About ten years ago (in February of 2004), a friend of mine from Kenya won the lottery. This was not a money lottery, but a lottery for citizenship in the United States. I had met Freshier (pronounced Fresh Air) in 1997 while student teaching at Rosslyn Academy in the Westlands of Nairobi, Kenya. She was a library assistant and probably made less than $2 a day. Both the missionaries and the natives in Kenya were very good to me. Most of the teachers at the missionary school were from the U.S. and were paid $1000 a month. In addition, their room and board were covered. On the weekends, they would take me to some very fun activities. Most of these activities with the Americans in Kenya involved money, like going on a safari or taking me on a hike to climb Mt. Kenya. I definitely enjoyed these activities, but the Kenyans exposed me to things that money could not buy. For example, when I went to Freshiers village in Limuru, I saw homes with dirt floors that had to be swept with a broom, no running water inside, no plumbing, no consistent electricity; cooking was with a little portable skillet, one dish at a time; and lights went out early to conserve lamp oil. Though these families in the village did not enjoy all the same luxuries that we consider necessities, these people were healthy, loving, kind, and happy. I remembered them being so overjoyed to cook me Chapatis (whole wheat flatbread) and vegetables. They would have a special treat when I visited their home: eating meat with their meal (such as chicken or goat)! This was a luxury! There was definitely a difference in the way that the Kenyans lived versus the others from America who were employed at the missionary school. The Kenyan workers had to travel VERY long distances from a distant village just to get to work everyday on the dangerous city bus/taxi system (known as a matatu). Once they got off of the matatu, they still had to walk/jog a long distance just to get to their final destination. There were not a bunch of sidewalks, so I literally saw the Kenyans rinsing the mud off of their shoes once they got to work. Nevertheless, these people were happy. Despite deodorant not being applied and having to lap up on the matatu, there was no complaining - only vibrant coversation, hard work and gratefulness. I still find it unbelievable that I went into a market in Kenya and saw a little Kenyan girl with a Bix 7 T-shirt on. The Bix is a 7 mile run that is hosted in my hometown of Davenport, Iowa every year in July. I ran up to the little girl and asked What do you know about the Bix 7 race? She said, Oh, my daddy won this race! Can you believe her dad had come to the United States and pocketed $10,000 for winning one race? I know this meant instant wealth for her family, since Nairobi factory workers toiled for about 20 Kenya shillings a day, or roughly $100 a year. Some of them live in houses that cost less than $15. Even teachers, who are more valued and respected in Kenya than in most countries, only earned about $2,400 a year. And I ran into her family!!! Amazing! Back to my original story... when my Kenyan friend, Freshier, received notification that she was actually selected for the citizenship lottery, she packed up her family of four and arrived at DFW airport several weeks later, residing in my home in Arlington, TX while formulating a plan for success in the United States. I will never forget the look on their faces as I picked them up from the airport and we drove to my home in Arlington. We immediately enrolled their 10 year old son, Peter, into school in Arlington. Since he knew very little English, he ended up transferring to the Newcomers school. They also had a 2 year old named Gatere. Although I would probably place myself in the lower middle class tax bracket, Freshier and her family probably thought we were well off. They asked a lot of questions and opened their mouths to inquire about costs of homes, costs of mortgages, costs of renting, costs of food, etc. During the 6 months in my home, they had to deal with bumps and bruises along the way and glitches in the system. It took a very long time for their green cards to arrive. They eventually got a job at a 7-11 fuel station. Before I knew it, Freshiers husband, Moses Muniu Gatere (who we called David) was in truck driving school; they moved to a small one bedroom apartment, then they moved to a four bedroom, two story house and birthed two more kids. Tragically, Freshiers husband, David, died on Feb. 4, 2009 in a tragic truck driving accident while transporting a load of milk in the mountains of Colorado (diasporamessenger/kenyan-truck-driver-killed-in-colorado-mountains/). Her church family joined forces to send the whole family to Kenya to bury her husband in his home village (as the job was too new for David to have a policy). When Freshier got back to the US, she was still working at 7-11 and finished taking classes to be a LPN! Despite the loss of her husband, Freshier had four kids and she strived to allow God to mend broken pieces and do what she could for her kids. After a few tries, she passed her LPN exam and got a higher paying job to continue taking care of her family. She learned to tithe to her church, pay for her familys expenses and still put away money. Freshier even sent over $20,000 back home to Davids brother who built a house in their village for Davids mother (Freshiers mother-in-law), who Freshier describes as the only mother she has left. Freshier took care of all her bills here, worked overtime, and never missed a mortgage payment on her own house! In fact, I noticed new kitchen countertops and a new wooden floor throughout the entire house as she was warming up some chapatis for me, along with some mixed vegetables, rice and some goat stew! Yum yum! Freshier is constantly doing things to refine her home, enrich her children, encourage herself and to make their lives better. She is saving to take the whole family to Kenya for a visit this July. Her son, Peter (Kairu) who was 10 when he first arrived to the U.S. is now 20 and is a truck driver. I had fun taking the younger three, Gatere, Waitete, and Njambi to the movies to see Annie. I am honored to be Ta Ta (Auntie). In spite of everything that Freshiers been through - the good and the bad, the joys and the pains, the sunshine and the rain - she still knows that God kept her and brought her this far. When I went to visit the family yesterday, I was reminded just how much God has sustained them and kept them. She describes her house as the bridge in which God has allowed her to open up her home and extend an invitation for many of her family members and friends from Kenya to have a place to stay while they are transitioning into the United States. Freshier has hosted about five or six families and will not ask them for a dime while they get on their feet and transition into life in the United States. The lesson: You dont know whats going to happen in your life, but you have to walk by faith and trust God. I really thank God for my friend, Freshier, and her family. May the Lord continue to bless her to be a blessing! -My name is Ta Ta and I approve this message!
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 13:42:52 +0000
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