Well, this will be a short post, I just had to share a remarkable story from one of my interviews today.
I interviewed a 45 year old woman today, and throughout my questions, she filled in some other information about her past. When the post-election violence started in 2007, she was 9-months pregnant. When her home was burned and she was forced to flee in the beginning of 2008, she hid in a forest where she delivered her 8th child. After she had her baby, a little girl I met today, she was forced to keep running. When she finally reached a safe place with nothing but her 8 children and the clothes she was wearing, a well-wishing member of parliament gave her and a few other families a small piece of land and tents. But then the government decided they didn't think that was ok for whatever reason, so they took away the land and the tents. Finally, an NGO came and gave her and the other families some tarps so they could make their own tents on land that they shared with still more families.
When I asked her what she did every day, she said she gets up at 3am to walk into the town of Maai Mahiu to try and get some corn from fields that are on the edge of town that is farthest from the camp. She walks, about five miles each way, barefoot, in the dark, every morning, to get what looked like about 5 cups of maize for her and her 8 children. And then she still has a full day of taking care of her kids and her house. Yet she still gave Mary and I a cup of chai as we talked with her. And most remarkably, she said she is very happy with her life and thanks God for everything in her life. I think we could all take a few lessons from this incredible woman.
I interviewed a 45 year old woman today, and throughout my questions, she filled in some other information about her past. When the post-election violence started in 2007, she was 9-months pregnant. When her home was burned and she was forced to flee in the beginning of 2008, she hid in a forest where she delivered her 8th child. After she had her baby, a little girl I met today, she was forced to keep running. When she finally reached a safe place with nothing but her 8 children and the clothes she was wearing, a well-wishing member of parliament gave her and a few other families a small piece of land and tents. But then the government decided they didn't think that was ok for whatever reason, so they took away the land and the tents. Finally, an NGO came and gave her and the other families some tarps so they could make their own tents on land that they shared with still more families.
When I asked her what she did every day, she said she gets up at 3am to walk into the town of Maai Mahiu to try and get some corn from fields that are on the edge of town that is farthest from the camp. She walks, about five miles each way, barefoot, in the dark, every morning, to get what looked like about 5 cups of maize for her and her 8 children. And then she still has a full day of taking care of her kids and her house. Yet she still gave Mary and I a cup of chai as we talked with her. And most remarkably, she said she is very happy with her life and thanks God for everything in her life. I think we could all take a few lessons from this incredible woman.
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