Can you imagine being a kid with no dreams for the future? Last weekend, as I watched my little nephews pretend they were basketball stars during the final NBA playoff game, I couldn’t help but think of the hundreds of hopeless street children I met in Kitale, Kenya.
You may hear us talk about maintaining the dignity of the poor. Part of having dignity is knowing that you are a valuable, capable human being; and seeing the fruits of your own labor helps build such knowledge.
It’s one thing to hear Sr. Emma and the other staff members at Chizombezi Deafblind Center talk about the impact their school is having on handicapped Malawian children. It’s quite another to hear it from the students who have gone through the program.
Kamungo is 8 years old and in second grade. He has reason to smile. Two years ago he was found wandering the streets, hungry and dirty. Today he’s attending one of the best schools in that area of Kenya — Freinademetz Primary School, one of our partners. Kamungo and three of his cousins live together in a stifling-hot one-room house with their elderly grandmother.
Last month I was able to spend a fun lunchtime with the 164 students at Freinademetz Primary School located just outside of Nairobi. The students were all smiles as they enjoyed their meals, provided in part by Cross Catholic Outreach and our faithful supporters.
Last month I visited the Maasai, a semi-nomadic tribe of herders in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley. The trip was like stepping back in time. Though only a two-hour drive from cosmopolitan Nairobi, Maasai society is largely untouched by modernity.