CHE

CHE (Community Health Evangelism) is a dynamic approach to community transformation! After entering a community and mobilizing key members, we begin visiting homes in the community - to assess needs, encourage the people and invite them to be a part of CHE...

On this particular day two Missions of Hope (MoHI) staff, Dan and Isabella, took my mom into a nearby village. Dan and Isabella work with the CHE program, Dan as a trainer and Isabella works with mothers of disabled children.

This is Elizabeth and her son Flavian. As he was born disabled, Elizabeth and her husband were sent away from their village. Her community was convinced that she had done something against God to have produced a child like this...an all-too-common belief in this country.
Although little Flavian smiles at visitors, he mostly just makes unintelligible noises and sits on this pot/basin all day...
Elizabeth and her family live in a, temporarily, abandoned building. For now they don't pay rent, but when the owner of the building returns from India they will need to find a new place to stay. From time to time Elizabeth and her husband find menial work and make enough money to buy coffee and sell it, hopefully at a profit! so they can feed themselves and their little boy.
Walking through the village they passed several small businesses. The people of Kenya are quite enterprising and most are willing to work hard to make money to feed their families.


Dan standing outside the home of Jane...the next home to be visited.
Before Jane gave her life to the Lord, she was an alcoholic. When her infant (who is now 3 years old) cried from hunger, all she knew to do was to give him liquor to quiet his hunger pangs. Perhaps that is why today he suffers from a urinary tract problem that has left him disabled.
Isabella loves visiting these ladies and bringing them a word of encouragement to help give them hope for a better future.
Jane has a friend, Margaret, staying with her. Margaret left her 4 children with her mother in a rural village to find work in Nairobi. When her husband died his brother, who was to take responsibility for Margaret and the children, did not have room for her...leaving her few options to care for her children.
This 'skylight' is made of fiberglass and was installed by a team from the US. Our ministry sponsors a program called "Bring the Light" to bring light into these dark homes. Even when they can bring electricity in, they do not use it during the day...but most of these homes have no power for light.
Jane lives in a home that was her grandmother's. She tacks cardboard to the walls to keep out the cold...

A bit crazy, this lady has two children in our schools and always makes Isabella laugh whenever she sees her!
Walking through the village...
...seeing the sights, smelling the smells, hearing the sounds of life in the village...
...passing businesses...
...and greeting people...
...and being greeted along the way...Dan and Isabella are known in these parts!
...as they visit the homes on this sunny morning...talk about sunny! look at that smile!
A local medical center...Huduma Bora means "a good ministry" in Swahili...
Jennifer is a CHE student who is set to graduate in two weeks. She has been in classes, led by Dan, with 15 other students since April. The class meets for two hours one day per week. During the course of their class time, they have opportunity to put into practice much of what they learn.

The curriculum includes health issues, spiritual topics, social challenges and other subjects vital to a healthy community.
Beautiful face...
Walking to the home of Peniel...One of Peniel's 4 children is disabled. The father of her first two children died, so she married a new man, a Muslim. He gave her two children, the disabled one is shown below.
Her husband has a trade, but refuses to support her two oldest children or the disabled child. He will not acknowledge that the boy is his since he believes it is the fault of Peniel that the boy is this way. She is a Christian, but must sneak to church each Sunday. In order to support her children, she washes other people's clothes and also begs on the street corners for whatever change people are willing to give. I suspect she takes her disabled child with her...
On her face you can see joy, even in the midst of her difficult trials. Her place is immaculate and quite cheerful as you can see here.
Always children...following the Mzungu (white person) and hoping for a photo, a greeting or even just a smile.
Entering the home of Peris...she is a CHE graduate and is now involved in visiting with people in her community to teach them what she has learned and also to share with them the message of Christ.
Peris and a friend are in the process of starting a day care to earn a living and to feed their children. As is common for women in the slums, she has two children by a man she called her husband. They were not legally married, but she considers herself divorced, as the man has left her to raise the children on her own. She now has a boyfriend who 'visits' her and I am certain he helps her financially.
Here are Peris and her friend...behind the friend you can see rolled up mattresses that will be used in the day care.
Mom asked about sanitation and how they keep themselves clean. That's when she was shown the basin stored under the table...
Peniel and Dan...
Unfortunately privacy is an issue as most of the walls have holes in them...
The colorful floor in the room Peris and her friend have rented for the day care center. It is exciting to see the steps she is taking towards independence!
Behind this man you see a Mkokateni...which is a type of cart used to carry just about anything. Another thriving business in Nairobi!
Back home at Missions of Hope International...Transforming the Valley of Darkness into the Mountain of God! This is a great shot of the handiwork of one of the recent teams from the US. Can you see the bright colors and the animals painted on the walls? Although my co-workers think the colors a little bright, I love it!
By the way, can you see the giraffe? The blue door to the left of the giraffe is where I work! Right next to a third grade classroom...

I am grateful to my mom for taking these awesome photos so that I could share with you one of the most amazing parts of Missions of Hope...CHE is what makes it possible for us to know the greatest need in each community so that we can focus our efforts where they are needed most.

For example, the village pictured above is in the process of installing public toilets. The homes (often just one room separated by a hanging sheet) do not have indoor toilets. When a community has a toilet and even a bath house, the residents pay to use them which means income for one or more people. Just installing public toilets is a huge step in sanitation and reducing disease in a community...let me just say that when you walk through the village you are very careful where you step.

Not sure how you feel, but I am soooo grateful to have a toilet always available to me...one I don't have to walk down the street to use, one I don't have to pay to use.