Children and Change

I’m so glad kids go through stages and that they progress through them fairly rapidly. This way the really sucky times when they are very rebellious or do really annoying things don’t last forever. My kids nearly drove me crazy with their jealous bickering when they were home in April, but in June when they were home for half term from boarding school (the norm, rather than the exception in Kenya) they didn’t fight once.

Granted it was only 5 days, but it was HUGE to me. They even made chapati together. Chapati is a form of flat bread that Judie and I have both made with other people but have never tried to make on our own. We made brown chapati because both my kids have problems with acid. Judie did most of the mixing but Omondi got into rolling out the dough and cooking the chapati. I photographed the event as evidence that they can work well together. Just in case they decide to repeat said earlier phase. They also did laundry together twice! Amazing!

Orphaned children often exhibit behaviors such as lack of trust, hoarding and turning inward. I attempt to live in the moment with them because sometimes their growth is so subtle one might miss it. But with every new day I get to see them blossom and learn to trust me a little bit more. I don’t know where our journey will take us but I pray every day to be the best mother I can be and give them the security and love they deserve - the love that every child deserves.

I see so many children here who have no one to care for them and my heart breaks every time. Children should not have to suffer, live on the street, lose their parents to war and disease...I often wonder when the world will realize that by not reaching out to these children we are thwarting the future of this planet. If children are the future it is incumbent on us the “adults” to care for them. Each one, Help one! Or two or three. Don’t turn a blind eye. Reach out your hand and let a child know they are not alone.

Get involved with kids anyway you can. Whether in your own neighborhood through a Boys and Girls Club, through your church or a community center, through an aid organization who helps kids overseas, or any number of non-profit organizations who sponsor the education of children in developing countries. There are so many ways to help children.

Wezesha By Grace has 10 children who are not sponsored. Two of them want to go to college. For about $3,500 a year you can send a Kenyan young person through a diploma college course. That includes all of their expenses as well as their school fees for a 12-month course. This course will position them to get an entry-level position in their chosen field.

You could alter the course of history by giving a child the opportunity to be educated. It's just that simple!