Hope can RISE in the Kibera Slum - Nairobi, Kenya

As we are forming our team to head to the Kibera Slum in Nairobi Kenya, this summer of 2012 I find myself once again clouded with memories: smells, sights and sounds from my trips past. Often these memories are so deep in the recesses of my mind I have to soak a bit to draw them out. Somehow the busyness of our culture frequently has me preoccupied with my L O N G list of to-do's. Yet this week I can scarcely keep my mind focused on any given task on my list of all I need to accomplish. I keep finding my chest heaving and my eyes leaking as the memories are so vivid to me. It isn't one trip that is standing out either but a collection of the three trips we have taken there. 

As I have been sauntering through the old pictures I have gathered images that I think will touch your heart as well. This boy in the pic above was SO precious. This shot seems to capture what I think every child in the slum is forced to live with:  "Be brave, be tough, stand strong...don't let 'em see ya weep". Yet there is an unspoken silent prayer that cries out from inside of each one of them. Help me...PLEASE...HELP ME!!!

The slum is not pretty, it is not healthy, it is not hopeful. I believe it can feel claustrophobic, limiting, debilitating:  H O P E L E S S.

Yet HOPE can rise in a dry and weary land. It is as close as one person making one decision. Whether that is a decision to go or a decision to help, it is still only one decision to be made. 

The need is SO GREAT there. Picture a 10 mile square with 1 to 2 million people. Imagine no running water, no clean water. Imagine generations knowing nothing different. This is the Kibera Slum. Yet... we have found a way to help. We have joined hands with a local couple who work every day in the slum. They run a school in the middle of it: Saviour King Academy by Garden of Eden.  They provide education, meals, prayer and H O P E. It is a joy to work alongside them.

Our family tries to offer SEVERAL ways for people to be informed of the needs. We try to provide many opportunities for people to find ways to give, to help support. Imani Design is one of those ways.  I have created MANY jewelry designs with beads from Kenya (which are on sale at etsy), we have bags made from fabric we purchased there. There is also opportunity for those that want to contribute to the trip directly without purchasing a product. AND OF COURSE you can always join us on one of our trips.

You can browse through here and see some of the items we have for sale. We will continue to add more as well. Sign up to follow this blog and you will receive updates as we add them.

Remember it is as simple as one choice. Together we can make a difference.

 Psalm 63:1-8

¹ O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
   my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
   as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
² So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
   beholding your power and glory.
³ Because your steadfast love is better than life,
   my lips will praise you.
⁴ So I will bless you as long as I live;
   in your name I will lift up my hands.

 ⁵ My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
   and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
⁶ when I remember you upon my bed,
   and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
⁷ for you have been my help,
   and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
⁸ My soul clings to you;
   your right hand upholds me

We usually give them rice and beans when we visit.

The school is PACKED.

Introducing Awana Games to them for the first time in 2008.

Team that returned in 2009