Voice in the desert

Our teams’ base is in Kitale. Most of the ministries are carried out here. But much work is also done in a different place, such as in the Kerio village, Turkana desert, north of Kenya. This project includes providing orphans, half-orphans and elder people with dry food, clothes and hygiene items. We also give free medical help, school lessons where children get elementary education, Bible classes and lectures for youth where they learn about family life and about moral values.

To get a better picture about life in the Turkana tribe, we should tell you a little bit about the place they have settled in. Kerio is a big village with its own center and many small villages in a 10 kilometers radius. In the center of the village lays the main infrastructure: all week the shops are working where people can purchase flour, different types of grain, soap and ect., also, every Tuesday the market is open. Some people breed animals whenever it’s possible, it might not be possible because of the shortage of water or not having water at all. In the market you also can find fish, which was brought from the Turkana Lake, which is about 8-10 km from the village. We should also point out that the prices in this part of Kenya are 1.5-2 times higher the average from the rest of the country which makes the living really hard.

Some of the families try to earn their living by platting things from palm leaves. This job is very hard but the price is very low. For instance, it will take several days to make a braided rug (1.5x2m): productions time – couple days, the cost in the market – 100 Kenyan shillings or 1-2 dollars. Under such life conditions or plain survival this income brings happiness to people as it allows them to extend their living days.

Unfortunately, we have to face the fact that hungry children in Africa are a typical phenomenon, especially in the tribes that live in the desert. Now if we take away the humanitarian and missionary help of food, then the tribe will be in danger of dying out.