The two pots and burners where everything gets cooked!
Daniel making chipati bread for us.
Agnes preparing kale
Melissa and her air guitar potato smasher
Carla cooking cow peas To understand the mission you have to know about the Baptist Children's Center and TEC Centre. This is a large compound that sits between two slums. On one side you have the Miles Seven slum area and on the other you have a slum mostly occupied by Muslims. While the BCC orphanage sits at the top of the hill and is not open to the community, the TEC Centre is at the bottom of the hill and is open to the community. There is only a gate separating the two.
The BCC has a 48 bed orphanage, dining hall/kitchen, showers/toilets/clothes washing basins, craft room, live stock shed with cows/chickens, play ground and storage room for donated supplies. The TEC centre has an Office, Sewing class, two school buildings, a chapel, a clinic and a large vegetable garden- all open for services to the community. While we were there a seminar was being held on how to take care of your relatives who have HIV.
It doesn't take long to understand in order for the Orphanage to survive in that area, some community development has to be in place. The community knows that outsiders come to help the orphanage and some of them are in desperate need for services. So the TEC Centre is the community outreach that makes sure the orphanage can exist within the slum. Besides the sewing class, they have had woodworking and computer classes in the past. All of this is done with solar power. Electricity will not be available until the end of this year. The school is open to the community and the orphanage kids as a primary school. We would say Pre-K through elementary grades. There is an over crowded World Vision school next door so a new class building was opening the Monday after we left to bring the orphanage kids back to a smaller class environment. We were told that one grade had 120 kids so they divided the students to come half days to school. While going to school is supposed to be free to all Kenya children up to 12 or 13 years old the government does not operate or support any school. So it really is through the passion of the people that schools exists at all. The government also requires uniforms for the school but makes no provision on how citizens in a country with over 50% unemployment can afford to buy a uniform. But God has allowed for schools to rise up in spite of the lack of books and supplies and still have the children taught basic education. Most people who run the schools will tell you that it cost about $3-4 a day per student to run the school and pay the teachers.
While I did go specifically for the sewing program, the interns were sent with the kids from the orphanage in mind. Each day they served in the the kitchen, at the school and clinic. At least once a week they would visit us in the sewing class. I also had the opportunity to serve in the kitchen and at the clinic. I know it has to be a commitment on the part of the workers to do this day in and day out.
One day I went to the clinic to see how I could help. There was a epilepsy patient on the bed and I tried to not disturb her. The nurse, Martha , told me she needed some gauze cut. At first, I thought this is a mundane task. As I sat there cutting, it occurred to me that ministry was supplying what ever the need is at that time. So I cut yards of gauze into small pieces until the container was overflowing. Martha told me later how helpful it was to her because her container was empty and she would now be ready if a patient needed the gauze. I left that day thinking - once again Lord it really is the small things.
To see two kitchen workers cook for 60-70 people 3 meals a day, everyday is an awesome sight. To work along side of them was a workout. Sorting cow peas and cooking in a gigantic pot over an open flame was definitely a new experience for me. Stirring with a large wooden spoon and peeling 100's of potatoes with a dull peeler is no joke. Grating carrots and ginger with a flat grater that was about the break, broke my heart. Last but not least was the " one knife " that cut everything. It goes without saying we purchased some new utensils before we left. I applaud Daniel and Agnes in the kitchen. God has not only gifted them to cook for this center but they are training the children in how to prepare meals. Some days we would see the children shucking maize or if we were helping they would gently move us out of the way and start doing the chore.
While I did not serve at the school, the children still found out my name and so, as before, my name is COLA or CORLA but definitely not CARLA. Two girls, Quincey and Edith would come wait at the sewing room door to walk me to lunch. On the way they tried to teach me Swahili. I tried to remember what they taught me but it left me from one day to the next. I could tell they had fun trying to get me to pronounce each word correctly.
Hopefully our presence and attempts to "help where needed" was encouragement to the staff that works daily to provide nurturing and nourishment to the children at BCC and the surrounding slum areas.
