A smile, in Kenya’s harsh reality

Back from a three-week missionary experience in Ruiru, Kenya, I felt compelled to share it with you.

Kenya’s democracy is only one year older than ours, but unfortunately it has not managed to achieve an adequate and respectable living for all, as I believe we have in Malta. A substantial percentage of Kenyans live as squatters in slums with open sewage systems and without access to clean water.

Such facts bear endless questions: How is it possible for a nation to tolerate its people living in such conditions after 51 years of gaining independence as a state? The mismanagement of resources and the injustice of the system are felt through the first breaths we take once we land in Kenya.

During a brief chat with a local on the bus, on our way to what we’ll call home for the next three weeks (the Tereza Nuzzo sisters’ compound), he explained to me that often times bad governance results in foreign aid being spent elsewhere, rather than on the education system or for providing decent standards of living. One of Kenya’s biggest problems is a massive shortage of teachers.

Politicians have clearly failed to create a stable education system which ensures that teachers are qualified to educate the next generation of children who could grow up to be professionals, rather than become unemployed adolescents forced to steal to survive. For such realities, a lack of teachers today will only make tomorrow a darker day for these youngsters.

The results of this chaos are wide-ranging and life threatening. Many teens find themselves homeless, hungry and without scope. They believe that they have no other choice but to sniff glue to numb the pain of hunger, for food and for a life purpose.

After a 24-hour journey from Malta, we arrived to what we were told was ‘Ruiru Town’. We all looked at each other in disbelief. Houses built of scrap material, garbage everywhere, livestock shuffling through dirt, the bus going up and down while battling with roads that felt more like a ride at an amusement park. What did we get ourselves into? We all asked ourselves quietly.

However, just as the gates of the children’s compound opened and our van slipped in, we were greeted by a hundred children screaming in joy. They seem to have been expecting us. Wow! It felt strange for someone to greet us so warmly without having ever known us! You see, in these parts of the world, a person with a different skin colour is looked-up to and respected. ‘Muzungus’ (white people) are rarely found in such remote towns, so you could say we were the stars of the show. That was a big lesson for us all. In Kenya, difference is embraced, rather than rejected.

Another thing that really impressed us was their passion for life. Africans are born singers and dancers, they celebrate every moment of the day like a blessing. This vibe was infectious and as the days went by, our initial reluctance to join in the dance dissipated and we allowed ourselves to become ‘Kenyan Muzungus’.

Their concerns are far more elementary to ours. Their main daily struggles are whether or not they are able to eat, rather than whether we’ll be able to squeeze all appointments in one day. Yet – they seem to deal with them with far more grace and calmness.

Our task as missionaries was to provide both temporary and long-lasting aid, in terms of money for food and investment in their education. The generosity of the Maltese never fails to surprise me. Ever since announcing our missionary experience with Karibu Malta, we have witnessed and experienced a cascade of generosity from fellow Maltese friends. As a missionary group, a substantial part of the preparations was dedicated towards raising money to finance the intended purpose of the mission.

Prior to our departure, the group was both overwhelmed and pleased by the substantial amount collected. We thought we would be changing the world. That feeling didn’t last long. Soon we realised the extent of the needs and accepted the fact that we would not change the life of all those we met. We could however ease the suffering for some time and provide a gateway to a better future for them by investing in their schooling facilities.

Being a 25-strong team of youths, before setting off to Kenya our prime aim was to bring a difference to the life of these orphan and street kids. Looking back, we might not have achieved a substantial long-lasting difference, but we have at least brought a smile to a child after having been abandoned by life’s circumstances. We have learned that at times, the biggest gift you can give a person is just to be there, to listen and to care for what they have to say.

Life ought to be a gradual learning curve. While some might think (in fact I used to) that going on missionary work comes at the expense of sacrificing a typical holiday, it actually gives you a lifetime experience, much more than any other holiday can ever give you. Most importantly, I have learnt to appreciate the fact that I happen to be luckier than most of the Kenyan children I have met – not to be taken for granted.