Goodbyes
Now that I am sitting at YYC waiting for the flight, I can finally reflect on my circumstances. I am full of mixed emotions. It was really tough saying goodbye to my daughter this morning. I dropped her off at kindergarten and had to leave her crying there in the classroom: "I don't want you to go, daddy". Evan was a tough-guy: "see ya dad".
I am also really excited for the things that God has in store.
Lodwar
I am looking forward to see the work that has been happening in Lodwar particularly. This project started a number of years ago as a result of my sister and brother-in-law making connections in Kenya when they were shooting a film. They asked to be shown an area of great need, so their friend and guide took them on a long, somewhat perilous journey north to the Turkana area. Despite the presence of a large lake, the entire area is dry and desolate. It is home to the Turkana people, who have been hit hard by climate change - the environment has always been harsh, but the lack of rain in recent decades has been devastating to these semi-nomadic people. There is very little water and the situation has been growing more dire year-by-year. My sister and brother-in-law came home and shared these details with us. At that point we felt a strong conviction that, as a company, we were being called to help in some way. Somewhat naively, in retrospect, the staff of Carpet Colour Centre embarked on a fundraising effort with the goal of drilling two wells in the region. The financial commitment from the staff and installers was truly mind-blowing. These are truly golden-hearted people. (Many of our staff continue to contribute a portion of their paycheque each and every payday to these ongoing efforts). Soon we had the funds to drill the wells and, through our contacts in Kenya, arranged for a rig to make the trek up to Lodwar to drill. Here's where the miracles happen: as I understand it, getting a drilling rig up the road to Lodwar is no small feat. The road is mostly dirt, with numerous treacherous hills and river fords (no bridges), and littered with the wrecks of vehicles that tried and failed to make it. Our guy made the trek, albeit with some difficulty. The wells were drilled and produced great flow of good, clean water. It was only after this that we found out that most of the wells that had been attempted in the area were only producing brackish water. These were the first fresh-water wells drilled in a long, long time. Had we known this fact, would we have attempted the wells? I'm not sure. But I believe we were kept from knowing it because God had something planned.
After the wells, a community began to develop around the new source of fresh water. As expected, the maintenance of water occupies a big, big part of people's days. Having a source close-by meant a big time-saver, especially for kids. As a result, we felt that the next step was the construction of a school compound. Many of the Turkana children were not attending school, so we felt this was the thing to do. Our staff had continued to give and we had more funds to spend in the area. At this point, my Dad had partnered with Eric Rajah from A Better World, an NGO from Lacombe. With their support, we began to pursue the construction. Another intervention from the Lord: so far construction has proceeded extremely well - the contractor who we partnered with in Kenya is apparently one of the best that Eric has seen, and he has been involved in a LOT of projects. Again, we didn't really understand what we were doing, but God provided.
The first of several buildings is complete, and one of the purposes of this trip is to attend the ribbon-cutting, inspect the work, and to encourage the contractors, the teachers, and the kids.
I'll sign off for now as my plane is boarding...
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