One Bright Morning

“That boy is really bright”, said Benjamin, the manager at Standard Bank in Kisumu, “He will go far”.

We smiled and swelled a little with pride.

We were on our way back to the airport for the morning flight to Nairobi, having visited the land at Kibos to check out the completed greenhouse.

We had sweated over the holes for the poles, sweated as we hauled the steel frame into place, sweated as we saw the arches rising tall over the freshly planted banana’s and the newly built tin hut. But we had left the site before the covering was on as the Ackworth group had a safari bus to catch.

But we couldn’t leave without seeing the culmination of our week’s effort, the fine mesh sides gently swaying in the morning breeze and small white egrets stalking gracefully in the grassy perimeter, still wet from the overnight rain.

Kibos is a warm place, but bathed in the morning light, pink and red bougainvillea bursting through the thorny hedges, weaver birds chattering in the acacia trees and the green, stony hills forming a steep backdrop, it takes on a charm of its own.

We opened the door of the greenhouse and wondered inside, surprised to find that the humidity that will so benefit the tomatoes and vegetables that we will grow there was already beginning to rise.

We have much more to do here, the soil inside will need to be dug out and new topsoil, red soil from the fertile hills above Kisumu, will be mixed with fertiliser and laid down to form a nutrient rich bed for our plants. The water tanks will be connected to drip pipes to provide effective irrigation, whatever the weather outside and then, finally the seeds will be planted.

“So will it be done by my next visit?” I asked Moses

“Yes, of course” he replied, “we have a lot of work to do now”

I am already excited to return.

We left Kibos to head for the airport, but we had one last job to do.

I wrote about Collins last year, when I visited him at University. We met him first, many years ago at Kachok, the fellowship by the city dump. He has already come a long way, completing his KCSE and gaining a place at university to study biochemistry.

During the break he found himself an internship at Standard Bank and has been working there for 6 weeks. I talked to him at church on Sunday and promised that we would try our very best to visit him before we left.

We made our way through the busy streets of Kondele and followed the back roads to town, pulling up outside Standard bank at the bottom of the high street. As we walked through the revolving doors the quietness of the bank contrasted with the bustling streets outside. We stood for a moment whilst Moses spoke to a member of staff and we were then ushered through to the Manager’s office.

We stood and talked with the manager for a few minutes. He explained that they had a short term program that needed extra people, so they looked for university students wanting to take up an internship. Collins had been asking around town for that kind of work and he fitted the bill (it is typical of Collins’ attitude that he didn’t wait for the opportunity to come to him, but had been asking if there was anything available)

“I know his background”, said the manager, “and I can say that he is a very bright boy. He is doing really well, I think he can go a long way”

I smiled.

Through this week we have seen more boys like Collins, bright children who just lack opportunity. I hope and pray that we can find the means to support them, to give them hope and a future.

“I know the plans I have for you", says the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”

Jeremiah 29:11