I have been supporting a charity called
LARK along with my local church, village and wider community for the last ten years. LARK help finance a children's rescue centre in Eldoret, Kenya. It has always been my dream to see the centre with my own eyes and a flight with MAF with pilot Christiaan made this a reality for myself, husband, daughter and 2 grandchildren. Here's my account of the day when we returned back to Nairobi at the end of the day.
Just to let you know we are safely back after an amazing day. We left home at 6.30 and arrived at the airport about 15 minutes later. Fortunately traffic was ok as it was early and also a Saturday.
Our pilot arrived at 7. We all had to be weighed plus baggage but were allowed on the 6 seater plane which included the pilot. He prayed for the day ahead and for the centre and we were in the air just before 8 and the flight took 1 hour 20 minutes. It was awesome.
It was a beautiful sunny day and we were able to see a lot of the places we had visited last week.
We had a perfect landing and it was so easy to get through customs etc. We seemed to be the only people at the airport. June, Centre Director, met us at the airport with 2 taxis and we made our way to the centre.
It took nearly an hour to get there because the traffic was so bad. However the pilot came with us and agreed to give us an extra hour so it meant we had over 2 hours to take all our photos and do interviews etc.
Everyone at the centre was so helpful and we were able to see all the developments and speak to most of the staff and children. I haven't had chance to go through everything yet but hopefully some will have turned out ok.
The mother and baby unit is still unused but June hopes the government are going to fund 2 staff so that it can be used hopefully from January 2015. They are also hopeful the vocational centre might start soon with government support. which will give teenagers experience in carpentry, car mechanics, metal work etc.
The water borehole is installed and pipe work hopefully to be fitted next week. Solar panels coming soon.
There is a hydroponic greenhouse which was built and funded by June's husband. It is great. Dave was in his element. They are growing tomatoes and food for the cattle. They now have 4 cows which is great although 2 of which aren't producing much milk! They also have 10 hens which are not laying well but hope to be soon! June said they are virtually self sufficient in food through their self sufficiency and the donations they receive from the local community.
We saw the chef cooking lunch with their produce and it looked delicious.
The main need now is for money for education. There are 2 lads who have completed their schooling who are now hoping to go to college in September but this is only possible if they receive more fundning. Other than the centre, there is no other hope for them I think it is £300 per year for each but I need to check that! There was so much to take in!
June was thrilled with the quilt and calendar gifts that we took out with us. We also took some sweets for the children too and Elijah dished them out giving 2 if they gave an interview!!!! June loved the computer we took for them and Elijah helped her sort it out. Needless to say I couldn't do it!!
It was such a thrill to see it all for real and a real privilege to experience it all. They are doing a fantastic job. You can feel the love and see God's presence through the children.
They are all so happy there and so grateful for everything they have.
Although there were 64 children here today you would never have known. They were all happily engaged and all was peaceful and purposeful. Here are some photos of their dormitories and beautiful children.
We left about 1 and were back in Nairobi at 3.30.
It was a truly amazing day and I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Maz, the kids and Dave enjoyed it too.
Thank you MAF for making this possible.
