Visiting Meru

My last trip to rural Kenya was last week when I visited Meru to spend time with Elizabeth/Shiko.

I caught the shuttle bus, mutatu with only 11 seats filled, and therefore no squash as can often happen in a mutatu.

We passed many interesting sights along the way - well, interesting for an Aussie who hasn't been to this part of the world before.

I wasn't ready for rice growing on the way. I was told that this is the rice bowl of Kenya, providing much of the country's rice

and when the rice is cropped it is laid out flat to dry. It seems that sufficient space is all that's required to complete the process.

I am seldom surprised any more, but Australian eucalypts abound in Africa where I have visited, as they are grown to produce charcoal for the coal burners to cook food.

After 4 or 5 hours I arrived in Meru township and Shiko picked me up from the shuttle stage.

We had a really good time together for three days and then, bonus, again on Saturday until Sunday morning.

On Wednesday and Thursday Shiko was facilitating in a Life Skill Training program run by  Food for the Hungry in the village of Tutua, not far from Meru. I knew almost nothing about FH before last week, but I am so impressed by what I learned and saw. FH is a Christian holistic aid program that aims to address livelihood, health and education issues and reduce disaster risk. Kenya is one of 20 nations where Food for the Hungry is active.

Tutua is a windy and quite dry place and the program was run at the primary school in school holidays.

Charles, the cluster supervisor for FH, supervises the activities in this region, and, along with his team, realised that the youth needed more personal resources if they were to go into adulthood equipped to reach their potential.

And so these two days were planned and well attended by 130+ secondary schoolers. The program offered three workshops on Self-esteem, Communication and Relationship Skills and Self Awareness. Shiko, the YFC coordinator in the Meru area, was invited to be the Self-esteem facilitator and, in my opinion, she was a really great choice.

The students registered with these ladies as they arrived each morning.

Shiko is a gifted communicator. She uses excellent illustrations which the students understand so well. I happen to know that Shiko is passionate about this ministry she puts herself wholeheartedly into. It shows.

They listen so attentively, because she has their attention.

Here Shiko is ripping flowers off a branch one by one, illustrating how we can allow such things as bad company, poverty at home, poor performance in school, drugs and substance abuse, unhealthy relationships take away our positive self-esteem.

I was so glad to attend Shiko's session to see how she interacts with the youth and see how attentive  they were to her sessions. I believe they learned a lot from Shiko.

There was a wonderful group of ladies who cooked lunch for us each day - typical Kenyan fare - cabbage, rice with beans and a beef stew. Thanks, ladies, the food was delicious.

I learned so much from Charles over those two days. He is a man with a passion to see lives changed through the love shown to them by Jesus and his followers.

They were a really good group of young people, who have grown up in really tough circumstances, but who seemed to gain lots from this time provided for them on the initiative of Food for the Hungry.

I learned so much and experienced new things. Very grateful to have been able to accompany Shiko. Thank you, Shiko and Charles.