Each term students and staff of RVA journey for a day out into the community to share and assist people in projects beneficial to them. Through service to others, the hope is that Kenyans will see that this group of Christians in Kijabe not only talk the talk, they walk the walk as well. Yesterday, Saturday, all grade levels fanned out from RVA to engage in a variety of activities designed to help others. Ian joined a group of students and staff going into the forest above campus to plant trees as part of a conservation program to reforest the area; Lyndsey journeyed down into the valley and visited an orphanage. The rest of the Hazard clan drove in a school bus with a group of students to Naivasha and the House of Hope. Upon arriving at our destination, Jeff expertly piloted the bus up the long, rugged road pictured below to the green roofed orphanage building perched at the top of the hill in the photo.
Grandma, pictured here, is greeting some of the orphans living at HOH. A couple of the students in the group are saying "Hi" also. Our group brought equipment for outside games which the HOH kids love to do when visitors come. House of Hope is supported through The Heart of the Bride missions program headquartered in Florida. Churches such as ours and our daughter church, The Journey, support HOH either directly or through H of the B.
The orphanage is operated by Kenyan husband and wife team Joel & Susan. Joel is a graduate of RVA and always has had a heart for orphans even while a student at the academy.
Out front in the big yard of the orphanage the students and orphans engaged in several activities with one another including hula hoop and jump rope. In addition, frisbees were being tossed and games of tag were being played. Some of the orphans enjoyed just watching others and talking with the RVA students. Kids of all ages were having fun with each other. I couldn't help, but think of the Biblical passage Mark 10:13-16.
Out back of the HOH, Jeff and a group of the boys were engaged in combat using foam noodles. The loud sounds of "Slap!" "Slap!" indicated a lot of aimed blows were striking their target: namely Jeff. The guys were having a great time and smiles and giggles indicated so. And ... look...
no electronics of any kind were needed to have fun.
While the orphans played with the RVA students and staff, HOH staff were in the "kitchen" (actually a separate building) preparing lunch for the kids. The slightly blue cast to the picture is the result of the wood burning stove in the corner being used. There is no Kenya version of OSHA to check on the environmental safety of workers.
Here the young cook is preparing mandazis, a type of Kenyan donut with no filling. Flat pieces of dough are placed in a frying pan filled with oil. The dough immediately inflates like a balloon. After the inflated dough turns golden brown, the mandazis are placed in another pan to cool and allow the grease to drain away. Mandazis are a staple for many meals and despite their simplicity taste pretty good. They are a little greasy, but don't worry about your cholesterol.
2010 was the last time we visited HOH. Then Joel was attempting to have a bore hole (well) drilled in order to have a water supply on sight. At the time he was frequently driving a pickup truck with two large plastic water tanks in the bed to Naivasha to purchase water. The bore hole proved unworkable after drillers went down over 160 meters and found no water. The alternative was to bury a water storage tank underground, pictured here under the cement slab, and collect rain water runoff from the various building roofs and direct it to the storage tank. A pump then pumps the water up to the black storage tank next to the orphanage for use in the building. During dry spells water is still brought by truck and put into the underground storage tank.
This is the new science/computer building at HOH. Our daughter church, The Journey, was instrumental in getting this building constructed. Not only HOH children attend the school, but neighborhood kids pay tuition and come to the school also. This tuition helps offset educational costs at the HOH.
The children's Sunday School classes at our church, Lakeside Baptist, collected money to buy two milk cows for the orphanage about three years ago. These are the two cows today, bigger and healthy. As can be seen, there is plenty of room for additional cows in the new covered livestock area. Contributions are welcome. Contact me.
Some of the food consumed at HOH is home grown in the shambas shown here. When rain is plentiful, crops are good and food expenses are down. When rain is scarce, costs for food and water go up. Budgeting for these essentials are a challenge.
The kitchen staff was planning on cooked maize for supper. As the kernels were freshly taken from the ears, they had to be sorted with the shriveled, cracked, yellowed, and bug infested removed leaving the rest fit to eat. This job was not accomplished by some sophisticated robotic machine, but rather by 5 of us who felt like robots after about an hour of hand-sorting the maize in the hot sun. Grandma, Joyellen, and I joined two HOH staff sitting on the cement underground water tank cover and sorted and sorted and sorted. The two experienced members of our team sorted 3 times the amount that we did. But we hung in there ... until break time.
On the front porch of the orphanage, some of the RVA girls had set up a nail salon for the HOH girls and were busy painting their fingernails and toenails. As can be seen, not all the customers were female. Before you start making "smart-aleck" comments, remember it takes a man secure is his own masculinity to allow this to be done to him. And besides ... Bradon can spell "Quiche".
Soon the time came for us to return to RVA. Goodbyes were exchanged; game materials picked up and stowed in the bus; "Thanks you's" expressed by all. Everyone got into the bus and Jeff slowly maneuvered the vehicle down the rugged road to the A-104 highway toward home. Lasting memories had been made yesterday and a group of orphans in Naivasha knew that they were not forgotten and were indeed loved by others.
This picture says all. Buddies for awhile. Friends forever.* Jesus said, "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it
at all." Mark 10:14-15
We're about set to leave Kijabe. There is just a little more to come.
*Pictured: Keith, left; Charlie, right.
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