The Crocodile and the Hare

Check out the nutty plot from a popular second grade kids book we've come across as we've been reading to the kids at Beacon Academy:

Crocodile and Hare are friends. Crocodile invites Hare over to hang out for the evening.  They start drinking beer, each with a long straw into a communal pot in the middle of the hut.  Crocodile overdoes it, and, to quote the book, "gets drunk.  Crocodile gets very, very drunk."  Hare wisely paces himself.  When Crocodile finally passes out, Hare faces a vexing moral dilemma: should he eat Crocodile's eggs, laying so tantalizingly next to the riverbank?  He "thinks and thinks and thinks."  

Apparently his inner wrestling ends quickly, as the next page shows Hare sitting on the riverbank with a very, very fat stomach and food coma setting in rapidly. When Crocodile finally wakes, clearly feeling it from the previous night's excesses, Hare asks him to give him a ride back home across the river.  Crocodile sluggishly agrees; Hare has nearly pulled off his crime. 

Halfway across the river, Crocodile's son swims up, frantically yelling that Hare has eaten the next generation. Crocodile, still too hung over to hear well, asks Hare what he is saying. Hare, ready, like the Grinch, with a lie, tells him that his wife wants him to hurry to the other side.  Crocodile buys it, despite repeated protests from his son. Finally, yards from the river bank, Crocodile catches on, flips Hare into the water, and bites his leg.  Still slow to understand, he again buys Hare's story when he tells him that he is foolishly biting into a log and should let go.  The story ends with a picture of Hare, safely in his house, giving the audience a thumbs up and a big grin.

I have no idea whether or not this is a typical African kids' story.  It's for sale at a local bookstore at a mall, and I think there's a whole series of stories with the upstanding Crocodile and Hare.  Let's hope that Disney doesn't import these lovable guys for major American consumption...

PS Another favorite quote from a later Crocodile story about Monkey: "Crocodile's wife likes eating mangoes. Crocodile's wife likes eating monkeys, too."

Meet Joseph

Tuesday was a huge day for the Hicks family. For the last two years, we have been sponsoring a young man named Joseph as he has been finishing high school.  Joseph, whose mother died when he was younger, has been living in the Kware slum vicinity with his grandmother and 2 younger siblings.  His dream was to go to the University of Nairobi.  When Katherine and I visited Beacon in 2011, Dorcas in the social development office told us that Beacon was trying to support him at the local school, but he had no sponsor and was struggling to meet the costs of his education. Having seen the beauty and worth of these people first-hand, what else could we do?  We signed up to fund his ventures (through Beacon) at approximately $60 per month.

Ever since then, we have been praying for Joseph and wondering what he is like and how he was doing. Since we hadn't met him, he was this big mystery in our lives.

That changed Tuesday. As I walked up to the main office during a break at the school, Dorcas approached me with a smiling young man at her side.  I didn't catch on at first, but as we got close, I got it: this was Joseph!  Holy cow! What a moment!

Joseph had successfully made it to the University of Nairobi and was in the middle of his first year. He made the hour-plus trip on one of those crazy "mutatus" (a jam-packed minivan) to visit with me. I was honored and humbled. As it turns out, Joseph is doing great at university.  He is studying chemistry and "double-math" (not quite sure what that means) and having great early success.  He hopes to graduate and then get a masters in accounting, after which he has big entrepreneurial hopes of starting his own business that involves science, math, and research.  I was impressed by his sharpness, togetherness, and readiness to take advantage of the opportunities that God is giving him. He was also poised and polite in a somewhat awkward situation. 

We spent the better part of 2 hours together, sharing a meal and hanging out and learning about each other's lives and our families. What an amazing privilege - to think that silly old me, goofball from Durham, NC, was 9,000 miles from home, spending time with an extraordinary young man who is, by God's grace, overcoming odds that I've never had to face - and I was getting to be a part of it all!  God is so good and generous. Jesus' words in Luke can't but come to mind: "Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap."  

A number of us on the team have had a chance to meet and spend time with our sponsored children. Folks from Durham and the Bible Church sponsor quite a few youngsters through Beacon, at the Academy and beyond.  Beacon needs more help, though. Of the 172 students at the Academy, half attend on full scholarship.  Of that half, only 25-30 are being sponsored.  Would you be able to help?

If you'd like to start sponsoring one of the Beacon children or get more information, contact Bill Stevenson at whstevenson@gmail.com, and he will quickly get you connected. May The Lord provide for these incredible children, and may we get to be a part of it!

Relational Poverty

Written by Lorene Tripp

I am so thankful to be here in Kenya. It is a privilege to experience the Kenyan culture. I have been struck by how relational the people are.  Relationships take a higher priority than getting things accomplished. 

Here is an example from the week: one morning, when we arrived at Beacon of Hope, I left my water bottle in the van, and I grew extremely thirsty. I asked someone working in Beacon's clinic if there was any bottled water available. Immediately, Jane Wathome, Beacon's founder and director, volunteered to take me to the van.  Jane has many responsibilities, yet she was willing to give me her time. We talked for about an hour about her vision as the founder.  I at one point said that I was sure that she had a lot to do now, but she reassured me that our time together was very important to her. 

I had a similar experience when talking with Elizabeth, the Academy's head teacher. She was very willing to answer my many questions about our sponsored child. As we spoke, I realized that many Kenyans are materially poor, while many Americans are relationally poor. 

Here is one more example.  Today was graduation at the university where we are staying. There were 95 graduates, and when I made a comment to a board member (also staying at the guesthouse) about how many chairs were set up for the ceremony, I was told that sometimes whole villages show up to support the graduate. Could you imagine your whole neighborhood showing up for your special day?  

The question I am asking myself is, how do I become more relational in a busy society? Am I too busy?  Why am I so busy, and why are so many others around me the same way? Is my identity based in what I am getting done? What if I got less accomplished but had more time to enjoy other people?

I do not have any answers. All I know is that the relationships I've developed this week with Kenyans and my team members have brought me great joy. 

Visiting in the Kware slum

Beacon of Hope is situated within a stone's throw from the Kware slum. We visited a few of the homes of families working with Beacon on Tuesday.  Out of respect for the community, we took few pictures, but I'll do my best to post a few when I get access to them. The squalor is pretty startling: piles of trash rotting at every turn, fetid ruts of filthy water, terrible smells of every type, small fires in the middle of the street, goats roaming and snacking on refuse, and ramshackle, rickety low-hung aluminum structures that hold a sofa and maybe a bed. 

For all the squalor of the neighborhood, the people were beautiful beyond belief. We met Doreen, a single mom with 3 kids, including 6-month old Brian.  She lives in a tiny, dark square of metal, but her spirit and smile are beautiful. She hosted our team of about 8 in her 1-room dwelling with kindness and courtesy.  She told us about her life and how Beacon is working with her to help her develop independence and raise her kids healthily.  She has a heart-knowledge of how she relies on God every day to fulfill our needs.  She is under no illusion, as I and many in my posh suburban community are, that she's got it all under control. She is deeply, deeply grateful for what she has. She knows what it means both to give fully and receive fully. In these ways she is much closer to the truth than I am.  We were also privileged to be asked to pray for her.  It was a humbling experience, as we fumbled to find the right words to bless this woman in a way that wasn't blind or arrogant or just ignorant and insensitive. God was graceful to us all, though, as we shared a sweet, emotional prayer together. If you are the praying type (and maybe even if you aren't!), say a prayer for Doreen, Susan, Elijah, and the myriad other people in Kware who know what it means to suffer, and therefore, as Jesus said, know courage and comfort.

PS Some good news: after this visit, 2 team members decided to sponsor 2 of Doreen's children to attend Beacon's academy!  Some prayers get answered quickly...

Doreen's dwelling. She and 6 month old Brian are on the right. 

Meet Elijah

Elijah is one of the second grade students at Beacon of Hope Academy.  I've had the privilege of connecting with him over this last week.  It began with a little magic trick I showed him, making a rock disappear. He ate it up and was first in line any time I started up with the antics.  You may notice that Elijah's arms are oddly formed; he is lacking most of his lower arms and fingers. The awesome thing is that Elijah seems completely comfortable with himself and self-confident. He is totally integrated into the work and play of the academy. I sense a delightful self-confidence in him; he's unfazed by his arms and finds ingenious ways around the limitations. For example, all week he has been practicing the magic tricks and demonstrating his latest attempts to me, picking up rocks and manipulating them with enthusiasm. 

He also reads eagerly, about which I am most excited. During many of our mornings, the teachers are pulling children aside for extra reading help with members of our team (from the adults all the way down to 11 year old Maya). To my delight, I got to read with Elijah. We worked our way through a story about Crocodile and Hare*, and Elijah impressed me with the good start he has towards literacy. He is developing the skills to help him succeed as an adult, and he is also getting an abundance of love and attention every day, which I think helps account for his self-confidence, happiness, and security.  I don't know Elijah's home situation, but many of the kids at Beacon Academy are living in deep poverty, often with families missing a father and homes that lack electricity and running water.  In spite of all this, thanks to God's grace, Elijah has a chance to grow up healthy and whole.  

*ask me about the crazy plot of this 1st grader book some time later

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Well-checks at Beacon Academy

Our medical professionals are giving a thorough examination to each kid at Beacon this week.  

Lessons at Beacon of Hope Academy

This post is being written by Wesley via Walker's iPad...  

The kids on our team have done a great job of integrating into the school over the past few days.  When we arrived on Tuesday during recess, they were instant playground celebrities.  Each of our kids was surrounded by groups of children all wanting to hold their hands and lead them around the playground.  The energy was a bit frenetic, but they seemed to handle all the attention surprisingly well.  Yesterday and today they had a chance to participate in class time and were also invited to join the students in the cafeteria for "porridge", the morning snack which is something like fermented cream of wheat.  They politely took a sip, but declined to finish.  

At lunch each day those of us at the school have regrouped with the rest of the team at the main BOH building.  Today we had a small moment of panic when we were heading to lunch and we couldn't find Amelia. (Grandparents who are reading this, be assured she is FINE, and this took place on the campus of Beacon of Hope which is a gated and guarded location.)  In any case, she wasn't with us, she wasn't on the playground among the BOH children. Trying to remain calm, I started asking if anyone had seen Amelia. Yes!  Someone had! The head of school, Teacher Elizabeth, said that she had seen her going off to lunch with one of the classes. "She was at the front of the line leading the class," she said.  I hightailed it down there, expecting Amelia too be on the verge of tears, but when I walked into the lunchroom, I found her sitting at a table, chatting with her new friends--her cheerful six year-old face smiling among a sea of beautiful Kenyan ones.  And she had cleaned her plate!  Afterward Teacher Elizabeth joked that we owe her some school fees if Amelia is going to be enrolled.  ;) 

Needless to say I am taking more than a few lessons from this experience:

(1) Parental communication about our children's whereabouts needs improvement.  ;)

(2) The Lord loves my kids even more than I do, and their safety ultimately rests with Him, not with me.

(3) He delights to use these little ones--both Kenyan and American--to display His glory.

Sending love to everyone back home!   Keep those prayers coming!

-Wesley