When cameras roll out in Pokot

In terms of media coverage, Pokot receives so little attention, perhaps for the most part, due to it's isolation and inaccessibility from the capital, Nairobi. However, whenever the mainstream Kenyan media make an expedition to any part of Pokot, they definitely comeback to their parent media houses with a breathtakingly high-voltage news report. And when their stations come alive, the whole country comes to terms with the sorry state of villages tucked away in the far-flung fringes of the country.

Often times, some of the viewers who succumb to a state of denial  can be forgiven, for indeed it is so hard for them to imagine that what they are watching on TV is actually emanating from one part of the same country they belong to called Kenya. However, it is what it is.....Pokot is quite another world, inhabited by nomads herding cattle and roaming the hilly plains of the Cherangani hills albeit with a ton of very harsh environmental  social and economic realties.

In the following short TV bulletins aired out in the recent months, Pokot is put in the limelight, at it were,  as the cameras of the investigative journalists rolled out in focus. Check them out ( please note that The Daylight Children's Center and School is located in the region highlighted by the TV news reports here on), and let me know your take, won't you?

Water scarcity is a huge problem to the people here.....

...and this,

With food shortages rampant....diseases and hunger related ailments can easily spin out of control and the toll is that of village proportions

....and then this,

Cattle-rustling ( ie cow-jacking) is a longstanding nightmare among the Pokot and the fellow nomad counterparts in the region. In this video clip, Nation TV crew attends one peace meeting organized between Pokot and Turkana warriors aimed at enhancing peace and understanding in the area.

Today, please pray for the people in these villages, and pray also for the children who were rescued from these villages, and who are being sheltered, educated, and cared for at the Daylight Center and School in Kapenguria, West Pokot, Kenya. Thank you for your time.Amen!

Children say prayers for Michael

Today, at around mid-morning, the children interrupted their routine activities briefly to say prayers for me (i.e Michael Kimpur, their Director). Though I wasn't feeling like getting into so much of a rigorous physical activity during during the day, our staff on duty insisted, all the same, that I show up at the playing ground for the kids had a thing or two for me. "What was it?", I wondered....

At 10 am in the morning, I  was at the play ground which is adjacent to the chapel. And alas, children were already out at the venue, and from the look of things, indeed, there were every indications that they were ready for something, for some of the kids were arranged in rows, at least from a distance I could clearly see two groups overlooking each other. At the center of was a chair. As I approached, one of the staff immediately motioned at me to take up the seat.

 The kids were aware of the accident I was involved in last week. Besides letting them know about the incident, I wasn't sure what else they could do about that. In fact, as I looked at their bright faces and curious eyes, I got a feeling of calm and assurance - the God who got them out of  their respective past difficult situations, did protect me last fateful Wednesday.....

 I am so thankful to God for His protection....and these children whose eyes all beamed in my  direction were to me an embodiment of God's saving grace in our lives....it's because of His grace that we are to do what we do....nothing less.

Apparently, we were all thankful to God for each other.We have grown to be one big indispensably family - that is DAYLIGHT.

 While all these were racing through my mind, the prayer moment began in earnest. The little children said a prayer for me. Fervently. They said it not by way of big words but plain simple ones....a poem....a song.... lots of jumping.....and a dance...in prayers and thanksgiving to Him! 

The following picture and videos were captured during the prayer session, please check them out - 

The kids and I singing and clapping together

Ongoing Construction of The Margie Smith House, part two

My earlier report on the construction of our family house,  which we have named "The Margie Smith House" in honor of the beloved friend and praying Daylight partner and supporter who put up the initial seed funds, did cover on the construction work up to the slab level of the foundation. We have since made significant progress as the following pictorial sequence show. Check it out: 

......with the foundation slab firmly in place, everything is ready for the next stage - that is walling going up 

it all starts with the setting of the corners by way of measuring the angles, and Giddy, our lead mason was in control

with the right angles corners determined, the critical bricks are squarely put in place by the mason himself.....everyone in the crew will have to take cue from that....

onto the next corner, all corners of the house have to be in perfect measurement, right angles...

laying down the bricks is in top gear, and as you can see it is  beginning to look like it....as it were

   day in, day out and  brick by brick work has gone this far.....

in some days, we  had to work overtime, late into the evening.....we just couldn't help it

....this young man was part of the crew for a moment....and apparently he made it obvious what team he supported....hmmm, when is their next big game?

Construction crew member Megan at it 

Kasule, one of the most funny guy on the site who is able to crack a joke while working all at the same time...

filling it up....all the way up

Little Chesang holding the line with a smile as crew members set the bricks in place...this was after all fun...

Ben cutting timber to set up the wall-plate mold to hold the concrete

Kibet making the wall-plate mold ready for concrete....

getting the concrete ready to fill up the wall-plate mold to create the rim beam

filling that mold with concrete all the way round the perimeter wall.....it will take lots of concrete, nerve and  muscle

Drogba in action....he was very particular on the consistency of the concrete...

....so much ground covere

                ....here we are....and the walling activity got over with the completion of the rim beam...

At this rate, we could get this work through and the house ready by October. However, we have ran into some tricky challenge, the materials have ran out, as it were,  and the funds we got from Margie Smith together with tremendous local support we received has got us this far - to the wall-plate. Yes, local villagers came in handy, and they helped us a lot. We did receive significant help and support in kind from the locals, and it is what gave this construction work a huge boost and momentum. The value of the work that has been done is way more than $5000. All things considered, may be two-fold in value already and counting... 

The next stage is roofing. And to do that we need several running feet of timber of different sizes, nails, roofing iron sheets, and the like. We do not have those materials in sight yet but we are trusting Him. However, in the meantime,  we might have to fold up for a while until there is a change of the status quo. Pray with us that this work continue like it has been, and that my family can move in by October or December this year. We can't stop imagining celebrating this coming Christmas in this new found home taking shaping....

Again, let your prayers ring.....amen!

Three projects Successfully Completed

At Daylight, Kenya, the mood is palpable following the successful completion of three recent projects. Following the acquisition of the property on which the Daylight Children's Center and School will be housed, and with the generous support from our friends and praying partners, we have so far set on  and successfully completed the following projects: 

• Fencing off the property with the use of barbed wire
• Constructing Children's pit latrine/toilet (restroom) to be used by 170 kids 
• Construction of a water supply point

Let us, by use of pictures,  walk you through the construction process at every step of the process:  

The new  Land: A place for the Daylight Children to call home

The Daylight family shouting a big thank you to the friends and praying partners. And on this new property work has started in earnest.

1. Fencing off the property

Lauren and crew ready with some of the fencing materials and appliances

Getting the holes ready for poles to be erected 

Lauren and Dan rolling out the wire 

Pulling it tight

driving in a nail to hold the wire in place 

...the fence is taking shape but work is still far from over....you notice the FMSC initials?

....checking it out, just in case

This is girl is inside the newly fenced home, the rest of the world is on the other side of fence.....

 2. The Pit latrine (Restroom)

This is it,  the chosen spot and so let's take the measurements and dimensions

Digging out the pit all the way 60 ft down toward the core

making some good progress

the crew at work

deep but not yet there 

these little dudes from the nearby villages couldn't resist to see the going on 

covering up the pit with poles to act as foundation support

Lead Mason, Giddy ( on the right) and Drogba ( his assistant) setting up the foundation

Lauren and Rachel mixing  and getting concrete ready 

putting concrete on 

starting on the walls

got this far....

Final product's from the side view

Giddy making final inspections.....the pit latrine is successfully complete

3. Water point

this is control valve 

making a water trough for storage 

putting the finishing touches 

the completed water trough is through and already in use 

the pond water in use in other projects' work.....Margie house at the background under construction 

We are all very excited at what has already been done. And we are hopeful that soon, by God's grace, we can be in a position to begin the children's dormitory and a classrooms. The funds for these projects are not yet available, and you can continue praying with us. W are shooting at getting the children on the new property, their new home, by January 2012. Hopefully we can get the dormitory and the classrooms up and running by then to make that goal realistic.

Besides, the construction of the Margie Smith's House ( Director's family house) is underway. Work now is at the wall plate or rim beam level. The next task will be roofing. My next blog will dwell on this project activity.

Indeed, I thank God for all of you friends and praying partners for the love you have showed for the children in Pokot, Kenya. Without your generous support, it would have been practically tough to get these things this far. May God bless you beyond measure.....and honor and glory be to Him. Amen.

Road Accident: Got a cut on the head

Last Wednesday was just like any other normal day. Everything around looked great, and at around 6.30 in the morning, I got my kids to their school for the day's schoolwork. As I made a return upon dropping them off at the school gate 3 miles away from my house, along the way another vehicle knocked my right-hand side mirror. Oh no, this is so freaking, an early morning close shave on the road. Call it one of those chilling road accidents... but no one was hurt as yet....

Immediately, I pulled off  the road  to stop. The other vehicle did likewise. Then I got out of the truck and made across the road to meet the other driver. There were about  7 people in that min-van. Some of them knew or could recognize me, for they called out my name....pleading "that was unfortunate," and that " Thank God it wasn't so bad". The folk besieged both of us the drivers to settled things down amicably ( a typical Kenyan dispute resolution imperative). Or perhaps, the police would even complicate things ( somethings are better handled off the Kenyan police hands).And after a brief conversation, we both agreed that we meet at the gas station later in the day so that we could finalize on how to sort out the damages - I had lost a side-mirror.  

Everything at the spot of accident did not take long, just a few minutes - if anything, 10 minutes at most. Then we bid each other "Jambo" ( an Okay), and I turned back to get back to my truck parked on the  opposite direction. Apparently, as I walked across the road ( a paved one) then something happened......can't reminder exactly, but only to wake up some 30 minutes later on a hospital mini-theater being ran stitches on the head. In the theater, all the people who were around me were strangers at most, but some knew me, and after a while I could recognize some of the faces.

The nurses at Kapenguria District hospital did a great job stopping the bleeding. At least, Thank God there was even a nurse at the theater at such early morning hours....The last time we were at the same hospital with Megan Green ( our Daylight guest staying with us now) was when we went to seek medical attention for Grace Kakuko ( a girl from Alale who has an ear tumor). We did not find a Doctor at the ENT wing of the hospital. And we had to go to Kitale Hospital ( some 30 miles away) to see a doctor, of which we were lucky to find one. 

As I came to learn later, as soon I walked toward the truck across the road,  I  got  hit and thrown up  onto the paved road (Lodwar- Kitale road) by a bicycle ferrying firewood to the nearby Makutano Township. And then, I had been helped to hospital by the driver of the mini-van that was right there at the time. I would meet him some two days later and he gave me a full narration of what really did happen. Hmmm, it would have been worse.....I thank God, I had His protection.....and honor and glory be to Him. 

I also wish to thank all of you friends for your prayers and support. I am getting better, and I will be fine. 

Below are pictures of me: 

   I now adorn a hat just to style up......and of course the cover bandage there on (on my lap is my cell phone that was also recovered two days later)

     What lies underneath the hat is the bandage covering the stitched cut on my head

     Without the hat......it looks like this....

    ....and this.

     Up close..

    For a while, I will have to get this hat on....at least keeps at bay: the dust, flies, and more so the questions arising from the curious passers-by

Again, thank you for praying for me and my family, it is certainly what made the difference. Amen.