Journey to Kenya with Soles4Souls Part 1

Journey to Kenya with Soles4Souls Part 1:

The morning began at 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday July 14, 2018.  After traveling 30 hours we finally made it to Nairobi, Kenya.  The following morning Tom, John and Caira McCarrick, and myself, drove 2 hours on a 2 lane highway, which was shared by cows, ox, donkeys, and farmers, to Kawase, Kenya.  You cannot find Kawase, Kenya on the map, it is located 3 degrees south of the equator.  It was extremely hot, and the accommodations and conditions are not for the faint of heart. 

All the dirt roads led to the most beautiful children, full of hope and expectation of things to come.  As we pulled up in the drive we were met by 200 children singing to greet us.  I immediately started crying at the experience.  The children of Kawese, Kenya speak Swahili and English, although their English is limited.  The main tribe in Kawase and Kenya, is the Maasai Tribe.  The Maasai tribe made up approximately 50 of the students.  The Maasai boys proudly performed their native dance for us. 

After all the greetings and assemblies, I had the opportunity to speak to all the children at St. Patrick's Primary School.  And then the work began, measuring each student for shoes with the shoe charts Soles4Souls provided. 

As Tom and I went from classroom to classroom measuring the children's feet we noticed some children had no shoes at all, some had miss-matched shoes, boys were wearing girl shoes, girls were wearing boys shoes, shoes had holes in them, and some children had their ankles hanging out of the back of the shoe because their shoes were too small.  The uniforms were tattered, full of holes and bear threads.  Soles4Souls is a wonderful organization and I was overwhelmed and deeply humbled that I was able to bridge the partnership between Soles4Souls and The Kenyan Child Foundation.

The story in Kenya runs deep with insight and love beyond measure.  Please enjoy this first phase of my Tales From Kenya with Soles4Souls.  I hope you are blessed.