After 14 years of writing letters back and forth, I finally got to meet our sponsored young man, Joel!
He is now 22 and will be starting his last year of university at Chuka University.(http://chuka.ac.ke/) His major is economics and statistics.Here he is with his scientific calculator.
We sponsor him through Unbound, an organization out of Kansas City. ( www.unbound.org)
He brought along his mother and his brother, Julius.
His father is 90 years old and could not come. What struck me is his infectious smile and the twinkle in his eye. Despite so many adversities, he still has a positive outlook.At Chuka University, he rents a very small room with one bed for $20 a month. However, to save money, he shares with another boy, so they each pay $10. However, there is only a cooking stove- NO running water, toilet, or refrigerator. He has to use a common public toilet and use running water from an outside spigot to fill a pail to wash off. Since he has no refrigeration, he has to buy and cook what he eats every day.
Ar school, he has no computer to type his papers. He rents a computer by the hour and saves his work on a flash drive. He also cannot afford his textbooks, so he reserves time at the library to read them there. His plan is to get a certificate in statistics and try to find a government job. When school is not in session, he volunteers to mentor other younger students to encourage them to pursue their education.
We went to Mamba Village to see crocodiles and he held one.
We also had a picnic. During that time he was able to Face Time my husband and talk to him for the first time! Hopefully we can continue to stay in touch even after he graduates university.
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