Visiting Davis's Home

I have to admit something. Although I have been very busy and not able to have the computer time I need to get these posts done, there is also another reason I am so slow to complete the blogs about visiting our Compassion children. The other problem is that I am having a very difficult time putting what I felt into words. I still look at these pictures of these children's families and homes and their little arms wrapped around my children's and I weep. Not just a tear or two, either. I sit down and think, ok, I need to go through these pictures, pick some for the blog (I took literally hundreds so it's more selective than you'd think with all the pictures I do post) and write this thing up already. The problem is that my heart is still weighted down with the poverty and needs of these children. I want to express our feelings so that those of you who did not or can not make a trip like this will understand. But I'm not even sure that's possible. So, I will try my best and bear with me as I tell at least our family's story. The story of meeting three children that will forever change our lives.

After we toured around the Compassion CDC, we all loaded up in the van and drove out to Davis's home to meet the rest of his family and see where he lives.

This is Davis with his parents in front of their home. The children we sponsor are all fortunate in that they all three have both their mother and father married and in their lives.

And our family with Davis's parents. This is the closest we came to getting a 'family' picture. I like this even more than our usual family picture ;)

This is their home. Of the three families we visited, Davis's home was definitely the nicest. It was actually large enough to house them and although it was constructed out of sticks and mud, the roof line actually had a cap that you can see in this picture that keeps the water out.

We were able to go inside of Davis's house. This is the children's bedroom. Looks like a lot of clothes and bedding, right? Well, considering that they have 8 children including Davis, this really isn't that much. Notice the mattress on the right, that would be the one that Compassion provided with our support. Also note that the other bed does not have a mattress.

Davis and CJ in Davis's house. They were becoming fast friends.

This is the back side of the house. Notice that on that mat on the ground there is some grain spread out to dry. This was also the only house where we saw any plans for food for tomorrow. The other kitchens were completely empty, they are mostly living day to day. I would guess that would build a lot more faith in our lives if we didn't know where our next meal was coming from.


This net houses a chicken with some guinea chicks. They found some guinea hen eggs in the woods and took them and had this chicken adopt them. The guinea fowl are worth much more, so they protect the chicks with this net (hopefully not the net Compassion provided to protect Davis from malaria...). The other chickens run around free and are subject to being killed by hawks or other predators.

Again, Davis and his family seemed to be more well off than the other families we visited. They seemed to be well fed, they had the ability to understand the worth of the guinea chicks and they even provided us with an afternoon snack! Here Davis's dad, Francis, is cutting open green coconuts for us.

Onlooking neighbors (and at least one of the children is Davis's sibling).

Davis and CJ..

friends for life.

The boys checking out the coconuts.

And E trying the coconut milk (he didn't like it). Kevin and I did, it was a lovely and refreshing treat on a hot day. They were such generous and gracious hosts and we again felt so humbled by their hospitality and gifts to us.

Here CJ presents Davis with his gift, a new soccer ball.

His big smile told us how much he loved the gift, but it really hit home when he ran into his house and came out carrying this...

It was all that he had previously had to play with. I believe an older sibling had made this for him because he really loves to play soccer. You know when you buy the perfect gift for someone? And their eyes shine and you are so happy to be a part of that happiness? Yeah, that's kind of how I felt, times ten or maybe one hundred. It was definitely another teary moment for me.

CJ and Davis with the new soccer ball.

This picture cracks me up because who needs fancy toys when you have fingers and dirt? And also because either I read it or someone told us before going that we shouldn't wear sandals or go barefoot because we'll pick up worms or parasites from the dirt. I honestly thought about it for about 1/1000th of a second and figured that it'd all be good... since we all just drank coconut milk from a coconut chopped open with a machete with questionable cleanliness... it was all in God's hands at this point!

Another look at Davis's home as we left.

So yes, while this home was defintely larger and more permanent than our other two Compassion children, it was still very primitive. Their water was from a comunity well that they must walk to and from every day. They don't have any larger animal, only chicken and those guinea chicks. They are still at the poverty line, earning less than $1USD/day. That's less than most of us 'throw away' on daily splurges.

After we visited Davis's home, we went back to the project for a meal that we shared with Davis and his parents and Alice and her dad. They also presented us with these baskets that Davis's mom made for us. (more tears) Again, I felt so humbled that she would take the time to make these baskets for us. That they were also part of this relationship and that she took time out of her very time-and-energy-consuming daily tasks to make these for us. Aren't they lovely?

My favorite picture of Davis. Who wouldn't fall in love with this boy?!

His beautiful mother, this is what she wore when we went back together to the project for lunch.

Saying goodbye to Davis...

I don't know how much of this trip CJ will remember. I can remember a few things from when I was six, so hopefully this was monumental enough to be one of them for him. I know that not even E at 8 years old realized the depth of poverty of the Kenyans. When we asked them about the home visits they commented about the dog at Maisha's house or the chickens that Davis had (they were especially liking the ones netted up since the others ran from them!) It never occured to them to compare our huge homes with their dirt huts. It never crossed their minds that these people live without electricity or running water or any modern conveniences. On one hand, how wonderful that they did not see the boys or their homes through their western consumerism eyes. But we also wanted them to understand what true poverty looks like. To have sympathy and love for those in need. Maybe if we had stayed with them for a few days or weeks they would have understood it more and seen the needs, the hunger, the lack of proper medical care. I'm not sure what the solution is to making our spoiled and entitled children understand the priveledges they have and the responsibility that it brings. Hopefully, at the least, we have sparked these relationships with Maisha, Davis and Alice. Relationships with children who will grow and learn together and hopefully continue to communicate through letters and share their lives with each other. We can really expect no more at this point and their young ages. However, we will continue to try and teach our children what it means to give back. And not out of obligation or legalism, but out of love and gratitude to God for what we have been given and also out of love for the 'least of these'.

Next up, our visit to Alice's home, the last stop of our Compassion visits in Kenya...