Updates From the Field:  Kenya # 14:  September 5, 2007
Dearest Friends, Perspective is defined as an individual way of regarding a situation. I have learned quite a bit about perspective since I’ve been in Kenya. When I first moved into my apartment, I wondered where I would fit everything. It seemed quite small. Now that I have witnessed large families living in tiny rooms, I think of my apartment as huge. My bedroom is bigger than a “home” in the Kibera Slums. I have found that in this, and many other situations, changing perspective changes attitude. I went to rural Kenya last week to visit the Kolanya Heath Centre and Joy Valley Primary School for the Physically Handicapped. Driving into rural Kenya is like driving onto a different planet. Therefore, there were several things that made me contemplate my life perceptions. In my world, chicken is frozen, faceless, wrapped in plastic, and magically stocked at the local supermarket. For part of my journey in western Kenya, I shared the car with a chicken given as a gift. It was wrapped in plastic, but very much alive. He was surprisingly quiet, except for the occasional sneeze. I named him Hank. We gave Hank away where I am sure he will live a long, full life of ease. (well, he’ll at least live until he’s fat enough to eat) In western Kenya, I’m a celebrity. The children rarely see white people, so as we drove by, children were constantly yelling, “Muzungu!” (slang for white person) and waving. It was so much fun to see their smiles as I waved back. I brought back some stickers from the States, and we stopped at one point so I could give them out to a group of kids at the side of the road. They reacted the way an American child would react to a new Play Station! They have so little, a sticker is a luxury. When I want to feel sorry for myself, a new perspective can make all the difference. I asked the headteacher of the school I visited what his biggest challenge was. He shared with me that it is feeding the children. It is very hard for him to get donations, and he just can’t seem to meet the food budget. That would eat away at my heart if I had to deal with hungry children every day. How ironic that one of my biggest challenges is eating too much! So many people would love to have my problem. So, I am trying to have a world perspective that is lit by the Word of God. I am trying to look at things with the eyes of one who belongs to Christ and is working for Him. The verse of the week is: “They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes”  -- Revelation 7:16,17 Love to you all, Armida