News
Email from Scott Hayward to Oasis Partners, 19 October 2008
Dear friends and partners of Oasis for Orphans,
I wanted to get a quick note out to all of our friends regarding our recent trip to Kenya and the Trans Mara. Chris and I made a rather short-notice decision to go to address the growing list of action items and needs in the community. A more formal update will be provided in our Newsletter which we hope to get out in a week or so. Before I forget, I just want to say how much I appreciate all of your support. You are one of the most important elements of this initiative and we are truly humbled to be able to serve you and these kids in Kenya. Thank you for standing along side of us.
Child Updates
First of, we want everyone to know that our program has grown to 67 (up 2) in the last couple of weeks. Esther was included 2 weeks prior to our trip and Rachel was identified while we were there. Both of their stories will be highlighted in our newsletter. Please pray that they would both transition well into the program. Thanks to the 2 sponsors from our waiting list who stepped up immediately to meet the need. Your generosity and compassion is greatly appreciated. I am happy to report that the rest of the children are all doing well. They have all gotten a little taller and the older ones are knocking on the door of adulthood. There was, however, a preponderance of cold and flu like symptoms, not just with our kids, but with the entire community. The thick blankets, sweaters and track suits that we purchased in Nairobi really helped to manage their symptoms down. As you know, we have a medical component to our program and this highlighted the need to "move the bar" up as quickly as we can (more about this a little later).
Sponsorship Letters
This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me. What a privilege to be the carriers of the first exchange between sponsor and child. To put this in perspective, imagine never ever having received a letter before or even having someone to call a friend. Imagine not having a photograph to call your own. Combine that with the concept of someone from 8,000 miles away, from a country that you will probably never visit, desiring to know all about you and inviting you to become in essence a member of their family. Pretty overwhelming don't you think? That is what Chris and I had the opportunity to be apart of. We prefaced the distribution of these letters with the playing of a number of short videos that Nate Kaiser had produced just for them. With titles like "The World's famous Trans Mara Children's home" you can image how well they were received. I can still hear the laughter and the giggles ringing through my head. We then handed out the letters/packets. The emotions upon receiving them ranged from obvious joy and excitement to quite frankly trepidation and wonder. It may take some time for some of the children, especially the younger ones, to fully understand the partnerships that have been created. Chris and I along with the orphanage staff spent time with each child reviewing what they had received and providing additional information on their sponsor. They are now all busy responding back in writing to everyone. We hope to receive that package in the mail in the next couple of weeks. We did, however, return with newly created artwork from each child (except Moses who is a little young for crayons). I think you will appreciate the creativity and detail which they have demonstrated.
Building Construction Phase II
This was another area of great progress. I began the week with a detailed design review with the leadership of TMD with the drawings that we have put together. Through the power of the internet, Nate was able to make those changes overnight and posted them to his website so that we could pull them down in the morning on the following day (to the amazement of the locals). We also had the opportunity to interview 3 local building contractors to determine their qualifications and competency. From that process we have agreed to move forward with two of them. Also, thanks to Bob Boyack and the new Site Survey kit that he donated, we were able to do a detailed topographical map of the Children's Home property. You may not know, but the property sites on the side of a very steep hill, making the placement of our buildings critical. We have a little more work to do on the final design and detailed scope of work, but we fully expect to be able to award a contract in the next 6-8weeks. I would ask that you pray for this process, particularly the scope and budget. We have added some additional scope to the project based on their needs which puts us in a position to raise some more support. We can always trim the project back to match our funding, but I really believe that we need to move forward with the entire effort. Again, more detail will be provided in the Newsletter.
Clean Water
God's timing is always perfect. My wife Jill has been canvassing the internet for weeks and months to advance our need for a deep well on the property. While things don't always move at the pace that we would like in Africa, God provided a best-in-class resource to conduct a Hydro-geological survey at the last minute: literally 2 days before we left. We were able to hook up with this agency in Nairobi and coordinate the surveying of our property as well as two additional locations (potential future program expansion opportunities). The results confirmed the availability of a clean and sustainable source of water at 180m. While this is deeper than we had expected to go, this aquifer is expected to provide us with 5000 liters per hour which will enable TMD to reach beyond the Children's home and into the community with clean water. This was great news. This agency has also offered to continue to support us as we now look for a qualified Drilling company to begin the process. Thank you to those who have contributed generously to this effort.
Medical Care
As I mentioned earlier, we saw a lot of runny noses, heard a lot of coughs and felt a lot of warm foreheads this week. While it would be easy to be discouraged, it has only motivated us. Prior to our departure, the Oasis Medical Care team had loaded us up with a long list of medical questions for us to seek out answers to. This list proved extremely valuable as Chris spent hours and hours with the TMD resident nurse/lab technician, Vincent, working the list. They took the van and went into Kilgoris to evaluate the medical facilities and personnel there which was very enlightening. They were also successful in acquiring enough HIV quick test kits to perform HIV screening for all the kids. By far the most emotional moment of the trip was when we received the results. Except for the one HIV positive child that we knew of, the rest of the children were all negative! Knowing that the clear majority of these kids have come from very high risk environments, with many of their parents having died of HIV/AIDS related causes, we viewed this as nothing short of a miracle. We are also pursuing screening tests for TB and Hep B as well as vaccinations for all of the children that need them. The bar is starting to move!
Food
Lastly, it is important to let you know how at risk the food supply is becoming. The corn crop, which has always been a staple of their diet, has been severely impacted by drought as well as the violence earlier in the year. This has resulted in hyper inflated prices. 10 months ago they were able to purchase a 2kg bag of corn for 20 KSH (Kenyan shillings, about 35 cents). The price is now 95 KSH with no end in sight. So far the TMD community has been able to cover their costs with some incremental supply provided by US Aid organizations. Not sure how long this supply will last. Oasis stands ready to help when needed. Please pray for an end to this issue.
As you can see it was a very busy and productive week. There is, however, so much more to do. Please pray for us at Oasis as we have steep hills to climb. In our strength we would be destined to fail, but in God's strength we are expecting great victories. We hope to provide an opportunity for all of us to get together sometime before Christmas. We would like to get to know you better as well as provide opportunities for you to engage us. If you have questions, comments or are able to help us in any way, please call or email. We are families just like you and our desire is to make this as personal as possible.
Thank you for the great privilege of serving you,
Scott Hayward