January 2013, Sowing Seeds in Love and Hope

We were at Tsavo East Nat'l Park and stopped at the Voi Safari Lodge and took time to look out over the savannah, it takes your breath away.

 

While we were on our drive, we saw many of the flowering acacia trees.  They had a yellow flower on the top.  After a zoom lens look the pic below is what we saw; the blooms looked somewhat like an Orchid, again breath taking.

 

 We have never seen this species of Gazelle in the park, on either side, East or West.  She was just standing in the shade and posed for a wonderful look.  It is a Gerenuk, in the Somalian language it means "giraffe neck".  We watched her for some time.  A wonderful surprise for us.

 

We drove down by the Galana River, formed by the merge of the Athi and Tsavo rivers.  It wasn't long and here came the family.  The lead female just marched right across the road and the others followed in step.  There were different ages in this family.  It is so exciting to see these wonderful animals in their natural setting.  It is a sad note we leave, that there is a terrible scourge going on now here in Kenya and other African countries.  The "poachers" are in full force and are killing elephants and rhinos, very, very, sad to say the least.  The local newspaper reported last week a find of 634 tusks at the Mombasa port.

 

We have become acquainted with the Koins 4 Kenya Foundation, as you will remember from our previous posts.  We stop at this country village school for elementary children.  They are about 4 - 5 years old.  This school has very little for these children to use to learn.  We stopped to give them some writing tablets, donated by LDS Charities.  The children were happy to receive a gift this day.  They are quick to smile and sang us a song of thanks.  Their teacher is a wonderful young woman who deeply cares for the welfare of these young ones.  We hope we can do something to help them improve the conditions at this school.

 

When we arrived at the Koins Compound, we found one of the staff, laying a layer of stones to strengthen the parking pad.  They were laying large stones down, then they would break them up into smaller stones by hitting them with a hammer.  This is the same process they use on the major highway improvements here in Kenya, it is unbelievable to see it.

 

The Koins Foundation sponsor villages who want to improve their standards, building schools.  Here these men were making cement blocks for the construction of the buildings.  The villages must commit to providing at least 10% of the cost for the improvement.  These men make approx 200 or so blocks a day.  They work as a team and then share the income; they are paid 5 shillings per block.  They are able to take home approx 500 shillings each, which is a good income for them.  They are being taught to be self reliant and provide for themselves and families.  One man had never before had a job, he was very faithful in his employ.  This first pic shows the blocks being lifted out of the mold, the next pic shows the mold with the dividers in place waiting to be filled with the cement, sand and gravel mixture.  Koins has also provided a electric mixer which is of great value to the process.

 

 

Adjacent to the Koins Compound is a government medical clinic which the locals come to for their medical needs.  We took some supplies to them and this is a typical scene you would see!  The colors are simply beautiful, the women very patient as are their children.  They wait their turns in a very orderly manner.  Women come here now to deliver their babies, rather than doing so in their huts; Koins has offered them a blanket if they will come to the clinic.  This was all the incentive they needed and the mortality rate has dropped considerably.

 

This beautiful mom and baby were sitting outside under the shade of a tree; I could not pass by without asking her permission for a snap!  This is a wow picture!

There is a school in the Koins Country built by the Sean Michael family. Sean was a handicapped child in the USA.  When he passed away, the family heard of the Koins Foundation. They wanted to do something in honor of their son, Sean.  They found out that the handicapped children in Africa are very often abandoned or ignored and suffer in considerable ways.  Koins suggested that a school be built to let these children integrate into the normal school system and learn and advance in their lives.  The Sean Michael School was born.  These two are typical of the students who would come to this school.  The little boy on the right "Noah" is a bright, smiling, happy young sole.  He is a real treat to be around.  He has beautiful eyes and his voice is  that of a "radio announcer", we love to be with him.