The Haves

My family has a tradition of going on vacations, we traveled together and have been to so many countries. Dad wanted us to visit Africa and I was so happy because I love nature and Africa is blessed with lots of natural rserves. I was inspired by the likes of Nelson Mandela, Julius Nyerere and Arap Moi. There are also lots of Africans excelling academically and in other fields so visiting Africa was to me a dream come true. Honestly, I had this understanding that Nigeria was the capital of Africa until Dad selected Kenya, that was when I understood what make up Africa.

- So we are travelling to East Africa dad?

That was just what I wanted to know. Thanks to the Internet which enabled me to study about Kenya because it's always good to know about a place before visiting. Kenya has one of the largest wild life reserves and we will stay in Masai Mara. I had my mind prepared for this vacation so landing in Nairobi that fatheful day was adventurous. Kenya is a nice place to be but there was something I didn't read about prior to our visit and it's about the slums. I am not trying to say that I wasn't well informed about the rate of poverty in Africa but the sight of this slums gave me running stomach.

Visiting the slums was highly informative because I have never seen anything like that in my entire life. How on earth will people live in such degenerated condition? Honestly, I started having second thought about the Africans I knew from prints and if I have to be very honest, i was totally disappointed about life. We have poor people in America and we have slums but you dare not compare both. But with the riches in Africa, one won't be wrong to question what the leaders are doing. I know about the aids given to nations in Africa by United Nation,World Bank etc so where does the aids go to?

"I knew that I had to do something but don't know how and where to start but then what is it that I should do?"

Visiting Kenya was one of the biggest things that ever happened to me because I got a first class information of what life is for so many kids. And I wanted to do something to help as many as I can because for all I know the aids given to their leaders for them doesn't get to them. If it does then Maria, John, Kaffumba, Tony, and Christian should be in school. These kids became my best friends and I drew inspiration from their stories. The truth is that they were happy kids and has no worry wether there is food or not, they are used to going to bed without food and facing the next day without food.

How will they cope in time of sickness?

No one prays to be sick but once in a while, as humans we are bond to get sick and that became my greatest worry about them because their living condition exposes them to different kinds of sickness. You cannot wake up and share your wealth to people but you can actually wake up and touch lives by providing adequate amenities to especially the poor and it is the responsibility of the government to do this but when government fail then individuals and groups comes into the picture so what is all these men of God in Africa actually doing? What is the true calling of pastorship?

My ambition is to become a film producer and I am fascinated by documentary films so my exposure to this slum and the kids and their residents became my story. I had every hand on the table and my sister Rebecca turned out to be my camera person, everyone wanted to bring the misery of these beautiful people to lime light and Dad gave me his support by providing the funds I needed to purchase food stuffs, medications and clothings for our new families. Honestly, i felt safe and inclusive with them.

"As we prepare to travel back after two weeks stay in Kenya, I knew that I still have to do more especially for Abuya because she meant more to me."

I found Abuya during our second visit to the slum and she caught my attention because of her baby. She was one of the most cheerful persons I have ever met, she was helpful because she took us round the slum and she became our interpreter but what moved me the most about her was how she nursed her four months old son, she carried him with her under the sun and shared her story with us unfiltered. Believe me, most times, what the mainstream media feed us is junk, if you honestly want to know the truth then wear your shoe, pack your bags and go down to where it's happening.

How on earth will a mother and child live in this condition?

She lost her parents when she was seven, they both died the same day in a ghastly motor accident but unlike our country where the government has provisions for children like Abuya, Kenya doesn't have such provision so she ended up in the street and started fending for herself,she lived in the street with no form of identification and fought day and night with nothing but hope until she met Aunty Clara. Aunty Clara took her into her shed in the slumb and started taking care of her from age nine. Aunty Clara has a son of her own who was twelve years old when Ayuba came to live with them.

Both of them found something attractive in each other and nine years of living under the same roof was enough to bond them then on the tenth year, they made their relationship known to Aunty Clara but instead of support them, she became very angry with them because they indulged and the evidence was visible on Ayuba so out of disappointment, she was thrown out from the hole she knew as home. She became alone till the day she gave birth in a corner in the slum.

"If you are still doubting God then what do you understand from giving birth unaided and watching the umbilical cord cut by itself? Well there is miracle and this is the beginning".

I' ve heard people talk about time, they complain that they never had enough time to do something but I have a different understanding towards that because what I accomplished in Kenya in two weeks baffeled me, there is this song by Jimmy Cliff that goes this way; 'You can get it if you really want, but you must try, try and try'. I never planned to establish a school in Kenya but it took me just five days with the help of my parents and siblings and the bunch of nice people we met in the slum to organise a classroom and get a teacher for the kids and most importantly the uniforms for the first set of students.

Who says that good things is hard to find?

Good things comes to those who believe and God has his own way of doing things because my mother wanted us to travel to Egypt but Dad suggested Kenya at the last minute and this was simply because of Barrack Obama and we were all trilled to visit the ancestral home of our great President but little did we knew that it would be a trip that will change our lives forever. I will give my parents the credit because all that we did was possible because of their support. I still remember the moment mum walked up to me and tapped me on the shoulder then thanked me for suggesting the we cancel our safari walk.

We were suppose to visit the safari and our escort came on time to pick us but I suggested that we use the day to organize school items for the kids and everyone bowed to that. I mean,putting smile on the faces of the kids and opening up a new dawn in their lives made me so happy, with the help of my Dad, Abuya got a descent apartment outside the slum. Right inside the plane the night we left Kenya, I knew that there is a big task ahead and I knew that Dad and Mum cannot carry the load alone so I started planning on how to make sure that the school keep running and to expand it.

"Once you set your mind on something and believe in your heart that you can create impact with it, then watch out for your accomplishment".

I made my friends understood the need for us to reach out to our brothers and sisters in Kenya if not for anything, at least to make sure that the school remains. When I say school, I mean the classroom I established. However, sometimes what we get ourselves into isn't as small as we think it is because all my friends supported my cause, my sisters had few of their friends on board too and in all, we were twenty five in number. We contributed ten dollars individually each week for the school so do the maths, that's one thousand dollars monthly and our parents supported us so with this I was able to raise a minimum of four thousand dollars every month.

Do you know that the gap between the haves and the have not is a thin line?

An average of fouty eight thousand dollars annually to Ayuba, Gregory, Pastor Emmanuel and Udaka for a period of four years didn't provided just more classrooms rather it provided each student with the basic tool needed for excellence. My visit to Kenya four years afterwards was a thing of joy because although the funds I provided was specifically for the school, it attracted untity among residents and with that there was a massive clean up of the slum at least it wasn't as bad as it was during our first visit. Imagine if all the aids given to Africa by the West gets to those they are meant for.

I was impressed with what we achieved and that encouraged me to do more so we began the secondary school project immediately and also partnered with a foundation in USA to sponsor five best students annually to pursue their degrees in USA. I know without being told that I am touching lives but the truth is that my experience so far taught me that there is nothing like black race or white race, there is just human race then in this race,we have good and bad people. And majority of African leaders are among the bad people because they are there reason for the misery of the masses.

"You can do more than I am doing, there are lots of great individuals among you guys effecting lives in their small ways so be the best you can and invest your time in humanity."