Grace

This past week, I met with the people whose land Daylight has been purchasing incrementally. Currently, Daylight is renting space from a local seminary, but in order to increase attendance and host more orphans, Daylight has been in the process of purchasing its own land on which to build classrooms and dormitories.

Our first meeting. Quite intimidating for me!

First, Daylight purchased a little over 3 acres. The husband and wife (Kenya and Grace...yes, his name is Kenya) who own the land believe in what Daylight Center and School is doing, so they had offered to set aside the neighboring 9 acres for Daylight to purchase in the future, refusing other offers on the land. But the couple have their own bills to pay, and they shared their concerns with me a few weeks ago that they may be forced to sell to another interested buyer.

For our first meeting, we sat beneath a big tree.

Thanks to a number of generous Daylight donors, we were able to purchase 3 more acres this week. I had simply passed on the urgent information to the rest of the U.S. board of directors for Daylight, but Grace thanked me as if I had pulled the necessary sum from my own pocket. Even Angelina, Michael's wife, thanked me for doing what I did. I'm not exactly sure what I did... if it was picking up the phone and putting the pressure on the rest of the board of directors, or if it was just being present to put the land owners at ease.

Second Land Meeting: Me, Grace, and Kenya.

I have gotten to "know" this family better than I thought I would since our first meeting. Grace's father passed away a few weeks ago, so Michael and I attended the funeral which took place in her and Kenya's backyard beneath a temporary canopy made of rugged wooden beams and a tarp of maize sacks sewn together. Her father was buried in the backyard as well. Also, her daughter is about my age and speaks English very well, so we have fun chatting every time we see each other.

At this last meeting, Michael and I agreed to raise the funds for 2 more acres of land by then end of May...so, in just a little over 2 months. These 2 acres will ease the couple's current financial burdens, and allow Daylight to consider and purchase the last 4 acres at its leisure.

I don't want any of my blog readers to feel pressured (ok, maybe just a little), or to stop reading my blog because I've turned one of my posts into a call for donations. But in addition to the research I am doing for my master's research, this Daylight project is very much a part of my Kenya experiences.

Something I have learned while interviewing people for my research is that the Kenyan government still has a long way to go before public school systems (as the U.S. knows them) are providing free education for all children to attend primary and secondary school. In addition, the Pokot have a long history of being overlooked by government benefits. Just in the past century, the Kenyan government decided the Ugandan government should be responsible for the Pokot, but Uganda didn't want that responsibility, so the Pokot were abandoned.

The new Kenyan constitution, signed by President Kibaki last fall, brings a lot of hope and promise of equal distribution of government-provided benefits, such as free eduction and a percentage of national revenue to Kenyan counties for development projects. Even so, it will take some time before these changes reach Kapenguria, and even longer before the nomadic areas see the effects of the new constitution.

When I ask the nomads what the government is doing in their area, or what they expect from the government, the response I receive is "What government? I've heard about this thing called government, but I have not seen it," or "The government? Our government are the missionaries and aid organizations."

And when I ask what they believe will resolve the challenges they are experiencing with drought and hunger and health care, most everyone's response has been education.

On our way from Nairobi to Kapenguria, we stopped in East Pokot and I met this
mother and her son, who has a deformed foot. Michael asked her about having
her son come to Daylight once a host is arranged for him. She said Michael's
proposal was an answer to prayer.

Isn't he adorable?! A current Daylight student on
the cold day I taught a few classes.

This is why Daylight is so significant to the nomads. Daylight provides free education to orphans and other marginalized children, accelerating change in the nomadic areas they come from. 

Learn more about Daylight Center and School, or make a tax-deductible donation of $100 towards the remaining 2-acre land purchase.

Even if you do not click on one of the links above, thank you for taking an interest in this part of my trip by sticking to the end of this post!