The Mission Society sends out about 10-to-12 interns every year, mostly young adults between the ages of 18 and 25. It has been said that this generation is one of the most in-tune to injustice in this world. Here is a story of one of our interns and how she embodied this:
Kim Klein is from Washington state and connected with Life for Children Ministries, which helps AIDS orphans in Kisumu find homes with guardians and works with the guardian families to care for the kids. One of the guardians is a woman named Coletta who has four children, the youngest of which has AIDS. Coletta herself contracted the disease from her husband, who died of the disease. Just as Kim was starting to form a relationship with Coletta and her children, Coletta committed suicide. She left behind Nick, Dennis, Joshua, and Laura. Now Nick, at 17, was left with the huge responsibility of caring for his younger siblings. To further complicate matters, Luo tradition mandates that a family cannot continue to live in a house where someone has committed suicide. So the children were forced out on the street while still grieving for their mom, and eventually had to separate.
Kim was understandably devastated as she had a rapid orientation into the harsh reality of poverty and despair. She had such a burden for the kids, wanting most of all for them to be able to lean on each other. So she took action and through her communication with family, friends, and supporters in the U.S., raised the funds to build a house on the land that the kids used to occupy. The community had quickly torn down the old house, but felt that it was permissible to rebuild in the same place. Kim also enlisted the help of the community, challenging them that if she could raise the funds, they could provide the labor to build the house.
It’s now Kim’s last week in Kenya, and as I type this the community is building the frame for Coletta’s childrens’ new home. Thanks to Kim’s compassionate heart and actions, Nick, Dennis, Joshua, and Laura will have a steady roof over their heads. Best of all, they can live together and grieve the loss of their mother together.
Here is a link to Kim’s blog as she was processing the loss of Coletta – http://kimberlyklein.wordpress.com.
