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Home » Kenya 2018

Kenya Flood Relief – How to Help

How can you help with the Kenya Flood effort?

Kenya FLood 2
This is the road leading to Ombaka, Kenya.

April 22, 2018 – For the past several days, Kenya has been subject to severe rains and flooding. The forecast over the next 5 days is calling for more of the same.

What is compounding the issue in Kenya is that they have been in a state of drought for at least the past year. The ground is more like a clay pot that soil. Due to this, the heavy rains are pooling and flooding villages leading to contaminated water supplies. As food and clean become more scarce, the situation in Kenya will get to a critical state.

I have been to Kenya three times and I know many of the Pastors in the Kisumu area. Many of them are affected by the floods and want to help those who are in need, but they lack the resources.

While this is my photography business website, I will use it to help those in need. I also firmly believe that the best way to help in these situations is to give directly to the people affected in lieu of organizations who may redirect funds. I have known both Samson Otieno and Boaz Omugah personally since my first trip to Kenya in 2009. Both of them are in areas that are directly affected by these floods and they could use our help.

What is mPesa?

mPesa is a system that many Kenyans use to send money via mobile to mobile. Quite simply, mPesa is used in lieu of cash the same way that many of us use a debit card, except it is just texting money back and forth. Many Kenyans do not have a bank, but almost everyone has mPesa.

How to Send mPesa to Boaz or Samson to help buy supplies

There is a service called World Remit that enables Americans to send mobile money payments to Kenya via mPesa. If you want to help, this is about the fastest and most efficient way that I know to get them needed supplies. Last I checked, the maximum amount that you can send per day is 70,000 KSH = Approx $700 USD.

I will include their information below if you want to send help to Samson, Boaz or both.

  1. Click on this link to go to the World Remit site.
  2. Create an account.
  3. Select the Country of Kenya
  4. Sending “Mobile Money Transfer”
  5. Enter the recipient’s information (Samson and Boaz’s information is below)
  6. Pay with Credit Card or Bank Transfer

 

Samson Otieno – Kisumu, Kenya – Mobile number   723699112  (Mobile number is also the mPesa number)

Boaz Omugah – Chemilil, Kenya – Mobile number   722993989    (Mobile number is also the mPesa number)

 

Samson Otieno
L to R – Samson Otieno, David Morefield, Anne Otieno
Pastor Boaz
Boaz Omugah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both Boaz and Samson will be looking after the needs of the people in their areas. After the rains, the mosquito population will likely bring waves of malaria, so medicine will be needed as well.

I appreciate everyone’s willingness to help during this time of need. It is very hard to be so far away knowing that my friends are suffering. I have sent what I can at the moment and I will personally be sending more when I am able to. Kenya does not have the infrastructure that we have in the United States, so these kinds of floods may be the start of period of starvation, sickness and death for these dear people.

If you would like to send words of encouragement to either Boaz or Samson, I have hyperlinked their e-mail addresses above for ease of contact. Also, please Like, Share and Tweet to get the word out.

Thank you for your prayers and support,

 

David Morefield

Fluffyshotme Photography

A Miraculous Story of Deliverance

L to R: John Rushing, Dorcas, Mandy Swilley, Pastor Samson Otieno

(From L to R: John Rushing, Dorcas, Mandy Swilley, Pastor Samson Otieno)

During our trip to Kisumu, we got to visit with a very special woman.

The Beginning

Back in 2005, John Rushing and Dave Grumme were on a mission trip to Kisumu. During their visit, they asked where the orphans that are not adopted or taken in by orphanages go to live. They were told that those orphans ended up living in the city dump.

John and Dave immediately decided that they needed to go to the dump. Upon arrival, they met with some of these children of the Dump.

It is hard to imagine, without going there, how bad this place is. Not only is it a garbage dump, but they are always burning garbage at the dump and it smells even worse when it is on fire.

John and Dave witnessed to the people living at the dump and led many of them to Christ. Within a couple of years, the city dump was no longer a place where you’d have to hire security to visit.

A very special woman at the dump

During a trip to Kisumu in 2007, John Rushing led a woman named Dorcas to Christ. Dorcas was living in the dump and had absolutely nothing.

During the trip in 2009, I was there to witness Dorcas being baptized at Shaurimoyo Baptist Church where Pastor Samson Otieno is the minister.

Dorcas had become involved in the church that was founded at the city dump and Pastor Samson has faithfully continued to lend support.

Deliverance from the dump

Dorcas no longer lives in the city dump. Today, she makes a living off of the dump.

In the past 9 years, she began selling cardboard, plastic and paper to a recycling company. Dorcas has wisely expanded this business to a point where she is renting about an acre of land and a workshop. She has a hydraulic press in order to bail cardboard into one ton blocks.

Presently, Dorcas employs boys from the dump giving them a way to earn a wage. In addition to that, Dorcas has adopted some of the street kids and raises them on her own.

Dorcas is even putting several of the kids she has adopted in the past through school.

Currently, Dorcas lives in the slum area of Kisumu. This is by choice. Dorcas would rather spend money on the kids that she is trying to pull up from the dump rather than move to a nicer area.

During our discussion, we calculated that with the volume of recyclable materials that she sells, she has at least a $50,000 USD gross revenue per year for just the cardboard that she handles.

If you figure that she used to struggle to make $2.00 USD per day, I’d say she is doing great!

Moving forward

Now that Dorcas has a hydraulic press and bailing machine, she is continuing to build her business.

Pastor Samson will continue to keep us updated on Dorcas, but I have no doubt that she will continue to succeed.

I pray that God continues to bless Dorcas in her work.

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Our trip to Chemilil

We had a great trip to Chemilil to visit Pastor Boaz and his church. Many of you remember Collins from my 2009 trip to Kenya. Collins had a badly infected thumb and the team rallied to help him. We were able to get him proper medical treatment and save his life.

I was reunited with Collins and his father Paul. It was so great to see them. I refer to Collins as my Kenyan son. We bonded during the time that he was so sick and it was very emotional for me to see him.

I cannot say enough good things about Pastor Boaz, he is a great man of God. I have known Boaz for 9 years and in that time, I have seen as he has built his church and continued to take care of many orphans.

Boaz runs a school and the students live with him and his wife. They care for all of these children as their own. Boaz has raised over 130 children. Wow. Two of them have gone on to be doctors and several others are working professional jobs.

Boaz takes kids in off the street, educates them, feeds them, clothes them and gets them on their feet into adulthood.

Can you imagine cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for 60 something children everyday? His wife Helen is quite the administrator, but she leads from the front.

I wish many blessings on Boaz and his family for the work that they do everyday.

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Pastors, Cloth and Drugs

Pastors

Yesterday was the last day of the pastor’s conference. John Rushing trained around 200 pastors from all over the region. A governor from Uganda was in attendance in addition to people from Tanzania and Congo.

During the conference, my friend Johnathan Abongo showed up. He was returning from the Masai Mara where he has been ministering to the Masai.

Johnathan drives out “into the Bush” with a portable movie projector and shows “the Jesus film.” Many times, this is the only movie that these people have ever seen.

Johnathan then preaches the gospel and leads people to Christ.

Recently, a tribe held him overnight and threatened to kill him. But Johnathan is faithful and did not allow that to discourage him. He stayed and witnessed to them.

The Kuria tribe are known for stealing the cows of Masai warriors in order to fulfill their dowry. It’s tradition! But, cows are the source of life for the Masai, so they protect their cows by any means necessary.

It is not uncommon for Kuria to be killed by the Masai while attempting to steal cows.

Recently, Johnathan led some Masai and Kuria to Christ. For the first time, they set aside their hatred for one another and forgive each other. The Governor of the county was so happy with this new peace that he granted some land for Johnathan to build a church. Now, Masai and Kuria worship together. What a miracle.

Cloth

During the pastor’s conference, Dave Grumme and I left to buy more cloth and thread for the sewing project. If you can imagine, me and another large guy with a goatee standing in a shop debating over fabrics for dresses. I never thought I would say, “I like these colors better, plus that pattern is just horrid.” Too funny. I wish I had video.

The sewing project is going well. There is a need for further training with regards to how to run a business and make it profitable. I discovered that there is very little understanding about how to cost out a product in order to arrive at a price.

Until they get a handle on what it costs for a product taking into account the materials and labor, they cannot even try to conduct business. Mandy is going to put them in contact with a group that provides advice and training to business owners here in Kenya.

Drugs

While we were out, I went to see my friend Shakur at Lakepharm Pharmacy. When I entered his shop, he was overwhelmed with joy and insisted that I come behind the Chad at the counter in order to have tea. Shakur has been a good friend. On past trips, he has extended me prescription writing privileges in his store in order to get medications for our team members and the locals that may need medicine.

Dave Grumme ended up having to leave me at the pharmacy with Shakur because tea takes longer than 20 minutes.

During our conversation, Shakur and I made an arrangement that would allow me to purchase antibiotics and malaria medication in the future via email.

I do hope that one day I can come back and see Shakur. Whether he realizes it or not, his cooperation in the past has saved many lives.

Shakur is a Muslim and our conversation turned to our respective faiths. We shared with one another and had a good visit. While I was there, I purchased some malaria medication with the limited funds that I had and then I had to leave.

Sewing Machine project update

Many of those who supported my trip were happy to contribute to the Sewing Machine Project that we have going at Pastor Samson’s Church.

Basically, the women of the church know how to sew and have demand for school uniforms and tote bags, but lacked the finances to get started.

Thanks to the generosity of many people, we were able to purchase 6 sewing machine heads and 7 tables. When determining which machines to purchase, we decided to go with quality over quantity so that these machines would be able to continue to produce without needing much maintenance.

We went to a shop yesterday and I was able to negotiate a fair price for all of the machines plus some fabric and thread.

I will say, if you ever find yourself buying a sewing machine or other similar equipment, talk to Morris in the Industrial area of Kisumu at a store call Nildeep. Morris is a great guy and once he heard that we were purchasing for a church, was happy to work with us.

A church member named Caroline used her van to transport the machines and tables while Mandy and I took a Tuk Tuk.

Video link to Tuk Tuk ride in Kisumu

Tomorrow, we will be setting up the sewing area at the church and the women will get to start working. Right now, there are two women who are very proficient at sewing and they will be training others.

This is an important step towards gaining some financial independence as well as providing a space for the church to train people for a trade.

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