with a local school, we got her books and uniforms, and set in motion one child's higher education. Mumbua writes to me often and her letters tell their own story. She thanks God she has the opportunity to go to school. She shares stories about her days but mostly she asks me to come back.

I am going to Africa again next June [2004] to see the clinic finished and to visit with all of the wonderful people I have come to love. Today we have a building, a roof, rainwater harvesting plans, the outline of a septic system, and are ready to begin the inside finish work. By summer we will be installing equipment and working on staff development.

If I have learned anything in this experience it is to DREAM. Two men have dreams that they shared with each other and together we work for something that is more important than our individual lives. No one can change everything overnight but if each of us does just our little part, big things can happen. Ask the people of the Mua Hills. ♥