2015 Mission – a message from my heart
Michelle Stark

For those of you who know me, you know it was a tough thing for me to post Patrick’s blog.
His kind words were overwhelming.

This mission has been different from any thus far. During each of the past 9 years, we carried up to 70 fifty pound duffel bags filled with medication, school supplies, blankets, coats, shoes, book bags, and so many additional needed items.
Donations this year were equally as wonderful however, airline transport proved to be a great challenge and we shipped more than 3,500 pounds by boat. This meant me packing 32 boxes of donations, most weighing over 100 lbs. We shipped the first 17 boxes out by March expecting to see them at the end of May (just before our arrival) and then shipped second half out by May, expecting that by the end of June we would see them as well.

The first group of boxes arrived more than 7 weeks late. We visited the kids and had to be very creative in disbursing supplies to them. We focused almost completely to information gathering, counseling and encouragement. Thank God that the bags we carried had just enough supplies to sustain us! By the time the first set of boxes arrived, we put ourselves on turbo speed: unpacking, sorting and delivering all we could. We traveled cross-country with relief supplies in hand. THANK YOU DONORS! Despite the wait, these donations have been a huge blessing!

Today we sit in Nairobi. Again…we are waiting. Most of the sponsor gifts to their kids are in the boxes that have been sitting at Mombasa Port, waiting for someone in the government to release them. What a conundrum!

I’ve just returned from the airport where I changed my flight from September 1 to September 29. All this to say; I still don’t know when we will get the boxes. I miss my son, my family, my shower, the smell of clean clothes coming from the dryer, my bed and the ease of doing my work in my office… but I am determined to do everything I can to get these donations to the kids and others in need.

To each of you who have helped to support Matanya’s Hope, thank you. Thank you for your donations, your sponsorships for these precious students, your encouragement and prayers. To those of you who are with me in Kenya, thank you from the core of my being for your time, your love and your dedication to this mission. We are joined together by hope; all of us.

As we move into the September month, let us stand in faith. Even the unknown shall be made great when we make our first priority the children.

Blessings,

Michelle

Standing outside of Matanya Primary School, Nancy is overjoyed with the gift of shoes and a book bag.

Our tires sputtered over rocks spewing them wildly onto the dust filled road behind us. The sun had set long ago. Our stomaches ached for food – but our day could not yet release us. We navigated through a maze of barbed wire fences and and sagebrush. One direction looked the same as the next. But we were on mission.

Just two weeks earlier we discovered Nancy, a 7th grade orphaned girl who was rejected by her own family and then sent away from an orphanage because it closed. Nancy has courage. She has a dream to learn and to be “someone” (as she puts it) in society. She should know, she is already one exceptional human being! Maybe you read about her on our blog.

Tonight, we were driving to see Nancy. To see where she lives. To bring her food. Earlier today, our car broke down just 500 kilometers from school. We could not give up on visiting Nancy in school. We just couldn’t. With bags in tow, we exited our vehicle. The wind whipped our faces; dust blew everywhere. It was colder than we had anticipated. But we had no choice. If we were to see Nancy, we would have to walk.

Mr. Mugo came to our rescue. His old pick up was a welcome sight! After looking at our car and making arrangements to cure it’s ills, he drove our team to Matanya Primary.

Jumping down from the pick up in front of Matanya Primary School

A few days back, Quincy’s family eagerly sponsored this brilliant child.

With our car back in working order, I think you could feel the excitement as we rolled to a stop in front of Nancy’s compound. Now, one of 7 other children, Nancy resides with her aunt in a small, wood and mud structure. There is rarely time to study. Nancy must meet the demands of fetching water from a near by river, caring for the younger children and fetching firewood for the family’s warmth and cooking needs. She trades schedules with her cousins, sometimes cooking…sometimes washing dishes, utensils or the old garments we may use for rags, but they use for clothes.

Nancy was adorned in a well worn but still brightly colored fabric. Underneath, her baby cousin Moses slept on her back. He snored rhythmically in the peace of the evening breeze.
Our mission team rushed out of the small doorway of our car – we were all so eager to see Nancy again!

The blackness of night required our unaccustomed eyes to shine our flashlights on the dusty path before us. We walked one by one to Nancy’s home. I don’t know how we managed to hold back tears as we entered the small mud and wood structure. Nancy beamed. “This is my home”, Nancy told us. “Here is where I study”. A small wooden table atop a hard dirt floor was her desk. She sat down and showed us her books – books we’d given her a few weeks ago.

“Do you want to see where I sleep?”, Nancy asked. “Sure! Yes!” We replied. We each followed Nancy through a small opening in the wood and mud hut. What we entered may not be able to be adequately described.

Hanging clothes cluttered several random lines strewn about the low ceiling. Nancy pointed through the darkness to her bed. “Five of us sleep here” she said. We wanted to gasp but held back our shock. Five of them! Five bodies laid in that smal bed? How!? Yet Nancy spoke with joy. She spoke with love. This was her home.

Our cameras clicked. I don’t know about the others, but I felt ashamed. How do I take pictures? Yet how do I explain this without the visual images? We celebrated Nancy and all she showed us with her. Even when we discovered the family of chickens sleeping under her bed, we brought our focus on the joy of being together.

With that, we slipped through the curtain dividing the dirt doorway from the sitting room. There, Quincy sat next to Nancy on the one small couch.

Quincy told Nancy she loved her and confirmed her family’s support. “You won’t have to worry about school fees anymore. Just work hard and reach for your dreams.”.

My mom and baby sister made you a video. We love you and we want to support you through school.” I watched Nancy fight tears. I was fighting then myself.

Jonah followed, “Nancy, I want you to know that if Quincy’s family did not sponsor you, I would have sponsored you myself. I am so proud of you and I know you can make it.”

We took photos and shared stories and dreams. But most of all, we shared hope…hope made possible by saying yes to sponsorship. In this case, by saying yes to Nancy.

Thank you McKown family for this magnanimous gift of love.

Michelle Stark
Matanya’s Hope

Nancy in class at Matanya Primary School.
Dream big sweet girl!

SPONSORSHIP AND LOVE IN THE MARA

In 2011, I traveled to Kenya for the first time. I loved the warm and gracious people in Kenya. Everywhere the people were happy despite overwhelming poverty. The magnificence of the landscape and the wildlife soon won my heart. As part of our trip, we visited a school called Matanya Primary. Having been a teacher and having worked in schools and around children for many years, I stood in this school for two hours and cried. The children sang and danced for us in the most miserable classrooms I had ever visited. The floors were a deeply rutted mud/dirt combination. There were high water marks on the slatted walls, which did little to hold the elements out. No electricity, no running water, very few books, pitted blackboards were just some of the issues. I made a vow to try to help this area.

Through our travel guide, I learned of an organization called Matanya’s Hope. Long story short, I was able to meet Michelle Stark, Founder of Matanya’s Hope. I began a fund and resource collection at Decatur Middle School to bring shoes, blankets, school supplies and funds to help her mission in Kenya.

In 2013, I chose to travel and volunteer with M.HG. Again, even though our travel style was very different, I found warmth and graciousness everywhere we went. This time, I was able to visit many schools in rural Kenya. I met several hundred children who needed nourishment, shoes, clothing, school supplies and more. In Kenya, school fees must be paid and many children missed school due to a lack of fees.

At a school in the Mara called Sekanani Primary, I fell in love with a young girl who recited a most beautiful poem called: “Girl Child”. She spoke of and against early marriage, female circumcision, lack of education and freedom for girl children. Michelle and I were both moved to tears. We actually filmed her and had her repeat her performance several times until we had a great video.

During the time we spent with Christine Naini, we learned she had no sponsor and really no hope of attending high school. I quickly stepped up to sponsorship. I saw a young girl (about 12) who could speak passionately about almost taboo subjects for hundreds of girls. Much later, I learned that Naini had also written the poem she recited. What I knew at the time was that she needed to continue her education through high school and hopefully beyond.

The joy on Naini’s face when she learned she had a sponsor was so wonderful to observe. She quickly disappeared and remained away for some time, only to come back with her widowed mother. Her mother and I embraced each other and even through it meant Naini would go to a boarding school and would be away from home, her mother was so happy.

Now Naini goes to one of the best boarding schools in Kenya. She receives a rigorous education without needing to fetch water, collect firewood or do laundry (other than her own). She eats 3 meals a day (in a country where children can go without meals for 2-3 days). She is free to pursue her education and her desire to be a surgeon.

I hear from Naini occasionally through a teacher who gives her computer access and one or two letters each year. I love the days I hear from her and I replay her video of “Girl Child” when I just want to hear her voice.

Sponsorship is amazing.

I get to help in a most amazing way. My heart knows that I am helping a young girl become all she can be. I know she receives enough food every day. I know she has the potential to be very influential in her world. I know that somewhere, way across this world, someone prays for me as I pray for her.

This year, we had our first reunion. I traveled to Kenya for the second time with Matanya’s Hope and traveled many hours to Slopesview Academy. Suddenly, there she was! We both ran to each other and we both began to smile and cry. Later she was able to share how she really likes her school and how her exam grades are improving since moving her from her original school. We were able to have 3 precious days together (due to medical treatment). The first think I notice about Naini is that she has grown a foot and is taller than me. (Nutrition and genetics – I am sure!)

Naini during a tour I shared with her to Lake Naivasha. We enjoyed the beauty of Kenyan wildlife

We shared laughter and tears and stories these3 days. She calls me an angel in her blog, but I receive so much more than I give. I get to see the world through Naini’s eyes and know she has hope above all else. I always come home so grateful for the life I have been given.

A sponsorship of a child can enrich both the child and the sponsor. For $125 a month, you can pace a child living in abject poverty into a boarding school with 3 meals daily. Sponsored students also receive 2 school uniforms, shoes, blankets, school supplies, transport, minor medical care and a chest for their belongings. But the best gift of all will be the love and care they receive from you.