Nzioka Is Top Student!

Nzioka Is Top Student!

By Dawn Brown

I remember meeting Nzioka Musembi during our visit to one of the primary schools in Mbooni.  I saw the scars on his face and could tell they ran under his school uniform too.  A school administrator and a teacher had brought him to us and began speaking words I couldn’t understand.  My mind wandered, trying to imagine what this child had experienced in his young life.  I knew I could never even begin to understand. 

I wondered how he felt about being paraded in front of us.  Were we the first white people he’d ever seen?   Were we bizarre looking to him?  So many other children were watching.  Were they his friends?  Did they treat him well or was he ridiculed?  What kinds of emotional hardships has he faced?



Teacher, Nzioka, Joseph Onesimus (our team leader), Administrator~

Our team being introduced to Nzioka.
 

They told us he was very intelligent, had much potential, but was in and out of school because his widowed mother didn’t have the funds to keep him and his sister in school consistently.

 

I handed him a piece of paper and asked him to write his name.  How would he feel when I asked him to hold his name up while we took his picture?  Had he ever had his picture taken before?  Had he ever seen a camera?  Would he feel like a celebrity or would it be demeaning?

That was the system I was using to keep track of the names and faces after we returned home.  I knew from other short term mission trips, that memories fade, even when you think they won’t.


“Oh God,” I quickly and silently prayed, “May we do more good for this boy than harm.”

 

We had spent the morning in meetings with administrators & teachers, learning how their educational system works compared to ours, and what type of needs they have. 

 

Elizabeth Mativo told us it was significant that the educators brought Nzioka to our attention over all the other children in the school.  She had not been fully aware of the financial need and she was not aware of Nzioka’s strong possibility of above average achievement. 

 

It was shortly after our trip and more investigating and interviewing, that Elizabeth added Nzioka to the list of orphaned children that Child Arise is trying to keep in school consistently.  Praise God and thanks to you donors, she has been able to do that!

Elizabeth & Nzioka in his new shirt given by Child Arise donations & sent by sea container.

  

In Kenya, not every child can attend high school.  A difficult national test is given and only those who pass are allowed to enter.  The passing children are told which high school to report to, based on their performance on the exams. 

 

Early this year, the announcement came that Nzioka was number one in the entire district of Mbooni!  Mbooni district is huge!  He reported to the top notch, Nakuru National High School.  It’s a great distance from his home, so he doesn’t often get back to see his mother, sister and grandmother.  So far he is doing very well in high school.  At this time, he hopes to become a doctor someday and longs to help others.

 

Nzioka's mother and Nzioka at the feeding program and Bible lesson.

 

Traditionally, when a woman marries, she becomes part of the husband’s family and moves to his family area.  After the death of Nzioka’s father, the husband’s relatives started to abuse his mother.  Eventually, she moved her children back to her widowed mother’s home to escape the situation.  Nzioka has been raised by his mother and grandmother for years.

 

A common practice for men, his mother now works in a faraway city, trying to sell biscuits and candy in the streets, to people riding the Matatus (mini buses or trucks that transport people). 

Nzioka's mother.

 

There’s never enough to meet the most basic needs of her children, her mother and herself.  In the past, she and her mother have found work as land laborers, or fetching water for businesses or any other manual jobs they can get.  They work very hard, but earn little.

 

Nzioka's sister and mother on the left.

 

When Nzioka was a little boy, he fell into a cooking pot of hot broth and was badly burned.  The scars remain on his face and body.  I wonder what kinds of scars are hidden on the hearts of Nzioka and the other orphaned children of Child Arise. 

 When you donate to Child Arise Kenya Widows and Orphans Ministry, you are helping kids like Nzioka to have HOPE for the future.  God is using YOU to make a difference.  THANK YOU!

Prayer Requests From Missionary Elizabeth Mativo

U The children are on trimester school break.  Pray that the extra time with those in the feeding  program will be spiritually fruitful for all.

UPraise for the growing acceptance of widowed women within the church.

UPray for funds for a tanker truck to carry the water from our borehole to schools, businesses & homes.  There are people who need it, but it’s too far.  We have plenty of water, but no way to get it to them.

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Donations can be made to

Child Arise Kenya

Widows & Orphans Ministry

827 5 Ave Dr W, Andalusia IL 61232

309-798-2596

dawn@ChildAriseKenya.com

ChildAriseKenya.com

Child Arise Kenya is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax-exempt ministry