Into Africa Missions

Richard, Vincent and Kevin are brothers. They are orphans. When he was a toddler, Richard’s oldest brother died before he had an opportunity to know him much. Neither did he know very well his next older brother who was about 10 years his senior. When Vincent and Kevin were born, Richard had a great fondness for them.

When the boys were very young, their parents died and the four boys were left to fend for themselves. The second born brother had already moved to a slum estate in the city, supporting himself as a bicycle taxi (boda boda) driver. Realizing he was now the sole provider, with this meager income, he started sending a little back to the village home to feed his young brothers. Then, he got sick. When the money stopped coming, the desperate brothers made their way to the city. By what they deemed to be a miracle, they found him, sick and helpless.

When begging didn’t bring in enough to eat, Richard and Kevin walked up the short dusty, dirt and very rocky road to Into Africa’s gate where they had seen our sign which read, for children in crisis. They asked for help. Unbeknownst to us, they had left Vincent to care for their sick brother. They were welcomed to join us. At first, we didn’t realize they had brothers in the adjacent slums. Apparently, they were saving some of their food and taking it to them. When they felt accepted, they soon asked if we would also admit their brother, Vincent, which we were happy to do. Knowing he had no one to care for him, soon they braved it and told us about their sick brother.

Not realizing how sick he was but with our approval and supplies, each day the three brothers, along with some of our older Into Africa boys, would take him food and drinking water, together with a big bucket of soapy water with which to bathe him. At first, he regained his strength and was able to make a little income from his bicycle taxi. When he would get sick again, they made the trek back down with food and supplies for a bath. When they sat with him and visited, our Into Africa boys shared about Jesus’ love and forgiveness of sins. When we realized he kept getting too sick to work, we knew he likely had AIDS and took him to a nearby government hospital, where he died shortly thereafter.

Though once again grief stricken, the brothers were very happy that they had seen their brother accept Jesus. They were very grateful that they had taken care of him on his sick bed. They said it gave them such a good feeling to know their brother knew he was loved before he died—and that they would see him again one day in heaven.

We learned that there was one last living relative to the boys who lived in the village—an old uncle. Though Richard was only 15, he had to handle his brother’s affairs as an adult. Our manager took him out to the village home where they were able to visit the uncle and the local chief. They then went back to the hospital to ask if they would reduce the bill, or even have it forgiven. We were blessed as they decided to charge us very little, saying they were extremely pleased that someone had come in to collect the body. In most cases of orphans, they explained, there are no relatives to collect the body so that eventually, “it rots in the morgue and they are given a mass burial.”

Into Africa held a harambee (fundraiser) with the staff and kids in order to buy a casket. We were surprised at how many of the kids gave a few shillings to help their friends — their new brothers. Amazingly, the brother’s boda boda driver friends also gave to the collection. Homemade wooden caskets are not expensive—about $50, but to a slum dweller, it’s about a month’s wages. With the casket atop his 4-wheel drive, and with a truckload of boys inside, Rick drove them to the family home in the village where Richard, Vincent and Kevin said one last goodbye to their brother. Richard, now the oldest brother, became a man.

Very few belongings were found in the little shack-of-a-room their brother had rented in the slums. The only things that really mattered to them, though, were the family documents. Richard was so pleased when he found, together with their deceased parents’ ID cards and baptism documents, the title deed to the family land! Now he could see a way forward.

Along with our manager, Richard took copies of all these documents to the village chief, who wrote a letter stating that Richard, Vincent and Kevin are rightful owners of the land. No one else can claim this land for themselves. When Richard is 18, if necessary, he can sell the land to pay for his education. He plans to be a civil engineer.

Today, Richard, 17 years old, is a top performing student in his 10th grade class. He carries a great sense of responsibility towards the welfare of not only his siblings but of his other Into Africa brothers with whom he shares a house in Kisumu, Kenya. Vincent, a bit behind because he took care of his sick brother, is in the 4th grade and is quickly catching up. Kevin, age 11 and in the 5th grade, wants to be a doctor some day.

Richard recently wrote: First of all I would like to thank you guys for what you have done in my life. Into Africa has really helped me to grow physically, spiritually and emotionally. I wish you the best as you still continue to support us with schooling, food, clothing and a place to stay. I am also doing well in my studies and I was promoted to Form Two [10th grade]. I know God is going to help me complete my secondary education. May the Lord almighty father help you for being kind and generous to us.

Vincent’s note particularly blessed us: I have been having enough time to work on the LifePacs you gave us and this has really helped me, especially in English. Guess what! I was promoted to the fourth grade. I can’t believe this. I know God is going to help me and my fellow brothers in Into Africa. We’ve been waking up very early in the morning and this has really helped us. Before we go to school, we have to make sure the house is very clean and everything is in order. This has really helped us to stay in peace with other people living around us. Thanks for what you are doing. I know God is going to bless you. Even if we will not meet again here, I am sure we will meet in Heaven. Pray for me.

Kevin wrote: I thank God because he keeps on protecting us and am glad for that. We have been waking up very early in the morning preparing for school. Before we take our breakfast, we usually go for devotions first and that has really helped us to grow spiritually.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 19th, 2009 at 6:16 pm and is filed under Children in Crisis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.