Can I Really Make a Difference?

As director of Compassionate Journeys, a Medical Missions partner organization, one of the concerns I field most is, “Can I really make a lasting change in people’s lives?” The simple answer is: Yes, you can.
The problems in developing countries are vast. There aren’t enough resources. Education isn’t always available. Clean water can be difficult to find. Poverty is overwhelming. It can be difficult to look into the eyes of a child who is being treated and know that they very well may be injured or become sick again after returning to the same environment that made them sick to begin with.
Many times, though, we have an opportunity to touch lives in a very lasting way.
So many people suffer from lack of access to the most basic medical care. Every time I travel abroad, I hear of someone new who has died from “sickness” or “stomach problems,” or some other undiagnosed illness that likely could have been treated. Adults and children alike suffer from years of parasitic infections. They urinate blood, they go blind, their constant diarrhea leaves them constantly weak and distracted. Open sores and lacerations get infected at an alarming rate in tropical areas. The most basic treatment really does mean the difference between life and death for many of these people. And that’s just the beginning of the difference our volunteers can make.
I’m always humbled by the kindness shown to our volunteers. People who have nothing go out of their way to make sure that we are as comfortable as possible, and they are genuinely happy to see us. How must it be to know that strangers cared enough about you to fly across the world to see you? On a very basic, human level, volunteers change lives simply by showing up and reaching out.
There’s something else, too.
When you care enough about strangers to leave your family, friends and comforts behind to make a difference in their lives, something happens inside of you. You discover that the secret to happiness is not in what you have, it’s in what you give away. And in that way, you will absolutely make a difference—in yourself.

The People I Can Never Forget!

By Kenn odida
 
There is nothing more gratifying than the simple feeling of intimate connection with the people who have shown profound kindness to your life and who in a way went out of their way to make you what you are today. This is what I feel in the middle of the night when I think of my sister Linnette, she gave me the name Kenneth, meaning handsome yet she knew too well I would never grow to have the perfect looks of a television star or maybe a sports celebrity. She simply believed that in a tolerant society, one does not have to be perfect to persue extra-ordinary dreams and that we can try out anything that looks realistic so long as they pose no threat to our persuit of happiness!

This feeling I get when I remember Hugh and Marty Downey sleep in a tiny grass thatched hut in Matoso, very far away from the comfortable life in Denver, Colorado. The feeling that service to humanity is worth any sacrifice we can ever think of making in our lives and that nothing in this life matters more than the life of a child. Hugh and Marty, you have been a loving parents to me. I may never have the the words to say thank you, but wherever I walk I always think of you, imagining what the world would be if we all had the same kind of hearts. I pray for a longer life for you!

If anyone ever taught me the value of hard work then it is my beloved dad. If anyone ever taught me the art of humility and kindness then it's my only mom. I love you more than ever imagined. But I also note that the only people who have ever come close to being what you have been are David and Wanda McLure. Wanda embodies the best of a public health worker, a nurse with a big heart and who gives her all to her clents. She made me have the first thought of ever being a doctor! And for David you always told me I could make it. A ten year old struggling with English in a remote primary school, you always had the heart to correct me and I had the rare privilege of learning straight from a mzungu. Your management skills with absolute strictness, principles and dedication has always formed the basis of my conviction that I can make it in leadership.

But all this is just a dream, unless we seriously pursue them, find them and bring them home. And my family that stood by me in my lows I love you so very much!!

Kenn Odida.

ThePraiseHouse.Com: The Good News Broadcast

ThePraiseHouse.Com: The Good News Broadcast: The Good News Broadcast is back, every Tuesday and Thursday at 11:00 am with our very own Brother Jay Green. If you missed the exciting int...

The Little Things We Do.

All our life we have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind that they would produce beautiful fruits whose flavor will persist for generations to come. It is this feeling that pushes ordinary men and women to get out of their comfort zones, try the little things they can to make an impact in the face of humanity!

In the recent past we have been driven by the sheer belief that any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing dysfunctional systems, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate themselves and re-write their destiny. This has been the force behind our unwavering conviction to do the little things we can.  

However, we must admit that a reform cause anywhere in the world has never been without challenges, both from within and without. Even those who claimed to lead them sometimes stopped for a moment, asked themselves about the real possibility of success and if it really is worth the sacrifices they make. As if not enough, the people they preached to often end up calling them hope-mongers or false believers or even idealists. That’s why we must always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other thing we can ever imagine of. The real mind boggler thus remains the most realistic approach. Should we make a pure political approach or religious one or a try out a politico-religious blend.  Whatever decision we make, whichever path we take we must be true to our Christian principles and above all ensure we remain one God’s people. A people who believe that we can always succeed in the things we put our hands to, a people not afraid of trying out new things knowing too well that  a woman is the only thing we should be afraid of that I know will not hurt us.

This is what came to my mind one Saturday as I watched my little nephew, Newton, make a shuttle diplomacy between the house and the neighbouring bushes. He was cupping both hands in front of him as he walked, being very careful not to spill the water he held in them...maybe two or three tablespoons were held in his tiny hands. I sneaked close as he went into the woods. Branches and thorns slapped his little face but he did not try to avoid them. He had a much higher purpose. As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw the most amazing site. Several large deer loomed in front of him. Newton walked right up to them. I almost screamed for him to get away. A huge buck with elaborate antlers was dangerously close. But the buck did not threaten him...he didn't even move as Newton knelt down. And I saw a tiny fawn laying on the ground, obviously suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion, lift its head with great effort to lap up the water cupped in our beautiful boy's hand.

When the water was gone, Newton jumped up to run back to the house and I hid behind a tree. I followed him back to the house, to a spigot that we had shut off the water to. Newton opened it all the way up and a small trickle began to creep out. He knelt there, letting the drip, drip slowly fill up his makeshift "cup," as the sun beat down on his little back. And it came clear to me. The trouble he had gotten into for playing with the hose the week before. The lecture he had received about the importance of not wasting water. The reason he didn't ask me to help him.

It took almost twenty minutes for the drops to fill his hands. When he stood up and began the trek back, I was there in front of him. His little eyes just filled with tears. "I'm not wasting," was all he said.

As he began his walk, I joined him...with a small pot of water from the kitchen. I let him tend to the fawn. I stayed away. It was his job.

I stood on the edge of the woods watching the most beautiful heart I have ever known working so hard to save another life. As the tears that rolled down my face began to hit the ground, they were suddenly joined by other drops...and more drops...and more. I looked up at the sky. It was as if God, himself, was weeping with pride.

Some will probably say that this was all just a huge coincidence, that miracles don't really exist. That it was bound to rain sometime. And I can't argue with that...I'm not going to try. All I can say is that the rain that came that day saved our farm...just like the actions of one little boy saved another.

This is why we must keep going even when people call us idealists, hope-mongers or any well thought words of discouragements. In these moments, we must be true to the teachings of Christ in the value we put on humanity and the pursuit of happiness. But before we keep going, we must get going buoyed by the simple belief that Christians should be grave and serious, though cheerful and pleasant. They should feel that they have great interests at stake, and that the world has too. They are redeemed—not to make sport; purchased with precious blood—for other purposes than to make men laugh. They are soon to be in heaven—and a man who has any impressive sense of that will habitually feel he has much else to do than to make men laugh. The true course of life is midway between moroseness and levity; sourness and lightness; harshness and jesting.  Be benevolent, kind, cheerful, bland, courteous—but serious. Be solemn, thoughtful, deeply impressed with the presence of God and with eternal things—but pleasant, affable and benignant. Think not a smile sinful; but think not levity and jesting harmless.

This is our journey in the pursuit of happiness in the School of Pharmacy, UoN. To keep our eyes fixed on the prize and never allow politics of anything goes to use religion or otherwise to divide us. To always be kind to a brother, always smiling at a sister and to live each day as though you were walking with Jesus. Our future will be better for it and you WILL make a difference.

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13,14

Kenneth Odida, BPharm.

A little courtesy goes a long way.

The government unwittingly posted Mr. Joe as the public health officer in his neighbouring Muhuru Division, a job that made him the unrecognized messanger of change for the entire region. Hardly ten years into his job, Mr. Joe met a group of Mzungus, supposedly looking for a place to settle. They had been visiting the region severally but no one seemed to have been taking them seriously, not even the administrative officers. It was going to be their last week of attempt, after which they will have to try elsewhere.

The Mzungus seemed to have fallen in love with the splendour of Lake Victoria shores, the beauty of the huge waves rolling across and the gentle breeze of the afternoons and the biting need for a better health care. Indeed, it would be an ideal place to set up a small hospital especially for someone who has left the comfort and pride of the American life to serve humanity several miles away in the remote africa.

“Hallo sir!” said Hugh as he approached Mr. Joe. Mr joe turned and shared the pleasantries in the typical Luo fashion. “I’m fine, thanks. How can I help?” The look in his eyes must have been intimidating to the soft spoken Deacon from Kansas, considering he was in his line of duty, inspecting meat in the butcher shops. Nonetheless, he had the heart of a calvanistic priest inspite of his stern looks, just like Hugh and his sweet wife Marty. They were able to agree and planned to meet the following day at a nearby shopping centre, close to Mr Joe’s local home, for he understood it better and knew all the people who owned land around the shores because that was the Hugh’s preference.

When they finally met the following day, Hugh was expectant, hopefull as ever and Marty so eager to clear this task so she could embark on the noble task of setting up a Community Hospital. Fortunately, Mr Joe Odida was not to disappoint. In fact he had already made a deal with his long time friend who had shown willingness to part with part of his land at Matoso Beach. This was to the sweet relief of the otherwise frustrated couple.

A few months later, Hugh had settled down, got more friends who helped him put the foundation for his hospital building, after all he would pay them at the end of the day. Things seemed to get on more smoothly thereafter that he did not need Mr Joe any more. In fact their encounters diminished slowly and almost eventually completely, because he got a transfer soon after to Karungu Division although his profile among the villagefolk was already greatly elevated.

Meanwhile, Mr Joe’s life continued smoothly. As expected he was a man who put his family first and indeed his job. He was my beloved

Life starts at 22

The most important thing, we stood firm and bolder than ever to defend the dream of our forebearers when it was in jeopardy. I'm proud to be part of this river of change.
Kenn Odida.

Help For Africa's Future

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(CBS)  Year after year, Americans Hugh and Marty Downey spend half the year in Denver, Colo., and the other half on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, where they run a home for orphaned children.

When they return to Kenya, local children welcome home the man and woman they called father and mother.

"They're my kids. It's my family," says Hugh. "[It] used to be when I saw kids like this, it would just break my heart. But after 40 years, when I see these kids, I see hope."

Forty years ago, as an Army communications officer stationed in East Africa, Hugh Downey became consumed by the disease, destitution and death he saw surrounding Africa's children. Thousands of mothers and fathers were dying each year from cholera, dysentery and malaria.

"It's not enough just to cure a person, but to teach them how they got sick and how they can avoid becoming sick again," says Hugh. "But that's a very immediate thing. If you want to have a lasting impact on the people and on the community we serve, it has to be with the children."

When Hugh was a 22-year-old man with big plans, he dragged his reluctant bride, an American teacher, to Africa.

"Those first six months, I cried. I cried and I cried," says Marty Downey. "But once I got involved in the work and saw the great need and possibilities that we could do, that was the end of that."

Soon the couple had a young son. And with donations from family and friends back home, they built a makeshift children's home and some bare-bones medical clinics in impoverished towns in East Africa.

Then in 1985, they moved on to Matoso, a tiny fishing village in Kenya.

"There was some great need for medical care," says Hugh. "They have the highest infant mortality and the highest illiteracy rates in the entire country."

Small huts became home to 30 orphans. The field where they sat became Lalmba, loosely translated as "hope."

"They're all very, very poor by our standard, but believe it or not, there are some very, very, very poor. There's a difference," says Marty. "So we choose the poorest of the poor."

But their little children's home quickly became inadequate. A mysterious new disease called AIDS was taking hold in the region. Unlike the orphans in the Downeys' earlier children's homes, Lalmba became filled with children whose parents had died of AIDS.

One of the children, Bob, says his parents died before he was taken into Lalmba.

"I was alone," says Bob, who was named after one of the Lalmba volunteers. "I can't take care of myself."

Bob is one of many children facing the same future.

"The children had a very difficult time before we started this little home … which has now gone way out of control," says Marty. "But at the time, we didn't realize what a serious situation was developing."

Kenya has one of the largest populations of AIDS orphans in the world — over a million. Lalmba has grown into a compound, completely funded by donations, mostly from Colorado. Some 45 Kenyans and a handful of American volunteers run Lalmba.

Lalmba has a medical clinic with volunteer American-trained doctors, a lab, a health education center, which has a nutrition class for local mothers, a pharmacy, a loan program for small business-owners and lending library of old donated books.

But perhaps most importantly, about five years ago, the Downeys began an extensive outreach program called Reaching Children at Risk.

"The children that we care for outside of the children's home, during the course of the year, we provide food and medical care, clothing and education for these children," says Hugh.

Terry Thompson, a Colorado nurse, is a two-year outreach volunteer who says he is flattered to be a part of the program.

"[The Downeys] have welcomed me in and they have treated me as one of their own," says Thompson. "Most of the children here don't have parents. As soon as their hip is big enough to put a baby on it, usually somebody has a baby on their hip."

Volunteers, such as Thompson, scour the region for children who have lost both their parents to AIDS and who are so poor that they are likely to die if not assisted.

Recently, Thompson found a young orphaned boy being raised by his 80-year-old neighbor. They had been surviving each day on just one cup of tea. Thompson enrolled him in the outreach program, but he will remain living with his neighbor.

"She'll get two tins of maize a week. She'll get a blanket," says Thompson. "He'll get school uniforms, school fees paid for and free medical care at Matoso clinic."

And all the children in the Downey's care have to fulfill one major requirement: They must attend the local school.

"They have to become something of themselves," explains Hugh. "These are the teachers, these are the educators, these are the health care workers. These are the farmers. These are the fishermen."

Nearly 1,000 Kenyan children are now part of the Downeys' outreach program. The Downeys would like to help more children, but 1,000 orphans is all the program can afford. Still, they say, their work will continue through the people they've already helped in the region.

"This is a big achievement for the people of the area because this is just like luck, which has come from heaven," says Christopher Bobo, the chief of the community. "Hugh and Marty have started educating the community. They have started orientating the community on how to manage these resources for themselves."

Some of the orphans even say they will continue the Downeys' work when they become adults.

The Downeys say the success of the program has help children get clinical care and shelter. But the fundamental spirit was missing some years ago.

"[The] children that were singing and joyful and so well organized, they weren't that way two, three, four, five, six years ago," says Hugh. "[It] took years to get them to that point and they're still not where they will become. They're just beginning their life. They're allowed to be children for the first time in their lives."

Inherited Dream

A place of hope

Deacon Hugh and Marty Downey and their family of hundreds

By Stephanie Riggs

Forty years ago, the U.S. Army unwittingly sent the best soldier to reach out to Africa. Little did the Army know assigning Hugh Downey as a communications specialist to an outpost in remote East Africa would save so many lives.
It all started when Downey's tour of duty led him to a part of the world known for its breathtaking scenery and wildlife. But most people in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Kenya are too overwhelmed to notice. Extreme poverty, poor health care and AIDS force most Africans to live for the day. This is the place that changed him, and then he changed the place.
Recently, photojournalist Bill Masure and I flew halfway around the world to Kenya, more than 8,000 miles from Denver. From Nairobi, it's a 14-hour drive on roads that barely qualify to be called roads. Only the locals know how to negotiate through this part of the world. We traveled through Kenya's most violent weather. Then the storm passed and we followed a brilliant rainbow to our destination, a place the Africans call Lalmba, meaning "place of hope," on the shores of Lake Victoria.
In what feels like the middle of nowhere, Deacon Hugh and Marty Downey see them first — children, dozens of them running, dancing and singing. They are welcoming the Arvada couple home.
Deacon Hugh knows each child by name. In each face he sees a future. And perhaps more important, these children see it, too.
Kenneth Omondi wants to be a doctor, "if God bless me, because doctors can help you extend your life a longer time." This 13-year-old considers Marty and Deacon Hugh his mother and father.
"I take them as my parents because they take care of me just the same as my parents could have taken," he said.
Over the years, this is the 40th, the Kenyan government has given the Downeys full responsibility for Kenneth and hundreds of other orphans like him.
"I hope God will bless them for what they have done for the Africans," Kenneth said.
The Downeys — Hugh is a deacon at Spirit of Christ Parish in Arvada — visit Africa every six months. They have help from dozens of American volunteers and forty paid Kenyan staff. They have devoted their lives to Lalmba, which they founded in Eritrea in 1963, because they love children and three other important reasons.
"This area had the highest infant mortality rate and highest illiteracy rate in Kenya, and there was no development here," Deacon Hugh said.
It's estimated one in seven Kenyan adults is infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The result is 1 million parentless children. It's not unusual to see an 8-year-old responsible for his brothers and sisters — their parents are gone. AIDS and a poor health-care system continue to wipe out the adult population.
Deacon Hugh knows from experience simple acts set in motion today will go on for future generations.
"It's where you put your values," he said. "It depends on what is important to you in life. Personally, there is nothing more important to me than a child."
He's almost like a farmer, planting seeds of hope.
"These children can grow up and make an impact," he said. "They can be teachers, health-care workers, farmers. I don't see it much different than I did 40 years ago."
Using private donations from Colorado individuals and small businesses, the Downeys changed the course of a country. They transformed a once-barren field beside Lake Victora into a medical clinic and a children's home for orphans. The children sleep under mosquito nets to protect them from malaria, No. 1 killer in the developing world. They eat beans, rice, flat bread and kale.
"It's amazing," Hugh said. "Some of these kids come here and the next year you see them and say, is that the same kid? He or she is so healthy."
The Ongoro children's home is a group of grass huts. The compound appears similar to the homes where the 24 children were born. Lalmba pays for their medical care and education. Lalmba's care reaches 500 more children in the region. They want to take in 500 more children this year.
It's impossible to estimate how many children the Downeys and their Lalmba Association have embraced. Many of the children walked two to three hours to join Lalmba's annual party — a chance to be a child in a part of the world where children rarely get that opportunity, all thanks to a Colorado couple who brought salvation to a corner of the world that knew only despair.
"There are some things in life that are important, some that are vital," Deacon Hugh said. "Making a difference in the life of a child is everything. The inconvenience of living in Africa is a small thing."
While they're in Africa, the Downeys share a grass tukul hut with a family of bats. In Arvada, and Africa, they raised a son, Mikael, 33, now stationed with the Air Force in Saudi Arabia, and a daughter, Keren, 30, a social worker with Adams County Social Services who was named after the Eritrean city where her parents married in 1965.
"I had superheroes when I was growing up, but they were my parents," Mikael said. Keren said she feels part of an extended family,
"I see these kids who needed family, needed parents, needed belonging," she said. "Until we came along and all got together like a village and created our own family."
Another member of that extended family is Mohammed Ibrahim, 47. He is the first orphan who came to Lalmba.
"I consider Hugh and Marty my parents and my family forever," he said. "In this part of the world nothing can be certain, but I will predict that as Marty and Hugh get old their children (us) will carry on their work ... The purpose and interest of Lalmba will live on long after Marty and Hugh are gone."
Deacon Hugh offers another perspective: "These lifelong experiences have enriched us beyond anyone's ability to understand. I think we are two of the richest people you will ever meet."




.

A decade later, Hugh and Marty Downey's dream of giving hope to Africa is perfectly taking shape. Several like myself who upto a few years ago had no hope of getting good education inspite of a great potential can have a reason to smile, thanks to the Kansas couple. Bob Modi is almost graduating with a degree in Education and I, Kenneth, isn't far either with a degree in Pharmacy. And several others have got a chance in middle level colleges and high schools!

We are happy for you mom and dad because for the first time you been recognized with a papal award for your positive contribution to humanity. I think, like Abraham Lincolm, that no man stands taller as when he stoops to help a child. This gesture will forever remain engraved in the hearts of the people you touched!

Nevertheless, as we continue with persuit of our education we pray for good health and Godly honours to this great couple. You have started a journey that will not end soon. God bless Hugh and Marty, Long live Lalmba. Adapted from http://www.archden.org/dcr/archive/20021127/2002112703ln.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

News 4 to broadcast special report on Lalmba
Stephanie Riggs, Emmy-winning reporter and news anchor for News 4, and photographer Bill Masure recently completed a documentary film on Deacon Hugh and Marty Downey's Lalmba relief agency in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Kenya, focusing on Kenya. The Downeys provided additional video they shot later in Eritrea. Portions of the video will be shown on News 4's 10 p.m. newscast Nov. 27 (today), and on First News at 4 on the 28 and 29. A longer segment will be aired on CBS' "Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood" at a time to be announced. Riggs wrote this report for the Register.
Living conditions in both Eritrea and Ethiopia have deteriorated almost since Lalmba's founding, in part because of decades of civil war, and starvation has become more widespread recently because of severe drought.
Donations to Lalmba can be sent to Lalmba, 7685 Quartz St., Arvada, CO 80007. Information about Lalmba, including volunteer information (a two-year commitment is requested), can be obtained by calling 303-420-1810. Mary Alice Reedy manages Lalmba's office in Arvada, which also maintains a Web site: lalmba.org

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