Day 6: House of hope

 Trigger warning: this post discusses some difficult and disturbing challenges.  

Today we took a bumpy ride into the city of Narok, to visit the House of Hope.  This is a safe house for girls running from early marriage and FGM.  Early marriage and bride prices are legal and traditional in Kenya.  FGM is illegal but is still widely practiced in connection with marriage. We met the founder, Patrick, and his wife, and some of the girls who live there.  Hearing Patrick’s story was very inspiring.  He was a school teacher. Girls in his class who were around age 12 started coming to him seeking help because their parents were going to marry them off and they would have to stop going to school.  He had compassion for them and took them in (first to his mothers house, since he was single, and then later to this House of hope which he built).  He tried to reason with the parents, to convince them to allow their daughters to finish school before marrying, and to reconcile the parents with their daughters.  The suitors and parents often did not see eye to eye with him, to put it mildly. At great risk to himself, he and his wife created this safe and protected house (his wife is amazing in her own right and jumped right into the work with him when they got married, immediately gaining 60 “daughters”!).  They house a few hundred girls now, if I remember correctly.  They have partnered with several donors to be able to create a wonderful nurturing place for the girls, to feed them and educate them, and to give them opportunities to learn trades and skills to support themselves as well.  We talked with them about the needs they still have and brainstormed some ideas. 

They have a textile and sewing operation that the girls can work in to earn money.

They have made all the buildings colorful and cheerful.  Several fun art projects made by the girls hung on the walls, along with scriptures. 

The stated mission and aims of house of hope are shown here. (You might need to zoom in to read it)

We bought our lunch from them, and some of the girls prepared a lovely meal for us. They all seemed cheerful and hopeful and you could see the love that was there as Patrick and Josephine talked about the girls and their particular personalities and strengths. The girls put on some music at one point and had a dance party with us.

I’m not including pictures of the girls, to protect their identity, but they are thriving.

Something amazing that happened a few different times on this day was watching the process of inspiration and answers to needs and prayers unfold, one piece of a puzzle at a time.  One of the things Heidi mentioned early on as part of the vision for the training center that was just finished, as well as in all the other communities we work with, is the need for a literacy program.  It has not been organized yet and needs a curriculum and teachers.  While we were talking with Patrick and Josephine, they mentioned in passing that they have been doing a literacy program with the girls.  They showed us where to get the program and how it works (it has both Swahili and English), and how the process of certifying the teachers works (it’s a course that is doable and available to people whether or not they are currently teachers).  This was exactly what we were looking for!  

We were able to share a program that was just finished with them as well, to help teach health as well as emotional wellness, trauma support, and abuse prevention. These are resources they have been looking for too, as a lot of what they do is educating the girls and their families and aiding in healing wherever possible. 

Trying to keep the dust out of my nose

After we visited the house of hope, we went to a nearby school, via the Kenyan rollercoaster (our nickname for very bumpy dusty road).  Everything was very very dry from drought.  The school was nice and well built.  100 humanitarians recently restored a bore hole and water filling station for this school and the nearby community.  We went with the school administrators to visit the water station, and while we were there, Heidi had the idea to put garden towers all around the filling station, as a community garden to help provide food.  They had just dug holes to prepare to plant trees for shade around the perimeter, but not bought the trees.  Heidi told them to get fruit trees instead of just shade trees, so there would be more food.  It was one of many times that we saw inspiration strike, and that was very cool to watch.  

At the school

At the water station.  Inspiration Strikes.

After the school, we visited the house of hope farm, which is in process of being built.  These will be dorm rooms for the girls.  The farm grounds are very peaceful and will be a safer and more nurturing environment away from the dangers of the city, and closer to the school where the girls attend.

That evening was our last night at the cultural center.  This beautiful place was home to us for almost a week, and I will dearly miss it.  Such a beautiful feeling here.  

Mama Helen, who is the mother of Moses (one of the warriors who helps run 100 humanitarians and all the expeditions, and who donated the land for the cultural center), came to say goodbye and pray over us.  She does not speak much English.  But her prayer was full of feeling and love even if we didn’t understand the words.  At the end she hugged each one of us and expressed her love, and when she came to me, she said ‘God bless you!’ 3 times over!  What a treasured blessing from a sweet woman.  I will never forget this place and these people.