She has nowhere to go — she was duped into coming to Nairobi. She left her home far from here on the promise that she would be placed in a good school; instead, she ended up forced into serving as house help in an abusive home. So, Daisy (not her real name) runs away to the streets of Nairobi. The local police pick her up and take her to the police station where she is safe, presumably, as they seek to find a place for her to stay. Instead, the officers on duty hold Daisy at the station for four days and one officer repeatedly sexually abuses her while she is detained. The four other police officers on duty do nothing to stop the abuse.
Daisy is eight years old.
We at IJM Kenya found out about Daisy’s case not long after she was “released” from police custody. We have since made it our passion to see that Daisy gets justice: that her abuser(s) goes to jail for what he has done to her, and that she gets the counseling she needs so that she can heal from the pain she has suffered. The path to justice in this case is not without its challenges, however, so please pray for Daisy as she presses on in the face of the incredible suffering she has undergone. Please also pray for us at IJM Kenya as we endeavor to ensure that those responsible for Daisy’s suffering are held accountable for their actions.
It has now been one month since we arrived in Nairobi. Time sure is flying by. Even in the down times, God has been faithful and good. And He’s been good to me in ways that show me He knows me intimately. This may sound really simple (or even heretical to some of you super-spiritual folks ☺) but on two separate really hard moments early on, I was sitting in a taxi and close to despair. Yet, in the middle of Nairobi, Kenya, our God sent me as a pick-me-up (on Kenyan radio, mind you) two great songs: Kenny Rogers’ “Coward of the County” on one occasion, and “Wish You Were Here,” my favorite Pink Floyd song, on another occasion. Now, if you want to debate whether or not our Holy God would send me a Pink Floyd song, go for it; I just know it really brightened my day when I needed it. I chalked it up to Him!
Overall, I am loving it here. The work is eminently fulfilling and I feel like I can make a real difference in the lives of these real people who have suffered real injustices (all because you have sent me here). And, I want to say that I could not be more impressed with the people that I am working with. In addition to one other North American, my co-workers are composed of fifteen Kenyans (lawyers, investigators, counselors, administrators, etc.) and they are some of the most passionate, intelligent, hard-working, and faithful people I have ever met. I am so blessed to be a part of this team, and I am learning so much about what it means to be an advocate for individuals who have suffered more than we could ever know. Please pray for the staff, that they would continue to have the strength and vision to carry the individual causes of justice daily.
Our family is doing very well also. Caleb began cub scouts last week. He’s a Tiger Cub, and got a cool Kenya patch which will make all the kids back home in the states jealous when we return. In Unicorn Preschool, Abigail is learning to write her letters and her name, and she’s very excited about it — she shows me her work every day when I come home. Luke is also doing well — he is definitely the monkey of our kids. The maintenance man of the complex recently built a gate on our stairs so that monkey-boy would not climb the stairs anymore and risk a tumble. Luke’s going to be an athlete. That’s my boy!
Anna is also acclimating well. She’s grown more comfortable driving to the grocery store and to Caleb’s school, which makes it much easier for her and Abigail to connect with other moms and kids during the day. She has more and more “playdates” on the calendar, it seems. We hope to get a date night sometime next week, as a coworker from the office has been offering to babysit.
That’s about it for now. Please continue to pray for our health, as we’ve all suffered a little gastro-intestinally recently. Please also pray for Daisy, as noted above. This case has hit me more than any other thus far. Finally, please pray for Kenya, as there is much suffering country-wide right now with regards to famine and drought.
Thank you and know that we miss you.
Peace,
Lane
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Just different...
I've noticed several things around me are different than what I was accustomed to back in Austin. I realize that these things are not better or worse, just different.
For example:
+ WATER - Nairobi is in a drought right now, a serious drought. Enough to where the animals are not migrating the way they used to be because of the lack of water. As for how that affects us, the water from the "city council" is just a trickle. So, in order to have running water in our home there is a tank outside in the ground that fills with the city water. And twice so far that tank has run dry. ugh! bad problem for a house of five people. We had to call the landlord and pay for water to be hand carried bucket by bucket to fill our tank. Each day or so, I flip a switch and pump water from this underground tank up to a tank on our roof. This is the water that will gravity flow to our sinks and toilets in the house.
+ HOT WATER - So, if I want to take a hot or even warm shower, I have to turn on the water heater located in our bathroom at least 30 minutes beforehand. And then when we are done showering in the morning, we turn it off for the rest of the day. I am not sure what would happen if we left the heater on all day. This is just what we were told to do. This was very frustrating the first week or so, but now we have the hang of it.
+ OUTLETS - all of the outlets have these nifty OFF and ON switches. I guess this is so you can turn off the power to each socket. Interesting concept, not sure why they do this, maybe it saves power. Also, all of the plugs are 3-pronged. So, that means anything I brought from the states needs a converter on it. You should see all of the cables behind our computer desk! I finally put a big piece of cardboard to cover all of those wires up. You think we were a power station with all those wires and converters :-).
+ ELECTRICITY - Speaking of power, because of the extreme drought here, this is causing other trickle down effects throughout the rest of the city, and probably country. Such as, rotating power outages. Some neighborhoods have NO power up to 3 days per week. We evidently, got lucky and aren't in one of those areas, but we have had several power outages. Good thing we don't have lots of digital clocks around the house. That would drive someone like my husband nuts to be resetting clocks so often. :-) We had a power outage just tonight! The first time it kind of scared the kids, but once we got out the headlamps (thankfully recommended by our friends Scott & Sally to bring!) and light a candle it turned out to be fun.
This is just a start. I have several more to go like...driving on the left, converting money to Schillings, Fahrenheit to Celsius, etc. I will save those for a later post!
Blessings,
Anna
For example:
+ WATER - Nairobi is in a drought right now, a serious drought. Enough to where the animals are not migrating the way they used to be because of the lack of water. As for how that affects us, the water from the "city council" is just a trickle. So, in order to have running water in our home there is a tank outside in the ground that fills with the city water. And twice so far that tank has run dry. ugh! bad problem for a house of five people. We had to call the landlord and pay for water to be hand carried bucket by bucket to fill our tank. Each day or so, I flip a switch and pump water from this underground tank up to a tank on our roof. This is the water that will gravity flow to our sinks and toilets in the house.
+ HOT WATER - So, if I want to take a hot or even warm shower, I have to turn on the water heater located in our bathroom at least 30 minutes beforehand. And then when we are done showering in the morning, we turn it off for the rest of the day. I am not sure what would happen if we left the heater on all day. This is just what we were told to do. This was very frustrating the first week or so, but now we have the hang of it.
+ OUTLETS - all of the outlets have these nifty OFF and ON switches. I guess this is so you can turn off the power to each socket. Interesting concept, not sure why they do this, maybe it saves power. Also, all of the plugs are 3-pronged. So, that means anything I brought from the states needs a converter on it. You should see all of the cables behind our computer desk! I finally put a big piece of cardboard to cover all of those wires up. You think we were a power station with all those wires and converters :-).
+ ELECTRICITY - Speaking of power, because of the extreme drought here, this is causing other trickle down effects throughout the rest of the city, and probably country. Such as, rotating power outages. Some neighborhoods have NO power up to 3 days per week. We evidently, got lucky and aren't in one of those areas, but we have had several power outages. Good thing we don't have lots of digital clocks around the house. That would drive someone like my husband nuts to be resetting clocks so often. :-) We had a power outage just tonight! The first time it kind of scared the kids, but once we got out the headlamps (thankfully recommended by our friends Scott & Sally to bring!) and light a candle it turned out to be fun.
This is just a start. I have several more to go like...driving on the left, converting money to Schillings, Fahrenheit to Celsius, etc. I will save those for a later post!
Blessings,
Anna
Our Mailing Address - updated Nov 2009
Some folks have asked if we can receive mail. The answer is..YES!!! It doesn't come to our apartment, rather it goes to a post office box. None of the houses have street addresses near us. I am not sure if this is the case for all of Nairobi, or just for our area. Seems like most places have PO boxes as the normal route of receiving mail. We'd love to hear from you! And we promise to write back. I think it takes about 2-3 weeks to arrive here from the states.
Here goes...
Lane & Anna Mears
P.O. Box 25743
Nairobi 00603
Kenya
A few notes on sending mail to us...take off any price tags. Don't send cash, it won't get to us. Evidently, if you write "God bless you" or words like it, it is more likely to arrive. And don't talk politics or say anything about the Kenyan government. When I hear more tips on sending mail, I'll post those as well.
My mom just found out it costs about $0.98 to send a small letter to us. And so I went to our post office for the first time and found out it costs about the same for us to send a letter to the states.cool!
Here goes...
Lane & Anna Mears
P.O. Box 25743
Nairobi 00603
Kenya
A few notes on sending mail to us...take off any price tags. Don't send cash, it won't get to us. Evidently, if you write "God bless you" or words like it, it is more likely to arrive. And don't talk politics or say anything about the Kenyan government. When I hear more tips on sending mail, I'll post those as well.
My mom just found out it costs about $0.98 to send a small letter to us. And so I went to our post office for the first time and found out it costs about the same for us to send a letter to the states.cool!
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