Here is the report of one of the people who accompanied Rev. Louise to witness the dedication ceremony at the school in February 2005.
A First Visit to Kenya
Jackie Wiggins
What a mind - opening, life - challenging experience! I feel truly honoured to have been invited to join Louise and Jonathan on their visit to Ndumbuini Hill School in Kabete, near Nairobi in Kenya. I had followed the progress of the project with interest from the start, and with growing excitement as my husband, John became involved in the fundraising climb of Kilimanjaro. I had watched the news trickle in as stages of the building project were completed and the bore hole was sunk. To see the reality was thrilling and rewarding.
However, materialism was put into perspective on this trip. Most of the population of Kenya has little and expects little. The teachers and pupils were grateful without doubt for the improvements we had made possible. At the dedication ceremony, they honoured us with a thrilling display of tribal dancing, powerful presentations of action poems and choral speaking. This was followed by an enormous and good humoured lunch with local dignitaries. The genuine warmth of these people, children and adults alike, shone in their interest in us as people and as a church. The extent of their efforts to entertain us was moving. They sought out the personal. Children were asking after their penpals. Did I know them? What did they look like? Were they my friends? Rest assured, we are real people to the staff and pupils of the school. They really value our letters and interest, as much as our money.
At the dedication ceremony we met Rev.Kenneth. He became our friend and on the last day of our visit he took us on an impromptu tour of Kirambu, an area which borders Kabete. He showed us with great pride St James, his cathedral and the school attached to it, supported by the Anglican Church in Kenya. He guided us through areas of urban poverty, through rural areas where life was primitive. He showed us magnificent scenery, lush fields of tea and coffee plantations. He opened our eyes to Kenya in a very personal way. On the way to his home, for a much needed cup of tea, we called in at the Mothers’ Mercy Mission. This is an orphanage for the children of victims of aides, drugs and crime. It is a grass roots project supported by branches of the Mothers Union in Kenya.
The dedication and vision of the teachers and organisers was humbling. So much was being achieved with so little. Again personal care and interest was paramount. Kenya may be poor materially, but what personal richness we witnessed.
Christianity is alive in a very public way in Kenya. Along the streets advertisements for church activities are profuse. Christian texts and slogans proliferate. They cover back windscreens of vans, sides of lorries, roadside hoardings. Messages of God’s goodness and invitations to salvation stand strong in the poverty stricken township areas. People we met introduced themselves as Christians and announced Jesus as their personal friend. We are all comparatively rich, materially speaking, in England and yet it seems to me that we are lacking that certain personal warmth we encountered in people at all levels of society- taxi drivers, hotel receptionists, friends of friends.
We have certainly helped the community and neighbourhood of Ndumbuini Hill School and there will be ways we can continue to support them. There may also be other worthwhile projects to help alleviate material poverty in Kenya and to enhance opportunities for education. We have much to offer but they too have much to offer us. Fundraising for their building project, I think, gave our congregation a focus and brought many of us closer together. Doors have been opened to continue our Kenyan links on a personal level. Perhaps we can learn to show and share our faith more publicly and to value each other more openly.
Every moment of our short trip had its own exhilaration. Ndumbuini School celebrations, dinner with new friends, a visit to the Masai Market all in one day! We enjoyed the luxury of tourism in Mombassa. We appreciated the beauty of nature and were shocked by the ugliness of poverty. We observed and received exceptional warmth and friendliness. God moves in mysterious ways and I am sure He was there opening our eyes and hearts and minds to future ventures.
Jackie Wiggins