Thursday, March 26, 2009

Save a life, a cry for help

Dear Friends/Family,
Date:3/26/09

This should be considered a 911 clarion call for help ASAP for some of the people of Kenya in the interior or bush areas. Yesterday while moving two people that we know very well called us distraught and begging for us to help get food and water to the people in rural areas. Before I delve into the request, let me give some back ground information. Prior to going to Israel, Penny and I both have sent emails, discussed on our blog as well as Facebook the severe drought conditions here in Narok and surroundings areas we have visited. Since returning from Israel, the condition is VERY miserable and severe now and not just effecting the livestock, but humans as well. The wheat crop that was planted a few weeks ago has been blown away with the wind and dry soil.
So this is what we would like to do in regards to reaching out to these desperate people and that is to purchase corn,beans and what the Kenyans call cooking fat and give each family a packet of food. This gives a rounded diet of a protein and carbohydrate and sending water trucks to communities that have no water. The packet will last about 3 weeks per family and will provide some relief quickly. You may ask why go through us, well we have a contact who is willing to make sure that we get the food at a fare price, the food will not be resold, and 100% of the funds will be used for this purpose only. John Leshao has donated free use of his lorry (truck), so all we needs is fuel which we think we may be able to get from local councilors and then as you give money to buy the food. At this point, we can’t wait for the government to act we need to move quickly and get these people assistance and show them we are His disciples by our love and care! The government is not acting swiftly or at all to the outcry of it’s people!
Also another ramification of the drought is that after this week the schools both public and private are closing down in the rural areas because of the drought and lack of food. Another topic of interest is that the highlands which is usually cool and has plenty of water has NO WATER!

So here are the numbers- we have 4 villages we are going to focus on in need of immediate help which totals about 28,000 people and the cost for food and water for each village will be about $7,000, so a total of $28,000 is needed ASAP.

To make matters worse we are experiencing an outbreak of rabies amongst not just dogs and donkeys, but humans too as of now 54 people have died of rabies in the Narok district. One graphic example was that a boy got bitten by a rabid dog and then he bit his whole family and then he disappeared. We have talked with the District Vet Jerry Ole Kina who has mobilized 5,000 free rabies vaccines to administer to the livestock and dogs in many of these rural areas. They even went street by street announcing by loud speaker about the vaccination program to get everyone to participate in the program to stop the rabies from spreading and killing people and animals. They are tonight going to diffrent villages were the rabies is the worse and putting down all the stray dogs they can find. We in the USA take this kind of thing for granted but Jerry the vet has worked for 2 weeks to get the government to give the money to do the put down of the stray dogs that carry the rabies. Wild dogs can get so bad with out these controlled put downs that they will dig up graves and eat the dead and attach and kill people. Sadly to say the 7 vets that work in the surrounding districts have not been vaccinated for rabies in several years due to lack of funding. Penny and I have been vaccinated only because we were quicken to do so prior to leaving the USA. So if anyone wants to donate toward this project, designate the funding for vaccines for vets the cost is about $150 per vet. We can buy the vaccine here and Dollie will give the vaccine in three doses.
If you can’t personally donate toward any of these projects, please appeal to other friends and your own vets to ask if they will help. This is not a time to be too shy. I realize that the economic situation is difficult to say the least, but give what you can-$5,$10, $25 or whatever I implore you to help in some fashion. Don’t get me wrong we need prayer too, but the bottom line is we need help for the purchase of these goods.

Please send your tax deductible donation to:

Kenya Medical Outreach
200 Johnson Rd.
Suwanee, Ga
30024

Please designate in a note or on the check which project you want the funding to go towards food and water relief, or rabies intervention.

Blessing to all

Dollie and Penny

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Drought causing cattle to starve













These are some examples of the drought that is going on. The cow on the right is in my yard having a good meal the other 2 are on the way to Nairobi from our home in Narok with on vegetation at all. I told Dollie all I could see that they could be eating was dirt. Goats on the left and zebras in the middle. It looks this way everywhere but in my yard. People have no Mazed to eat and water is very low if at all. The people that hurt are the ones in the bush not town people and there are many more that don't live in town than do.

Pray for rain!

Blessing Penny

Abused Donkey found in town

Donkeys are used everyday by most people here in Kenya to haul water pull carts etc. Some people take very good care of there donkeys and some take very bad care of there donkeys. Last night Jerry called and said he saw a injured one in town with a large wound and old wounds and was lame. These wounds were done by a human! He is to bring it to our house this morning to keep it as it heals and is treated if he can find it. Jerry if he can will find the owner and have them but in jail but finding the owner will be hard. The jail time and penalty is not near enough to make people to stop the abuse. THe law needs to be changed and will be hard to do. But I am going to try in time! Jerry is going at it now to try to educate people on proper care and that the animal feels pain like we do. Dollie and I and my dog Valentine are to go to a market that is known for mistreating there donkeys and use Valentine as a drawing card to gather a crowd. They have never seen a dog like here (Scottish Terrier) and then I will do commands on her teaching you don't have to beat your animal to get them to obey!!!! THen Jerry will teach on how to care for you donkey etc.

The abuse is so bad that some people cut holes in there donkeys and stick a sharp stick in them all day to get them to move faster. You can't imagine what all goes on over here with these donkeys! They over load them and beat and beat them to get them to pull what they aren't capable to pull. They don't give them time to feed they work them all day and into the night.The list goes on and on,

Jerry's office doesn't have the supplies to treat it so Dollie and I will use what we have here and give money to help buy what is needed. Medicine's aren't much here in Kenya but we don't have the budget to take care of all the animals here in Kenya. I will send out pictures of it today if I can so you can see the abuse.

Donkeys are very gentle animals and it is sad that people use them so badly. If you want to help send any funds to KMO/ donkey fund/ 200 Johnson Rd. Suwanee GA . 30024. This is tax deductible! Thanks for any help you can give. We are going to try and get some grant money to cover expenses but for now if you could help it would be a great help for the donkey. It takes along time to get grant money.

Thank you more for just reading this.

Pe
This is a donkey that has been loaded correctly so that it will not get injured. It has 200 pounds of charcoal on it and was making a delivery to our home. Most all people in Kenya cook with charcoal. This donkey is worked hart but not abused, it is owned by a Massi lady and the Massi are known for taking good care of there donkeys.

I have added a note about a donkey that Jerry found last night and will keep you posted as we have more news.


Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Jerry and the company truck

This is Jerry and I (Penny) in front of the company truck that isn't running because they don't have the funding to fix the truck. With such a large area that they need to travel make's if very hard for all the farmers and herd's man to get help when needed.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Happy Church

Happy Church

We were ask to speak at a little church in the area here in Narok called Majengo. We have sense found out that all towns in Kenya have a Majengo and that means the poor side of town. We use to go to the market up there and buy our vegetables and fruits, but stopped because the roads are so bad and it is hard to get to. So to say the least we haven’t been there in a long time and had forgotten how poor there area really is. Garbage in the street (more than the usual for Narok) starving dogs, cattle eating out of garbage heaps over crowded living conditions, kids running around barefoot in the mess.. I think you may get the picture. Cars are rare in Majengo so we had to pay somebody to watch our car while we ere there.

We were happy to be invited and felt the Lord wanted us to do generational repentance prayers with the people. They have 2 services Dollie was to do the first me the second one. She did hers on breaking witchcraft curses and blood covenants because this is so prevalent here.

When we first got there we were shocked at how poor the people appeared to be and how poorly the children were dressed. Some of the children look very malnourished. They were a happy bunch though!

So while Dollie was speaking I keep thinking we have to break the spiritual curse of poverty off these people! Dollie and I talked and agreed so when I spoke that is what I did. It was a very long repents prayer and with it being said in 2 languages and repeated once it seemed very long. The people seemed like they were really leaning in to what they were praying and Sarah said she could feel a lot of relief her self durning the prayers. After that I spoke on maintaining you deliverance and leading a righteous life. A lot of people here in Kenya are saved, but don’t have any fruit and lead very corrupt lives. One of the things on our heart is to help get the Church cleaned up. Being saved is good, but if you have no victory in your walk and can’t overcome strongholds in your life it is not what God intended. Pastors here seem more evil and less trustworthy than a unsaved person.

I just called the pastor to see what fruit if any came from our visits. He was very positive and wants us to come and do a 3 day conference. He said that a lot of people have seen great changes in there lives. PRAISE BE TO GOD! So we are to sit down with him the beginning of April and talk about what and when to speak again.

It is strange that they are so versed in witchcraft and know how to use it and very successfully, I will say, but have know idea how to break it off there lives. Dollie and I were working with a lady that had all kinds of curses on her from witches in her family, but she had know idea what to do about it. We had a great time in the Lord working with her and she was very surprised at how easy and how much relief she found from the simple prayers we did in 2 hours. She needs a lot more work but at least we got her some relief and it was a start.

We pray that Happy Church can grow and prosper in the Lord.

Keep us in your prayers as we go about doing what we see the Father doing!

Penny and Dollie

Update February 28th 2009

Hello to everyone! We have been doing very well. There has been a malaria and typhoid out break here in the town of Narok where we live, but we have not been effected. Sarah and her family have been hit hard with the malaria she and both the kids had malaria, but her husband wasn’t effected.

Dollie and I go on a prayer project with our home church from Knoxville, TN on March 13th- March the 23 to Israel. It isn’t a site seeing tour we are going to pray in certain areas over some issues the Lord has made clear to our pastor. We are flying Ethiopian air lines and we have Shebamiles:) We think that is cute the Queen of Sheba came form Ethiopia.

When we get back, we will move to our new home here in Narok. The knew house is smaller, but we feel this is where we are to go. Pray for us to have a smooth transition.

Tabula is here and is being hosted by a Massi family we know and she seems very happy. She can talk and interact better with them than with us. She will be here in Narok about 6 weeks going back and forth to Nairobi for her implant. She looks very good and will look better when she has teeth on the left side of her mouth.

Some of you have seen on my Facebook that I helped save a cow the other day. So I will tell the story. Around September I had a problem with my chickens and went to the district vet office that is about 100 yards from my house. I have been before and have never been impressed with who or what I saw, this day was different. I meet a very funny, large Massi man that was the vet and came to my house and found the problem with my chickens and saved the whole lot. So since then I only call on him. He was on holiday leave and I had a problem with my chickens and I called him and he came and helped me. He is a very nice man! So the other day Valentine needed her rabies shot update so I went to see Jerry. I had mentioned that she had a itching problem and he said she has parasites that is causing this I will give her a injection. We had tried everything and done everything about this problem and he had the answer when I wasn’t even asking.

So the other day James and I were in town and on the side of the road was a dying cow. It’s head was just hanging toward the ground and it was foaming at the mouth and looked like it couldn’t move it was so weak. Africans aren’t know for there kindness and concern for animals and there was a few hundred people going by doing nothing. I thought on my way home that I would go and check at the district vets office and see if Jerry was there to ask him if he could help. He wasn’t there so I called him and he was in town so I went and picked him up and we went to look at the cow. He got out in no hurry and looked at the cow and walked around it and came to my car window and said this cow isn’t going to die. I said what- its about to drop dead now. No he said it has leaches in its nose and mouth and that is why it is bleeding from its nose and mouth and is anemic that is why it is so weak, but it want die. He said I will give it an injection and it will be better in a few days. So we got in the car went back to the district office and came back to where the cow was.

When we drove up where it had been- we said were did it go? There is a river down a bank where it was standing and Jerry went Oh know! its going to take the whole town to get this cow out of the mud! I looked and it looked like it was in thick mud almost covering his head. James got a rope out of the car and was able to get a hook around its horn and pull it towards the bank so they could drag it out. It wasn’t in all mud it was water with slime over the top that looked like mud. James got the horns Jerry the tail and they pulled this rather large cow out of the water. By the time I got down there to take pictures on my phone they had it out but it looked worse and Jerry said it was drowning because it couldn’t keep its head above water it was so weak. They drugg it as far from the water as they could and Jerry gave it the injection and in 2 hours it was up. Of course the owner was not around and would have never sought treatment. I guess when he came through with his heard and collected that one he wondered how it had gotten better. It was because the white women cared and went to get the carrying vet.

Jerry is wanting to raise money and start a animal welfare type organization to help sick animals and rescue them from abusive owners. The donkeys around here need a lot of help. They are the hardest working animals in all of Kenya and this most miss treated.

My african friends that I told this to said they would have just gone on by and never thought anything, but were very glad that I cared enough to help. It was a big seen in town the white women and the little black dog helping the sick cow. We gathered a very large crowd in just a few minutes:)

We are getting excited about the up coming outreach with KMO coming up in May. We are going to a new site called Sakutick that is around the Narok area. We have found 3 children from there to take to Operation Smile for cleft pallets to be repaired. They are to go in April to have this done. There are a lot of orphans that are living with family’s from parents that have had HIV/AIDs and have died. It is a very beautiful place very green and a lot of grass and they grow potatoes up there. We are to do a walk with Jesus also with about 30 people or more that work in churches and christian organizations. Dollie and I are very excited and the group we are working with are beside themselves about us coming. It is the first time they have had a group to come and do a clinic and dental care with bible teaching.

Keep us in your prayers as we try to do what we see the Father doing!

Dollie and Penny