Lawrence and I were eagerly anticipating meeting Mathew, his sister, and his extended family at a location near Naivasha. (See Friday’s blog.) Lawrence called to confirm the location and that’s when we woke up to the reality that there would be no hope of seeing Matthew. The family was quite angry about the fact that they were sent away from the orphanage and now they had the additional burden of caring for six children. The man on the other end accused us of coming to harm them and take them away. They asked that we report to the police and the chief of the village and that he would meet us there. Lawrence tried hard to convince them that we were not the same people and we had a deep interest in their future and that we had come to help the whole family. The hotel manager hearing the conversation knew me also and tried in vain to convince them that we were not who they were thinking we were. We finally left for Nairobi. Around 8 PM when we reached Nairobi, Lawrence received a call and there was Mathew. He had been crying all day and into the evening and finally that same man called Lawrence and put Mathew on the phone to talk to me. I told him I was too far away and that I was disappointed that we couldn’t meet. I have no idea what will happen next but Lawrence will follow it up to see if we can help with their future. (Mike and Sandi Gouchie with Mathew in 2013.)
It was nice to have Jared and Rachel to travel and talk with after this disappointment. They enjoyed Lake Naivasha.
Another woman opened a business with a loan from A Better World. Carol had this shop and needed working capital for stock. We gave a loan of $1,000 with repayments of $50 a month.
Lawrence has spent the last 12 days with me – 24/7 – driving and helping me every step of the way. We have finished the first round of travel and in 3 days will start over again with 21 people. We stopped to see his wife and baby. They live near Nairobi.
During the next few days I will have some meetings and make final preparations for the group of 20 to arrive in Kenya on Tuesday.
