It’s hard to fathom how life could be more difficult for the people of Matoso, but when it rains it pours, this time quite literally. Last month, the rains came to Kenya and didn’t stop until much of the community was displaced and many livelihoods lost. We are appealing for your assistance during this trying time. In addition to being down by 35% of our normal donations year-to-date because of Covid-19, we are now faced with the task of helping this community rebuild. Please see the below letter from our project director, Marico, in Kenya.

Hello Jeff and Hillary,

I hope you are okay over there. We are fine but with many challenges such as: Floods, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the economy is in a downfall. All of these challenges together have resulted in very difficult living situations for the people of Matoso.  The floods have caused many people to be displaced, leaving them homeless with businesses destroyed.

 The lake and rivers have overflowed into the farm lands destroying this season’s crops. Not only are the lands near the lake flooded, but even the high grounds have turned to swamp because of oversaturation.  Many houses have fallen and gardens are destroyed.

People who have been affected by this disaster are in need of some support. It is not easy to estimate the exact cost of support needed because people have lost so much. The victims need food support and materials to rebuild homes and businesses.  Any donation you give shall be highly appreciated and will support the identified individuals. We believe we need at least USD $20,000 to start a flood relief fund to help rebuild the community.  

At the Matoso Clinic the lower compound was also flooded, destroying the gardens for the orphans’ food, and the generator house and the lower fence have fallen into the lake. The Ongoro Children’s Home compound is also under water. We will need a new fence at the clinic and partial repair at the orphanage.  For both fences to be repaired is about USD $2500. 

Covid-19:  The pandemic cases are increasing in Kenya with confirmed cases over 800, recoveries over 300 and deaths over 50. We already have 10 confirmed cases within Migori County. 

Most of the adults 30 years and above wear masks especially when they travel to places like beaches, shopping centers, and markets. Some of the youths below 30 years and children are creating a high risk problem because they don’t seem to care so much, not wearing masks, or keeping a safe distance from each other.  They don’t wash their hands frequently enough, and at the end of the day they join their parents and other family members at home.  I fear this will result in a very dangerous situation for the elderly parents who are trying so much to follow the rules.

Our public health team is working very hard to provide masks to  everyone and strengthen our education. They are driving around to all the villages using a loudspeaker to address the public and teach about Covid-19. They are so serious about it.  Masks that many people are using are locally made with two layers of cotton cloth and one layer of a porous cloth. They are sold for USD $.50 to $1.00 each.

Economy:  The economy has gone south all throughout the countryside. Getting material supplies for the small scale business owners is nearly impossible because of travel restrictions. People are really afraid, and there is an increasing food shortage. The markets are nearly empty, schools and churches are closed, and funerals are limited to no more than 15 people, which is very difficult for our large families.

Stay safe. God bless you and us too.

~Marico Owino, Lalmba Kenya Project Director

For the clinic construction we rushed to place an order for 300 corrugated tin sheets before the global pandemic drove the prices up, caused a shortage or something worse. Now we are rushing to transport them before the rains get too heavy and the road becomes impassable. The large truck we initially contracted to carry some of these building materials got caught out in the rain and has spent the last 4 days stuck in the mud. We used some sunny weather today to bring a few of the metal sheets the rest of the way up the mountain with our Land Cruiser. It will take a lot of tedious, careful trips, but we’ll be able to keep everything moving here at the building site.

It’s becoming much more difficult when we have emergencies to transport patients. The rain doesn’t seem to care how urgent our needs are. Last week we received a call from the government clinic down the road; they needed some help transporting a delivering mother with prolonged labor. The rain came suddenly 5 minutes into the trip and the hospital that is usually a 2 hour drive took 5 hours. The mother and child were fine in the end, but there is always risk we can’t control here. We were lucky and made it through the rain that day (snapping every one of the mud chains we use for traction along the way).

Tomorrow we will be rushing again, trying to secure some food purchases for the orphanage before, it is rumored, the roads will close again due to Covid-19. While we are rushing tomorrow we need to find someone to sell us infant formula for our 6 month old orphan, Yegerem.  This is one of the import items which seems to have suddenly disappeared from the market due to the pandemic. Yegerem is lucky to have a Lalmba car at his disposal to go searching for milk.

A lot of vulnerable people here, single mothers, orphans, people living with disabilities or chronic disease, the elderly, are already being hit hard by the economic impacts of the pandemic. Most staple foods have already risen over 50 percent in price at the market. We are able to buy in bulk and head off shortages by shopping around, but most of the people in Kaffa aren’t able to rusharound like this.  Instead they’re swept along in the current, overwhelmed by the uncertainties: How much will grain cost in a month? Will the outbreak reach Kaffa? Will I be able to find work next month? How do I feed my children? With 1 can of infant formula now costing half of what an entry level government employee might make in a month, for a lot of families these uncertainties are becoming very complicated.

Over the next few months we’ll be here in Ethiopia, racing against the rain and rushing to stay ahead of the pandemic. For those delivering mothers and children we are rushing around for, your support makes all the difference.

Thank you.

Jared Lollar, Lalmba Ethiopia Project Director

I sorely miss shaking hands. I have been a prolific handshaker across several countries.  In the U.S. I have loved best shaking the hands of men of my father’s generation, men who judged character by the firmness of your grip and the sincerity in your eyes.  In Kenya I’ve shaken thousands of hands in my 23 years of working there, and Kenyan handshakes are fun! The friend handshake starts with a loud clap of two hands coming together.  Then the hooked thumbs, swivel up at the fulcrum into a soul brother shake, and then quickly back down. Often it ends in a hug or vigorous back pats. The professional handshake is elegant and gentle. You shake hands while resting your left hand on your right forearm, with a slight bow of mutual respect.

In Ethiopia, greeting traditions are slightly different.  The handshake is followed by an immediate shoulder bump, right shoulder to right shoulder. The bumps are often several in succession, and seem to increase the fonder you feel about the person. But what’s also common is hand-holding.  In Ethiopia, it is very common for male friends to stroll hand and hand with their buddies. It has come to feel very natural, and a fine way to walk and talk with a friend.

The handshake — that brief physical connection, the passing touch of goodwill, is one of the most beautiful ways to unite in our humanity.  I sorely hope it will remain with us when this crisis is all over.   Regardless, I know that the power of human compassion and connection will transcend any virus!

Speaking of hope and future generations, I’ll be honest with you, these weeks in isolation have been unnerving.     A few times, I have found myself trembling on the edge of despair, and I hated it!  That’s not what any of us should be feeling right now, and it is definitely not the legacy of Lalmba. We need hope, of which Lalmba has been a fountain for 57 years, and that’s exactly what we will remain!

Last week we had a flurry of calls from Africa.  Our Kenyan project director, Marico, called to check on us.   From the news he had heard that America is in crisis.  Other African staff also wrote or called to make sure we are all ok.  As Marico said, “We owe everything to our friends in America.  If you are suffering, we also share in your suffering.”  It touches us deeply that the care and concern we have frequently shared with Africa is now being so tenderly reciprocated.  So for all of you Lalmba supporters, your African friends are sending you their wishes of hope and solidarity!

HOPE…the virtue that has become synonymous with Lalmba.  Lalmba is the name of a mountain near the city of Keren, Eritrea, where our organization began in 1963. For generations, elders and those in great need have made pilgrimage to that mountaintop to climb closer to God to pray.   So you see, our very name means that hope is always within view, as long as we keep looking up!

While hope is our hallmark, so is calm in the midst of crisis.  Lalmba has stood on the front lines of the war in Eritrea, the humanitarian disaster in Rwanda, the refugee crisis  in Sudan, and the AIDS pandemic in Kenya, to name a few.

Our mission remains clear.  More than 1000 orphans depend on us to stay in school and eat this month. Tomorrow, 50+ people will show up at our clinics suffering from malaria and seeking treatment. Likewise, 710 HIV+ patients will still come to the clinic this week for their medicines, malnourished  children will arrive needing nutritional intervention, and pregnant women will still need a clean and safe place to deliver their babies. It’s business as usual for us in Africa, and crisis or not, we will continue ensuring our communities have the health care they so desperately need.

During these uncertain times, we thank our country’s health care professionals who are on the front lines fighting coronavirus, risking their lives to help others who are sick.

Lalmba would also like to thank our staff on the front lines in Agaro Bushi, Ethiopia and Matoso, Kenya, for their tireless efforts to ensure the health and well-being of their local communities, who will likely see patients with coronavirus, but due to lack of local testing, will never know.

We find that everything takes a little bit longer to get done in Africa than it does here at home. But as they say in Ethiopia, “Little by little an egg walks.”  Last year the rainy season seemed to go on forever, and therefore the roads to Agaro Bushi were impassable for the large trucks. There was too much mud!

While Jared, our Project Director, waited for the rains to pause, he was negotiating with contractors, buying supplies and scheduling deliveries, approving designs, and simultaneously managing the day-to-day operations of the clinic and Lalmba’s children’s programs. (Not to mention functioning as a 24/7 ambulance driver!)  We don’t know how he does it, but we suspect he wears a cape beneath his t-shirt.

These pictures may resemble the archeological excavation of the ancient kingdom of Punt, but they are in fact the newly constructed foundation of the Agaro Bushi Medium Clinic. Can I get a “woohoo”?  We are so excited to watch the progress this year. The contractor has given us an estimate of 3 months to completion, which I think translates to a year on the Ethiopian calendar.

By Dr. Charlie Evans, Lalmba Kenya Medical Director 1988-1990

The first time I travelled to Matoso in December 1988, I was in the front seat of a Land Rover bouncing down the road and holding on to the grab bar to keep from hitting the ceiling.  The last time I was walking with our TNM (Tembea Na Mimi) 2019 group—including 22 camels and hundreds of schoolchildren vibrantly dressed in burgundy, blue, and green uniforms.  Although the road is still rough, the community has transformed.

It was emotional to see this community after 30 years.  When we left in 1990, I knew that HIV was going to ravage the village and I also knew that many more changes would be necessary if the community would be able to survive this 20th century plague.  We worked tirelessly to educate the staff and the community on this coming epidemic, but I feared what it would bring to this bucolic village on the shore of Lake Victoria. I couldn’t see how any community with so little resources could withstand such a disease. It was with these concerns that I anxiously waited to see how the decades had treated Matoso, and if our work there has truly made a difference.

When I walked through the gates in July 2019, under the shade of the 50-foot jacaranda trees that we planted as saplings, tears streamed down my face—tears of joy!  A chaotic scene of celebration, of gratitude, and of success surrounded me.  The loudspeaker announced our arrival with music blaring and drums beating.  I have never felt so welcomed anywhere in my life.  This was a community that had suffered through the HIV epidemic and was emerging on the other side.  Their resilience and their spirit carried the day.

The changes were dramatic.  The original clinic built in 1986 complete with solar system was still there, but adjoining it was a brand new clinic twice the size.  The clinic is staffed entirely by Kenyans, and they actually had electronic medical records for their HIV patients.  I was flabbergasted to see that the provider could actually get on the computer and pull up the most recent labs, including HIV viral loads of their AIDS patients.  This was done in cooperation with the University of Maryland.  Anti-retroviral therapy was also carefully assessed and distributed.  In 1990, we estimated 8 percent of our clinic patients had HIV.  In the mid 90’s this soared to over 30% and now the numbers are down to about 15%.

AIDS has devastated this village and left scores of children without parents.  When we left we knew this was coming.   What we didn’t know was how any community could cope.  Lalmba has led the way, and the community leaders they have chosen have stepped up to provide for all those unable to provide for themselves.  The orphanage started in 1997 and now cares for 40 orphans. It is a shining emerald to see.  But the children are the real jewels: well fed, well dressed with shoes, and articulate, with hope for their futures. But even more impressive is the fact that Lalmba supports more than 1000 AIDS orphans who live with guardians throughout the community.

In 1990, the only motor vehicle around the lake was our Land Rover.   Fishing boats were all dependent on their sails and all transportation was on foot or bicycle.  An ambulance consisted of a chair mounted with leather straps on the back of a bike, or a crude wooden wheelbarrow.   The clinic now has its own bona fide ambulance, and 30 years of investment in this community has seen commerce grow dramatically.  There are now stores, restaurants, hotels, and even a small movie theater, assisted by the cell tower less than a mile from the clinic.  A boatbuilding industry has populated the lake with many vessels for fishing and transportation — many have outboard motors. Motor bikes abound and are the friendliest transport for the rough roads, but cars also grace the village.

The education system has grown dramatically.  I remember only a 1-room schoolhouse with about 30-40 students studying from texts that dated back to the 1950s.  Now there are many schools with hundreds of students. One local school has over 300 students and scored in Kenya’s top decile for standardized testing. The school has access to computer technology and attracts students from Tanzania because of their high marks.

You can see why I was moved to tears of joy! So much progress.  So much to celebrate. And all against overwhelming odds of failure. Perhaps, the biggest success I witnessed was not in the economic growth or the structural growth but in the attitudinal shift of community members and staff.

In the early days, we were so often approached by people asking if we could bail them out of debt or give them something. Of course some of that still exists, but now I see students and staff members working together to take the initiative to make their own lives successful. Lalmba, and the dozens of volunteers who have served, have given these people hope by providing strong leadership, community development, and basic resources for survival—health care, education, and economic opportunity.  Lalmba has helped to create an entire village of leaders, and those leaders are training the next generation of visionaries.  I have no doubt that, against all odds, they will lead themselves down a road to a brighter future.  Clearly, all the long days and endless clinic hours have made a difference.  

And that should bring joy, in all its forms, to us all.

Sometimes it’s a tree. Or the roof of a building.  Or the nearest signpost.  Kids everywhere feel the need to climb, to explore, to imagine a world far from their own reality.  In Chiri, Ethiopia, where Lalmba runs a children’s home, kids there don’t even know what a playground is.  Community children have to create their own fun.  As part of our ongoing effort to improve and modernize the Chiri Children’s Home, we’re building the “coolest jungle gym ever” for the sweetest kids you’ll ever meet, the children of Lalmba’s Chiri Children’s Home.

The Chiri Children’s Home was unofficially founded in the early 2000’s, when Lalmba volunteers rented a mud house to provide care for orphaned street children.  By 2005, we had constructed a home (basic kitchen, 2 dormitory-style houses for up to 20 children, and a common house).  Since then, the home has supported dozens of orphaned children who are now working as professionals in the community.

Although Chiri Children’s Home is recognized and supported by the community and local government authorities, it is in need of infrastructure improvements and modernization to ensure that all the children are safe, secure, well-supervised and have ample opportunity to grow, learn and enjoy their childhood.

The first step in this multi-year endeavor is to build them a playground, a place to let their imagination take flight!  In mid to late January 2021, a team of volunteers will travel to Ethiopia, loaded down with building supplies and good will, to construct a playset using locally sourced materials. Do you want to join our team?   If so, please complete our online application: 

If this appeals to you, but you worry you lack construction skills, don’t worry. There will be something for everyone to do. Most importantly, you will be spending quality time with the children, reading to them, sharing songs with them, playing with them, and learning about their lives. That alone is enriching for all of us. 

If you’ve always wanted to see one of our projects, but walking 150 miles across Kenya seems too daunting, this is your chance!

LALMBA FACT SHEET

 Interested in more ‘nuts and bolts’ about this small organization with a big impact?  This past year we created this fact sheet (below) showing our fundraising, spending, and grassroots results  at a glance. We’d like to share it with you, to make sure you know what you are helping us to accomplish.  A few things we are proudest of as an organization:

1. Responsible spending that mirrors our donation income.
2. The simplicity of our grassroots model (as one volunteer put it, “It doesn’t get more grassroots than this!”)
3. Acting as a steady, reliable employer to a team of local staff who have bettered their families’ lives with their years of Lalmba employment.

If you’re interested in having a paper or electronic copy of this, please let us know.   And thank you for your support!

We have so enjoyed hearing from many of you with photos of your Kenyan table runners, Lalmba’s 2019 Christmas gift.  Don’t they look beautiful and unique, reminding you of the empowerment you provide to young widow entrepreneurs in Africa?

The seamstresses we featured in our last newsletter have been so pleased to know that our U.S. supporters have been enjoying their handiwork.  They sent you a little piece of Africa, from their manual, foot-pedaled Singer sewing machines, lovingly constructed in their tiny seamstress shops!

Did you miss your chance to order one?  We have a limited supply left.  If you have a friend or loved one that you think would enjoy one, or you have your eye on a different color scheme for your next runner, include a note in your next donation for ‘runner’ and we will be sure to send you one…until the runners all ‘run out!’

EXTRA!  EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

FOR THE FIRST TIME, LALMBA’S CHRISTMAS GIFT COMES DIRECTLY FROM A LALMBA PROJECT!

I love this striking photo with its collision of cultures, colors and patterns.  To me it symbolizes the Lalmba family: a motley mix of Africans and nationalities from around the globe.  It includes the wealthy, the impoverished, the tireless volunteer, the goodhearted supporter, the infant and the elderly.   Lalmba’s tapestry is not unlike these beautiful quilted table runners, made in Kenya by widowed tailors who received Lalmba microloans to start their businesses.  It all began when a supporter from Canada, Bev Hooper (fourth from right) visited some local tailors on a whim during a visit to Matoso.  Bev noticed a pile of fabric scraps on the floor of one of the tailor’s shop that were going to be thrown away. Bev thought of her best friend back home, Kathy Moore, who is an accomplished quilter, and bought the scraps as a gift for Kathy.  Kathy (middle) received those scraps with great delight and made the stunning quilted table runner that she is holding.  She then gifted her masterpiece to Lalmba, and asked that it grace the dining table of our kitchen in Matoso.  We were touched and honored.

As I spread the runner across our dining table in Kenya, I told our children’s director Jenipher (third from right) and children’s home director Linder (last on right) of its origins from the scrap pile on the tailor shop floor to Kathy’s sewing machine in Victoria, Canada.  Their eyes lit up, and we concocted a plan to bring some of the local tailors to our kitchen to see it. When they saw the table runner, they each took turns holding it and turning it over, mentally dissecting how it was made. I asked them if they could make something like this, and they all said, no problem, hakuna matata!  When I asked if they could each make 100 of them, their eyes got big.  Now that’s a big project!  Well, they succeeded, and these table runners mark a milestone for Lalmba, as they are the very first Christmas item that comes directly from people who were empowered by our services.  THIS IS SPECIAL!

The story is almost like the quilt, isn’t it?  Different people with diverse life stories and colors coming together into one cohesive pattern.  Now I want to introduce you to the special ladies who made these table runners. In each case their husbands died young, leaving them impoverished and unemployed, with hungry children at home in need of education. They each at one time or another approached Lalmba for help, for education support for their children and for health care. In 2014, when Lalmba started a new microloan program to help widowed mothers, each of these women received a small loan, started or expanded an independent tailoring business, and began to walk that glorious path towards independence … and they reached it!

Please let me introduce you to the women of the Empowered Seamstresses of Lalmba cooperative.  They chose their group’s name themselves, and each wrote us a brief life story to share with you.   Although they share a similar story, they are each unique and talented mothers who love their families, and are fighting to better their lives.

Lalmba’s 2019 Christmas item comes straight from the hands of these 5 women. Please know them by name.

Merry Christmas and God bless all of you!

Hellen Achieng Thomas

Hellen’s life started idyllically. She had an intact family, with a hard-working father who afforded her the privilege of an education.  In 1992 she beganå secondary school, with big dreams to be one of the first high school graduates in her family.

But her dreams were dashed just 2 years later when her father died.  School fees were suddenly unaffordable, and Hellen had to drop out. So Hellen did what many young women do here when education becomes an impossibility: she got married and started a family. It didn’t feel like a compromise; she felt happy and blessed, for they had 3 beautiful children and a happy marriage.

Sadly, in 2003, history repeated itself when Hellen’s husband passed away. Being so young, and without any viable way of making an income, she and her children struggled and went hungry.  After 2 years of trying and failing to make ends meet, she went looking for help, and found it in Lalmba’s children’s program.

With her children in school, healthy and nourished, Hellen found an apprentice opportunity, and learned the craft of tailoring. She took her newfound skills and dream of being self-employed and approached Lalmba again, this time about a microloan.  With her loan, she bought a machine and some fabrics, and set up shop in a rented building. She is a gifted seamstress, and we are honored to partner with her for this year’s Christmas gift.

Jackline Awuor Ogor

Jackline’s story is an inspiring example of a widow determined to see her children escape the poverty into which they were born. After her husband died in 2006, Jackline was on the verge of withdrawing her 4 young children from school. She no longer had the means to pay their school fees, and food was getting scarce.

She heard about Lalmba’s RCAR program (Reaching Children at Risk), and taking a chance, she went to see the children’s director for assistance. Soon, Lalmba was providing school and health assistance for her 4 children.

The lifting of this worry gave Jackline time and courage to pursue a career as a tailor. She knew how to sew; her mother had taught her.  But a sewing machine and fabrics were out of financial reach.  Tailoring is a lucrative skill in this rural community. Getting a bank loan for sewing supplies wasn’t possible; she had no credit or guarantors.

But a Lalmba microloan was, and that’s how she started her business.   She specializes in men’s shirts and trousers.  She is the creative force in the group, often coming up with new ideas for items to sell.   “Do you think Lalmba’s supporters might like something like this?” she often asks.

Since taking her first loan, Jackline has received 2 more Lalmba loans, allowing her to expand her business by adding machines, and increasing her supply of fabrics. She rents a storefront in the center of her village now, and she independently sends all of her children to secondary school and college.

Mary Atieno Odera

Tailoring for Mary was a career plan long before she finished her secondary schooling. Upon graduation in 1991, Mary enrolled in a vocational college to study her trade. She excelled, and easily found steady employment afterward. As a young adult, she met her husband, Bernard Odera, and they happily married on June 25, 1995. 3 beautiful children later, Mary felt satisfied with life. She learned how to be industrious and capable from her father, the same work ethic she is teaching to her children today.

It was a shock for everyone when her husband fell sick from AIDS and quickly died on April 25, 2002. She “felt the contentment of my world collapse, and a wake of anguish and fear followed”. Bernard unknowingly contracted HIV before they were married. Soon thereafter, Mary and her youngest son also tested positive.

And then she lost her job, due to fear that her status would scare away customers. Mary was afraid, but resolute; her children needed her. She found her way to the Matoso clinic, and soon learned about Lalmba’s children’s program and microloans. Access to these services gave her the ability to rebuild their lives.

Today, Mary’s pride has returned, for she is the mother of a college graduate, and 2 other scholars who are beating the odds.

Jane Oriko Ayugi

Jane is rightly the matriarch of this group; it all really begins with her. She came to Lalmba not by need. Her family is well and healthy, “thanks be to Almighty God.” Jane says she is blessed, and has a desire to share her skills with those who are in need.

In 2004, Jane was already an established seamstress in Matoso. She had a shop in town, and was well known and trusted in the community.  Jane and Lalmba formed a partnership that year, and she was hired full time as a counselor and mentor for Lalmba children.  Today she shares her craft and loving guidance to all of them, also teaching teen girls how to sew reusable sanitary pads. Jane is an essential part of Lalmba’s success.

You know what else is amazing? It was in Jane’s shop where Bev saw that pile of fabric scraps, and bought them as a gift for Kathy. Before this project, Jane said she would sweep the day’s scraps into a corner and set them on fire. NOT ANY MORE!

Night Awino Adeko

Night’s mother died when she was in the first grade, and a few years later her father passed on. At age 11, Night became a total orphan, living with already overburdened neighbors. Through word of mouth, her guardian heard about Lalmba’s services and enrolled her in the RCAR program, and Night has been part of the Lalmba family ever since. She finished her education with high marks, and then advanced with a scholarship to get a technical degree in garment making.

Night says, “By now I have my own shop which I manage. It is called Night’s Tailoring Shop at Matoso Centre. Look it up. It is on Google Maps. Now, we are the Empowered Seamstresses of Lalmba group. We are making useful crafts with unused pieces, waste pieces of fabrics, so that we can grow our businesses and better support our families. We hope people like our work so that we can bring other widows to our group.”

On July 19, 2019 we walked the final 6km from the village of Othoo to Matoso, straight in through the front gates of Lalmba Kenya. We tossed our packs to the ground for the final time, and relished the knowledge that tonight we would sleep in beds!   In 10 days, we walked 161 miles through the Great Rift Valley to Lake Victoria. We walked within spitting range of herds of elephants, giraffes, and every other savannah animal you can imagine. One night, we accidentally camped in the middle of dozens of hyena dens, and nervously counted their incandescent eyes reflecting back the beams of our headlamps after dark. In spite of their proximity, quantity, and their frenzied cackles cutting through the night, I slept great! Fatigue from 16-20 miles a day of walking is the perfect remedy for insomnia and fear.

The next morning, we awoke to find that our guides had been awake all night chasing the hyenas away. Those pesky scavengers dodged in and out of camp from multiple directions, raiding whatever they could grab. They decimated our kitchen, carrying away a giant cast iron pot. In the morning we spread out to find what we could, and recovered most of the items, which were only slightly damaged. This trip is nothing if not an adventure!

The best part of all, of course, began when we left the wildlife and solitude behind and began to encounter people. Often we’d surprise the locals by appearing out of nowhere, the heads of 22 camels bobbing on the horizon. A distant school letting out for the day erupted with rowdy delight, a chaotic choir of roaring children fanning out towards us. This scenario played out multiple times in our final 5 days of walking.  It was so much fun!   Those chance encounters, the symbiotic exchange of joy, and the time spent walking with strangers who felt like friends … that’s the heart of Tembea Na Mimi.

We would not do this great adventure, however, if not for its ability to generate support for Lalmba. The 10 of us who walked collectively raised more than $100,000. That buys a lot of medicines, pays many school fees, and brings such hope to the receivers. Thank you to all who supported us, and to my fellow walkers:  Asante sana, warafiki, kwa tembea na mimi! Let’s do it again someday!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

If you were able to join us at The Family Jones event last November, you know how much fun we had. We are lucky to have friends like the owners of TFJ, and are happy to partner with them again to host you for an evening of spirits and tastings.   It is a small venue and last year we reached max capacity, so please RSVP to ensure a spot.

Along with food and cocktails, we will entertain you with stories and visuals from our newest clinic site in Agaro Bushi, Ethiopia. Many of you are investors in this project, and we wish to show off the modest accomplishments, as well as next steps.

Looking forward, we have a new service project (look left) coming next year, and I’m hoping to tell you more and recruit some of you to join me. Likewise, a group of us walked 160+ miles this past summer. We have stories and video from that experience to be unpacked and presented with as much drama and flair as possible!

Meet Jackline Awuor Ochieng, a tailor from Matoso, Kenya. Her story is an inspiring example of a widow determined to see her children escape the poverty into which they were born. After her husband died in 2006, Jackline was on the verge of withdrawing her 4 young children from school. She no longer had the means to pay their school fees, and if they were going to eat, she needed their help in the fields.

She heard about Lalmba’s RCAR program (Reaching Children at Risk), and taking a chance, she went to see the children’s director for assistance. Soon, all 4 of her children were enrolled. Lalmba paid their school fees and helped the family with health care and nutrition support.

The lifting of this worry gave Jackline the time and courage to pursue a career as a tailor. She knew how to sew; her mother had taught her.  But a sewing machine and fabrics were out of financial reach. Tailoring, however, can be a lucrative skill in this rural community. There are no clothing stores — people visit a tailor when new clothes are required. All Jackline needed was enough money to buy a sewing machine and some fabrics to get her business started. Getting a bank loan for the supplies wasn’t possible; she had no credit or guarantors. But a Lalmba microloan was, and that’s how she started her business.

Since taking her first loan, Jackline has received 2 more Lalmba loans, allowing her to expand her business by adding machines, and increasing her supply of fabrics. She rents a storefront in the center of her village now, and she independently sends all of her children to secondary school and college.

If Jackline’s story ended there, that would be enough to inspire us to emulate her determination. But there’s an added twist to her story, in which her path by chance intersects with a quilter from Canada. This chance meeting gave birth to the Empowered Seamstresses of Lalmba cooperative, and the idea for Lalmba’s 2019 Christmas item.  It’s a very inspirational story that I will share with you in full in the Christmas edition of our newsletter, December 2019 … so STAY TUNED!

EMPOWERED SEAMSTRESSES OF LALMBA

 …  and a couple of Canadians!

Lalmba has been serving poor communities for 56 years this September 21!  With your help we make a monumental difference in the lives of the people who are touched by our services. Our model of development relies on the help of dedicated, compassionate, and experienced volunteers — professionals who act as expert mentors to our local staff of 50 in each country.  Our volunteers deserve much credit for Lalmba’s successful development model. Their professionalism has informed and defined the best practices of our work.

We currently have the rare opportunity to recruit enthusiastic volunteers who may not have advanced degrees in medicine or extensive experience in project management.  We are looking for 2 volunteers who are interested in spending 1-2 years in Kenya or Ethiopia developing our youth programs there.

A love of children and adventure, lots of patience, experience with youth and good organizational skills required for 1 unforgettable year of your life.

This could be YOU!

 Youth Programming Consultant

Chiri, Ethiopia 

CALLING ADVENTUROUS LEADERS! Lalmba seeks a youth programming consultant for an orphan’s home and program in the remote southwest highland rain forest of Ethiopia. This role requires some experience in the developing world and good intercultural leadership and management skills. The setting is rural, in an area without modern amenities. This is a rare opportunity to improve a children’s project in an area of great need and breathtaking beauty.

The role requires a 1-2 year commitment.  You would be living on the grounds of a convent run by medical mission sisters from Mexico. Lalmba pays no salary but covers all expenses related to travel to/from Ethiopia, and working and living in Ethiopia (visas, immunizations, airfare, room and board, medical & life insurance). With a 2 year commitment, we will also pay for roundtrip tickets for a visit back home after one year.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: The Children’s Programming Consultant provides guidance and support for our local leaders in Ethiopia and will mentor local leadership in how to run the project themselves.

 Youth Programming Consultant

Matoso, Kenya 

Lalmba’s program in Kenya, over 30 years old, operates a Health Clinic, HIV Treatment Center, Dispensary, Public Health and Education program, orphan programs and community development programs on the shores of Lake Victoria. We are looking for a volunteer who will serve as a coordinator for our Teen Health program.

This position has a particular focus on targeting risky behavior, health and good choices for young people.  Experience leading youth groups, teaching or public health a plus!

QUALIFICATIONS: Qualified candidates are those with experience working with teens and young adults, especially in an intercultural setting. Public health professionals are also encouraged to apply. Must have good organizational and leadership skills. Must be willing to work in a very rural location.

If you have often thought of volunteering in Africa but didn’t meet the language or advanced qualification requirement, this is your chance!  Give us a call or fill out our online application.

The picture of the valley from up above shows their house nestled in the hills. 

We have quite a few patients like this, who aren’t in a position to advocate for themselves and who are beset on all sides by challenges. 

Just today we saw a little girl with chronic wounds on her face and arm that won’t heal. Yesterday, a woman came in with a severely malnourished baby. She’s lost 5 children, still has 5 and her husband has left her. 

I think you guys  (Jeff and Hillary) understand better than anyone from your time around Chiri how many people in this area are chronically ignored and marginalized.
We’re keeping our efforts balanced and maintaining perspective.   Sometimes there is not much we can do for the people who come to us. 

We’re lucky to have staff like Sultan who are willing to tramp around in the woods looking for one manja woman (the marginalized minority group to which Alamitu belongs). Especially when it’s Ramadan and he hasn’t had any breakfast. 
Sultan says to tell you guys and all the donors thank you.”

Meet Mary Atieno, a widow and Lalmba microloan recipient, as she works the sewing machine at her shop in Othoo, Kenya. Her children were in our support program, but today she is fully independent due to the success of her tailor business. She and a few other Lalmba seamstresses have formed a cooperative, calling themselves the Empowered Seamstresses of Lalmba, and are producing products that further their financial independence. We applaud these widows for their innovation, their determination, and their skill!

In true Lalmba form, all good stories include a long walk that ends at a place of hope. This story begins with tragedy for two young brothers, Ashenafi (7) and his older brother Samson (17).  When Ashenafi was just a baby, his and Samson’s parents died of AIDS, leaving 10-year-old Samson to raise his younger brother alone. Their house, a lopsided thatched-roofed dwelling, is situated deep in the forests surrounding Agaro Bushi, Ethiopia, where Lalmba is just opening its new clinic. There are no markets nearby or schools.  Lalmba’s clinic is 3 hours’ walk away.  We would never know about these boys if we hadn’t just expanded our reach to this new, needy area.

You might wonder why these boys live so remotely. They are from the Menja tribe, an ethnic group considered “untouchable,” the bottom of the caste system established here hundreds of years ago.  They are discriminated against by the dominant ethnic groups, excluded from traditional Ethiopian customs and festivities, and historically forbidden from joining the Orthodox Church, attending school, or owning land. Time and education are slowly changing that perception, and Menjas are integrating more and more within society.  However, there are still pockets of Menja communities throughout this region, isolated by choice for fear of discrimination and for the comfort of solidarity. Some estimates suggest that the catchment population that Lalmba serves in Agaro Bushi is 50% Menja.

In raising his brother, though only a boy himself, Samson isn’t totally alone; he has the support of his Menja neighbors. They farm together, sharing food resources even when scarce. But recently little Ashenafi became sick with a large wound mysteriously appearing near his armpit.   He grew weaker from fever and malnutrition, until it became clear to Samson that they needed help from beyond their community.

Samson, hearing of our new clinic opening in Agaro Bushi, gathered his little brother in his arms and made the long walk in search of aid.  Can you imagine the desperation he felt, the sense of urgency that he might lose the last surviving member of his family? It haunts me to consider before this clinic opened 1 year ago, that Samson and Ashenafi would have had nowhere to go.

With a brother’s love, Samson had the courage and strength to make the long journey along the hilly mountain path.  He found hope and compassionate care waiting for them at the Agaro Bushi Medium Clinic.

Suspecting that he had HIV, the disease that killed his parents, Lalmba staff transported Ashenafi to Lalmba’s Chiri Health Center for testing. Fortunately, his tests came back negative for HIV, but positive for tuberculosis. This was encouraging news, as most forms of TB are treatable. However, Ashenafi’s malnutrition complicated his chances for full recovery.  Proper nutrition is necessary for the medicines to work, and his diet, consisting of primarily kocho, a flatbread derived from the ensete plant, doesn’t supply enough nutrients.  Also, for the first 3 months of his 9-month treatment plan, he would need to come daily to the clinic to receive his medicines, a difficult journey even for the healthy and strong.    What to do?

We offered to rent a home in Agaro Bushi for both of them, and provide them daily meals for the first 3 months, but Samson, fearing ethnic discrimination, declined that offer, instead promising to bring his brother daily for treatment.    We marvel that they are willing to make such an arduous journey daily back and forth together.  2 months into the treatment plan, Samson has honored that commitment to his little brother, and the boys are quickly becoming a favorite of the staff clinicians.  They arrive at lunchtime, take the medicine, and share a meal with the staff before returning home.

But what’s next?  After 9 months, little Ashenafi will be cured of TB, but back to eating kocho.  He’s an orphan who has never been to school.  If he chooses, he could move to the Chiri Children’s Home and begin schooling in Chiri.   But what a choice for a 10-year-old, to leave your brother, the only family you’ve ever known, to live among people you’ve never met. He could also choose to receive monthly food support, continue living with his brother, and attend school in Agaro Bushi; but is that daily journey sustainable?

Samson is too old to start school, but he’s eligible for a microloan to start an income generating project, probably in agriculture. One generous donor has given Lalmba money to help build the boys a better house, which will happen, but where? The challenges are immense, but this I do know — the solutions will come, and for the first time in their young lives these boys have real opportunity.  This is the heart of Lalmba’s work!

An update, especially for our capital campaign investors!  In February, Dr. Diana Lardy, a longtime Lalmba medical volunteer, arrived in Ethiopia to help improve the quality of clinical care at the new clinic. As a result, our diagnosis and treatment has improved by leaps and bounds. Her presence has helped bring order and efficiency to the fledgling clinic and identify the gaps in our service.

We were successfully able to hire a pharmacist and made our first medicine purchase. It included some of the most basic medications such as scabies meds, paracetamol tablets and antibiotic suspensions for children.

Our laboratory is operating now.  It isn’t at full capacity, but our lab technician, Belachu, is working hard, and pushing us to get it fully operational. Word is getting out about the laboratory and some patients have come now just asking for tests.

Between the meds, the laboratory and Dr. Diana’s presence, we are seeing a big increase in the number of patients who come to us. Our new record in one day is 47!   But even on a slow day the staff stays fairly busy. For our limited staff and small facility, this is a lot of work.

Dr. Sultan, ABMC Health Officer, created the above graph of how our patient numbers have risen. The step increases can be seen in December, when we started distributing meds, and then again in March when Dr. Diana came.

The construction phase on building the new clinic will happen soon. We have received the land agreement from the government, and our clinic designs have been finalized and put out for bids. Once we have chosen the contractors, we will break ground. The community is very excited. Having the new clinic will expand our capacity to treat patients exponentially.

Thank you to the Agaro Bushi investors!!! Your commitment and generosity have made all of this possible.

To learn more about this exciting new phase in Lalmba history, please visit our webpage:

As I write this, it’s Holy Thursday of Easter week. Tomorrow, my family and I will participate in the annual Good Friday walk from our parish to a neighboring one, about 5 miles away. It’s a symbolic journey of Christ’s walk from the Garden of Gethsemane to Golgotha where he was crucified. It’s a very meaningful reminder to Christians of the difficult journey of Jesus’ final day, his final steps on earth, and the sacrifices he made for our salvation.

Metaphorically, when we talk about “the way of the cross”, or having “our cross to bear,” we are referencing the hardship of His path in relation to our own problems.  Anyone who has lived through a difficult period of life, whether physically or emotionally, knows that the experience gives you a point of reference to know what you can endure. Smaller problems suddenly seem trivial in comparison. My travels to Africa are like that, revealing to me that there is redemption in suffering, proven by the irrepressible joy which flows from the poor.

Tembea Na Mimi, Lalmba’s semi-annual (10 days/180 miles)charity walk across Kenya has been my way of sharing this redemptive experience with Lalmba supporters. It is physical and emotional hardship surrounded by breathtaking beauty. It is a rare opportunity to walk with the people whom we serve, to understand their needs, and to gain perspective on how we each can walk through life with grace, even when things get tough.

Our third Tembea Na Mimiadventure commences on July 10,2019. We have ten walkers, and each walker has committed to raising $10,000 to support the work of Lalmba.   Each walker pays his or her own expenses; all sponsorships go towards Lalmba’s work in Africa. To date, we have raised 39% of our collective goal of $100,000.   Please consider choosing 1 of these brave souls to support.    Just make a note online or on your check.  They will carry their sponsors with them each step of the 180 miles!