The Road to Bosnia~Stonic's a Pro!

A 3-yr old suffering from Malnutrition

Mama Bosnia

Sister Fredas Clinic

Today I had quite a few firsts…Good, interesting, difficult, and everything in between…
This morning we went back to an IDP camp just outside of Kitale called Bosnia that had been set up back in 1992! We had visited the IDP camp yesterday and we went to disperse much needed supplies. Simple things like blankets, pots and basins for washing and cooking, sugar, salt, and rice.
I have never really been a part of a relief effort before so I was very excited about getting to be a part. I guess I should explain, I have been on a ton of missions trips and on most of them it has been more of spending time with the kids and giving them school supplies and clothes. So when I say Ive never been a part of a relief dispersment, I mean it more in a way where we are handing out the bare essentials of life…
About half way through I kind of just stood back and observed what was going on…The church was divided into 2 sections. One side was a medical clinic, where Sister Freda has brought her team and supplies to treat the villagers. The other half was where we were handing out the blankets and food. We started to notice that some people we coming through the line again and people started to become pushy, which I can’t blame them, but reality hit me like a ton of bricks, and I had to do everything I could to not burst into tears.
It just broke my heart to see people struggling and how desperate they were to get a bowl of rice and half a cup of sugar! I mean these are necessities! I’ve seen poverty and its effects so many times I was afraid I was becoming desensitized to it, but there was something about today. Im not going to get on a soapbox about it, but it was so hard to watch them be so desperate, knowing there’s nothing I can do other than hand it to them and pray it lasts as long as it can.
It doesn’t make me feel like I should sell everything and go live in a hut the rest of my life, that wouldn’t solve anything, but it makes me know even more so that I am who I am for a reason and that reason is to acknowledge these people and do whatever I can for them…Whether it’s be a voice back home or hand them a water basin with a small bag of salt…Do me a favor and pray for these people and the millions of others in their situation. Don’t look down on them or pity them, help them, however you can…
Another first today was riding on the back of a Boda Boda, a motorized Boda Boda no less…It was half amazing, half terrifying. Especially considering that the last time I was on the back of a motorized bike I was in an accident that sent me to the hospital! And even then I was in Nashville, not the middle of a dirt road in Kenya…But I made it home safely and it was soooo much fun…travling around Kitale by Boda Boda is the only way to go