Update - Elizabeth

I just spoke with Nick. Elizabeth has malaria. Malaria is the number one killer in the world mostly affecting children under 5 and pregnant women. Most deaths occur in subsahara Africa. Elizabeth is now on medication which hopefully will work quickly. When I was in nursing school we studied malaria - it was a tropical disease not possible to contract in the US. We only studied it in theory. Now I am around so many people with malaria I can usually diagnosis it even before the test is completed (not a sign of my nursing skills just a sign malaria is so common in Kenya). We do have nets for the children to sleep under but their living condition makes it almost impossible to prevent malaria and typhoid. Today we had someone join the effort to move the children and Nick and Charles now have $5,500 to build a home for 34 children, themselves and the aunties who care for the children. I am asking Pastor Omondi to oversee the building of the temporary structure. Pastor Omondi is the one who got Maggie's School registered with the Kenyan goverment. He will do whatever it takes to get this structure built and move the children. Thank you for your prayers. Nick was so encouraged by the support!

Grateful for your prayers and for drugs that treat malaria and for the doctor who tested Elizabeth,

Connie

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Prayers for Elizabeth

Many of you have held little Elizabeth. You have felt the frailness of her small body. Others of you have read about her in my updates. Several of you are assisting Nick and Charles to help move her from the slum. Elizabeth at 2 years old has AIDS. She is subject to opportunistic diseases - malaria, TB, typhoid, even a cold that could kill her. We know living in the slum isn't good for her and Nick and Charles with the help of the Carrollton team and a recent donor are taking steps to move her and the 33 other children she lives with in three crowded rooms in Mathare Slum. But, today Elizabeth needs your prayers. She is sick and Nick is taking her to the hospital to find out why. Pray God protects her - He loves the little children especially the orphans like Elizabeth. I have asked Nick to keep me informed of her condition and will let you know through the updates how she is.
Praying for little Elizabeth,
Connie
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reMEMber team video

Many of you followed the updates of the reMEMber team as my sisters travelled to see Maggie's School. And, I appreciated so much your encouraging responses! They always mean so much to me when I hear from you! You can see their DVD on You Tube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhNrh2jra6k
It will make you smile.
Blessings, Connie

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Returning from Kenya

After a month in Kenya David (my son) and I are returning to the US. This trip was good although there were challenges. The challenges included our van having mechanical problems and sickness among the Partners for Care staff. Both Sammy and Njokie had malaria - again. And, after a week of treatment Sammy still did not get well. Taking him back to the hospital he was diagnosed with a very bad case of typhoid. He was put on three types of medication. I am witness that typhoid is worse than malaria. He thinks he got typhoid when travelling to Lodwar.
The good things that happened this trip were the partnerships PFC has developed. We are now working with:
1. The Vice President's wife through the Kolonzo Foundation
2. The Healers program through the Lumumba Foundation
3. The National Aids Control Council as we continue to seek funding for the what if? campaign
4. Ringtone who is a major artist in Kenya. We will be going to schools with him with the what if? campaign. He is very popular with the youth and has been doing motivational speaking in schools for several years.
5. Kanjii - another major artist in Kenya. He has already launched a program going to the high schools with a program reaching the youth for Christ.
Land was purchased to build a home for the children in the rescue center!
And, of course the reMEMber team came to Kenya and went all the way to Maggie's School! It was a trip none of them will forget.
Now I return home to work and David to school. Oh, I forgot one other thing - David got his Kenya driver's license!
Next team coming to work with Partners fopr Care is the Partnering for Hope team who will be coming in October. Tragically one of their team member's son was was struck and killed by lightening on a golf course two months ago. She is still determined to go to Kenya - a lifetime dream. Her son's friends are holding a golf charity to raise money for her trip.
Blessed to serve with the Partners for Care staff in Kenya, Connie
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what if? partners for Healers

The what if? HIV/AIDs program is partnering with the Healers program. The Healers program is a program sponsored by the Lumumba Foundation and The African Institute for Leaders and Leadership. The mission of the Healers is to foster national cohension and patriotism among the youth. Through a community exchange program 30 university studies representing 30 major tribes in Kenya will stay with another tribe working in their community.

The Healers and the what if? team

We have conducted a training with the Healers and they will be taking the what if? camapign as part of their work. It is an excellent partnership as both programs are designed to help Kenya address tribalism and HIV/Aids.
Blessed to be a part of the healing of Kenya, Connie
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10th and last update

The reMEMber team has left but not without leaving their blessings and goodwill on the people of Kenya. From the slums of Marthare to the desert of Turkana the reMEMber team touched lives. Many people are no longer in pain because Dr. Eric and the team extracted painful teeth. Some had been in pain for years. The 257 children at Maggie's School have school uniforms and shoes thanks to the team and Kristi Kicks for Kenya. The children at Beat the Drum have new friends. The reMEMber team endured vans that broke down stranding them on the side of the road, getting stuck in rivers and sand in Turkana, days without water at our house because of the severe drought in Kenya. They slept in beds they weren't accoustomed to in rooms with other team members and ate food they had never seen or heard of and sometimes couldn't pronounce. They listened to the Temples of Worship sing and praise God. They prayed with and for the Kenyans. They allowed God to touch their hearts and in some cases break their hearts. They stepped way out of their comfort zone to travel for 24 hours (some longer) to serve the people of Kenya. The Partners for Care staff here in Kenya will forever.reMEMber them. You can see some of their photos at www.partnersforcare.blogspot.com
From kenyan Connie
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Fw: 9th Update - Wink Meets With Vice President Kolonzo's Wife

Yesterday Wink, Katie Martha, David, Njokie, Sammy and I met with Pauline Kalonzo - wife of Kenya's Vice President. Partners for Care had been meeting with her sharing what PFc does. She is a woman of great compassion for the suffering people of Kenya. On my last visit here we met with her and showed her Maggie's School video. She really connected with this school in the desert in Turkana land. On her own she directed the Kolonzo Foundation to seek funds for Maggie's School! They have written a grant for additional classrooms for the school. Her Excellency has personally met with people to seek funding.

Her Excellency with Wink, Katie and I.

At the meeting, Her Excellency thanked wink many times for Maggie's School. She told Wink she felt a connection to Maggie even though she had never met he. She acknowledged Kristi and what Katie has done through Kristi Kicks for Kenya. She told Wink she would visit the school to dedicate the next classroom. Suprising us all Wink said she would go with her!

God is amazing how He has orchestrated so many people here and in America to support Maggie's School - reMEMbering Maggie.

All the glory to the God we serve, Connie

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Land has been purchased!

Today is a great day for 34 children who live in Mathare Slum, their aunties, and Nick and Charles who care for them - land has been purchased for their new home! Thanks to the Carrollton team who raised the funds a beautiful piece of land has been bought. Nick and Charles rose early and with the owner and an attorney representing both sides signed the papers.

Praying for the land

A view of the land

Njokie, Pastor Omondi and I joined them at the property. Pastor Omondi prayed for the land thanking God and the Carrollton team for the mighty blessing. The name "rescue center" is now gone. This will be a home where two Christian men are raising children orphaned by the deaths of their parents due to HIV/AIDS. While the land was more than they had hoped ($8,000) it met the criteria:

1. Electrcity hook-up

2. Water

3. Schools very close - walking distance

4. Close to CT with matatu service so Nick and Charles can go to work

5. Safe!

6. Open area so the children can play!

The back has a beautiful view - Nick teased and said he could see elephants!

This week they will prepare plans for building a structure for the children. Soon these children will be moved to a home.

Grateful to the Carrollton team,

Connie

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