His Hands Community

Today was a truly productive day for the team. The medical team not only saw many of the Achungo children but also saw 35 children and adults from the community. Most cases were resolved with the meds that Phil and Lonnie brought along, but there were a couple of patients that really brought to light why God sent us here.

There was an eight year old boy that obviously had a severe knee injury earlier in his life, there was significant scaring and disfigurement. He had a dirty rag wrapped around his knee. When Phil removed the cloth to inspect the there was a seeping wound in the back of his knee. It was a severe infection, that left untreated could kill him in a month. Phil gave him some antibiotics as a temporary stop hold, but he will need to get to a hospital where he will need to spend about a month.

There was also an infant with pneumonia, luckily the early stages, so antibiotics were given to treat. In total, almost 50 patients were seen.

The Ag team had a great day buying seed and fertilizer preparing to plant a field. There will be more information coming. Debbie taught VBS and the kids had a great time of worship and learning. The favorite game involved hitting a balloon, and they all received a cup with an insert to color along with a box of crayons. we’ll see what God has in store for us tomorrow.

We were up at 3:30 and eating breakfast by 4:30, a very good breakfast I might
add. Our driver was to meet us at the hotel by 5:00 and we would be on the road
by 5:10. Good plan, poor execution, instead we called our driver at 5:15, woke
him up and he said he would be to the hotel in 20 minutes.

We had been told that the traffic was extremely bad and that it could take 90
minutes to get to the airport. We were also told that the check in desk shut
down 1 hour prior to departure, and our plane left at 7:40. Kirt arranged for a
plan B by informing the front desk that we needed a van.

The van pulled around front at 5:40, if it took longer than an hour to the airport
we would miss our flight, add to that the fact that the van would fit our party
of eight passengers, but our 4 carts of luggage would be a problem. Just then
our driver and the baggage truck pulled up to the hotel.

Seems there wasn’t much traffic at all and we made it to the airport by 6:10, and the
desk closing… well seems that was for international flights only. So it
turned out we had plenty of time.

Our flight to Kisumu was pleasant and the terrain was beautiful, very green. The
flight was less than an hour and we were soon landing at Kisumu airport, or
airstrip, the only difference was that the runway was paved.

After getting our luggage, we were treated to Barbara and Michael meeting for the
first time (Michael is the founder of Achungo, only 26 years old, and he started
it when he was 20) Michael had a hugh smile as he embraced Mother Achungo.

We loaded up our luggage, and after a water stop we were on our way to Homa Bay,
the location of Achungo Children’s Center. We were about 10 KM into the drive
and we were amazed on how good the road was, well paved and just a few pot
holes here or there.

After another 5 KM or so the pavement just ended and we began a two hour journey on
dirt, rocks, and an occasional water hole. At one point Kirt told me that there
were some women that really needed a bathroom. I asked the driver how much
further it was as we had passengers in need, he just turned his head and
smiled, then said about 33 KM. I didn’t have the heart to tell them, I left
them with hope.

By the time we reached the hotel in Homa Bay, there was a mad rush for the
bathroom. The hotel was surprisingly pleasant, it wouldn’t make any body’s best
of list, but by African standards it was OK. We all rested about an hour before
visiting Achungo.

Achungo was only several 100 meters up the road from our hotel and as we approached the
gate, we saw over a hundred beautiful children waving and welcoming us! It was
truly a God sighting. It looked as though the whole community had come to
welcome us. We met so many people along with highly respected village
representatives including the chief. He thanked us for traveling so far and
welcomed us to his village. Kirt introduced us all and we went outside to watch
some children sing, it was truly a blessing.

We got a tour of the grounds including the well and pump house, visited for a
while longer, than returned to the hotel for dinner and a good nights sleep.
The team will get right to work, first thing in the morning.

After a full day of  travel we reached Nairobi, an eight hour flight form Amsterdam. We lost two hours as there is a two hour time difference. It’s 11:00 PM and we are now at out hotel, not the one we booked because that hotel was taken over by the Sudan government, seems the President was in town. I can’t believe they didn’t move them instead of us.

Well, at least we have rooms, but it is farther form the airport, so we need to be on the road at 5:00 in the morning to make our flight to Kisumu. Just a one hour flight and two hour drive, and we will be meeting the Children and staff at Achungo. everyone is very excited to finally meet Michael and all the kids.

This will be the first time Barbara (Mama Achungo) will be meeting Michael in person, of course I will film this event. As I took a walk on the plane I noticed all the teams working on final plans and preparations for our arrival, it was great.

No pictures for this entry, it’s dark and we got in late. I’ll update as soon as I can.

The team arrived in Amsterdam at 10:05 AM on the 27th. We didn’t want to waste the day, so we took a boat tour of Amsterdam, what a unique city. There are over 100 km of canals that run through the city and most are man made. You can get anywhere in the city using these canals.

It is quite interesting visiting this city that was built in the 1300’s. We had a great tour of the city and capped it off at a restaurant that is in a building built in the 1600’s, the restaurant was established in 1949 and it was an excellent experience. We are all dead tired as we have been awake since yesterday morning, and looking forward to a good night’s sleep before the eight hour flight to Nairobi, and a short hour flight to Kisumu before driving two hours to Achungo. 

We are at the airport awaiting our flight to Amsterdam where we will spend the night before flying to Nairobi, Kenya. From there we will fly to Kisumu, Kenya, and drive two hours to the Achungo Children’s Center in Homa Bay. SFC funded the digging and installation of a fresh water well at the center.

Our team:

Barbara Jeanrenaud - Barbara is known as “Mamma Achungo”. Barbara and her husband Henri have been the first SFC supporters of Achungo.

Kirt Priest - Leading our team. Kirt will head our travel and be the first communication with leaders during our trip.

Lonnie Priest - Lonnie is a registered nurse who will be working on the medical team.

Phil Strong - Phil is a doctor heading up our medical team

Tim Strong - Tim will work with John Langston on micro-farming to teach Achungo how to plant and self sustain their own agriculture.

John Langston - Will lead the micro farming, Agriculture team.

Debbie Sturm - Debbie is full time with Saratoga Federated Church as the Elementary Coordinator, and will be teaching VBS to the Achungo Children. 

Erick Sturm - Erick is the founder of His Hands Media, and will be shooting and documenting the work of the team, children, and volunteers of Achungo.