Sue & Richard visit to Pamoja projects in Kenya November 2023

Mier Pamoja Care Centre, Magina

Richard, one of the Pamoja UK Trustees, visited Pamoja projects in Kenya with his wife Sue in November 2023. We were in Kenya for 18 days, spending a week with the Mier Pamoja projects at Magina, near Kisumu, and the rest of the time in Nairobi at Kware Care Centre. As always with these visits, we see both challenges and encouragements.

The main challenge facing Kware Care Centre is the government policy that states that children must, wherever possible, be cared for by relatives or in the community. This has been the direction of travel for some time, but President Ruto’s administration seems intent on pushing this policy hard, at least in the Nairobi area. Mildred, our Kware Care Centre manager, is spending a lot of time preparing documents for court hearings, where she is setting out the case for children to remain at the Care Centre. Of course, if there were capable, caring relatives, or a community able to care for the children properly, they would not be at the Care Centre in the first place! Our fear is that children who have been rescued from difficult and dangerous situations will be taken back, which would be tragic for them. Please pray for Mildred as she works on this problem, and for the future of the children. Please also pray for wisdom for Pamoja Trustees as they seek the best way forward.

Another challenge at Kware was flooding, caused by heavy rain and exacerbated by a newly tarmacked road outside the centre, which has been built with no drainage on the Care Centre side of the road. It may be necessary to undertake some major work on the site, but in the meantime, we were able to arrange for a lorry load of stones to be delivered, and in the course of an afternoon, Kioko, some local men, and older boys from the Centre worked very hard to spread the stones over the affected area. We are pleased that the next morning Mildred was able to report ‘no puddles’, even though there was more rain overnight.

One of the undoubted highlights of the trip was in Magina, where we held a thanksgiving day. Everyone in the area who has been helped by Pamoja, whether through sponsorship at the School or Care Centre, or by having a house built, or through relief support during these hard times, was invited to attend. We were amazed to see around 200 people crowd into Millicent and Eric’s tin church, many of whom told their stories during the event. It was a great encouragement to Millicent and Eric, who have been through some difficult times recently, to see how many people really appreciate the sacrifice they have made for the Magina community over many years. Above all, it was an opportunity for all of us to give thanks to God for his goodness in sustaining the work of Pamoja. We were careful to ensure the people understood that the money for Pamoja doesn’t come from a big multi-national organisation, but rather from individual, ordinary people in the UK – people like you who are reading this – who choose to give some of their money, often sacrificially, to help people in need.

Magina Thanksgiving Day, November 2023

Some of the people who have been helped through Pamoja in Magina

These two ladies were determined to be at the Thanksgiving Day! Not quite UK safety regulations…

Although it was a short trip, we felt it was very worthwhile, as we talked to various people about their struggles, and were able to assure them of ongoing prayers and support from Pamoja in the UK. As always, there were some individuals who especially needed help, and thanks to the generosity of donors we were able to offer some practical assistance, as well as emotional and spiritual support.

“Let us not become weary in doing good!”, writes Paul (Galatians 6:9). The donations, prayers and expressions of support from Pamoja supporters in the UK really do make a difference in Kenya. Thank you. God bless you all.