Hello Everyone!
I'm hoping that I can get an update posted tonight before either the electrical power here goes out (which it has been doing intermittently for the last 2 weeks) or my own power goes out!!!
In order to backtrack a little bit, I've posted a photograph with the young man that I went to visit in Tanzania last week -- Nickson Naftali Ndosi -- and his family. Nickson is at the left in the photo, and the rest of the family is: father Naftali, mother Magdalena, sister Beatrice, and brother Arnold. This was quite a special day, as memorable for all the right reasons as the previous day's 10 hour bus ride from Nairobi to Arusha was for all the wrong reasons!!! Focusing on the more positive part of the story, I was picked up at my hotel in Arusha at 8:30 am July 2nd by Mary Mwabukusi of Compassion International in Tanzania, who was my host for the day. She was very nice and very knowledgable, and spoke excellent English which helped a lot! After a quick stop to pick up a blanket as a gift for the family, we made our way to the "center" (school) that Nickson attends -- a Compassion school started in 2001 in partnership with an established Lutheran church in Nkoaranga. (No, I don't expect anyone to know how to pronounce these names!) Anyway, we had a great visit with the staff at the center, where I learned that 290 kids are in elementary and middle school. This center is one of 232 that Compassion has in Tanzania alone, with a total of 62,000 kids in those schools! (One disappointing statistic is that less than 200 of those 62,000 are visited by their sponsor each year, and I was the first sponsor to visit the Nkoaranga center in more than 2 years! I certainly felt blessed to have the opportunity, but felt badly for all the children who never meet their sponsor.)
School was not in session that day, which turned out to be a blessing for me, since we went directly to Nickson's house! As we drove through the beautiful mountain tropical region (very near Mt. Meru), I was taken by the peacefulness of the surroundings and the lush vegetation. Quite a contrast from Nairobi! At any rate, as we drove in the increasingly steep and narrow roads toward Nickson's house, I began to get more and more anxious to see him...we pulled into an area beyond a gate, then made a sharp turn heading back out, and then -- there he was! I blurted out, "That's him...that's Nickson!" It was so cool to see a boy in the flesh that I had only ever seen in pictures...he was even wearing a shirt that he had on in the last picture I received from him! Anyway, as I got out of the car I greeted Nickson with a handshake and a hug, and then likewise his father, and then as I was walking down the small hill to his house, his mother came up to me. One look at her eyes and I began to get all choked up -- hard to explain but an amazing and deep connection before I even said a word to her. I hugged her and almost cried right there...but I held the tears...at least at that point! I said hello to his sister and brother, and then we all went into their house and sat in their front/living room.
We had a wonderful visit! We shared names and histories and information about family, got into random conversations about things like mountains, Nickson's dream to become a tour guide, and of course the World Cup! Nickson is such a sweet and gentle boy, but he is also a young man with strength about him and a lot of poise. We laughed a lot...it was very cool and quite surreal to be sitting there, in a place I'd heard about in letters for 9 years! Our plan had been to take Nickson out for lunch, but Mary leaned over at one point and told me that Nickson's mother had prepared a lunch for us and wondered if I wanted to stay (i.e. if my stomach could handle it!). I felt very strongly that we simply had to stay for lunch and slightly less strongly that my tummy would hold up, so we stayed. Lunch was quite interesting and quite good -- fresh coffee, a muffin, some fried green bananas, a boiled egg, and some fried chicken. I managed to eat everything although maybe only half of the chicken leg, which didn't seem quite cooked enough! But, more than the food, it was such a special time - to share a meal with my Tanzanian family! At least they made me FEEL like family!
After lunch we went outside and kicked around a soccer ball (football to most of the world) that I had given to Nickson, and before long we had everyone in the family and a few neighbors involved. What a blast we had! And it really helped us relax and enjoy some fun without having to force small talk for too long.
After that, we went back into the house and I expected that we would pray together and then it would be time for me to go. But, before that, Mary told me that they wanted to say something to me, and shortly thereafter Nickson's mom presented me with some small wrapped gifts. I started to cry right then...just even the thought totally bowled me over. To top it off, she said before I opened it they had something they wanted to say to me. I will never recall the specifics of what she said, because I was just trying to keep from completely breaking down as she talked, but I remember they thanked me for what I've done for Nickson by sponsoring him, and said they felt so blessed. I opened the gifts -- a small beaded box, very beautiful, and a painting on canvas of an African scene, also very nice. I was so touched it is just hard to put into words. Then we did pray together (I for them, then Nickson for me), we sang a couple of songs, took a few last pictures, and then it was time to go.
The whole visit was about 3 hours, so memorable and then so quickly over. As we drove away I wondered if I would really get to see Nickson again someday...I have a feeling that I will. But either way it was worth every bit of time and energy to meet and spend time with this great boy who God brought into my life in 2001. What a difference it will make to hear about his family in letters after meeting them, seeing where they live, and getting a sense of what their life is really like! I can tell you that I won't worry too much about Nickson...his parents, sister, and brother are wonderful people, and they live pretty comfortably living off the land, relative to the deepest levels of poverty that exist in places like Mathare Valley in Nairobi or the hills of Guerrero in Mexico. Rural poverty and urban poverty are often very different. The issues and challenges are real in both situations, but the complexity of the problems multiply when large numbers of people are packed into a very small area. But, these are subjects for another post...as the story of my time in Kenya resumes!
Blessings everyone! And many thanks for the prayers and words of encouragement from so many of you -- I am feeling much better and now focused on finishing my time here strongly and well. In just 12 days I board a plane to South Africa...and 4 days after that another one for the USA!
