Barriers

    I have been thinking about barriers today,  It started when Michelle, the beautiful little girl in the picture finally figured out how to open doors.  She has been fumbling with the handles and even started knocking for entrance but today she got it. Why this concerns me is all my worldly goods here in Africa are stored on the bottom bunk in a room with no lock.  This means my computer, contacts, lotions are now available to those sticky fingers of an interested eighteen month old
      Barriers are great for many things.  A bandage keeps germs out of a wound, Screens keep mosquitoes out of the house, gates keep robbers away and a club can keep a thief from stealing your car.     I then started thinking about barriers which are not so good. Barriers  we put up to keep people away from us or from getting too close.  Maybe we have prejudices or attitudes that keep us separate or walled off from other people and then there is unforgivness which not only  separates  us from others but from God as well. Eph 4:32 says And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave you .
     So my Dear Michelle, climb up on my bunk and we will sing and I will show you pictures of my grandchildren.  I do not want to ever be separated from you .  "Just be careful little hands what you touch,"

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Kenya Relief Provides Relief

     As a young child I grew up devouring the National Geographic Magazine and being horrified at the sight of starving children especially in Africa.   When the opportunity came for me to come I was very interested in coming to this extremely diverse country.  Kenya is a relatively safe place as opposed to it’s neighboring Somalia and Sudan.  I was not prepared for the way my heartstrings would be stretched.  All of a sudden poverty has a face and a smile, a warm handshake and maybe a belly full of worms.

Kenya Relief helped this poor soul to feel humanity in a real and tangible way.  We saw about 200 patients a day with all manner of illnesses.  Eye infections, colds, coughs, fungal infections and worms were the most common.  These can be easily treated with the free medicines the clinic provides.  However, the kidney disease, heart failure and malnutrition from HIV are another matter all together.  When a mother cannot afford to have the kidney biopsy to determine what type of kidney disease her son has it is devastating and makes poverty a real scourge.
     Kenya Relief medical teams operate on a volunteer basis and each team is unique and different.  The one Amah, Amy and I were on had 1 MD (Pediatrician) 1 pharmacist, 2 pharmacy students, 1 pediatric RN and a RNA  (registered nurse anesthetist) plus Ammah who is a retired nurse midwife. The rest of us became jack of all trades master of none but even that was extremely helpful.  The one outstanding thing about working with Kenya Relief was the patience and respect shown each person who came to the clinic.  We took time, asked questions, took pictures  and gave out stickers, cloth diapers ,pins, plastic pants, beany babies  and blankets.  No one was rushed or pushed along as in an assembly line common to American medicine.
     We also got to witness the Kenya Relief orphanage as they presented us with entertainment one evening.  These children appeared to be very happy and lively as they did about 20 minutes of tribal dancing for us. When they dance they come alive and beam with pride.  One outstanding thing about this orphanage is that the children are  cared for and allowed to be African as they are cared for by house parents who are African.  Each child that has a living relative goes to be with them for 2 weeks periodically so to maintain ties to the family, tribe and land rights.
     I came to Africa poor in my understanding of poverty but I am going home rich in memories and a better understanding of God’s love for these beautiful people.  I am grateful to have experienced Africa this way.