Convoy of Hope

The last afternoon I was in Nairobi I was able to meet with the director for Convoy of Hope East Africa. He and his family lived in the garden next to Ruthie’s, and the Convoy of Hope center was located the next garden over from that one.

When I met with Bryan, he took me over to the center to view the containers and models they had for working with the people. Most of the work they do involves feeding programs and disaster relief. I asked how often they typically have disaster relief activities and, although he didn’t give me a number, he said they were expecting one soon with the Sudan referendum causing an influx of refugees into Northern Kenya.

Although Convoy of Hope US has really given a push toward feeding programs, Bryan would like to see more sustainable agricultural models employed by Convoy of Hope Kenya. Some of the models available for us to see involved water filtration systems, the beginnings of a fish pond, a garden, and turkeys and chickens. They are working on expanding their warehouse and building a new dock ramp for deliveries. The containers held tons of food and clothing. One ironic story Bryan related had to do with some donated clothing. A group had given clothes for Kenya, but some of them were so big three grown Kenyan men could fit into them. Haha. Apparently, someone wasn’t thinking about the starving Africans in their attempt to be ambassadors of goodwill.

While in the States, I had checked into the intern program through Convoy of Hope, which sends teams all over the world. So, I asked Bryan if they ever had teams come through and, if so, what they accomplished. Were they beneficial to the cause? Was it worth the money necessary to be on a team?

He told me they had just had a team visit for two months fairly recently. He told me that short-term missions teams are as effective as they can be in that time frame and they had to rough it in some areas they worked. Although other Kenyans could have easily done some of the work they performed, it was beneficial on a personal level for the members of the team to experience what they did. So, in essence, he respected and appreciated the team that had been there, but the team probably gained more from the experience than Convoy of Hope Kenya.

I was extremely interested in the sustainable farming models they were trying to build. The idea behind these projects was that people interested in started to use them could come and see a model of the result in progress. As a biology major, Bryan encouraged me to pursue looking into this idea to help other people around the world. He mentioned a group in the States called Sustain Hope to contact for more information on how I could get involved.

It was extremely beneficial and interesting for me to view everything Convoy of Hope was doing internationally. I have been interested in the organization for many years now and even volunteer occasionally at their headquarters in Springfield, but I had only known about their involvement on the national level. Now, I am privileged to have seen both sides. I appreciated the time Bryan took to explain the program and it was honor to meet him. He and his family are absolutely amazing…go figure :) All of the M’s in Kenya were amazing.

After meeting with Bryan, I rushed back to Ruthie’s house to finished packing and stocking our luggage before heading out to the airport. Josiah Pennington and his dad ended up going with us to the airport since his flight left just before our’s did. It was awesome having another friend at the airport. We also ended meeting up with Nicole Beggs and Andrew Moore, one of Ruthie’s friends from Rosslyn who was on his way back to Texas for college.

We congregated at Java House (a great coffee house/restaurant), waited in a horrendously long line, and ordered some coffee. On the way to the airport, Uncle Steve told Josiah he would give him some money so Josiah could take us on a date and buy us coffee. Then he proceeded to joke that we were all pathetic – we were a trio going on single dates together. Haha! So, thanks to Uncle Steve, there we were in the airport at the end of a terminal drinking our mochas and lattes…and sweltering. It was kind of a joke because they had air conditioner units there, but none of them were turned on. Supposedly, it was bad news for anyone who tried to change that situation. Supposedly, they knew this from first-hand experience.

Well, long story short, we had a great time chilling with each other, then proceeded to pass through security and wait for our flights. Nine hours later, our plane touched down in London. It was 5:30 am. And then the crazy day began…