Clouds of dust billow from beneath vehicles traveling on the red dirt roads before settling upon the now withering grasses and shrubs alongside these winding routes. Fields lie parched and dormant, waiting for some old tierd tractor to drag its plough over the dead maize stalks covering them. Both confirm that the dry season is upon us in Kenya.

The talk on the streets of Kitale nowadays is about the lack of water in town. Service from the municipality has been sparse to nonexistent for weeks now, yet where in some places such conditions would cause uproar, here  people just tolerate their lot and resolve to fetch even more contaminated water from distant rivers. The poor have no voice. I’m grateful for the water storage tanks we built at Brittany’s House, all filled to capacity with rain harvested before the dry season arrived. It should see us through.

Medical clinics have been the focus of activity during the past couple of weeks. One particular clinic held at Runo saw Lisa, working with nurses form a nearby medical center, treat over 400 children for various ailments such as parasites and malaria common in that region. Dozens of mothers with babies were also treated.

Runo mothers wait for clinic

Another clinic held at Springs of Hope in Kitale, treated 65 kids who attend there each day from the nearby slums.

After clinic at Springs of Hope

A water well, known here as a bore hole, which was sponsored by ‘Ordinary Women’ now has a pump and began to deliver clean water this month to the community of Big Tree, some 20 kilometers from here where it’s located. Few experiences compare to the joy shared with a community who just received a source of clean water.

Mothers at Big Tree well

Meanwhile, back in Runo, west Pokot, the building projects continue. The children’s home for the orphans of Runo is progressing, albeit slowly. Things we would take for granted at home become a struggle here such as simply transporting materials for instance. Dilapidated tractors hired to carry firewood for firing brick kilns or rock for foundations spend more time under repair it seems than actually working. Planks of timber have to be cut from acacia trees before concrete forms can be made. Pit latrines are dug deep into the earth by hand in the compact stony ground. Rocks are smashed and crushed in place for foundations, also by hand, using sledgehammers in 90 degree heat. Soon though the building will emerge from its footings and take shape and, God willing, later this year 108 orphans will have their basic needs met. We must persevere.

Donors from the UK provided 100 much needed desks for the school and now every child has a suitable place to study rather than sitting on a stone with notebook on lap. The feeding program is now back in operation since we received food for the kids from the World Food Program, (though the kitchen has temporarily been transformed into a classroom). Every week more children enroll which in turn boosts the attendance at church, even though pastor John is away attending bible college for the next few weeks.

New desks at Runo

In all this activity it’s easy to miss the moment, especially when fatigue begins to set in after a hard day working in the hot sun. But stop to look around for a moment and you’ll see what God has done. An old frail man, now a believer and regular attender at church grins from ear to ear as he shows off his new, (used) shirt we just gave him.

Old man, new shirt

Laughing children play football, barefoot on a sandy field which a few months ago was covered in thorn bushes, smiling mothers chatter as they congregate and socialize around a pipe springing from the desert floor, constantly pouring water out on the parched earth. Tiny mango trees grow where nothing could grow before and perhaps the greatest miracle of all, a new baby is born. This time to my friend Samuel, the principle teacher and founder of Runo. Without his vision and energy none of this could have taken place. He is an inspiration and I know we reciprocate when we show up to work along side him. We’ll probably never see the full, long term effects our efforts will have on future generations, but that’s not important, for we are fulfilled with this work, but only as long as we remain in His grasp.