This beautiful Mama was one of the many I saw this weekend in the middle of nowhere (12km East of Machakos on the Kitui road) at a small function where a friend of mine presented some beds to a group of local widdows.
Dominic invited me to accompany him on this short trip to the village where he was born and where he now arranges these small aid projects supported by a group of German donors. The beds were made locally by students at the local youth polytechnic (technical college) as part of their studies. The small contracts for beds and building work keep the polytechnic busy and support education. The mattresses were brought from Nairobi.
After a short ‘ceremony’ comprising a prayer and a short speech (and me being introduced to the group and one of the beautiful old women standing and welcoming me in Kikamba) we moved out of the small red-brick hut/church/classroom and the beds were handed over.
The next project is to put guttering on the homesteads of the widdows to allow them to collect water since the local area, on a high piece of ground between three rivers, is very dry and only irrigated by a pipe from mountain springs several km away.
Near the red-brick-hut stands a large church, also built by German sponsors (I’m not sure if the same ones or not). It is the largest and most impressive building in the area. Inside there are a few wooden pews. I was told that 400 worship there.
I was reminded of Ozymandias.