Kenya

No, i'm not in Kenya. But MckMama is and i've been following her blog on her travels there with Compassion International. I have to admit, i became one of her followers in the beginning because of her photography, which i love. Her photos are amazing and manage to capture 'the' moment. But today, when i went to her site and read THIS post, the moments that she captured were almost too much to look at for me. I had to stop half-way through because her photos were too much for me to look at, too much for me to grasp. The fact that children, little children, live in these horrible, stunning conditions, make my heart weep.

About three years ago, my husband and i traveled to Guatemala, for the "Trip of a Lifetime", as i called it. We were on a trip to pick up our little daughter. We went a few days early because i wanted to 'see' Guatemala. I wanted to 'soak up culture' and take photos. Like some kind of tourist, i suppose. I had heard all about the poverty in Guatemala, but i don't think that i truly understood what "poverty" meant at that time. I had what i call "My American View" of poverty. You know, not being able to have a home that is yours, not having new clothes for school, not being able to pay the most basic of bills. I guess due to a some-what sheltered life, i had not seen any other kind of poverty. I didn't know that folks in the world didn't have clean water to drink. I had no idea that children didn't go to school. I didn't understand that there was NO food for families to eat. That there was a trash dump actually IN Guatemala where children and families lived. And of course, our 'tour' guide didn't want us to see this part of Guatemala on our tours. He didn't want us to see "that" kind of poverty in his beautiful country. He was proud of his beautiful country, it's history, it's food, it's people, and he shared that beauty that with us. And truth be told, i didn't know or understand 'that' kind of poverty, anyway.

I have a full understanding now.

I hurt sometimes when i hear folks say that "We should take care of our 'own' first." I see God looking down upon us, waiting for us to take care of HIS "own" first. Because to Him, we are ALL his "own".

No preaching from me in this post. No soap-box speech. In fact, i've never written a post like this before. I ususally do the "look how cute my daughter is" kinda posts or show photos of something that i've cooked and not manage to burn. But this has been nagging on my heart all day. I only talk about Compassion International and World Vision because those are who i know use their funds as they should. Please don't think that i want you to buy cows or chickens from World Vision's catalog to give to families (although that's a really GREAT idea!). Please don't think that i'm going to ask you to sponsor 5 children from World Vision or Compassion International.

But i hope that you'll consider maybe sponsoring just one....involve your children in this sponsoring so they understand how we should help others and how important it is to do so. Share with them how the monies help other children. Let them write (or color!) letters to the child that you sponsor. I promise that it will change your child's life, your life...and the life of a child who truly needs it.