Dear Friends and Family,
Kenya in January (2013) was a country awash in politics: candidates’ posters and banners plastered on the streets of even the smallest towns, rallies at local soccer fields, newspapers and TV news crammed with the latest developments as the country heads for national elections in early March.
But every morning when we drove out of the small, western town of Bomet (pop. 4400), we headed down a series of rutted dirt roads, away from the trappings of politics and into the all-consuming life of rural Kenya. There, on the farm that Hillary Kipkirui Tonui and his wife Gladys Cheruiyot work with some of Hillary’s siblings, there are cows to be milked, tea to be picked, a field to be plowed for potatoes, children to be dressed for school – and a new brick house to be built, to replace the two-roomed, mud-walled home that Hillary and Gladys currently share with sons Brian, 12, and Ignacius, 6.
That brick house is why Larry, Tom, and I were there with 21 other amateur builders from the U.S., Canada and Lebanon. In eight exhilarating, exhausting days, we dug the foundation of a five-room house; mixed (by hand) the concrete for the foundation and the mortar for the bricks; and laid brick walls. By the time we had to leave, the walls reached well above our heads. They were ready for a concrete lintel, the next step before a roof could go on. That work will be done by the local masons who guided us. Then, Hillary told us, the family will need to save for perhaps a few more months to purchase the doors and windows to finish the house.
When it’s done, that house will bring a sea change to the lives of Hillary, Gladys Brian and Ignacius. Family members will have more privacy. An indoor toilet that feeds into a septic tank will replace the pit latrine they now use. A sitting room will give space for the boys to study and the parents to host visiting family and neighbors. Down the road, perhaps with more savings, there’s a possibility of electricity.
All of this is happening because of Habitat for Humanity’s Kenya program, which has helped build 5,000 houses to date using a microfinance loan system and a lot of practical support for families that banks have no interest in aiding. Hillary and Gladys are members of a self-help group that includes 16 families who save and build together. Their labors are sometimes supplemented by teams like ours, part of Habitat’s Global Village program, which can send in a squad of volunteers who are short on skills but long on enthusiasm. The work we accomplished in eight days, they told us, would have taken the family and masons several weeks to do on their own.
Ours was the last Global Village team to visit Kenya until after the March elections. Five years ago, Kenya’s national elections ended in horrific tribal violence and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. There are good reasons to believe that will not happen this year, but there are no guarantees. Kenya is a vibrant country with resources and institutions (like their good media) that left all of us with a sense of optimism – about its future and about our tiny contribution to helping one family get a real boost in life.
Many of you made tangible contributions to our trip. All of the money you donated goes directly to Habitat’s work in Kenya – making more loans, buying more shovels, or whatever is needed. We’re grateful for your support and your interest. We have hundreds of photographs, of course. But the best way to capture our experience – the fun, as well as the work – is to watch this video by team member Judy Cao. No cute YouTube kittens here, but lots of Kenyan kids at play, sweating office workers from the U.S. laying bricks, and much more. If you want to know why we love these trips, this may give you the answer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj8YzRJuNAM
And again, thanks so much for your support. Larry, Tom, and I appreciate it, and so do the families and Habitat staff we work with abroad.
Ann Cooper