Dear Friends,
We are back from an incredible mission to Kenya ministering to the orphans and widows of Maisha International Orphanage. Team Maisha was composed of 15 people and it was one of the most unique teams you will ever find. Among many other great members, the team included a 10-year-old boy, Aurell; a 16-year-old young lady, Jillian; OSU and OU students; and international representatives from London and Bolivia!
A good friend of mine once said to me: “You can claim to be tall only if you reach down to the ones forgotten, hungry, poor, sick and the ones feeling life is meaningless and not worth a dime.” Team Maisha members should all claim themselves tall because we did exactly that.
We did many great things in just 65 days. We hosted a Maisha Art and Cultural Camp where we taught kids how to share their own stories. Most of these children have been abused, raped and many have even seen their parents die in their shack houses where they live. We built toilets and showers, a temporary kitchen for the feeding program and provided 50 school desks to Omungi Primary school through Alvaro Posadas efforts. We also visited HIV/AIDs patients in the slums of Kisumu and hosted HIV/AIDs training to teenagers in the village.
We were joined by two doctors – Dr. Vicente from Phoenix, Ariz. and Dr. Bryan from Okla. Pastor Samuel Isaac from Texas also came to the team in the last two weeks of our missions. They gave us the ability to host medical clinics in the village, which went really well! We were presented with extreme pathologies and sicknesses – malaria, typhoid, HIV/AIDS, boils, abscesses, infections, tuberculosis and more. In three days, we treated over 350 children and adults.
In addition to this, we also lead Leadership Training Mondays through Wednesdays for about 25-30 local leaders in the village and the slums. Team Maisha cannot take the credit of all the things we did this summer because YOU were a part of it, too, through your love, prayers and financial support. You helped us make it happen. THANK YOU.
Our next phase with Maisha is to start building. During this trip, we were blessed with a 2½-acre piece of land, so we need to start the infrastructure to make building on it a reality. Our goals include a dining hall, a girls and boys dormitory, intern and volunteers housing, and a kindergarten area.
We are planning another We are planning another trip to the area from Dec. 18 to Jan 3. I would love to invite you to join us. If you are interested, submit your application here: www.maishaorphanage.org. You can also visit our website and continue to learn about Maisha or make a donation toward our effort.
Questions? Call us at (405) 209-5438. Be blessed,
Beatrice Williamson, Director Maisha International Orphanage
Beatrice Williamson is an OSU-Oklahoma City student.
