We spent two days traveling to Nairobi from Detroit, including a ten hour lay-over in Amsterdam- rainy and cold, but a good bonding experience. Thirty-six hours later we landed in Kenya, only to meet up with a group from Christ Hope International a few hours later. The group was made up of several young people, our age and older, headed by Dave and Jennifer Bell. Dave and Jennifer have run a program with their church in Ohio since they moved to Kenya two years ago. They bring young people from the church to teach abstinence in Kenyan schools (through skits and song) while also doing some orphanage visits that Mr. and Mrs. Bell support and work with.
The day we landed, we went with them to this orphanage in a Nairobi slum. Nick, an amazing guy who runs the center that is sponsored by Community Transformers, devotes his time to taking in street kids that have been abandoned or left unwanted by their parents. Because of the Kenyan political riots, the number of children in the center has grown to 29. While living in the center, the kids are sent to school, fed, and given counseling for trauma, abuse, and rape. One 14-year old girl in the center already has one child and is pregnant with another. The children adore the Bells and have come to call them their parents.
Though the experience was great, we were suffering from extreme jet lag and were happy to get our first real night’s sleep in 3 days.
-Ange