Rain, Work, And A Great Time

Well, Gio and I got back from our crazy camping trip thing yesterday. It was great. We camped out in the mountains Tuesday night with Simon, Derrick, and Joseph. These are the guys we went to meet at Gateway High School during the first week of our trip, and their school just burned down, so they had some free time to help us out. The fire destroyed everything the guys had in their dorms, so they were without everything. We were able to give them backpacks and clothes from the donations we brought over from the states, so that was cool.

The first night on the mountain was miserable, yet it was amazingly beautiful. We camped out on this big rock formation right next to a tree that was growing right in the middle of the huge rock. The scenery was amazing, but the weather sucked. It poured a lot that night. We had five guys stuffed into a four man tent that leaked. I literally got about three hours of sleep that night.

We woke up the next morning and were greeted by Francis, another one of Jason's friends. He is a great guy, and apparently word got around that a couple of Mazungos (the Kenyan term for whites) were out camping, so he tracked us down. We packed from our terrible night camping, and Francis led us on a hike through the mountains. The hike was huge. We were out there for about six hours, but we planned a number of our trails.

After our hike, Francis took us over to Richard Mwema’s house. Richard is another friend of Jason and a schoolmate of Francis. Richard was working, but we all chilled in his house anyway. From there, we went out to Taraja. We met the “mother” of the boys’ home, Theosophia, and we stayed the night in our tent in their barn. The mother was an amazing woman. She has some of the strongest faith I have ever seen, and what she does for all of the street boys is amazing.

That night was better than the night before, but it was still rough. The security guards apparently use that barn as a hang out spot at night, so they had the halogen light on all night and they kept going in and out. We were thoroughly exhausted, but the next day brought about the hardest work so far.

We took the guys out into the bush and cut a bike trail by hand. We used these bent machetes, called slashers, and we spent hours in the ridiculous Kenyan sun doing by hand what could be done in minutes by machine. It was rough, but these guys were really good at what they did. Joseph, another of Francis’s classmates (not the one from Gateway), was the best slasher I have ever met. He was unstoppable.

It got too hot out, so we called it a day at about noon or one, and we went out for lunch. Three days on beans, cabbage, and chapati will do wonders for your stomach. We went home after that, and our group sadly parted ways. The guys we spent the past few days with are all so amazing and they were such a great help.

Joseph, Derrick, Simon, Francis, Richard, and Joseph all attended Taraja at one time or another, were all street boys, and they had one of the greatest bonds I have ever seen. These guys grew up together, and their experiences together have made them closer than brothers. We started out with a group of three other guys, and we grew exponentially whenever these boys saw someone they grew up with. They were all so happy to see each other again. It was one of the coolest types of relationships I have ever seen.

Gio and I got back to the apartment last night, and I took the most amazing shower of my life. After we got clean and relaxed, we headed out to our favorite bar. Again, the South C Sports Club (we call it our Sports Bar, it sounds cooler than club) was completely empty. We broke our drinking record, I had five bottles and Gio had four. We are some heavy soda drinkers.

Anyway, I should get going. We will be going rock climbing with some kids tomorrow, so I need to go help set up. To close, I think I’ll share a couple cool things God has been showing me. Through Theosophia, I have been greatly encouraged to have more faith and to find God’s will a blessing. Through the guys, I have found that a little love and a lot of God can be an amazing combination in someone’s life. The fact that all these guys grew upon the street is amazing. They are such amazing people and great friends, and it is all because God was given a chance to move in their lives. Well, I really need to go now, so I will thank you all again for reading this, praying for us, and always supporting us. I love you all, and I can’t wait to tell you all some of the great stories I now have.

-Victor Rogers IV