I left home with very mixed emotions, going from real excitement to extreme apprehension.  I suppose it’s the fear of the unknown that created the biggest problem.  We left Nairobi on 1st July and headed for Kaguma.  My first impression of Nairobi was shocking.  I really expected a bustling, modern city , instead I saw the extreme poverty versus the extreme wealth.  The street children sitting around their little fire in the middle of roundabouts nearly broke my heart.  I wondered how we could let this happen to children!   It took nearly 6 hours to reach Kaguma. When we stopped to do our shopping in Chuka, a few street children gathered around the car, begging.  Some had bottles of glue behind their backs-how sad!  

Here we met an ETO pastor called Maurice, he works with these kids.  We were to meet him again at the pastors seminars a few days later.  He’s such an inspiration and has an undying love for God and the  kids.  We could all take a leaf out of his book.  I  was excited to reach Kaguma, meet everyone and get unpacked before darkness, which falls quickly in Africa..  On settling in and visiting some of the local  homes, again I thought my heart would break.  Some of the people were just sitting in the dirt-no hope, it was only then I realized what a massive difference sponsorship makes! 

On the first Sunday we had our first church experience in Africa and what an experience. To see people who have nothing so thankful to God, this made me take stock of all I had and how ungrateful I can be.  They jumped, clapped, sang and danced to the Lord in true worship.  The rest of the week was spent in the classrooms, with the kids, teaching Basic Health Care and helping them to make giraffe and elephant clocks. 

After school we ran a Bible Club where the     kids got so excited - at times the cheers were deafening!  On our one day off we went on safari, to see some wildlife, but saw little. 

Inter-school Sports at Ruungu was a great day of strong competition between Kaguma and Ruungu. They even had track-lanes marked out with ash from the fires.  The development at this site is amazing, with local builders working on another three  classrooms.  We also saw the kids dorms and teachers living quarters.  Again I can’t stress enough, how sponsorship of ETO is so, so worthwhile.

The highlight of the trip was when Sammy (ETO fieldworker) brought Wanja, my sponsored child to see me.  She is only 12 years old, but much taller than me!  I was so excited to meet her!  Wanja said , that when she first heard my name “Orla” she thought I was a man.  ETO don’t like to make a fuss over any one child, so I just gave her a pencil and a little ball.  She had walked for over 2 hours to come and see me— wee dote!!

The work here is truly amazing.  There is a single mud hut in the center of the site at Kaguma, as a reminder of what once was here.  Now the buildings are made of brick and stone. 

Christopher is a huge blessing to that area and we should pray for him and everyone there for guidance and wisdom.  It’s a difficult job they have. Most of all I want to thank Bobby and Vivien for the opportunity they gave me to go and see the work first hand.  There were many tears but more than enough good stuff to make up for it.  I pray that God will bless them both in this fantastic ministry. 

Orla

The dulcet tones of “What a friend we have in Jesus” became a familiar sound around Kaguma.  No, it wasn’t the youth choir, it was the ring tone of Christopher’s mobile phone and it seemed to be ringing constantly!  The proliferation of mobile phones was only one of many changes we became aware of on our latest visit to Kenya.  It was exciting to see boys and girls boarding at Kaguma although the facilities were not ideal.  While we were there new arrangements were being made so that the children would have more space.  God continues to bless ETO  and their ministry among the needy in Tharaka.  

Our visit began properly with the pastors seminars and it was thrilling to listen as the youthful Maurice taught with authority and skill.  Also, God’s anointing on Bobby as he answered the searching questions posed by the enthusiastic pastors was exciting to witness.  At the end we were entertained by, not only the group from Turkana, but also by Kaguma’s team of drummers who went on, a month later, to win national fame by taking the honors at a competition in Nairobi!  A wonderful vindication of all the work and effort of so many people, including boys, teachers and, of course, those in Ireland who provide the finance and sponsorship for many of these children. 

In the second week I made my first visit to ETO’s most remote site at Kamanyaki near the mighty Tana river.  Although, on my fifth trip to Tharaka, I had never managed to get to Kamanyaki before.  We nearly didn’t make it this year either as in places the road was almost impassable even for our “new” Toyota land-cruiser.  However, we got there, and what a joy to see the developments taking place in this hot and dusty area.  The support of the local people was evident and the children entertained us with several musical items of song and dance.  The appearance of a small crocodile did not spoil the obligatory trip across the Tana in a wooden boat, although that was before we met the woman who had lost her arm to a crocodile a few years before!                         

Another wonderful day was spent with the young children at Kaguma’s satellite school at Mutugoni.  Here the children are taught to standard 3 before going on to Kaguma. Margaret was delighted to meet one of the teachers, Regina, who had been sponsored for a number of years by her friend Marion, this is the fruit of sponsorship!  

My last visit to Ruungu  was the day that the first boarders were arriving.  I was excited to see the many developments that had taken place there since.  Now officially known as the Muguna Aana Educational Complex with both primary and secondary boarding facilities, a new mission house to accommodate visitors, a two storey classroom block under construction and several hundred pupils, it was an impressive site.  We also saw for the first time the ETO ‘Summer Rain’  ‘shamba’ with the profusion of fruit and vegetables being grown on it.  While we were there an agreement was signed with the local people which will mean that water from the nearby river will be brought to the shamba so that growth will not be dependent on the unpredictable rainfall.

All this may make it sound as if the work is progressing smoothly without any problems but that is far from the case.  Margaret described the trip to a friend as an ‘emotional roller coaster’. There were many tears as well as laughs.  Personally, one of the sad points was when on a visit to see the irrigation scheme near Ruungu village, I was asked by an old blind man to take a photo of his three grandchildren.  I was led to a home where three young boys were sitting outside a poor mud hut.  Dirty and dressed in ragged clothes it was their eyes that touched me most.  They were dull and lifeless, without hope. I was told that they had been abandoned by their mother and left in the care of the old man.  Hopefully ETO will be able to help and make sure they have a future and a hope, because that is what ETO is all about.  What a privilege to be part of what God is doing in Tharaka.

On our last Sunday at Kaguma church we were brought to the front , sang to and prayed with - such love expressed to us - and we walked away with tears as we knew God had placed a bond in our hearts with these precious people.

Alan Speer, Donegal