It has been over a month since my last blog post! I was determined to finish writing in depth about my trip to Nakuru 3:16 before I wrote about anything else. So here, at long last, is what I want to tell you.
It had been 5 years since my last trip to Nakuru! It's hard to believe so much time has gone by.
This post is a detailed account of what has been happening over the last five years at Nakuru 3:16 and what is going on with the moms and kids in the program. I'm not sure my blog is really the best place to post this information, but I decided to do it here rather than put it in a Word doc and email it to specific people so that it would be available for more people to read if they choose to. If you are just looking for a basic overview of my trip to Nakuru, Kenya last month, read this:
So without further ado, let me tell you what has been happening at Nakuru 3:16 for the last 5 years.
When our mission team visited in 2011, I believe there were 5 women and 25 children in the 3:16 program. The Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) Nakuru West had recently become Rock Bridge Ministries' new partner for the 3:16 project. The women and kids were all living in a house outside of town, but they were breaking ground to build a brand new house right next to the Tumaini school, another Nakuru West project, where the kids attended school. In 2012 they moved into the new house and it was a huge improvement. The kids didn't need to be bused to school, which saved time and money. The house was (and is) nice and spacious with a large outdoor kitchen and room for gardens.
In 2013 Regina left Nakuru 3:16. Regina was the rock, the leader, the disciplinarian, the peacemaker, the trusted ambassador to the people living on the street. She deserves much of the credit for saving the lives that are being saved in this program. But she was exhausted and depleted after years of living in this role. She needed to step away and find herself again. After Regina's departure, the program began to struggle. She was truly very difficult to replace. Our church partners at first tried putting several different people in the role of house manager, but no one stayed for long. Consequently, our window into what was happening at Nakuru 3:16 was largely closed.There was no longer a liaison who could communicate with friends and supporters of the project, a stakeholder who could strategize about longer-term plans or an advocate who could continue the much-needed outreach to kids and moms still living on the streets.
Thankfully, there were three strong, capable, and big-hearted women who carried on the day to day operations of the house.
Sophie, who has been with the house pretty much since the beginning, continues to pour her heart and soul into the program. Yvette began to volunteer in 2011. She later became a full-time staff member, and the through the program she was able to attend and graduate from university. She continues to serve at Nakuru 3:16 while she decides on a career to pursue. Margret Wairimu has faithfully served the program since October 2012, and I understand that her specialty is spiritual development. These three women continue to manage the needs of the home and the children, but Nakuru 3:16 currently has no leader or house manager on staff.
All during this time there were some challenges with the transition to partnership with Nakuru West. Nakuru West is a relatively affluent parish with a big heart for local projects. They have done great things in the local community. The Tumaini Bethany children's home and school is their flagship program, a very successful boarding school with a great reputation that provides an opportunity for orphans to attend school alongside kids with parents who can pay for the tuition. In addition, Nakuru West supported the creation of a nursing and technical school, a health clinic, and at least one new well. But it seems that maybe they were spread too thin and they didn't necessarily have the personnel to devote to 3:16. Also, the church is very generous in supporting Tumaini, a project they have been behind since its inception, but doesn't feel the same passion for the street kids of Nakuru 3:16, a project that began as someone else’s vision.
So Regina's departure combined with maybe a lack of focus or passion from Nakuru West meant that not much concerted effort was devoted to Nakuru 3:16, and the home shifted into "maintenance mode" with no new admissions or programs. The committee of church members that had been assigned to the Nakuru 3:16 project was merged with the Tumaini committee, to create one group responsible for both programs. Tumaini, the bigger and more popular program, has understandably gotten the lion's share of the funding and attention. In fact, Nakuru West has done very little, if any, fundraising for Nakuru 3:16. Without newsletters or email updates or even requests for donations, many of Nakuru 3:16's overseas supporters have stopped sending money. Rather than trying to rekindle those relationships, Nakuru West has essentially just been funding the program through profit sharing from its other projects. But those projects aren't enough, so Nakuru 3:16 is in debt by about $15,000. It isn't as dire as it sounds because about half of this amount is educational costs owed to Tumaini, so the church is essentially in debt to itself. But still, the financial outlook isn't currently great.
R.O.C.K. Bridge Ministries, Inc.
All donations to R.O.C.K. Bridge Ministries are 501(c)(3) tax-deductible.
----------------------END FUNDRAISING MESSAGE-----------------------
During my trip I met with members of Nakuru West and they assured me that they are committed to getting the children who are currently at Nakuru 3:16 through high school. I offered to help by putting them in touch with the people I know who care about the program and might be willing to support it financially, so some of you who are reading this may receive an email from me. :) It seems that Dan and I are the only donors the church in Africa is actually in contact with! This just goes to show that the people who are running the program now are volunteers; newsletter writing, donor management and fundraising are not their strengths. As frustrating as it can be for those of us who yearn for more information so we can try to remain in touch with the children we miss at Nakuru 3:16, it is helpful to have expectations set correctly.
One big change that has happened at the house relatively recently is that all the kids in class 5 and up are now in the boarding school at Tumaini and no longer live at 3:16. Accordingly, there was extra space at the 3:16 house and so the church has moved about 14 orphans who go to school at Tumaini to live at the 3:16 house. This made sense to the church committee overseeing the two projects as a way to make use of resources and also to mix the two social groups - orphans and street kids - to which are attached different social stigmas. But in talking with Yvette and Sophie, this move has not been popular internally. First, the orphans that were sent to live at the 3:16 house are all very young, between 3 and 6 years of age. And of course, it was the older kids who left 3:16 to go board at Tumaini. So this decision had the effect of taking away the kids who were responsible enough to take care of themselves and help with the younger ones, and replacing them with 14 little ones who need much more assistance. This has really increased the workload for the adults at the house and has been a bit overwhelming for them. Secondly, it has been hard for the kids who were sent away to board. According to Sophie and Yvette, the older kids feel like the home isn’t theirs anymore, and when they come back on weekends or holidays they no longer have their space. Of course it is a luxury to save a space for someone who is rarely there, and every parent with kids away at college has dealt with this issue. But still, it has been a tough transition for the older kids of Nakuru 3:16. And finally, in the end this merging of Tumaini orphans with 3:16 kids has felt to the participants a little like a death to the program. Nakuru 3:16 is no longer its own thing; it is part of Tumaini. Those who have been at 3:16 for a long time feel very protective of it and are upset by this merging.
I spoke philosophically to Dan about it, and he had a different take on it. He feels like this project to rehabilitate street girls and save their kids was very idealistic and not just a little naive in its attempt to take on very complex problems with very limited resources. To convert hardened street moms to contributing members of society, we really needed social workers and counselors, with lots of mentoring and personal follow-up. The 3:16 staff did the best they could with the resources they had, but maybe we shouldn’t feel surprised or defeated that we haven’t seen much success with the mothers. Taking the kids off the streets was a much more straightforward job, and we have succeeded beautifully at that. Give children a home, food, education, and security, and you can give them a shot at a good life. So Dan feels grateful that Nakuru West has pledged to finish these kids’ education, and if Nakuru 3:16 doesn’t reach out to future generations of street kids, at least these will be saved. Lord knows, the need is still there in Nakuru and maybe there will be another opportunity to reach out to more kids later.
This brings me to one thing that really stuck out for me during my visit. Five years since my last visit is a long time, and the kids, of course, have gotten five years older. This puts several of them in high school and one, Joyce Mwikali, graduated high school in December, just 3 months prior to my visit. It was very clear to me that we can’t end our Nakuru 3:16 kids’ education with high school. After investing so much in them for so many years, I think we owe it to them and to ourselves to find a way to finance whatever continuing education is necessary for them to pursue a career of their choice. Nakuru West doesn’t have the funds for post-high school education, so it seems that their chosen path is to send graduates to a vocational school of some sort. I feel strongly that we should encourage these kids to aim high, to follow their dreams. When these kids were younger Regina interviewed them and many of them said they wanted to be doctors or lawyers or social workers who would work with other street kids. It takes money to finance this higher education, but I hope to help Nakuru West find sponsors for the high school graduates who will help put them through the necessary schooling. I’m afraid that if we cut off education at the high school level, boredom and aimlessness will drive the graduates back to the streets. I don’t know Joyce well and she didn’t open up to me, but I saw her sitting around the house day after day, mindlessly watching TV, waiting for something to happen in her life. Yvette told me that Nakuru West wants to send her to a basic computer skills class, which would probably be very useful, but that Joyce is interested in cooking and catering. I intend to follow up on this; if Joyce really wants to work in food services, I think we should help her with that.
So that’s basically what I found out about what has happened in the last 5 years from an organizational standpoint, and some of my observations about what I think should happen in the future. Now I want to talk about the individuals of Nakuru 3:16 and pass on what I know about each of them.
Dan Cripe Nguvu
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| Dan 2011 |
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| Dan 2016 |
Dan was a baby when I visited 5 years ago, and I found out 2 years later, when he was about 3, that the doctors had determined he was deaf. We were so worried about him and the life that would be in store for him as a special needs child in Nakuru without resources. We were worried that if he wasn’t exposed to sign language early that he would miss the window of brain development for language, and we didn’t know if those kinds of facilities existed in Nakuru, or if they would be available to him.
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| Dan's classroom building |
What an enormous relief to find Dan enrolled in a special school for the deaf, with kind teachers who care about him. He is a cute, skinny little kid with a great smile. He has had a tough time with life so far. Imagine being born deaf - existing in a silent world unable to communicate with those around you. Then after 5 years of silence you are taken from your mother and your group environment and placed in a boarding school. Where is my mother and what is happening to me? And no one can communicate it in a way that makes sense. But then you realize that the other kids here are like you - they don’t hear either, and you start learning to communicate in a different way. Dan’s teacher told me that he seemed very happy to have discovered other kids like him. It must be really hard for him to be away from his mom, though, and also for Monica to be apart from him. She told me she has no money for transport to come visit him, and she hadn’t seen him in a year or so. Virginia told me they really miss Dan, because they don’t see him either. He cried when we left. When I returned to the 3:16 house after visiting his school, all the kids gathered around my camera and were so excited to see the pictures and video of Dan.
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Monica, Dan, Zablon and Regina in part of
Dan's classroom |
When I went to the church service at Nakuru West on Sunday I noticed that there was a person interpreting the service in sign language to a couple of people. When I met with the church leaders a couple of days later I asked Sammy about it, and whether the deaf community at the church was aware that there was a deaf child at Nakuru 3:16. I was delighted to hear that yes, they were aware, and that one of the church members was a teacher at the school where Dan goes. I met her when we visited the school and I peppered her with questions about him. She told me that he is a fast learner, a smart kid - what a relief. She said he is kind; there is a kid at the school who needs crutches to walk, and Dan will always make sure that the crutches are near him. She said that despite his late start at learning to communicate, there is good reason to believe that eventually he will be able to read lips in addition to signing.
Dan’s school has a mix of classrooms for both hearing and non-hearing kids. That means he gets to learn in a classroom with deaf kids but play at recess with hearing kids. So he’s not isolated and can socialize, which seems important to me. He has learned to sign the alphabet, which he demonstrated for us and I have some of it on video.
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| Plaque on the front of Dan's classroom building |
The teacher said they learn signs by theme, so he has learned some signs about the home, food, etc. He will work his way through themes with different vocabulary and will eventually progress to harder concepts and sentences, etc. Once he has a good grasp on some basic communication he can start other subjects, for example there is a math classroom but he hasn’t started math lessons yet. So, while far from state of the art, I was really glad to find Dan in what seemed like good hands.
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Dan's classmates and teachers, plus Monica (red) and
Zablon (yellow) |
Monica Wanjiru
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| Monica 2011 |
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| Monica with Dan, 2016 |
When I visited Monica before, she was learning hairdressing and bead working. I learned that she had completed a course in “salon work”, which meant manicures, pedicures and facials as well as hair. She gave me a sample of her prowess one day at the house - a rubdown of arms, hands, legs and feet! After finishing her course, RockBridge Ministries got a job for her, Anne and Esther at Clip Cut, a recycling venture that RockBridge was investing in. The idea was to collect and recycle plastic; this would provide employment for Nakuru 3:16 women in addition to helping out the environment. The three women worked there for a while and during their employment were able to afford rent on their own places to live in town. Unfortunately the venture failed and Monica, Anne and Esther were forced to return to Nakuru 3:16.
At this point the stories differ between Nakuru West and Nakuru 3:16, but the facts are the same. All three women eventually chose to leave Nakuru 3:16. Monica told me that there was nothing for them to do; that the church was very slow to provide alternative employment for them, and they got frustrated and bored. They also didn’t feel welcome at Nakuru 3:16 and in fact had been told it was no longer their home. The church told me that they weren’t confident that Monica was serious about employment and they didn’t feel like they should invest in her. The church didn’t comment on whether or not the adults continued to be welcome at the home. I’m sure there is truth to both stories, but Monica didn’t have many choices. Without a job, she didn’t have money. And without help, she couldn’t get a job. In the most emotional moment of my previous trip, after spending time in the slums and seeing the desperation there, I asked Monica to promise me she wouldn’t go back there; that she would do what was necessary to live a life off the streets. And, through the tears of both of us, she promised me. So she told me on this trip that when she wanted to leave Nakuru 3:16 she remembered her promise, so when she didn’t know what to do next, she didn’t go back to the street. And this is the part that breaks my heart: instead, she got married. I don’t know much about this guy, but I know that he didn’t treat her well, and her mother-in-law didn’t treat her well either.
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| Monica with Isaac |
She had a son, Isaac, her 5th child, who is now about 13 months old. So because of the promise she made to me, Monica got into a bad marriage, suffered who knows what kind of treatment, and bore yet another child. Ugh. On the one hand, I’m so proud of her for being a woman of her word. But on the other hand, I feel terrible that I drove her to a choice that caused her pain and further complicated her life. Who knows what God can do, maybe He has great things in store for little Isaac.
Monica left this man and went to live with her brother, which I guess is what she was doing until she found out that I was coming to visit. She lived at Nakuru 3:16 for a few days while I was there, and I got to spend a lot of time with her.
Through Regina’s translation Monica told me that when she heard I was coming to visit, she was hoping I would be the answer to her problems. She hoped I would help her start a salon and launch her career. “Are you ready for that?”, I asked her. “Are you ready to work?” “Yes,” she answered. How could I refuse? What life is available to her without a job and money? I remember when I said goodbye five years ago I told her that the next time I came to visit I would visit her in her own house and at her salon. Five years have come and gone and still this is not a reality for her. If I can’t make this happen for her, I will have failed her. I feel like I was called to Kenya at this time to do this for her, to help her start the next chapter in her life. I don’t know how much it will cost, but one way or another we will give her the chance to make a life for herself. It was settled!
Conveniently, Regina has just started a new job working for a company that builds out the finishing touches on construction sites. So she has new contacts in real estate and building materials, plus a Christian boss who, it turns out, was sympathetic to Monica. So the very next day after our conversation, Monica and Regina met to discuss the plan for her salon and what resources it would take to get started. With the help of Regina’s boss, they quickly identified a salon owner who was willing to let Monica work as an apprentice in her shop. With a small amount of money to cover initial expenses and transportation costs, and after finding someone to watch Isaac during the day, Monica started her apprenticeship just a few days after I returned from Kenya! I can’t wait to hear about her progress, and now that I can reach Regina again, she can relay messages back and forth between Monica and me. Yay!
John Kamau
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| John 2016 |
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| John 2011 |
John is Monica’s oldest son, now in class 8. FPC Sunday School kids used to sponsor John. He didn’t say very much to me, but many of my pictures from the trip were taken by him, because he commandeered my camera!
Virginia Wangui
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| Virginia 2011 |
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| Virginia 2016 |
Virginia is Monica’s 2nd oldest child, almost 11, Carter’s age. I think she’s beautiful. I fell in love with her on my previous visit, a shy six-year-old who warmed up to me and then held my hand throughout most of the visit. Because they are the same age, she and Carter exchanged letters back and forth for a couple of years after my first trip, and she asked about him by name this time. Her English is getting good, so when we go to Kenya with the whole family she and Carter should be able to have a good conversation! One night I found her holding my camera up close to the small TV that is always on in the house. She was filming a video of a cartoon on TV so that Carter could watch it! He got a kick out of that.
Margaret Wanjiru
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| Margaret 2016 |
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| Margaret 2011 |
Margaret is Monica’s third child, about 8, Haley’s age. She’s a sweet, quiet girl. She doesn’t speak much English yet, so I didn’t get to talk to her, but she did accompany her mom to walk me back to the conference center two of the days I was there, so it was nice that she wanted to be around me.
Grace Njoki
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| Grace 2011 |
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| Grace 2016 |
Grace is Esther’s daughter. She is the only HIV positive child, but her condition is good. Grace is a sweet girl who remembered me from the previous visit. She also very much remembered Mary Lou Stergios from her visit, and Mary Lou's family had subsequently sponsored Grace. She asked me if I knew Mary Lou and when I told her yes, she must have asked me 5 or 6 more times to make sure I pass her greetings to Mary Lou.
Allan Mwangi
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| Allan 2011 |
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| Isaac (left) and Allan (right), 2016 |
Allan is Esther’s youngest. A baby when I visited before, he’s now about 6. At one point we all gathered together in the living room and Zablon asked for volunteers to pray. Allan volunteered, along with Isaac, and they each took their turn praying in front of the group. So cute!
Joyce Mwikali
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| Joyce 2011 |
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| Joyce selfie, 2016 |
Joyce, a tall and striking girl, got pregnant during Christmas leave a couple of years ago. A healthy boy, Jeremiah Nzioki (Jeremy), was born 9 months later. Nakuru 3:16 took on Jeremy’s care while Joyce finished high school, which she accomplished in December. As I mentioned above, Joyce doesn’t have much going for her right now. She didn’t finish with high marks in school, and Nakuru West lacks money for her continuing education. I hope to find a donor to sponsor Joyce in a career that will bring her fulfillment.
Jeremiah Nzioki
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| Jeremy 2016 |
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| Joyce and Jeremy |
Jeremy is Joyce’s son, now a much-doted-upon toddler.
Elizabeth Angule
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| Elizabeth 2011 |
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| Elizabeth and me, 2016 |
I took a special liking to Elizabeth on my previous visit. She had traumatic experiences as a child and it took years at Nakuru 3:16 before she was able to achieve any sort of emotional normalcy. Elizabeth got a late start in school but is a hardworking student who is working her way through the Kenyan school system, despite being much older than the rest of the kids in the class. If I’m not mistaken, she is 21 right now, and is in Form 2 in high school, equivalent to a sophomore. Elizabeth is one of 3 Nakuru 3:16 kids who are away at boarding high schools nearby. Each student attends a different school. I asked why, and was told that different schools have different standards of admission. Students are admitted according to their grades. Elizabeth attends the Njoro Precious school, and I was fortunate to be able to visit her there. I loved all the positive encouraging signs on the campus!
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| "None was born to fail" |
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Elizabeth's school building - the sign says "The starting
point of all achievements is desire" |
Jane Moraa
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| Jane 2011 |
Jane is in the same year of school as Elizabeth, but she attends a different high school. Her school is unfortunately very far from where I was staying, so I wasn’t able to visit her. Therefore I don’t have a current photo.
Daniel Mbote
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| Daniel 2016 |
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| Daniel 2011 |
Daniel is Sophie’s son. He just started high school at Tumaini in December.
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Sophie with Daniel |
Joseph Mwangi
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| Joseph 2011 |
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| Joseph 2016 |
Joseph, 14, is one of the oldest Tumaini boarders.
Charity Waithera
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| Charity 2016 |
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| Charity 2011 |
Charity is about 11 or 12 now. She, Virginia, and Ann are all in the same year at Tumaini boarding school, and seem to be very close.
Ann Muthoni
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| Anne 2011 |
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| Anne 2016 |
I was so excited to see Ann. She is tall! Also very friendly and outgoing. When I had visited before she had a very visible eye condition, but thanks to Gary Siemens that has been taken care of. Ann spent a couple of hours working on my hair one day. All the kids were interested in my hair, wanting to touch it and stroke it. It’s very different from African hair! But Ann, along with Charity, sat me down and put in one hairstyle after another, braiding it one way, then taking it down and braiding it a different way. Yvette told me next time to bring my hairbrush and gummi bands so they could work on it more! Ann seemed to me to be one of the most extroverted kids.
Nichole Adhiambo
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| Nichole 2011 |
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| Nichole 2016 |
Nicole is Beatrice’s daughter.
Maureen Morijo
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| Maureen 2011 |
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| Maureen 2016 |
Maureen went through a very rough time when her sister Agnes disappeared from the program (see below). Maureen and Esther’s daughter Grace are in the same grade at school.
Josephine Kanyeva
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| Josephine with Isaac (jeans) and Jeremy, 2016 |
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| Kanyeva with Isaac, 2011 |
Josephine attended college, funded by a private donor. She recently graduated from Egerton University with a degree in Horticulture. She has a job with an Agri-based company in Nakuru. Zablon drove me past the place where she works. He's really proud of her.
Isaac Kariuki
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| Isaac 2011 |
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| Isaac (left) and Allan (right), 2016 |
Isaac is Josephine’s son. Once Josephine gets settled in her job and home, Isaac will likely leave 3:16 and join her. Success!
New to 3:16
Lucky Kimani
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| Lucky 2016 |
I don’t know much about this little boy; he joined 3:16 sometime between 2011 and 2013.
Fathili
A few years ago an American named Amy Gray spent months living at the Nakuru 3:16 house and volunteering with the women and kids. While she was there she got a puppy, and the puppy has grown up in the house. In Kenya dogs don't have the same elevated position in the household that they enjoy in the USA. But thanks to Amy, Fathili grew up with the run of the house, freely coming and going in and out. Zablon told me that Fathili is "an American dog." It took a little while to get used to him, but Fathili is now a much-loved member of Nakuru 3:16. I asked Yvette what Fathili eats, and she told me that he gets his own plate of whatever is cooked. :) He was a sweet and friendly dog and we hit it off immediately.
No Longer at 3:16
Ann Nyambura
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| Anne 2011 |
Anne’s story is similar to Monica’s. She went to hairdressing school, then worked at Clip Cut, then lost her job there and returned to 3:16. At some point she got tired of waiting for the church to help her with the next step, and she left with both her kids, Pauline and Hope. She got married, and no one has talked to her since. I didn’t see Anne during my visit. My hope is that if Monica can be successful, she can inspire both Anne and Esther to try again to start a business and earn their own money. I hope Anne and Pauline and Hope are doing okay.
Pauline Nyambura
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| Pauline 2011 |
Pauline is Anne’s oldest daughter, about 7 or 8 years old. She’s no longer at 3:16.
Hope Wanjiru
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| Hope 2011 |
Hope, Anne’s youngest, was a baby when I visited before, so she’s about 6 now. She’s no longer at 3:16.
Esther Wamui
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| Esther 2011 |
Esther followed the same path as Monica and Anne, but after Clip Cut failed she was allowed to open a salon near the 3:16 house, and Nakuru West purchased salon equipment for her. I don’t know why, but Esther wasn’t happy with the location and wanted to have a salon in town. I don’t know the details, but I gather that the church didn’t see any reason why she should move, so Esther left on her own and seems to have taken some of the equipment with her. She left her kids, Grace and Allan, at Nakuru 3:16. There is reason to believe that she may be practicing hairdressing here and there in people’s homes, but she doesn’t have steady work. No one is sure where she is living. Esther is HIV positive, and the adults at Nakuru 3:16 told me that she isn’t doing well and they are afraid she isn’t taking her medicine. Members of Nakuru West told me that they have seen her come to the church to pick up her medicine, so they think she’s doing fine. I’m not sure what the real story is, but Esther has crossed the line back and forth several times between living her life on the street and living a cleaner life at Nakuru 3:16, so it’s reasonable to assume that without the moderating influence of the Nakuru 3:16 house, she is back on the street.
Beatrice Achieng
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| Beatrice 2011 |
I’m sorry to say that I didn’t ask about Beatrice during my visit. I am trying to figure out a way to communicate with Sophie and Yvette, and will ask them about her when I’m able to. Her daughter, Nichole, is still in the program.
Gladys Njeri
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| Gladys 2011 |
Gladys is another one who wasn’t there this time, and I’m not sure where she went. I will try to find out.
Josephine Kaveza
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| Josephine Kaveza 2011 |
Okay, now I’m realising that I wasn’t properly prepared to write this report! I should have brought the list to Kenya and made sure to ask about everyone on it. Five years ago Josephine was in college learning dressmaking and tailoring and sewing school uniforms as a part-time job. My hope is that she is currently a successful tailor; need to find out.
Agnes Napeo
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| Agnes 2011 |
I hate to write down what I know about Agnes. She ran away from Nakuru 3:16 a year or so after my last visit. Apparently she left in the night and didn’t tell anyone where she was going. Yvette told me that they later heard through the grapevine that she had gotten married and later had two children, but she has never come back to visit and no one knows for sure where to find her. Joyce told me that her husband beats her with a chain; I hope that’s not true, but it wouldn’t be beyond the scope of things that happen to young women in Kenya. I can’t imagine why Agnes would choose this life over what she had at Nakuru 3:16. You can’t force someone to save herself. All we can do is pray that her situation will improve. Agnes left her sister Maureen behind at Nakuru 3:16, and this has been very hard for Maureen. Apparently they sent her to a psychiatrist a few years ago because she continued to ask for her sister.
If you would like to see more photos, you can find them here:
All Kenya Photos
A few years ago an American named Amy Gray spent months living at the Nakuru 3:16 house and volunteering with the women and kids. While she was there she got a puppy, and the puppy has grown up in the house. In Kenya dogs don't have the same elevated position in the household that they enjoy in the USA. But thanks to Amy, Fathili grew up with the run of the house, freely coming and going in and out. Zablon told me that Fathili is "an American dog." It took a little while to get used to him, but Fathili is now a much-loved member of Nakuru 3:16. I asked Yvette what Fathili eats, and she told me that he gets his own plate of whatever is cooked. :) He was a sweet and friendly dog and we hit it off immediately.
