It’s 10:30 pm on my first night here in Zambia for Times Square Church and I’m beat.  I’ve been moving for 23 hours now and, a good portion of that was on airplanes and in airports.  Once I landed here in Lusaka I made my way straight to the Kakabalika house to visit the kids and see the farm.  After that dinner with Warren, one of the missionaries here and then some guitar playing before I made my way back here to my hotel room.  On that note I’m going to bed.  Ask me about the project tomorrow…it’s amazing and I’ll have a lot to say!

The home where many of the boys live at the Kakabalika House in Lusaka Zambia.  These boys were ’street kids’ before being taken into the home.

Preparing a typical meal made of corn meal or ‘mealie meal’

Two of the boys cary the finished meal into the kitchen to be served for dinner.

Well, it’s much past the 7th day of our trip to Nyeri with Kiini, but due to our lack of internet access we’re just now getting around to posting these. We’re actually sitting in the lobby of the Kenya airport waiting to check in (which they don’t allow until a few hours before the flight) and we happened to find some wi-fi!

Our last day with Kiini was a short one, but we were still able to accomplish quite a bit before we made the drive back to Nairobi. We started the morning just across the street from the Kiini office visiting a disabled man who is part of a group that has benefited from the micro-loans through Kiini. He now runs a small shop making all sorts of metal items, from drain pipes to watering cans and much more. He’s been able to start and sustain his business and provide for his family through support from Kiini.

After that we were able to attend one of the group meetings and see first hand how the loans and bookkeeping work. One of the women’s groups had their monthly meeting and Kiini attended to help with the paperwork and banking to assure that everything was in order and that everyone was doing their part.

Our project with Kiini was amazing and we were really impressed with their hearts and commitment to the community there in Nyeri. They are reaching out and touching so many lives and we were honored to get to be a part of what they’re doing.

Stay tuned for much more on Kiini as we begin our ‘back end’ work on the project from the states over the next few weeks. There will be videos/photos/design and many more stories that you won’t want to miss!

This man, who was born disabled, was empowered through the Kiini Sustainable Initiative.

Some of the items that he makes in his shop.

He demonstrated to us how he makes some of the metal items that he sells there in his shop.

Kennedy of Kiini.

The Utugi Ladies group meeting in Nyeri, a group that Kiini works with.  (Utugi means grace)

Boniface goes over the books with one of the women from the Utugi group.

Sam looks in on the group meeting.

Fraciah, one of the women from the Utugi Women’s group.