I arrived in Kenya in mid-July, 2009 and visited Mwangaza Jesuit Center in Nairobi.  Here I first, before all other things, visited the gravesite of Father Angelo D’Agostino and prayed as I remembered our times together, and gave thanks for his continued spiritual presence in my life, the children of Kenya, and their caretakers.

Soon I visited the center to see Father Jim Strzok and the other wonderful Jesuit Fathers.  After lunch, Father Jim and I visited the Nkaimurunya School just across the valley.  The completed well project has fresh, clean, safe water available to the 750 students and their families.  The teachers, students, and Father Jim were very grateful and appreciative of Traveling Mercies participation.  

In Nairobi, I visited the Sisters of Adoration and met with Superior Sister Joyce and Sister Little.  The project in Eldoret is moving slowly, and a plan to build a small community to care for the many street children there continues.  Water is the first and most important need, and the Sisters have been able to drill the well, but cannot go any further to complete it.  The source of water is strong, the quality is good, but to be able to go on the funds for the pump and storage tank must be acquired. According to the Sisters, and the contractor, this would allow them to have plenty of water to grow food and later serve the community.  They are providing me plans and charts to complete the well, and I will attempt to raise the funds to help them care for the suffering street children.

I traveled on to the district of Kitui, which is approximately 150 kilometers southeast of Nairobi.  Here I visited the Nyumbani Village that is progressing well with almost 450 children living in this oasis where fruit and vegetable grow plentiful because the water system provides essential water.  Father D’Agostino was so right when he recognized that the success of this village was linked to the availability of water, and today, it continues to be.  

The surrounding area is not as lucky as the people in the surrounding villages are in trouble because of drought lasting now almost two and a half years.  They have lost their animals, the stored food is almost gone, and they have no water source to grow food.  Last year I met with the elders to discuss ideas, and this year we met again, holding a council about the problems and the possible solutions.  More than 20 villages were represented. They concluded that the plan best to suit these problems is to create a community produced agricultural coalition.  The elders, to manage the growing and distribution of food, would form an association.  A water well would be installed with storage tanks, and solar power would be used to operate the pump and drip irrigation system used to grow the vegetables and fruits.  We wrote up a proposal and recently received a favorable response from the Ministry of Water.  These documents are being further studied and a final agreement will be formalized between Traveling Mercies, the association, and partners.  

A plan was also discussed to expand the agricultural development to produce excess food and sell it.  The elders would distribute the profits again as the food to the villages.  Food would be sold at a town market, creating a store and restaurant that would be owned and operated by women.  The profits would be specifically for the widows of the area.  This idea was greatly received by all the elders and women of the communities.  The VWO and Traveling Mercies would support this program since, in their experience; similar and successful concepts such as this have been achieved and are operating in Afghanistan.