Anatomy of a distribution

Our day begins at 7:30 AM when we pick up 3 - 90 Kg bags of maize, a case of cooking oil and 1 - 90 kg bag of beans from well wishers who are providing the food to the Toroso primary School for 6 months as a contribution to the school’s lunch program. The school is very primitive, has over 1200 students, approximately 300 of whom are IDP’s (internally displaced persons) as a result of the conflict in Mount Elgon. While this is not part of our CRWRC project, we are going to the school which is the site of today’s food relief distribution, so we will provide the transport.
Climbing into our 4x4 Toyota Prado we head for the site over challenging dirt roads ascending the mountain. We pass by one delivery truck which is returning from dropping off one of the loads. This is a good sign……we’ve heard that one of the trucks got stuck on the road. The weather is dry and overcast – blessings for the distribution.
As we approach, we first see donkeys – lots of them and then the throngs of people. They are mostly queued up tightly – chest to back waiting … today’s distribution is for 800 households …. There are many people lined up and others waiting to assist in transporting the loads home.
There is a police presence complete with camouflage clothing and impressive guns. They are important to keep order as there are always additional needy people who are not receiving food.
The queues are forming outside the school gate. Groups of about 25 are let in at a time to retrieve their beneficiary cards in order to get 50 kg maize, 4 kg beans and 500gm of iodized salt.
The lorries are being unloaded and the food stacked in piles in the school yard.
Once the beneficiaries are inside the school yard, lthey receive their cards and join the third queue – they then turn in their cards in groups of five – after picking up their maize and salt and one bag of beans to share they go outside the gate to begin splitting their beans – all have brought something in which to carry the beans and someone has a bucket with which to measure - if not they still find a way to split them fairly.
So how would you move a 50 kg bag of maze?? We are blown away by the women – some of whom are carrying a baby on their back, a bag for their salt and beans in one hand and still manage to put the maize on their heads and carry it all away.
Ron and I are invited to address the crowd of people waiting outside the gate – Chris Shiundu – our wonderful colleague (CWRC National Relief Manager) translates for us. We tell them a little about ourselves (that we are parents and grandparents like them and that we are honored to be in their country). We also tell them about the Canada Food Grains Bank, the many Christians who show Jesus love by donating money, fields and time ; we explain that the food is not from us but is a gift from God because he loves them … it is very emotional and we hear many Amen-s and Praise God-s both in English and Swahili . We thank them for their patience knowing that many would be waiting 6 hours or more ……
We now proceed to speak to and shake hands with as many people as possible --- there are many Asante-s and Asante sana-s (thank you very much)…….Kenyan handshakes – ‘shake grip shake’ … and exuberant slapping of hands before the shake. For those of you at Christ Community Church Carol and Betty can give you a great demo!
Beautiful people who have fallen on extremely difficult times - people made in the image of God.
We also hear some of the individual stories –
• Kaos – an articulate young famer whose family of 12 had their house burned down in the troubles on Mount Elgon – they moved to a second house only to be burned out again. Now the family is scattered – he and his younger brother and his parents are living with good Samaritans. They had to leave their crops rotting in the fields but he is very grateful that his family is still alive and that they now have food to share with their host family. Kaos now gets jobs weeding for local farmers.
• Mary – mother of six who has been out of her home since August when their house was burned. They were farmers as well but now depend on good Samaritans for shelter and food.
• Grace – a widow and mother of 8 – she is very relieved to get food today for the first time – up until now she has gone door to door asking for food. Grace looks so very weary and sad.
• Salome – age 31 and mother of 7 whose older brother was killed in the fighting. She had a baby just one month ago but still must work to feed the family and pay rent on the house they occupy. She weeds for farmers from 7 Am to 1 PM and makes 50 Kenyan Schillings (about 83 cents) for the day’s work. She feels blessed to have a landlord who allows her to pay off the rent as she is able. Her children are not going to school as all they clothes were burned in the fire.
We stop to talk to a man who is upset about not being on the beneficiary list. We sympathize and explain through the help of an interpreter that the food goes to the most needy of the displaced persons as chosen by the local village committee. We acknowledge that there are many more needy people but that we can only give to 800 households. He understands.
Back to the line ups… we watch a woman who had been in line for 5 hours skip barefoot with great joy as she held her beneficiary card in her hand …. We see a little handicapped girl whose prosthetic was literally a table leg…..and see many people with no shoes and worn clothes praising God for the gift of food. … time to visit the school …
The children are having their lunch break and the teachers are marking papers. Paper is obviously scarce as is everything else – there are no amenities or teaching tools of any sort. We are asked to sign the guest book in the headmasters office – two old tables – one with a ragged cloth on top in an empty stone room with faded old charts on the wall … there are 1227 students at least 300 of whom are IDP’s – they are easy to pick out as they either have no uniforms or wear a different uniform. The staff takes us to the ‘kitchen’ where the cooks are working and the children are lined up outside for a dish of boiled beans and maize. This will be the first meal of the day for most of the children and for many it will be the only meal…
The staff are enjoying some photos which the previous IRM’s had prepared for them - the staff and children alike ask that we take photos….silver hair is a great source of amusement … and definitely worth a touch. We all laugh a lot. They are very gracious.
We ask to go into a classroom – sparse……old……dark……austere.
We are introduced to a 12 year old girl who is a runner - #3 in Kenya for her age – running the 5000 an the 3000 meter races. She will be training here in Eldoret in November……perhaps we can visit her …. Many world titles are won by Kenyans from this area. She will have to train hard if she wants to compete.
Back to the line ups – we are marveling at these people still standing strong – the sun is out and the heat is full on and we go to the car for a banana and some water. Their endurance is amazing.
It is down to the last 50 bags – the beneficiaries are still smiling and lively waiting for their food. The children are all excited to look in the rear view mirror at their reflection and we play ‘making faces’ with the children. We visit two ladies from the village committee who are sitting on the remaining bags of maize - they are definitely pleased……we take photos. We did not understand each other’s words but we all understood each other’s hearts.
The lineups are gone and the soldiers are resting. There seems to be some confusion …there are 20 bags of maize and salt and 4 bags of beans remaining. Chris, the National Relief Manager and Moses, our capable coordinator for this distribution, are sorting things out…. we pray for peace and wisdom, and for those who are lingering … still waiting … still hoping.
A nearby group is carefully sharing their allotment of beans – some have spilled and each bean is carefully picked up – beans are precious….
The confusion is sorted out and the last five people pick up the last of the food…… Moses did an amazing job at managing the distribution …all 800 beneficiaries received the food allotted to them.
One more thing – about those donkeys… we watched as they were loaded – hold them by the ears – tie two bags together … two bags of maize per donkey …. they wander toward town …. Towards town? Why not distribute in town?...the school is safer.
We watch the donkey handlers who know just what to do to coax an uncooperative donkey to move in the right direction. Much of the food is transported on people’s heads, some on bicycles, one on a motorcycle (likely in exchange for a share of the food), but mostly it is all about the donkeys! The bags pass by us……CRWRC- Canadian Food Grains Bank….. donkey after donkey…..this is very emotional for us.
We drive back to Eldoret exhausted, thankful and amazed . It is raining heavily now and the muddy roads have rivers running down both sides… Chris is a good driver. God is good!. We heard those words many times today from grateful recipients. God Is indeed good!