SOCIAL WORK

9 of November, 2009

**Disclaimer**The following will most likely be difficult to read, but it is life for many here in Kenya, and, I would venture to say, in much of Africa.

I have such a new respect for social workers after today. Especially ours. Her name is Mary and she has two kids that live about three hours away with her mother while she gives so much to provide for her family with her time and effort and heart to the motherless children here at Cheryl's.
The files of the children are a disaster. Many of them don't have one and the ones that do are out dated and disorganized. So, I decided to lend my magnificent organizational skills to make them a little easier to deal with. The task is a big one that begins with me familiarizing myself with the back stories of some of the children. I spent most of my day in a chair in the office reading these files on the verge of tears/in tears. Let me tell you about how the children at Cheryl's were:
Some have been abandoned. One was left on a bus at approx 4 years old. We have no idea what the name his mother gave him is.... many are not sure when their birthdays are or how old they are.
They have been tortured, beaten, burned, hit repeatedly in the head with blunt objects and pimped out by their own fathers.
They have gone days without food, slept in the streets, under lorries, in gutters.
There are those who witnessed the murder of their mothers at the hands of their fathers.
Many were unable to go to school, forced to stay at home, beg in the streets to provide and care for younger siblings.
They have watched their parents die of AIDS and other diseases, some do not know how their parents were killed.
They were displaced, cast out, unloved and unwanted....

Now, let me tell you how the children at Cheryl's are:
They are healing. They are loved. Accepted. Wanted. They are being educated. Encouraged to follow their dreams. They have food, shelter, clothing. They are well behaved, well liked and well adjusted children. They are a part of a family that looks out and cares for one another.

Seeing where they are now, you would never know where they used to be.

They are living proof of the power, grace and goodness of God.