KANYAWEGI NEWSLETTER September 2002
NEWSLETTER August/September 2002
On my return to Kenya in June I did my usual incredible hulk impression, having my jacket lining stuffed full of computer parts, 20 T shirts hanging on a wire coat hanger in the back of the inside jacket, plus my supply of chocolate!. I employed similar deceit that king David did (when he pretended to be mad in Gath) to get my excess baggage through check-in! Anyway I'm sure God did it.
This is a newsletter of changes, so it is a time of excitement and anticipation, as well as new ideas, new children coming and children leaving.
First, although I had intended to return to England
in September, I returned in time to go on an Oakhall Christian holiday to Spain
in August.
My earlier return was due partly to a problem with my property where I live
in the UK, and the news that a close friend was sick in hospital. After arriving
in England I soon realized that I was also needing to rest. The holiday gave
me time for reflection and to remember what I had said in my Newsletter last
October, that I should draw back from the day to day running of the home in
Kenya. This reinforced my original intentions when we started the home, that
I felt my time in Kenya was only for the establishing of Kanyawegi, hence my
insistence not to have a committee position from the very beginning. After much
discussion with the committee, it was decided that now was the right time for
us to try this new system, which so far has worked very well. Roughly the plan
is that I leave the 'hands on' running of the home to the Kenyan committee,
and I control the finances and sponsor enquiries from the UK, giving advice
where needed. As well as the trusted committee, we still have the same committed
staff, so these decisions have been much easier to make.
CHILDREN
It's always encouraging to me writing about new arrivals, it's always a very
special time for me. When we have visitors and new children arrive, it has been
a very special time for them also.
ELISHA EZIKIEL who is about 13 has never known his mother. His father (who has
since died) left him to care for himself when he was around eight. He would
do whatever work he could find so that he could eat. We found him when Rastor,
one of our older boys, told us how he was being beaten while looking after some
cattle nearby. As he has never been to school, we are getting him trained in
shoe making and bike repairs as well as teaching him some basics.
SILAS OWITI, 11 and MELODY AKINYL,7 joined us the next day. These two orphans
were being helped by their older brother who would walk 5 miles to town every
day to try to find work. These two are extremely lively, and the only one who
I think may be more pleased than us to have little Melody in the home is Quinta,
as they are now totally inseparable.
BRIAN NANYENDO,13, ROSALINE OKISA,9 and DUNCAN OTIENO,7 arrived 10 days later. Brian, who is very academic, was caring for the younger ones with the help of the neighbours.
STEVEN (2), who we had taken from the street, decided to go back to the street. We had started him on a motor mechanic course at YMCA, but the call back to the street seemed to much for him to handle.
MICHAEL (1) and ERIC (1) should be leaving us at the end of August after finishing their motor mechanic and electrical installation courses respectively. They have all their tools and qualifications, Michael also has his lorry driving license.
DAVID and STEVEN will also be leaving us in the next month or two when we have their workshop up and running. They already have customers for the mobile phone repairs and a few for the radio repairs and computer maintenance.
SPONSORS
When I arrived in Kenya with gifts from some of the sponsors for their children,
the committee felt that it was starting to have a bad effect, not only on the
ones who were not receiving gifts, but also the ones who were. After much discussion
the committee decided that we would ask sponsors who wish to give, only to send
a small amount of money at Christmas, but we should continue to encourage the
exchange of letters and photo's, which we believe has a very positive effect
on the children. We would therefore ask sponsors NOT to send presents to their
children, but to continue to send letters, photo's and anything small that would
fit into an envelope such as book marks etc. as they wish.
NEW EMAIL ADDRESSES
Please make a note that the Kanyawegi address is now kanyawegi@hotmail.com
and my personal address is jimdawehome@hotmail.com
WEB
I am receiving a lot of positive response from our site, if you have any suggestions
we would be delighted to hear them - good or bad.
VISITORS
First we were visited by Jacenter, a lady from Australia, who found out about
us from our web site while she was in Dubai. She stayed with us for two weeks
and taught the children a lot of new games and was able to give the committee
valuable advice.
Pastor Bernard and his son Martin came in August for a few days to open the new girls dormitory, which his church, Ridgeway Christian Centre had donated. I was not there myself, but reading the children's letters, I know they all had a wonderful time, not to mention the party and 10 chickens to eat!
PROJECTS
We did some emergency work on the river bank, as the heavy rains had done some
damage.
We have also just completed an extension to the outside kitchen area and added
another fuel saving cooker.
The new bore hole and pump is now completed and working fine. It is giving us
a lot of very tasty water, which everyone enjoys - it is so easy to hand pump
that even little Melody and Quinta can do it!
FINANCE
We still see Gods miracles, which encourage us all so much. Since my last newsletter
we have another five sponsors, which has enabled us to admit more children.
PERSONAL
A very difficult time for me, with the strong emotional ties to the children,
but also being sure that a change is the right way forward. With so much to
do, the selling of one house and the plans to divide another into two houses,
plus a personal friend who is seriously sick in hospital - this has, for the
time being, kept my thoughts on other things.
SHOPPING LIST
Lots of prayer, especially in this time of positive changes.
Regards and love to you all,
Jim Dawe
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