Mud-bogging, Posting Bail, and Helping an Orphan in Need

Tuesday night one of our secondary students came to my house and told me how he was sent home from his school to call his parents/guardians to school to discuss his academic issues. He travelled all the way back to Mbita, but his grandmother and uncles, who are his guardians, were not able to go back to school with him. In the meantime he was missing his exams in school which would cause his grades to drop further.

There was really no other solution but to get Festus and his uncle in my vehicle on Wednesday morning, drive to his aunt’s home north of Homa Bay to meet with both families together, and then proceed to school with the family to settle the matter with the principal. It was a good plan, but many obstacles came up. After I taught my lesson at CGA I was ready to leave school, but a truck carrying supplies got stuck coming up the hill and so I couldn’t leave until they got it unstuck. Once we were on the road it didn’t get much better. There were trucks stuck in three different locations that made it difficult for any vehicle to pass. During rainy season the unpaved roads greatly deteriorate. Slipping and sliding through the mud and crossing the standing water in the road that resembled a lake, we eventually made it close to our destination. Unfortunately, we were stopped at a nearby police check. I was surprised to find out my insurance had expired last week. The officers didn’t find it very humorous and started threatening to impound my vehicle, take me directly to court and charge me. Pastor Amos, who was assisting me, and I pleaded and debated with them. As is typical we were asked to bribe the officers to let us go, but we stood our ground and refused. Finally, after taking my driver’s license and expired insurance tags, they allowed us to continue to the school and finish with the student’s situation and then return.

The meeting between the two families of the student went so well and everyone agreed to do their part to help the boy have a chance to be successful in school. The uncles were very ready to assist and take up their responsibility since the boy has no parents to help him. The meetings in school also went well as they discovered some ways that they can better help him and he promised to change some of his bad habits. We were grateful for how things worked out and know that there will be improvement in the future.

When we returned to the police check, they were gone. We proceeded on to the Homa Bay police station and found the officer who remained very strict and harsh towards us. We begged and pleaded to talk to his superior for over 30 minutes until we were finally granted an opportunity. He wasn’t any better and insisted we post bail and then come back to Homa Bay (on these terrible roads with no insurance) on Friday to appear in court. To make it worse it was getting late in the afternoon and another big storm was blowing in. He wasn’t bending at all and wouldn’t give us any other option until we finally asked the right question in the right way. We discovered that we could get a new insurance policy and call him with the policy number and he could cancel our court appearance. I posted my bail, praised God, thanked the man and climbed in the vehicle to try and beat the storm back to Mbita. God is good because that situation could have ended much much worse.

Finally, if nothing else, I hope the student was able to see all of the effort and challenges we faced just to help him!