One by One!

This week, Heidie and I ventured out on a few trips to visit some of small projects. Our first stop was the Nairobi Girls Centre, a training centre for older girls and younger women who, for a range of reasons, were unable to complete their education. We then moved on to the Loins Girls Hostel, who’s aim is to empower and support girls through college in order to ensure they complete their education and reside in safe and secure environment in Nairobi.  Both are excellent centres and both require some attention in terms of maintenance, water issues, equipment and development.  From  here, we moved on to our final visit of the day. It was this journey that shocked me.

Travelling through the back streets to avoid the absolutely crazy traffic, we passed through Mathare, the Somali section of Nairobi and Dandora.  I was genuinely stunned and outrage by what was before me.  The vastness of the slum areas,  the squalid accommodation, children fighting with dogs for scraps of food in the rubbish at the side of the road and the temporary shelters for which people are paying a rent!  We must have been in the car for almost 2 hours and for the duration of the journey, I did not see one white person. I am told some of these areas are no-go areas but because of The Salvation Army sticker on the side of our car, we are afforded some protection.  In my humble opinion, it all seemed a hopeless mess.

Mathare - home to 500,000 people

 My initial and somewhat selfish reaction was to thank the Lord, my lucky stars and anything else that people think can that may play a part in changing destiny (I'm sticking with the Big Man!)  that I had been spared from living in such a desperate place, which would have immediately disadvantaged me in so many different ways. Then my thoughts became a bit more rational and turned to what can I do to help those who live in such poverty, those who suffer injustice, those who are not offered the basic things that I take for granted. It was difficult to see what I could do. Then I came home and read this;

“The almighty God of the universe is prepared to use us, his people, to seek justice,  to rescue the oppressed, to defend the orphan and to plead for the widow.” Concretely, he is prepared to use you and me to fight for the people of the slum areas of Nairobi.  So it’s up to me and you!  The bible says if anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth (1 John 3 v 17).  Interesting to me that this passage refers to a brother or a sister. It focuses on meeting the needs of the poor by keeping our eyes focused on the individual.

One of my favourite stories is about a young boy who was walking on the beach with his father and he came across millions of starfish stranded on the sand. He shouted to his father; “we’ve got to do something”. His father replied in a very disparaging way "This beach goes on for miles and miles, and there are millions of starfish, how can your efforts make any difference?" The young man looked at all the starfish, picked one up and threw it back into the sea and turned back to his dad "It made a difference to that one"

So as individuals we can make a difference to a brother or a sister. I can’t see that I am ever going to be able to solve all the problems, tackle all the injustices, lift all the residents out of the squalor of living in a slum.  I may not be able to make a difference for all those living in poverty BUT I can make all the difference for one person living in poverty. So one by one here goes!