rahakids's blog

Raha Kids :+) ..... The most Beautiful children I have ever met. So brave, strong, enthusiastic and inspiring individuals. So young, with so little, hardly any money, clothes or even a family to belong to. Yet so bright, each with a shining smile; a smile to brighten up your own day. A group of children, each with their own unique character, children of God :+) I know for a fact that even though I may be older, wealthier or healthier, despite all these factors, that each one of those children was able to teach me something new, perhaps a life lesson.

So my experience today was one of the toughest I've seen up to this point. I don't know where to begin but I'll try and take it from the beginning. One of the kids that comes regularly to RAHA Kids is very young, about 6 or 7 and very...ghalban (don't know how best to translate it, but roughly it means poor). This kid is cute and always smiling despite living in the harshest of conditions. After I first arrived and began treating these kids for their medical conditions, I could tell he needed some medical attention for a severe cough among other symptoms.

Today, we again went on a similar outreach mission to a section of Nairobi called Eastleigh in a similar fashion to the outing yesterday. Eastleigh is in much worse condition than possibly any other part of Nairobi. The area is predominantly made up of Somalian refugees, Ethiopians, and Eritreans. Consequently, the majority of the area is muslim and thus, our presence was very much unwanted. People stared at us because we clearly stood out from the rest of the crowd. The roads are so bad that we had to park and walk the rest of the way.

Today we went to visit a group of streetchildren in a part of Nairobi called Kalanguiri. This neighborhood was packed with many shops, local craftsmen, small buses (called matatu's) and many other people. The overall feel was a busy marketplace which is easy to get lost in. We found an open field where there were many streetchildren who had nothing else to do but play soccer with a rolled up wad of garbage. We gathered them together, we prayed with them, we had an activity where everyone got to know the name of the one next to him and then we had some other fun activities for the kids.

I want to share something personal with you today. Most of the time we try to write these blogs in an anonymous kind of way. But today I want to share something a little bit more personal, and it is to give God glory for this beautiful ministry he has given us. I'm a male of 29 years old who grew up in North America. I got married about 1.5 years ago to my lovely wife, who is 26 at the moment. We lived one year in North America after our marriage, and were just starting to get settled into our new apartment and get comfortable.

Today is a very special day in the history of RAHA Kids. As many of you know, we have been praying and searching desperately for the last two months for a house for the children to sleep at night. Until now they have been coming to the drop in center during the day, only to return to the streets, and all that comes with the streets at night. We would visit the kids at night on the street as they all huddle together under a tree at their base, and pray with the children about finding them a house.

Dear Raha Kids Readers: This drop- in center, although providing a lot, is just not enough for the children. We do and offer so much here at the center, and all of it is just undone when the chidren return to the nasty streets of Nairobi at 5:00. The kids have to leave their childhood at the door upon leaving Raha Kids and put on their wolves skin to face the cruel world outside. We NEED a solution. Please Lord.

Salim is one boy who's been behaving so well. His attitude has really changed. He sits quietly in Church, reads the Bible during free time, has been serious during class time, and even gave a great speech at the Grand Opening event of RAHA KIDS that touched everyone.

Dear Raha Kids Readers: Today has been a challenging day.

Thanks be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for being so gracious with us on January 11th, 2010 at the Grand Opening of RAHA KIDS. Although the day started out with a lot of last-minute running-around, the outcome was wonderful, and it was covered by the newspaper and television media stations.