Heshima

I’ve read that the concept known as “human dignity” was born from the theology of the Bible and stands on two basic premises.

#1 Creation: All humans are created in the likeness of God.

#2 Redemption: All humans are valued enough for an active and involved God to intervene on our behalf forgiving us with no strings attached.

This being said, then it is a universal right for every human being to lead a dignified life.

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Most developing countries struggle to educate everyone. Cultural superstitions and social status often lead to discrimination which plays large roles in deciding who is allowed to be educated. Kenya is no exception to this struggle. There are many children in Kenya with special needs who are unable to afford the care they need. The public school system does not offer special services for these kids, so what typically happens is the children either stay at home, often locked away due to public shame, or they end up attending public school without any sort of help. “Heshima,” meaning ʻdignityʼ in Swahili, is an organization started with the vision to meet the needs of these hidden children. Most children with special needs in Kenya live a life that is undignified and full of broken dreams. Heshima believes that Jesus Christ has a special purpose filled with dignity for children with special needs in the country they call home. All human beings are made in the image of God, regardless of their outward appearance.

On May 11th, the West Nairobi School community will join together to run for dignity. They are fighting for justice by giving time and money to a cause that is greater than themselves. They are running to support the missionary family who founded Heshima, and who have a child enrolled in WNS, but more importantly they are running to make a difference in the lives of children who are significant and valued.

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To visually learn more about the Rhino Stampede and Heshima Children’s Center, check out this 3 minute video.

Although many readers will not be physically able to be in Kenya to support this event there are still plenty of ways to promote a lasting dignity. Please pray for West Nairobi School and students as they begin to step forward for dignity. Publically standing  for dignity, self-respect, and human value regardless of physical or social appearances and status is not always easy, but it is right. Pray that students will not view this as a one time event but rather a beginning to promoting dignity towards all human beings.

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To learn more about Heshima, where much of this writing comes from, visit:

http://www.heshimachildrenscenter.org/

“We all have the ability to increase the dignity of others and thus we increase our own dignity.” —Global Dignity

One of those days

We’ve all had “one of those days” where the best course of action seems to be to crawl under a rock and hide away until a new day dawns. Everything seems to be taunting your pride and ego while assaulting your well-being. Emotions run high and Paranoia is hanging around whispering things in your ear. Having that positive attitude on “one of those days” is not something that is always easy to attain. Recently I survived one of those days but thought in all fairness I should officially put it out there that I’m out of the running for the Father Of The Year award.

It all began so nonchalantly with no power in our house. I have nothing against instant coffee as long as I don’t have to drink it on a regular basis. But it was yet another morning of instant coffee by the light of the lantern. Creatures were fed, some of them were clothed, and it was off to the store in search of food.

While in the parking lot our van’s alarm system decided to announce our presence. There must be a short in one of the wires and at the most inopportune times is works against us. While trying to get the boys to stand still and pushing random buttons in hopes the alarm will go off numerous security guards begin to flank us. This has occurred before so my frame of mind was not that frayed but the alarm just wouldn’t stop screaming. It was at the point where the guards were beginning to question me that I noticed Benjamin was pushing the van, and setting the alarm into its psychotic frenzy, each time I got it turned off. “Benjamin! Stop pushing the van!” “Pops. I’m helping you turn it off.” It’s all about perspective right?

After opening the yogurt, sitting on a loaf of bread, chewing on the handle of the shopping cart, yelling out “cat” when we  passed the dog food section (don’t ask me I was just pushing the cart), being given copious amounts of advice on how to handle two boys from those without children, and more licking of the shopping cart, we finally made it to the check-out lane. It was at this point that Michael decided to play the role of the surgeon general. As an aside I’ve been working with the boys about being helpful and sharing with each other and those around them. Usually this involves toys and handing out peanuts to children begging by the side of the road. On this day at the store apparently it involved something a little more serious. From his shopping cart Michael reached out and grabbed package after package of condoms from the shelf and was in the process of handing them to the man behind us. Michael was adamant that this stranger needed a lot of  them and even used his secret weapon of tears when the man tried to put them back. Meanwhile Benjamin was being much too vocal and equally insistent that the man bagging our goods was not doing it correctly. One son handing out condoms and the other supervising the workers at the store and of course thousands of people standing around watching the show. Where’s that rock?

Knowing that I wasn’t the only one needing a break we went to school to drop off a coffee for my wife. School with a preschooler and toddler is always a crap shoot. You just never know what will happen. High schoolers think Michael is adorable until they smell him. Overly friendly workers teach Benjamin how to use a machete. Office staff show the boys how to use a paper shredder and then regret their gesture of kindness when shredded paper appear as snow on the floor. The list goes on. On this particular day the boys took muddy sticks to the brand new office lobby chairs and wall pounding away while I dashed over to stop their attack. “What are you doing?” “We’re just fixing.” Of course everyone smiles telling me it’s not a big deal, but I know all about dread and trepidation and I can see it in their eyes. Driving away I was clobbered over the head with a large stick by my youngest son. He was practicing his machete skills. How he got his “machete” inside the van I’ll never know.

While we put the couch cushions back, picked up the diaper forts, and tore down castle made from cereal boxes all I could do was tell myself that I needed to get a grip on my attitude and see it from a knee-high perspective. They were helping the old man, cause he certainly needed it, as well as working to make the world a better place. I couldn’t see their sense of wonder or helpfulness only the mayhem left in their wake. As the afternoon wore on “one of those days” turned into just another day. Perhaps it was my attitude adjustment. Or maybe it was the fact that I tied one up and put another one back in his cage. Regardless, I started to trust, and then believe, that it would be better. Raising children is all about trusting. You just trust that you don’t mess up your kids too much. In fact I’m constantly baffled that my wife continues to trust me with the boys. Maybe she’s really trusting God. Maybe that’s what having “one of those days” is all about. Dropping your pride and trusting that God is in control and as long as your perspective comes from Him there’s no need to sweat the small stuff. Oh, and if you still want to nominate me for Father Of The Year I’m grateful. But I’m also a realist. Perhaps next year.

Relationally Speaking

A parade of bumper to bumper cars going nowhere while I enjoy the rapid movement on my side. Just one of the many contrasts of Kenya. In a peripheral flash, serenity is dashed as a girl steps out from the line of cars directly in front of the car I’m following. Squealing tires, gasping breaths, a girl frozen in fear. They swerve to miss the girl and I veer to miss the car. In turn a domino effect continues for several cars after. Breathing continues. Everyone is alright and forward momentum is unbroken. Seconds later I see a driver wave to me from inside the line of cars. As I try to recollect where I might have met the person before a car aggressively edges out in front of the waving man. Now it all makes sense as yet another domino effect continues on down the lane after me.

Driving can be such an adventure here. It’s quite common to see a vehicle flashing their lights as you approach. The meaning of the flash is not always so clear though. Sometimes the message is, “Go ahead and turn I’ll slow down for you.” Other times the same style of flash means, “Don’t go, I’m not stopping for you.” But the psychotic on-going  flash means, “Get out of my way! I’m coming!” Let me tell you, playing chicken is not advisable with a vehicle larger than yourself. It’s enough to turn steel nerves to aluminum as you face off with a large heavily dented bus or truck. It’s all rather complicated, and yes a bit irritating, trying to comprehend what’s happening sometimes. Experiential learning is required.

That’s just the straight forward driving. If you haven’t experience a Kenyan round-a-bout, especially during heavy traffic, in your driving career then I must tell you that you haven’t really driven. When you can say that you regularly survive the round-a-bout experience then you’ll have something to feel a sense of accomplishment about. Notice I didn’t say “master” because as soon as your confidence hits the fictious “mastery” level, you’ll be schooled. I’m thinking about making myself a t-shirt to celebrate my survival but by no means do I feel able to claim a high level of confidence as I approach the round-a-bout each day. There’s something about swerving through several lanes of traffic to get to the humbling circle, guessing at the signal lights that are usually not working and never followed or police officer which may or may not be helpful, only to swerve into approaching vehicles and often crossing a lane or two in the process yet again. Waiting for an opening is not an option if you value moving. If you want an opening in traffic you have to make one. A turn signal, eye contact, and a waving hand out the window are a good beginning but if your vehicle is not edging in front of the oncoming traffic it doesn’t mean a thing.

I realize that this may be a leap, however, I’m coming to see driving here as conversing in a relationship. Am I being clear for others not just myself? Am I being intentional? Am I observing correctly? Am I listening? And am I acting upon the signals correctly? All my words don’t mean a thing if my actions don’t back them up. You know, the whole “walk the walk” thing. If I haven’t been involved in the dialog then I really don’t have a clue as to where I stand in it all. Which is painfully obvious to everyone around me as I get schooled at various parts of the round-a-bout. Driving here involves, among other things, feeling vulnerable and being honest. The same can be said about relationships.

The round-a-bout is about active participation in a give and take waltz. The more I participate the deeper my knowledge grows. With knowledge and understanding come a sense of peace and purpose as I round the curves and manuever the obstacles. I recently saw a goat trying to cross a busy road, yes it was actually a round-a-bout. The creature was doing a ‘two steps forward one step back’ dance frustrating and stopping cars everywhere. My belief that the goat knew what he was doing vanished and I have to admit that I even honked my horn at it. The goat clearly did not grasp the necessity of the relationship in order to have peace throughout its journey. I don’t communicate with God as often as I should. I wonder if people are honking their horns at me?